Trends, tips and stats on the current state of e-commerce in the fashion space. Learn more from industry experts on how to optimize your customer experience.

1. Where Fashion and
E-commerce Collide
STATE OF THE INDUSTRY / AUGUST 2018
FIRST EDITION

2. Table of Contents
INTRO
2. MULTI-CHANNEL SELLING
4. MARKETING YOUR BRAND
1. TOOLS OF THE TRADE
3. CUSTOMER SERVICE TRENDS IN
E-COMMERCE
E-commerce by the Numbers
E-commerce Platforms
Payment Gateways
Shipping Providers
Customer Service Software
AI
Chatbots (Facebook Messenger)
Amazon
Etsy
Facebook
Branding
Content Marketing
User-Generated Content
Influencer Outreach
Email (Transactional vs. Marketing)
Gender/Behavioral/Personalized Marketing
5
13
22
17
26
27
8
19
24
11
20
16
24
12
21
16
25
26
3
14
23
7
18
CONCLUSION 28
Social Media
Other Trends

3. Introduction

4. Introduction
E-commerce is big business.
According to the US Census
Bureau, it accounts for almost 10%
of all retail sales. It’s not surprising
then that fashion brands invest
heavily in their online presence.
According to Shopify’s Fashion and
Apparel Industry Report, worldwide
e-commerce fashion sales are
projected to hit US$481 billion in
2018.
The largest opportunity in the
market exists for small and medium
fashion brands that are looking to
expand their business worldwide.
Thanks to technology, it’s easier
and less expensive to get an e-
Thanks to technology, it’s easier
and less expensive to get an e-
commerce website up and running.
Third-party marketplaces make it
easy for brands who don’t want a
website at all. Sites like Lyst provide
customers the opportunity to buy
clothes from luxury brands like
Valentino and discount brands like
Akira. Lyst invests heavily in User
Experience (UX) and Search Engine
Optimization (SEO), which allows
small and medium fashion brands
to sell on a high-traffic website
without investing as
heavily in web development. Today
we’re going to discuss the tools,
trends, and best practices to
incorporate into your brand and
look a little at why they work.
4

5. E-Commerce by the Numbers
Business is booming, and fashion brands both big and small are continuing to see an
ncrease in website sales. Let’s take a look at some compelling statistics why you
should have a strong online brand and boutique:
266 of Internet Retailers Top 1,000 are apparel brands (Digital Commerce 360)
Designer Rebecca Minkoff sells clothing in more than 100 countries (Shopify)
“DIGITALLY INFLUENCED” SPENDING
80%
80% of luxury brand spending
is “digitally influenced”
(McKinsey/Shopify)
5

6. 6
27,4%
27.4% of all US clothing sales in 2017
were online (Digital Commerce 360)
US CLOTHING SALES
Online sales account for 60% of British
luxury brand Holland Cooper’s US$13
million annual revenue (The Week)
HOLLAND COOPER’S ONLINE SALES
60%

7. Tools of Trade

8. Tools of the Trade
E-commerce Platforms
SHOPIFY & SHOPIFY PLUS
Your seamstresses love a sharp pair of scissors. Your designers
have their favorite notebooks. As an e-commerce marketer,
your tools of the trade are just as important. Here’s a brief
overview of the digital tools every fashion e-tailer should have
in their marketing arsenal.
We here at Avex are a big fan of the
Shopify platform (maybe it’s
because we’re a certified Shopify
agency). As one of the most
popular e-commerce platforms
around, it’s no surprise that Shopify
remains a favorite of big and small
fashion brands. It began in 2004 by
fashion brands. It began in 2004 by
a group of three friends who
wanted to open an online
snowboard shop. Disappointed by
the lack of software to help them
sell, they built their own, and thus
Shopify was born.
Today, Shopify has about a half
million customers and serves
companies like Tesla Motors and
Google, as well as fashion brands
Eugenia Kim, Ed Hardy and more.
8

9. If you know your way around
WordPress and don’t want to learn
another CMS, WooCommerce is a
WordPress plug-in that allows you to
add e-commerce capabilities to an
existing website.
Of the top million websites,
WooCommerce has the largest market
share (22% according to BuiltWith).
WooCommerce has a free plan that
gives you a chance to try it out before
gives you a chance to try it out before
investing in the full version. However,
you may need to do some hand-
coding to get things to look the way
you want or change your WordPress
theme to something designed
specifically for WooCommerce.
9
We love Shopify because it includes a
great deal of freedom and flexibility for
tech-savvy brands with complex needs.
You can integrate Shopify with other
software (like Salesforce, Klaviyo,
AdRoll and ERP systems) through
Shopify apps.
22%
WOOCOMMERCE MARKET
SHARE
WOOCOMMERCE

