Trends Reshaping the Fashion Industry: Personalisation & Ecommerce
In the first of a two-part blog looking into personalisation in the fashion industry, we looked at how personalisation is changing the fashion industry in a digital world. This week, we’re honing in on the demand for personalised online shopping experiences.
The customer journey is linear no more! There are multiple on and offline touchpoints and consumers expect a frictionless experience across a number of different platforms and devices. Online shopping is becoming a clear preference as shoppers opt for a more convenient, relevant experience and a broader product offering.
In a society where consumers are spoilt for choice they can be as particular as they like, however according to Epsilon 80% are more likely to buy when a brand offers a more personalised experience. Companies must therefore be customer-centric and tailor what they’re showing their customers, even down to a single product. Done well, investing in new innovative tech can lead to a seamless shopping experience where a customer feels truly valued.
Chatbots Improving Customer Relations
Unsurprisingly, 75% of fashion retailers plan to invest in AI in 2018/2019. Net-A-Porter has already invested £400M in tech for personalisation, using applications that can predict what a customer is looking for. AI enables brands to match complimentary products based on data and can also power chatbots to mimic the interaction between a Sales Advisor and a customer. Other brands are using “Virtual Stylists” to recommend products or share tips and advice, for example Burberry who are using customer data and Facebook Chatbots to share information and updates on new products.
Executing a Chatbot campaign can be challenging without the right tech partner. Spirable’s fully automated platform is already being used by brands to take their marketing efforts to the next level with personalised chatbot campaigns leveraging valuable data to drive engagement, awareness and conversions.
As we discussed in our last blog, consumers are more and more willing to trade personal data for a more personalised experience. They want to feel ‘known’. Furthermore, where consumers are more connected than ever across Social platforms, they expect customer service to be 24/7 or ‘always-on’ and this is another key area where AI-powered chatbots can help brands to build long-lasting relationships with their customers.