How can Fashion Brands Benefit
from Integrated eCommerce?

Ever since the Covid-19 crisis, the fashion industry has seen several shifts, and it seems that the next two years will be less forgiving as well. Inflationary pressures have been induced on the already toiled sector by material shortages, supply chain bottlenecks, and increased freight prices. According to the latest McKinsey research, fashion brands may have to raise clothing costs by 3% in 2022 because of recession-driven inflationary pressures.

As it is said, never let a good crisis go to waste as there are many opportunities for fashion brands to benefit from, with digitalization and sustainability being on the top of the list. When it comes to digitalization, most apparel business owners go only as far as social shopping on top of an eCommerce website. However, with issues in the supply chain, logistics, sales processing, warehouse, and inventory management amidst the recovery from multiple catastrophes, integrated eCommerce is a must for every fashion and apparel business owner.

In this article, i95Dev eCommerce experts will give you four top reasons to adopt integrated eCommerce on top of four examples of top fashion brands leveraging it. Let’s get started:

#1 Provide personalized shopping experience through integrated eCommerce

A study found that personalized recommendations influence the purchasing decisions of 43% of consumers. Of course, you would use a channel like email marketing or social media to target customers, but at the same time, it is necessary to facilitate instant purchases. Without a dependable backend solution that enables your customers to view and make the checkout using the payment method of their choice, there’s little good that you can expect on your sales sheets.

Since these solutions enable you to automate and integrate inventory management, warehouse management, and order processing with the frontend platforms, you can focus more on core business activities.

#2 Reduce the pressure on your fashion business’ bottomline through automation

The supply chains around the world are facing unparalleled pressure due to the changes in geopolitical situations as well as a shift in sourcing preferences. Also, the inflation-driven changes in customer preferences are also making it tougher for businesses to keep up with the product consumption trends. However, despite these obstacles, the demand for all products, including footwear (fashion accessories), is predicted to increase at a steady rate over the next five years:

Since integrated eCommerce allows you to make better business decisions in all aspects, no matter if it is procurement or product bundling, your fashion business will get a greater degree of cushioning. For instance, if you are facing low demand for a particular SKU and at the same time, storing it for any longer duration would result in heavy losses and opportunity costs. With the help of a robust eCommerce connector, your backend solutions will detect and bundle such items with high-selling products. Thus, you can empty your inventory at a faster rate without incurring heavy losses.

#3 Unify your sales channels through integrated eCommerce

Conventionally, it is the brick and mortar stores that adopt digital selling, but in the case of the fashion and apparel industry, things can go quite the opposite. Nowadays, a lot of fashion labels start as a page on Instagram that sells products on demand. As they grow, they develop into full-fledged businesses that go on to launch an eCommerce store and have warehousing space for themselves.

In the year 2021, clothes and accessories accounted for 29.5% of all eCommerce sales in the United States alone. Naturally, these figures were derived from multiple selling channels, making it imperative that a fashion business must have as many sales channels as possible. With the help of integrated eCommerce solutions, fashion business owners can unify and automate sales across all of them in a hassle-free manner. No work duplication, no human errors, no manual sales order processing, or checking inventory every now and then- you can simply focus all your efforts on growing your business.

#4 Integrated eCommerce will help you build multichannel purchasing experience over omnichannel shopping

Gone are the days when omnichannel was a rising trend in the fashion eCommerce industry, today, it is all about multichannel selling. A customer might want to purchase a product online but pick it up from your physical store in person, while another one would have purchased it online and returned it to your store.

Both of these aren’t possible unless you have a backend solution that allows you to record and manage such transactions across multiple channels.

eCommerce fashion brands that use integrated eCommerce Solutions

In this section, we will outline four of the largest and most renowned fashion companies that employ eCommerce connector solutions to run their businesses:

#1 Jd.com

The global fashion market is led by China-based Jd.com, which had net sales of $14,49 million in 2021. It has a sizable first-party business where it stores its own stock and then uses its own supply chain to deliver products to the customers.

#2 Shein.com

Shein describes itself as an international B2C fast fashion eCommerce platform that focuses on women’s wear, men’s apparel, children’s clothes, accessories, shoes, bags, and other fashion items.

Shein was started in 2008, but in the last few years, it has become one of the most popular online stores in the world, valued at $100 billion because it has so many clothes that are both unbelievably affordable and stylish. Shein uses a business model called “fast fashion,” which is used by almost all stores that sell low-priced clothes. However, this makes Shein great for people who are on a tight budget or whose clothing sizes change often.

#3 Zara

Started in 1975, Zara USA, Inc. is an international online fashion store with most of its sales coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain. The offer also includes items from the “Toys, Hobby, and DIY” category. It launched the online store in 2010, and its products include clothes, footwear, accessories, beachwear, skincare products, and colognes.

#4 Coupang.com

Coupang Inc is an online store that is based in South Korea. The company sells things like clothes, shoes, food, and more. Rocket Delivery, Coupang’s fast and reliable delivery system, is well-known among users.

Wrap Up

Beginning in the middle of the 19th century, when clothes were made by hand by tailors, today, the fashion industry has changed in a huge number of ways. As time went on, it became more automated, and today’s trendy clothes are often mass-produced despite rampant changes in “fashion.” With more people using their phones and the unexpected effects of COVID-19, eCommerce has become one of the most important ways to sell things.

Integrated eCommerce helps businesses personalize their marketing efforts and offers to specific customer segments while allowing people to shop in different ways. However, one of the biggest advantages of implementing these solutions is the fact that it allows businesses to have a consistent brand image across platforms and tell their brand story efficiently as they continue making good products.