10. 10
MAGENTO
Magento is a powerful solution for
brands with highly-skilled technical
teams. The backend is more difficult
to manage than Shopify, and
requires a great deal of
configuration to work properly. It
started as shopping cart software
about 10 years ago and evolved
into a complete e-commerce
solution when it was acquired by
eBay in 2011.
Today, Magento is owned by Adobe
and is available as four standalone
products or as an entire suite called
Magento Commerce Cloud.
standalone products or as an entire
suite called Magento Commerce
Cloud.
The full suite includes business
intelligence, order management,
and access to the Magento
Marketplace. The marketplace
includes almost 4,000 extensions
that connect Magento to your
accounting, customer service, ERP
and CRM systems.
Because of its high price tag and
the massive server space required to
run it, Magento works best for
the massive server space required to
run it, Magento works best for
medium to large brands with a
healthy marketing budget. It is not a
quick solution, and can take
between six to 10 weeks to
implement even a basic setup.

11. Payment Gateways
Today, money travels as fast as fake
news, and e-commerce provides an
easy way to get paid quickly by
customers around the globe. The
two most popular options in the US
are PayPal and Square.
PayPal is almost as old as the
internet itself, and it is the
preferred method of payment for
eBay and other online retailers. It’s
easy to use, the fees are
reasonable, and you can accept
payments online and in brick-and-
mortar locations.
Square, a mobile POS system
started by Twitter co-founder Jack
Dorsey, has exploded in popularity
over the last decade and provides
over the last decade and provides
similar benefits and fee structures
to PayPal.While it’s easy to accept
payment from most countries,
some can be problematic.
Payoneer is an online payment
system that’s popular worldwide
and accepts payments from more
than 200 countries (as of April
2017).
Shopify customers can use Shopify
Payments, a gateway created
exclusively for the platform. It
includes a reader and one rate for
all cards, depending on if they are
online or in-person payments.
Additional monthly fees apply.
Shopify customers can use Shopify
Payments, a gateway created
exclusively for the platform. It
includes a reader and one rate for
all cards, depending on if they are
online or in-person payments.
Additional monthly fees apply.
11

12. Large brands are likely to
experience significant cost savings
by investing in building their own
supply chain. While you may want
to outsource certain aspects of
packaging and shipping, having a
“human-centered” supply chain
gives socially-conscious millennial
shoppers peace of mind and plays
a significant part in your branding.
Small brands might want to look
into using a drop-shipper to help
with some or all of the packaging
and shipping process. This allows
your team to focus on the product
while still being able to deliver in
the most efficient way possible.
Shopify users can use the shipping
a significant part in your branding.
Small brands might want to look
into using a drop-shipper to help
with some or all of the packaging
and shipping process. This allows
your team to focus on the product
while still being able to deliver in
the most efficient way possible.
Shopify users can use the shipping
service built directly into their
software. Other companies like
Oberlo provide convenient and
affordable solutions for boutique
brands.
service built directly into their
software. Other companies like
Oberlo provide convenient and
affordable solutions for boutique
brands.
Shipping Providers
12

13. Customer Service Software
10
When selling online, your pool of
potential customers is much larger
than that of brick-and-mortar
establishments. And, these
customers buy and interact with
your company much differently.
For example, did you know that
almost half of customers are open
to buying items from a chatbot?
That’s a lot of sales for companies
that use customer service software
to take advantage of AI and other
innovative technologies.
Choosing the right software
package can seem intimidating.
Two of the most popular options
Choosing the right software
package can seem intimidating.
Two of the most popular options
are ZenDesk and HelpScout, but
it’s important to choose one that
fits both your needs and your
budget.
it’s important to choose one that
fits both your needs and your
budget.
13

