5 Trends to Dress Up Your Fashion Ecommerce Strategy
Trends move fast, and so does the ecommerce fashion industry.
Fashion ecommerce — the online buying and selling of fashion- and apparel-related products such as clothing, shoes, and accessories — has grown and evolved exponentially just over the last decade. With advancements in social commerce, omnichannel selling, and even augmented shopping experiences, the fashion market has undergone a complete makeover, forcing brands to embrace new technologies and create a buying experience that resonates with consumers across demographics.
In fact, Statista predicts that in 2024, fashion and apparel market sales will make up 20% of total retail sales. If retailers want to keep their chunk of the online fashion ecommerce market share, they’ll need to remain agile and adapt to shifting consumer demands.
With this in mind, we’ve compiled some of the top trends and strategies to help fashion and apparel brands dress up their ecommerce strategies and stay ahead of the competition.
Fashion ecommerce trends to follow
Solve customer pain points with AI.
Two of the primary reasons for ecommerce are its ease of use and convenience. But today, more fashion brands are also harnessing its ability to make shopping experiences more efficient and personalized than ever.
Artificial intelligence (AI), most notably, has flipped the fashion industry on its head, allowing brands to modernize every corner of their businesses. From predicting fashion trends to analyzing shopping behavior to optimizing the supply chain, there’s truly no limit to how AI can impact your fashion business.
AI chatbots are one of the most popular (and longest running) uses of AI online. Chatbots take specific inputs from a customer, such as “I want to return a shirt,” and provide them with information on their request. This is a simple tool that many brands can add to their site with just a few clicks. Another popular AI feature in the apparel industry is virtual style assistants, which offer tailored style suggestions and product recommendations to help move customers closer to purchase.
Closing the sale means offering flexible payment options.
There’s perhaps no experience as vital to the customer journey as checkout. Even the smallest hiccup during the process can turn a sale into a lost customer for life. That’s why it’s so important for fashion ecommerce brands to offer the most seamless checkout experience possible.
For many customers, the best checkout experiences are the ones that offer flexible payment options. In fact, 13% of customers will abandon their carts if they don’t see enough payment methods available. Focus on providing options such as digital wallet payments like PayPal or Apple Wallet, or one-click checkout options like Bolt.
One of the most popular new payment methods, especially within the fashion ecommerce industry, is buy now, pay later (BNPL). Partnering with providers such as Klarna, Sezzle, and Affirm, apparel brands can encourage online shoppers to pay in installments without any added interest — leading to higher conversion rates, average order values, and sales.
Augment the shopping experience.
Estimated to reach $78 billion by 2028, the augmented reality (AR) market has been widely adopted by both online and brick-and-mortar apparel retailers. Smart-fitting technologies now allow customers to find their perfect size by providing their specific measurements or inputting their typical sizes for other brands.
Other technologies go beyond this functionality, using 3D technology to display exactly what a product would look like on the customer. By detecting the customer’s contour and letting them choose which clothing items they want to try on, AR fitting rooms provide a clear picture of the size, fit and style of a product — all from the customer’s mobile device.
This ability to interact with products in real-time not only provides online shoppers with a more robust user experience, but also gives customers the confidence to pull the trigger on purchases that might initially be met with hesitation.
Shopping goes social.
The evolution has been gradual but apparent to anyone who spends time on social media. Over the past couple years, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok have become more than just social media platforms — now they’re also hubs for social commerce.
In fact, 2023 revealed fashion and apparel to be the most-purchased product category across social media platforms, making up 26% of sales. And in 2024, Insider Intelligence estimates that 110.4 million people will shop via social channels.
Thanks to the popularity of experiences like one-click checkout and live shopping, these channels are becoming more and more customer-friendly, making it seamless for customers to search for and purchase products. In addition, social commerce has a low barrier, allowing fashion companies, both big and small, to enhance brand awareness, grow their audience, and offer a frictionless buying experience.
Sustainability remains a top priority.
For today’s online shoppers, sustainability is no longer just a buzzword. According to a recent study by PwC, more than 70% of shoppers said they would be willing to pay more for sustainably produced goods.
In the midst of fast fashion brands like Shein and Zalando — which have long been criticized for their labor practices and negative environmental impacts — many fashion retailers are now turning to more eco-friendly practices, such as secondhand selling. In fact, the US ecommerce resale volume is expected to hit $80.60 billion this year — a growth of 3.4% year-over-year.
For more notable ecommerce fashion trends, check out BigCommerce’s report on Global Ecommerce Insights for Fashion Retailers.
Deciding if a technology trend makes sense for your ecommerce business
While everyone loves shiny new toys, it may not make sense for your business to drop everything and hop on the next tech bandwagon. Here are a few considerations to make before adopting a new ecommerce technology.
Costs.
Every addition to your business’s tech stack comes with a cost. Sometimes that’s a monetary cost, like licensing fees or monthly costs for a software or service. Sometimes that’s a time cost, especially if you’re integrating a new software or tool into existing workflows. Whatever the cost, it’s important for your business to determine whether or not that cost is worth the perceived value of the tool or service.
Business needs.
The tech industry is full of FOMO. Some new technology pops up, is the flavor of the month, and then it completely disappears from conversation just as quickly as it came.
