Business of personalisation
Whether it is the experience or the article itself, customised options have become one of the best options for online retailers, and rightly so. Personalisation focuses on creating relevant experiences for the customers, and fashion is arguably one such industry where relevance and individuality are paramount. Fashion personalisation refers to giving relevant, actionable ideas to customers in a way that makes their online purchasing experience more efficient, engaging, and rewarding. According to the research done by Epsilon and GBH, 80% of shoppers were more likely to purchase if retailers offered personalisation on their e-commerce websites. Consumers are no longer interested in picking the best from mass-produced styles but are in need of opportunities that reflect their values and express their uniqueness.
In fact, the perks from fashion personalization are not limited merely to the end-consumers.
While the upsides for consumers are many, marketers themselves can benefit from upgrading their platforms to the current need. For starters, a tailored shopping experience will increase a customer’s interest resulting in more sales and conversions. With personalised contact via chatbots, sellers can have a better understanding of their customers and be able to serve them better. Today consumers are bombarded with choices, offers and competitive prices at all digital points and as a result their loyalties may be fickle. At this point, brands that offer an experience personalised to their target audience will undoubtedly see consumers coming back to them ensuring longer retention for the marketer.
A significant advantage of tailored experiences is that it helps shoppers navigate the options efficiently while nudging them to make the purchase decision faster. Fashion with its many sizes, collections, designs, and colours can often overwhelm consumers leaving many in a stage of ‘analysis paralysis’ whereby they end up leaving the website because they can’t come to a decision. With options customised to the user, there is a graceful balance between the freedom to choose from a vast collection yet ensure relevancy. Not to mention the loyalty that comes from offering customers an opportunity to make their own garments, shoes, accessories, and so forth is immeasurable.
In fact, almost 90% of consumers say that they are influenced by eCommerce personalisation. Furthermore, individualised consumer experiences are something that traditional commerce does not provide. This has not only been accepted but also embraced by the e-tailers with 94% of marketers agreeing that personalization is critical to their success.
On the other hand, personalization can prove to be somewhat of a challenge for the manufacturers.
With the current supply chains proving inadequate to hold on to this new business model there are indeed challenges. While the opportunity may feel complex, personalisation technologies carried out effectively can easily be a profitable one. This exclusive shopping experience doesn’t have to mean entirely bespoke tailored clothes; it could also mean a personalised homepage, fashion guides, custom AI-generated recommendations, and much more to create a seamless shopping journey tailored to customers.
The variety of options in fashion personalisation brought a lot of new startups to life and made several established companies to evolve.
Advances in AI eCommerce customisation enable vendors to provide customers with personalised experiences across all channels and at every stage of their purchasing process. In an effort to offer creativity, inspiration and most importantly a personal and human touch to today’s tech savvy shoppers, technology in the retail space is becoming a necessity rather than an additional bonus.
Personalisation is no longer something that an e-commerce firm desires; it is something that it requires. Many clients have come to anticipate it. With the gap between online and in-store income shrinking, the chance to gain a consumer by customising their online experience has never been higher. Platforms like Net-A-Porter, Farfatch, Atterley and Yours.Truly., discussed in this article series, are only a few among many brands that have been incorporating personalisation in their services. But what makes them better than many others are the fact that they are genuinely creating an experience that is tailor made for their consumers.