The mobile age is here and more people are turning to their cell-phones for their shopping needs. Almost 230 million people purchase items online with that number only expected to increase each year. To meet customers’ needs and make their viewing experience easier, having a mobile app or mobile version of your eCommerce store will give customers a better, smoother overall experience and can help drive sales on your webstore. But while mobile native apps and PWAs can be costly, there are actions you can take today on your existing eCommerce store that will make it more mobile accessible to your customers and profitable for your business. Keep scrolling to learn the best practices to make your apparel and accessories eCommerce store mobile-friendly.

Include Simple Navigation

If you want users to enjoy visiting your site on their mobile device, you need to have an easy to use and simple navigation. Navigation directs your customers to where they want to go or to find what they are looking for. Due to limited screen space on phones, your content must not look overcrowded on a mobile device. An overcrowded navigation can cause disconnect, confusion, frustration and lead to the user exiting the site. Navigation menus on both mobile devices and desktops have the option of having dropdown lists. Multiple dropdown menus may structurally fit on a desktop but will take up the majority of space on a phone. Avoid this issue by keeping your mobile navigation to a few dropdown lists and all in a single column or row. 

Fawn Shoppe has an excellent example of simple, clean and mobile-friendly navigation on their homepage and landing pages:

Limited-time sales and discount codes

Why do you think your inbox is constantly flooded with limited-time sales and discount codes? Because they work! These time-sensitive initiatives are a no-brainer for creating a sense of urgency in your customers, and almost seem to create a ticking clock in their minds. If someone is interested in your product or service and sees an end date or expiration date for a discount code, it’s a trigger that compels them to make up their mind on whether or not to purchase. A deadline is a powerful incentive to action. Help your customers make up their minds by giving them a time limit.

Create Easy Registration

For every store, easy registration is a must. It is where your brand gains customer information to send future emails, newsletters, messages and fulfill orders. Most people do not want to spend longer than a couple of minutes inputting their information just to browse a store. Plus, a small screen with a complicated registration may deter people from continuing to purchase. Instead, stick with the option of an easy registration at checkout that involves limiting your required fields to an email or phone number. You can ask for additional information like shipping or billing addresses and payment information later when the customer is at the end of their checkout process. Another option would be to allow users to register using their Facebook or Google account. Even on mobile, this is a simple 1-click option that will collect all the necessary data fields without requiring customers to enter the fields one by one.

Position CTAs Properly

Trying to click on specific buttons and tabs can be hard enough on a mobile device, so placing call-to-action (CTA) buttons incorrectly can make the user experience nearly impossible. In most cases, the user will leave the page and most likely never return if they can’t find the navigation and purchasing links they’re looking for. You can avoid this from happening by strategically and correctly placing your CTAs and making them easy to find. And it’s especially important to make sure to place key CTAs like Add to Cart and Checkout front and center.

Accept Guest Checkout

When people use their phones to make any purchases, they are expecting a fast checkout process. And in many instances, customers prefer to skip registering during checkout or altogether. Phones have made information fast and accessible, so the checkout process on a mobile device needs to be the same way. The best way to achieve a fast checkout on mobile (and desktop as well) is to accept guest checkout. This option allows your business to sell to a more diverse audience because it encourages one-time customers to purchase as well. While setting up your checkout page, make sure to include a CTA that states checkout as a registered user or guest checkout. This may limit some registration fields; however, it gives your brand a wider possibility of new customers.

Write Short & Catchy Content

With the limited physical viewing space on a mobile device, it is important to keep your content short and catchy. Lengthy product descriptions, long blog posts, or too many images cluttering product pages divert many mobile device customers. Make the shopping experience easier by using short, catchy, and essential content on product pages. To help keep your content short and memorable, we recommend working with a marketing firm that knows how to create concise yet impactful content, including photos, graphics, video or written copy.

