Making choices makes us feel secure about ourselves. It’s a powerful way to feel in control of our destiny and to define the way we want to live. This is so very true in the Age of Experience where consumers want more than products and services, they want experiences. In the fashion industry, even though new styles are invented every season, brands need to remember that consumers want to express their individuality by adapting a style to their tastes and objectives. Brands that provide their consumers with stellar experiences are those that have already gone through the process of shaking up the status quo by asking themselves a whole new set of questions about what their consumers want. And the answer they came up with is choice.
Consumers already have choice with respect to where they want to shop – on line, in a physical store, or both. Yes! More and more, retailers are adopting an omni-channel approach and taking advantage of the technology boost of these past few years to multiply ways to provide their consumers with more choice.
Smart phones and tablets are ubiquitous, they accompany us everywhere. Retailers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of this technology to reach out to their clients.
Imagine this…A fashionista enters a luxury clothing store in Paris. She asks the salesperson to show her the brand’s new line of beachwear. The bathing suit she’s presented with is nice but the color is all wrong. She asks to see it in black. Unfortunately it’s not available in the store. There are two ways this can pan out: either the salesperson tells her client it’s not in stock and misses a sales opportunity or she hands her a tablet displaying the bathing suit and proposes that she choose the color she wants and offer to send the bathing suit to her home.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out which option is the most consumer and business-friendly.
Using technology, therefore, is an obvious asset. The store was able to meet a wider range of its client’s needs even though the bathing suit was not physically available on premise. The salesperson was still able to showcase her entire assortment and improve the buying experience without inventory burdens. She secured her client’s loyalty by offering her a wider range of options (shown in digital form) and proposing a solution (“yes, we have the black bathing suit and we can send it to your home”).
However, not all technology is equal. Putting a tablet in someone’s hands is efficient only if the app is powerful and easy to use. The bathing suit images need to be of top quality and true to life to generate excitement. Intuitive navigation is crucial to avoid frustration when the client applies new colors, materials or adds accessories to imagine the total look before making a purchase decision.
Watch our video and see how the right technology can transform a potential shopper into a happy and satisfied client.