Sometimes, a new piece of tech might be exactly what you need. That generative artificial intelligence copywriter might be a great optimization hack for your SEO team. A new augmented reality tool might really help with returns based on sizing. But some new technology might do more harm than good. Don’t jump right on the latest trends and topics just because you don’t want to miss out. Jump on them because they make sense for your business.
Integrating with existing systems.
You’ve spent valuable time, money, and resources creating your existing tech stack. If you’re planning on bringing in a new tool or replacing an old one, then you’d better have a good plan in place.
How will this new integration impact others in your tech stack? How will it integrate, both on a business level and technically? Who will be in charge of managing or maintaining the tool? You’ll want to do some rigorous research and testing before adding anything new to your tech stack.
How to enhance your fashion ecommerce experience
Trends come and go, but a strong fashion ecommerce strategy stands the test of time. Today, it isn’t just the luxury fashion brands or the big-name brands that succeed, but the ones that invest in engaging their customers and building compelling user experiences.
Here we’ve highlighted a handful of marketing strategies that the best ecommerce brands have in common.
Personalize every step of the customer journey.
As research shows, personalization drives loyalty. In fact, a study from Google and Storyline Strategies found that 72% of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand if they offer a personalized experience.
And especially within the fashion industry, this rings all the more true. From digital ads all the way to checkout, customers expect every step of the buying journey to be relevant and tailored to their specific wants and needs. For many of the top fashion brands like Nike, Zara, Asos, or Nordstrom, this often looks like personalized product recommendations, relevant discounts and offers, and targeted social content.
Connect the customer experience with omnichannel commerce.
The modern consumer doesn’t purchase from just one single location. Instead, they purchase from any number of locations, across both online stores and physical storefronts. In fact, the study by Drapers and BigCommerce shows that younger shoppers are now splitting their fashion purchases almost evenly between physical stores and websites, from mobile to desktop, throughout the buying journey.
As defined by Sharon Gee, Senior Vice President of Sales and Partnerships at Feedonomics, “Omnichannel has to do with, ‘How do you sell more, wherever your shoppers are?’ That means online to offline, third-party channels, wholesale, marketplaces, social commerce, ads driving to DTC, in-store, pop-up shop. It means wherever you hold inventory, wherever you sell, and however you fulfill.”
From social media to search engines and everything in between, it’s important that brands diversify their channel selection across both online and physical stores. Marketplaces, for one, are some of the most important channels when it comes to product discovery and ecommerce sales. Amazon was the top online retailer in the US in 2023, capturing 37.6% of online sales.
Blend online and offline worlds with BOPIS and BORIS.
Perhaps two of the most critical pieces of the omnichannel puzzle are buy online, pick up in store and buy online, return in store — also known as BOPIS and BORIS. Although not a new concept, BOPIS dramatically rose in popularity during the pandemic and has remained an attractive buying option as it provides the best of both worlds: the convenience of purchasing online and the immediacy of picking up in store. Similarly, BORIS helps reduce the hassle of making returns online, allowing customers to return items easily and quickly in-store.
By implementing BOPIS and BORIS, brands can drastically improve customer experience, as well as open up opportunities to upsell or cross-sell when customers arrive at a physical store.
Leverage user-generated content.
What’s better than content you don’t have to create yourself? And better yet, it’s free?
User-generated content — commonly referred to as UGC — is certifying itself to be one of the greatest forms of social proof today. According to Stackla, 65% of consumers have purchased apparel or fashion items based on UGC from real customers. This could look like customer reviews on your product pages, shared customer stories on Instagram or Facebook, or photos tagged with your brand’s hashtag.
Whichever way you choose, it’s evident shoppers want to know if products are worth buying from real customers and everyday consumers when it comes to fashion. It also doesn’t hurt to get an influencer marketing partnership or two to help spread the word about your fashion products.
Apparel ecommerce sites to watch
Take a look at some BigCommerce brands who are seeing big wins in the fashion ecommerce industry.
Badgley Mischka.
Badgley Mischka revamped their ecommerce store by migrating to BigCommerce, modernizing their direct-to-consumer channel. To enhance their omnichannel presence, they leveraged Feedonomics, seamlessly integrating Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Google shopping experiences under one platform. Additionally, they partnered with BigCommerce's Bolt to offer a one-click checkout feature. This strategic move led to impressive results: a 61% surge in revenue, a 19% boost in conversions, and a 31% rise in average order value.
Oboz Footwear.
Oboz migrated to BigCommerce to create a site that truly reflected their brand identity. They sought customized interactive functionality for both themselves and their customers. Collaborating with development agency ZaneRay, Oboz introduced a shoe finder tool to enhance the personalized shopping experience. This tool functions as a shopping assistant, asking questions about customers' footwear needs and presenting the ideal product to fit their lifestyle.
This level of personalization enables Oboz to gather a robust set of customer data and insights, which they leverage to craft more tailored marketing communications and deliver exclusive discounts to their customers.
The final word
The ecommerce fashion industry is growing — fast. For those apparel brands who want to stay ahead of the competition, it’s all about understanding your customers and creating a high-quality shopping experience. Chances are they want a seamless online shopping experience, a speedy checkout, flexible purchasing options, and a user-friendly post-purchase process with quick shipping and hassle-free returns. With the right tools, like a composable ecommerce solution from BigCommerce, you can make all this happen.
Discover how BigCommerce is transforming online shopping for apparel brands here.