Size Images Correctly

Mobile screens and computer screens are two very different layouts. An image that loads and fits for a desktop website could take up the entire screen on its mobile counterpart, take too long to load or create pixilated or low-quality images. To avoid these scenarios, you need to correctly size your mobile images or partner with a marketing firm that knows how to format images for desktops and mobile devices. Even though there are no set sizing requirements, it is best to keep mobile images as small as possible to balance image quality against mobile networks download speeds and file size against mobile data caps. Generally, images range from 240 x 320 to 2560 x 1440 in size.

Always Upsell

Just because there is a lack of space on a mobile device does not mean you can overlook the opportunity to upsell your products. Upselling on product pages and shopping carts introduce customers to new purchasing opportunities. Think of it as the impulse items that many brick-and-mortar stores use to entice customers at checkout. After the product information, show off more of your webstore’s inventory by including links to items that other customers who bought this also viewed this or people also viewed. Studies show that 61% of customers say they are more likely to buy when companies include upselling that matches their preference. Many stores recommend other products that complete an outfit or are similar. An apparel eCommerce store that partners with InteractOne, Kabaryare Fashion has a simple way of upselling similar content with an analogous style and price when customers view their products.

Conclusion

Shopping through mobile devices will become more popular as technology continues to advance. Have a step up from other competitors by following these best practices to make your apparel and accessories eCommerce store optimize mobile shopping. Contact us today for more information on how InteractOne can help your webstore become mobile-friendly.

eCommerce is having a moment. We’ve always known brand websites are important for extending your business’s presence and reaching more customers. But with the uncertain future of experiential retail due to COVID-19, now it’s more important than ever. 

But it’s not enough for your brand to simply be online. Your eCommerce platform needs to accurately reflect your physical store. This means translating the positive experience customers have in your shop into a positive user experience, or UX, on your webstore. Google Search recently announced it will be favoring websites with great UX, so now is the time to shape up. 

Fortunately, regardless of whether you’re a consumer or a provider, we are now in “an environment where imagination and technical ability, not wealth, are the only barriers.” Meaning, if you have the drive and commitment to succeed online, you can.

Here are six actionable tips for how to better reflect your fashion brand’s physical store online.

And don’t forget to check out Part 1.

Eliminate clutter

Think of your eCommerce storefront like your physical retail store: both work best when they’re clean and minimal. Clear out the cobwebs by streamlining your eCommerce storefront. Make your offers immediately apparent. Don’t confuse your customer with lots of information—keep it simple, and focus on your central product(s) and ethos. If you’re a sustainable brand, such as United By Blue, put that information on your homepage, with a link to click through to another page with more detail. By sticking with basic information, you ensure your homepage is not only user-friendly, but that it also loads quickly.

Ensure your logo is front and center and easy to read

You have your logo pride of place on your store’s front window, door and sandwich board; that same approach needs to be taken with your web store’s homepage. Ensure your logo is high resolution and scalable, so that it is mobile-friendly. Test that it displays well on both desktop and mobile, and try visiting your website on different mobile devices to minimize any bugs. It may sound simple, but by branding your eCommerce store correctly, you ensure it communicates the same level of professionalism as your retail store.

Keep a consistent visual language

Use the same colors, textures and themes that you thoughtfully chose for your retail store in your online store. And if you don’t have colors or textures? Keep that same simple palette online. Whether they’re online or offline, all of your customers should be reading the same visual language from your brand. This consistency is key to creating a harmonious experience and gives returning customers the assurance that they’re in the right place. New customers will also feel confident when they see this cohesion across your website, social media pages and in photos of your retail store. What’s more, they’ll trust that this same commitment to quality translates to your products.

Mimic the layout of your physical store

Make it easy for people to find what they’re looking for by ensuring your online store’s layout echoes that in your physical store. That means if you generally greet shoppers with new season items, then show them special ranges or collaborations, followed by older items and accessories, or sale items, this same customer journey needs to be replicated online. You can also carry this product hierarchy over to your navigation bar and/or dropdown menu. Keep it cohesive to avoid confusion.

