The pandemic has led to many transformations in the fashion industry. And online shift of consumers has intensified physical store closures. Clothing stores have been particularly hard hit, with online infiltration among consumers estimate to rise to 50.8% in 2020 and likely to endure well above 2019 levels in 2021 at 40.0%, more plummeting the need for large store estates.
As apparel retailers continue to close stores, they essentially have a strategy for safeguarding their customers continue to shop with them online.
GlobalData survey in October says that 39.5% of consumers would switch to shopping online with the same retailer should a branch of a clothing chain close down.
Which declines to 34.4% for footwear due to the superior position of fit and the popularity of branded items that are accessible from many stores.
Maximum retailers have strong online schemes, making it smoother for customers to change directly to their website. Yet, 1 in 5 fashion shoppers said they would switch to another brand online if their favorite physical store closed, with this increasing to 23.3% among footwear shoppers.
Here, consumers will be delay sticking with digital laggards with brands that do not see the high consumer prospects of website functionality and delivery speed.
Most essentially retailers need improve product and customer service, to guard shopper loyalty and should contemplate associating with leading online marketplaces to boost online sales.
Mid-market brands are facing the most store shut, and they cannot depend on price credentials to make up for an inferior online proposal. It is vital that these apparel brands invest in their online infrastructure, however current features such as loyalty schemes could be leveraged to indorse spending online.
Fashion brands selling products and brands that are available elsewhere will find it difficult to migrate shoppers online as they rival against their third-party distributors with market-leading online propositions and will come under pressure to match promotions.
Another vital aspect is in the event of a permanent shop closure is purchasing from a different retailer’s store, which 31.7% of fashion shoppers would be likely to do for clothing and 33.4% for footwear.
Numerous of these customers will be unwilling to buying apparel online due to wanting to see and try on items first, as well as buying from a location that is convenient for them. To encourage these customers to purchase online, retailers must promote the suitability of shopping online (such as third-party pickup delivery options and free returns), safeguard it has high quality and adequate product images and information, and consider fit technologies that aid boost customer trust in ordering the right sizes.