14. Multi-Channel Selling

15. One of the biggest mistakes some
brands make is selling exclusively on
their website. Even large e-
commerce retailers like Nordstrom
and Saks Fifth Avenue engage in
multi-channel selling.
Sophia Amoruso, founder of Nasty
Gal Vintage, got her start peddling
her wares on eBay in 2006. In her
book #Girlboss, she discusses the
ups and downs she experienced
selling on the platform and how she
transitioned into selling on her own
site.
Because of today’s competitive e-
commerce landscape, brands need
to look beyond their website to
to look beyond their website to
reach customers. Marketplaces like
Lyst and Etsy are great places to sell
because they have excellent
reputations and a high volume of
traffic, which means more potential
customers are likely to find you.
You don’t always have to list every
item on each platform separately,
either. E-commerce software like
Shopify makes it easy to list items
from your online store on other
marketplace sites.
While selling on marketplaces is
critical to your brand’s success, don’t
go crazy with it. It’s best to start with
a couple of sites and then make
a couple of sites and then make
changes based on where you get
the most business.
The list below is by no means
comprehensive, but it does provide
some of the most popular places to
get started.
Multi-Channel Selling
15

16. While most people don’t think of
Amazon as a fashion powerhouse,
the e-commerce giant has been
slowly and steadily building their
fashion-selling empire.
Amazon’s fashion e-commerce
market share is projected to rise
from 5% (2015) to 15% in 2020.
With more than 310 million active
customers, selling on the Amazon
marketplace is a no-brainer.
With more than 310 million active
customers, selling on the Amazon
marketplace is a no-brainer.
Brands looking to stand out on
Amazon should invest in Amazon
A+ Content (aka enhanced brand
content). This service allows brands
to add more multimedia on product
pages, including video, additional
images, and comparison charts.
pages, including video, additional
images, and comparison charts.
This enhanced content is a powerful
tool that can engage customers in
your brand and boost sales.
Etsy, which boasts more than 31
million active buyers, is an online
marketplace that caters to the maker
movement and its customers. In
addition to vintage and handmade
clothing.they sell a variety of
handmade items and craft supplies.
Amazon
Etsy
16

17. 17
Facebook
Think Facebook is only for small
brands trying to establish a name
for themselves? Think again! Big
brands like Lacoste understand
the value of selling to customers
directly through social media
instead of asking them to click
through to their website.
If you’re already engaging your
customers on Facebook, which
has more than 1 billion active
users, it makes sense to allow
them to buy directly on your
Facebook business page.
Facebook now allows you to
feature products in your business
page news feed. So if you pay to
boost a post that features one of
If you’re already engaging your
customers on Facebook, which
has more than 1 billion active
users, it makes sense to allow
them to buy directly on your
Facebook business page.
Facebook now allows you to
feature products in your business
page news feed. So if you pay to
boost a post that features one of
your products, you can not only
learn more about what products
are the most profitable, but the
types of customers who will buy
them as well.
Facebook Shops are easy to
create and make it easier for
potential customers to buy from
your products, you can not only
learn more about what products
are the most profitable, but the
types of customers who will buy
them as well.
Facebook Shops are easy to
create and make it easier for
potential customers to buy from
you. And in addition to creating a
Facebook Shop on your business
page, you can also sell through
groups dedicated to your
specialty.

18. Customer Service Trends to
Increase Sales. Tools, AI, Chat,
Best Practices.

19. 19
Because the nature of doing business online is very different
from brick-and-mortar retailers, the way you serve your
customers should also be different. Here are a couple of key
customer service points to include in your business plan that
are different than what most offline stores must consider.
Given that fashion is based on
creativity, it’s easy to understand
why AI often gets overlooked. But
there’s been stunning
developments on this front in the
past few years, and brands that
invest in it are learning more than
they ever thought possible about
they ever thought possible about
their customers.
Ever wondered why Stitch Fix is so
successful? Their creative process
begins by using powerful
algorithms that sift through their
customer database to determine
what customers will want to buy.
According to research by the
Business of Fashion and McKinsey,
using AI to “guess” what will sell
can reduce forecasting errors by
50%.
Nonetheless, there’s no need to
fear AI replacing the role of the
Customer Service Trends to
Increase Sales
AI

20. 20
Nonetheless, there’s no need to
fear AI replacing the role of the
designer. Instead of rejecting AI,
brands can use its powerful
computing power to create designs
based on what people want to
wear and trends that other brands
haven’t even thought about.
Chat
While nothing can replace human
interaction, chatbots are a great
way to help your customer service
team answer simple questions and
even make purchase suggestions.
Brands like Burberry, Aerie (by
American Eagle Outfitters), and
more all use chatbots to improve
customer service. Facebook now
provides built-in chatbot features
into Messenger, as well. Chatbots
can serve as virtual shopping
assistants and ease the stress on
customer support personnel.
Customer support employees must
be able to hold a conversation
online, since many customers ask
questions during their shopping
questions during their shopping
experience. These suggestions by
customer service software company
Kayako provide a good workflow
for any employee who handles
questions via online chat, no matter
the platform.

