The fashion industry is undeniably one of the most rapidly evolving industries in the world. The fashion industry is constantly evolving from seasonal trends to changing consumer behavior, technology, and market conditions.
With the rise of online platforms, the fashion industry has witnessed a transformation in how consumers shop. This digital transformation has not only expanded the horizons of fashion retailers but has also given rise to a fiercely competitive environment, where innovation reigns supreme. eCommerce has provided fashion brands with a global reach and the ability to connect directly with consumers.
According to Statista, the ecommerce fashion sector's compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is expected to be 14.2% between 2017 and 2025. By the year 2024, the market is anticipated to achieve a staggering valuation of $1 trillion. Such exponential growth can be attributed to a multitude of factors, with digital technology and social media leading the charge. In this age of connectivity, fashion enthusiasts are spoilt for choice, with an abundant array of options catering to their unique tastes and preferences.
The rise of digital technology has unleashed an abundance of opportunities for fashion brands to engage with their audience. From immersive virtual showrooms to interactive product displays, technology has breathed new life into the fashion experience. It has become an integral part of the industry's DNA, fueling innovation at every chance. In this article, we will delve into the realm of merchandising and equip you with essential tips to enhance your retail experience. Whether you're a seasoned retailer or just starting, these merchandising tips will help you curate an enticing shopping environment and maximize your sales potential. So, let's dive in!
In the fast-paced and competitive world of fashion eCommerce, maintaining a competitive edge is crucial for online retailers. They understand that simply showcasing products from their inventory is not enough and should focus on making those products highly sellable. This entails employing various strategies and tactics to optimize the online shopping experience, maximize conversions, and drive sales.
Online visual merchandising helps create visually appealing product displays, keeping the visitors engaged while browsing. Creating a visual presentation showcases the brand's aesthetics, storytelling, and unique attributes of each product, thereby influencing consumer perception and purchase decisions.
Moreover, retailers need to constantly analyze customer data and leverage analytics to gain insights into consumer behavior, enabling them to make data-driven decisions and tailor their offerings to meet customer demands. In this highly competitive e-commerce landscape, one must go beyond mere product displays that sets them apart from the competition. This strategic focus on creating a sellable and enticing online shopping experience is nothing but online visual merchandising.
In the following section, we discuss some of the essential tips for effectively merchandising your collections, particularly within the fashion industry.
Let us discover essential merchandising tips for fashion retailers and elevate your collection presentation to attract and engage customers effectively.
Creating visual stories is an effective way to capture visitor attention and keep them engaged. Especially in the fashion industry, visual stories allow fashion retailers to showcase their products in captivating ways, conveying the brand's identity and style. For instance, if a brand aims to provide its shoppers with chic and new-season additions to their wardrobe including everything from basics to dresses to accessories. They can curate their products in a way that shows that the brand has put a lot of thought behind curating a personalized collection for its shoppers. At Tagalys, we help merchandisers to curate and create visual stories through features like product sequencing that empower them with the flexibility of showcasing their product range according to a brand’s vision.
Merchandisers can increase average order value (AOV) by adding cross-sell recommendations. By suggesting complementary products or accessories that pair well with a customer's chosen items, retailers can position products to customers with add-on value offerings. This strategy helps in enhancing the shopping experience and also encourages customers to add more items to their shopping cart, resulting in increased average order value and boosting overall revenue.
Trends imply the ever-evolving preferences and desires of consumers. Staying relevant to trends is essential for fashion brands as it allows them to connect with their target audience and cater to their needs. As one focuses on merchandising collections, another aspect is highlighting trendy picks—products that are not only relevant but also the latest.
Merchandisers can showcase their products that are sorted based on the trends. By featuring these sought-after and fashionable pieces, you attract customers who aspire to stay in vogue. By placing products based on the trending order retailers not only increase the chances of conversion but also highlight the proven popularity that shoppers desire to see. Tagalys sorts products based on the T-Score which is a score assigned to each product based on visitor engagement data. These T-Scores ensure that the products showcased are not just backed by data but also highly relevant to your customer's preferences. Utilizing this data-driven approach gives you an edge over the competitive market by offering products that are more likely to resonate with your audience.
Product tags are one of the most essential aspects for organizing, optimizing, and presenting your product collection in a visually appealing and customer-friendly manner which ultimately drives conversions. Including clear product-tags are of utmost importance while visual merchandising collections. These tags serve a crucial role in dynamically including or excluding products based on various attributes such as brand, color, size, type, style, and more. By incorporating comprehensive and accurate product tags, you can effectively curate and present the right products to the right customers at the right time. This level of precision and customization enhances the browsing experience, making it easier for customers to find exactly what they are looking for.