Have clear, high quality photos

You wouldn’t leave your products lying flat and lifeless on a display cabinet in the front of your store, so why would you have low-quality, lifeless product photography on your webstore? The key is to have clear, high-quality mannequin or display photos, as well as high quality flat-lay photos. Plain white backgrounds allow your products to really shine, and won’t distract your customers. The more your photos accurately represent your product and show people exactly what they’re buying, the more likely they are to click “add to cart.”

Make it mobile-friendly

More than half of online shoppers make purchases using a mobile device, so while you spend hours making sure your desktop site is beautiful, ensure you also pay attention to how it scales to mobile, and remember to optimize each page. Think of it like how a shopper takes a glimpse of your retail store through the window—they might click on it for a second, and if it loads badly, they’ll click out. First impressions are crucial, and these are increasingly happening on mobile. Users who have a negative experience in your mobile store are said to be 62% less likely to purchase from you in the future. So make sure your eCommerce site is up to scratch. Progessive Web Apps (PWAs) are all the rage in the eCommerce industry. They replicate the app experience on a mobile browser for a fraction of the cost and commitment of a Native App. Now is the perfect time to implement a PWA to your digital offerings. To learn more about PWAs you can check out our recent blogs here.

Conclusion

By taking the same care with your eCommerce storefront as you do with your physical storefront, the greater your chance for success online. Represent your range online as you would in-store—with your unique style, care and attention to detail. For help on how to make your webstore better reflect your retail store, click here to speak to a member of our team.

There is new information and stats being released daily regarding the COVID crisis and its impact on economies world wide. We are continuing to closely monitor the situation so that we can provide our clients and the rest of the eCommerce community the most accurate and up-to-date information available.

In this update we’ll be taking a look at larger, national trends as well as taking a closer look at the apparel industry.

COVID-19 and the Apparel Industry

While we have seen a surge in the digital sales of ‘essential’ items like non-perishable goods, cleaning products, even camping equipment, apparel has taken a solid short-term hit. Notso has revealed that fashion sales slid 30% in March compared to the same period in 2019. It’s not just sales figures that took a hit, overall sales revenue plummeted by 32% and visits by 24%. Average order value fell by 6% and conversions by 9%.

But since the worst of the numbers were reported on March 20th there has been a bit of a rebound. The global head of marketing at Nosto, Matt Levin stated, “Since that low-point on 20 March, the data shows some signs of a recovery beginning with sales revenue and visits recovering somewhat in all countries, while conversion rates are staying relatively the same. Increased traffic with stable conversion seems to mean these new shoppers are still buying at typical rates, which could be a result of merchants reacting with discounts and merchandising shifts, or consumer behaviour simply stabilising.”

The current situation  also provides an opportunity for apparel eCommerce retailers to shift their strategy to meet the current unique needs of customers. Highlighting and featuring products/collections that are more relevant to our current ‘stay at home’ lifestyle can go a long way in alleviating the stress customers feel when shopping for items they didn’t even think they needed just a few weeks ago.

Buyer Behavior and Online Shopping Survey Results

As suspected, online shopping is increasing as the Pandemic spreads. Retail Systems Research published a piece on April 2nd 2020 that shows 93% of all respondents expect to use eCommerce the same amount or more frequently than they have before COVID spread.

RSR’s report also shows that online shopping will be vital to customers for the indefinite future.

We’re also beginning to learn more about shoppers’ current behavior. A survey released by Yotpo this week saw some interesting, but not unexpected results.

Conclusion

Consumers are looking to spend less (56.75%) rather than spend more (23.65%) during this time, or they’re aiming to maintain their typical spend (22.80%). Almost a third (31.7%) are shifting to buying online more than in physical stores.

We’ll continue to monitor the situation and report the most interesting and pressing facts and figures we can find regarding the COVID crisis and its direct impact on eCommerce. Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy.