Mobile first strategies needed: report

The report, ‘Apparel Trend Report: Reconciling the Tech with the Tactile’, offers market insights into shifting shopper behaviour and actionable intelligence for retailers and brands. Sunday peaks reflect the omnichannel nature of e-commerce, it says.

"The apparel and accessories category is witnessing a massive transformation. Millennial shoppers purchase the majority of their clothing and accessories online and retail storefronts are shifting to showrooming, in which shoppers can experience in real life and then purchase online. Apparel brands and retailers must embrace the new 'always-on' retail paradigm, where seasonality plays less of a role and in-store and online technology innovation enhances the shopper experience," said Jonathan Opdyke, president, brand solutions, Criteo, the performance marketing technology company.

The report said that with so many complementary products available, on average, there were more than three products in every cart. Carts with an apparel item averaged $95.21 during the third quarter of 2016, highlighting the need for marketers to maximise cross-selling opportunities.

According to the report, Sunday peaks reflect the omnichannel nature of e-commerce. The average cart size hit $126 on Sunday, November 13, and the second biggest day was Sunday, December 7, with shoppers likely identifying clothes in-store and purchasing online at a convenient time.

Augmented Reality experiences, as well as in-store technology like eBay magic mirrors enhance the shopping experience while sponsored products, which are relevant to the purchaser and multiple SKU categories like Apparel and Accessories, reach shoppers at the point of need, it said.

The report revealed that the best of the new crop of retailers treat their sites like a combination of a store and Vogue. They tell lifestyle stories in which shoppers can 'see themselves' as they go through the purchase process. It also said that paid search should be used to help increase organic rankings since paid search is proven to drive immediate product sales with the added benefit of lifting search rankings overall.

The report suggests that everything should be personalised. The word ‘bespoke’ is suddenly back but this time it is about how an item of apparel is tailored through technology to be something unique and special, whether it is in the fit of the garment or other optional elements. In addition, e-commerce marketing requires an always-on strategy since it has fundamentally changed retailing seasonality. Marketers' brand budgets must be able to cover not just traditional retail seasons like holidays and spring but the entire year. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India