For instance, a coral half-sleeve maxi dress tagged as a yellow shift dress is visually inaccurate. Similarly, a printed shirt in the search results for bottom-wear is a misclassified product. If a white shift dress is tagged as a blue shift dress, that’s a title inaccuracy. These tags help retailers understand and distinguish which tags are associated with products that work best and vice versa. By analyzing the effectiveness of different product tags, retailers can optimize their merchandising strategy and ensure that the right products are showcased to the right customers. Accurate and relevant product tags play a vital role in improving discoverability, enhancing the shopping experience, and driving conversions.
Top searches, in this context, refer to the most frequently searched terms by visitors. By featuring these popular searches prominently, retailers bank on customers' contributions to arrive at trending products in their stores based on the preferences of visiting audiences. This approach not only keeps visitors informed about the latest/ popular trends but also helps them discover specific products catering to their preferences. By analyzing popular searches, brands can identify trending styles, colors, or specific product categories that are in high demand. By leveraging data analysis brands can curate and promote relevant collections, capitalize on emerging fashion trends, and ensure their offerings align with customer expectations.
In the fashion industry, the availability of different sizes is crucial for a seamless shopping experience. When a visitor clicks on a product within a category or collection and lands on the product detail page, encountering limited size options can lead to a higher bounce rate. Customers expect a range of sizes to choose from, and when expectations aren’t met, they may quickly leave the page. In order to avoid such situations, merchandisers can implement conditions based on the availability of sizes and ensure that products are sorted based on the maximum number of available sizes.
By setting conditions, retailers can prioritize and prominently display products with a wider range of sizes, reducing the possibility of customers encountering limited-size options. This strategy not only enhances the browsing experience but also increases the chances of customers finding the perfect fit, leading to improved customer satisfaction.
By catering to customers' diverse sizing needs and ensuring a comprehensive selection, fashion retailers can establish themselves as reliable destinations for finding the right size. This approach demonstrates a commitment to meeting customer expectations and elevates the overall shopping experience. Ultimately, prioritizing size availability contributes to higher customer engagement, increased conversions, and long-term customer loyalty.
Merchandising search terms is important because it directly impacts the discoverability and relevance of products in an online store. By strategically setting search conditions, retailers can optimize how search results are displayed and improve the overall search experience for customers. Several features could help in elevating the search functionality and one such feature is Synonyms. It helps in broadening the scope of search results and accommodating different variations of search terms. Visitors may use interchangeable terms, such as "pant" and "trouser," to search for the same product. By incorporating synonyms, retailers can unify these variations and ensure that relevant search results are displayed to the customers. This enhances the search experience by providing a comprehensive range of options, regardless of the specific terminology used.
Similarly, features that spell check helps to bridge the gap between customer intent and search results, ensuring that customers are guided towards the right products, regardless of any minor spelling mistakes they may make.
By incorporating this, online retailers in the fashion industry can enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and user-friendliness of their search functionality, ultimately solving the issue of inappropriate matches.
In the realm of fashion retail, effective online visual merchandising has become essential for driving engagement and conversions. From utilizing visual storytelling and automation to optimizing product tags and popular searches, these strategies enhance search relevance and customer experience. Incorporating features like synonyms and spell check further improves accuracy and usability. While these are valuable tips, there is much more to discover. To fully unlock potential and achieve your targets- reach out to us for a demo and learn how Tagalys can help you. Our team will provide comprehensive insights and guidance tailored to your specific needs.
Vanja S
Sheike
"Tagalys makes merchandising effortless. Their data driven sequencing and sorting drastically improves our effectiveness. Tagalys takes the guesswork out of merchandising and product recommendations."
Ryan R.
Camilla
"I love that Tagalys listens to customer needs and has an innovative + agile team around them which can support addressing those needs and adding improvements to the roadmap."
Rafaelle C.
Blue Bungalow
"Tagalys is the powerful and reliable data-driven solution that we were looking for when it came to search & merchandising for our Shopify Plus store. There is no limit as to how custom you can get with your merchandising, which is exactly what we were after!"
Tiarne Warren
Meshki
"The dedication of Tagalys team is evident from the feature developments. I appreciate their effort in understanding our business needs and feedback. We have saved numerous working hours and achieved great performances."