TOP trends of Fashion Ecommerce for 2021

COVID-19 impacted the world all of a sudden and unexpectedly, swiping across the world, changing consumer behavior and the whole market in a few months. What could have been a projection of the online customer market five years ahead, seems to us a subject now executed in a matter of months– with many retailers closing brick-and-mortar shops and a massive shift to online e-Commerce shopping the fashion e-commerce is set to experience a period of big change. Online time spent has increased over social media, browsing channels and websites as people stayed home for a long period of time; further, as productivity and economic processes came to a brief halt, the business of fashion has had a moment of pause which actually might be a moment of a giant leap.

For the fashion brands this is the time to know that if they are not online, they are not in the game. Earlier, people used to relate what they saw brick and mortar store to what they found online – the games have just changed - the way merchandise is displayed on a virtual setup, the way UI/UX guides a potential or not so potential customer through the website has become of prime importance. The implementation of the CX measurement system and constant research and updates on how to make it better is a dynamic challenge to all trying to get a part of people’s time and motivate them to spend.

Here are the top 10 Trends we see happening as we enter a new phase:

The world of AR and VR: Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality As the digital world continues to grow and change, more and more fashion eCommerce retailers are attempting to retain existing customers, and attract new ones through the use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. To overcome the shortfall in experiencing the fabric or dress fitting.

Omnichannel Derivatives: The integration of all platforms and social media onto a single platform. This would be led by market leaders and will diminish the line between website experience and social media platforms. What you see, what you feel – you shop, seamlessly.

Round the clock Customer management: The times are such that online shops are fighting high return rates with negative reviews, which brings them to make their customer support section active and conditioned with problem identification and bringing an appropriate solution. Use of bots in problem identification after work hours and flowchart analysis will be in vogue. There have been a lot of debates on how to tackle negative reviews and it’s time to actually get a couple of them running 24/7 passionately based on the needs and type of grievances faced.

Videos, photos and more of it: Gone are the days when you would present the studio dress-ups and still life photos to gain views and attention. Now, the greater people relate the product with suitable ideas, in-life videos and daily routine – the greater probability of it becoming a hit or going viral. New ideas and mannerisms to describe the uniqueness of a product in a personalized way matters. The mushrooming of ‘influencers’ from gen Z is certainly an opportunity to cash upon but a bigger task of skimming the best for returns and impact we look for.

The era of voice recognition systems and smart home assistants: a new eCommerce battleground is leveled up. The practice to aptly describe the product with necessary specifications, details and commonly searched for attributes will make it more compatible for the bots to take it up and put it ahead of others.

New Era in Shipping and Deliveries: Warehousing plans at strategic locations and targeted markets – recognizing potential customers and then stacking up goods at the nearest possible point of the cluster. AI-equipped automated quick delivery systems from robots in warehouse uplifts to drone drops to customers which are already in testing stages by market leaders will see a gradual rise.

In all, more automation, the rise of 5 G driven technology and smart homes will change the way we shop, the rise of ethical fashion will impact a great chunk of customers and will force the marketers to look out for the questions asked to them, thanks to awareness that rises. Post-COVID, these look more needed than ever. Fashion Ecommerce brands need to keep up with not only upcoming trends but also catch up with changing moods of people, their reactions to mushroomed contents and activities which are grabbing attention across social media.