21. 21
Social Media
Because online customers tend to
be active on social media, why not
take advantage of this and use
platforms popular with your best
customers to serve them, too?
With the evolution of social media,
you don’t always need special
software to hold an online chat
session. For example, Twitter is a
popular way to provide support to
customers. If you’re active on social
media, take a cue from brands like
Burberry and create a Twitter
account to provide customer
service.
Because Facebook has so many
Because Facebook has so many
active users, serving customers on
it is a natural choice. Facebook
Messenger provides a lightweight,
free chatbot to help you answer
customer questions. Customers
that see you’re responsive (there’s a
badge you can earn on your
Facebook business page if you
answer questions quickly) will likely
contact you there more often.
Though social media may bring
your brand a lot of unwanted
attention, there is an upside to
handling customer issues and
questions on social media where
questions on social media where
everyone can see it. If you deal
with customers quickly and
courteously, even “bad press” can
generate marketing buzz for your
company.
24621

22. Other Trends
There are a variety of other trends
shaping the future of e-commerce
for fashion brands. For example,
UX is increasingly being used to
understand how easy a website
may be navigated. Today,
marketers commonly talk about UX
because the nature of commerce
has changed so much with the
explosion of smartphones. The
most important takeaway from it is
that your website needs to be as
easy to navigate as possible. If not,
your customers may shop
elsewhere.
22

23. Marketing Your Brand

24. 24
Branding
Just like fashion trends, best practices in marketing change
all the time. Instagram is currently the hottest place to
market, but Facebook is definitely still a contender. Here are
some of the current marketing trends fashion brands can
take advantage of to get more sales.
The concept of content marketing
has been around since the late
1800s when John Deere began
publishing “The Furrow.” However,
its rise in popularity has made it
increasingly difficult to master.
Today, content marketing isn’t just
about blogging or print magazines.
Fashion brands are taking
Fashion brands are taking
advantage of shoppable ads on
Instagram and Facebook that link
directly to a product page.
Using an ad pixel, you can target
shoppers who’ve already visited
your site or looked at a specific
product and invite them to engage
with you again. These ads are
with you again. These ads are
effective because they remind
visitors what they liked about your
brand.
This strategy is a big part of how
online retailer Madewell is using
Instagram to create sales. Their
posts include beautiful
photographs of their products,
Content Marketing

25. 25
User-Generated Content
Today’s social media landscape is
much different than it used to be.
Likewise, the way brands market on
social media is also much different
than in the past.
One example of this change is the
rise of user-generated content, a
change of which fashion brands can
take full advantage. For example,
take full advantage. For example,
Vancouver-based activewear
retailer Ryu ran a brilliant Instagram
giveaway using the hashtag
#WhatsInYourBag. They
encouraged people to share
photos using the hashtag in
exchange for a chance to win
prizes. This campaign boosted their
prizes. This campaign boosted their
follower count to more than 20,000
and generated 32,000 pieces of
user-generated content that Ryu
could use in their marketing.
photographs of their products,
short but compelling captions, and
a direct link to buy the pictured
product. With more than a million
Instagram followers, Madewell is
experiencing firsthand the power of
content marketing.

26. 26
Email
Email marketing is one of the
oldest forms of e-marketing
around. While it may not be as sexy
as influencer outreach or as fun as
soliciting user-generated content, it
works. Reaching out directly to
customers and fans is the
backbone of every great marketing
campaign. Here are just a few of
the types of emails you can send:
marketing campaign. Here are just
a few of the types of emails you
can send:
• Newsletters
• Special promotions and sales
• Nurturing campaigns
• Reorder reminders
Fashion brands can generate big business marketing through influencers,
but it can be costly if not done correctly. This marketing strategy is hotter
than Gucci right now, so do your homework and learn how to build
relationships with a variety of influencers to boost your brand.
Influencer Outreach

27. 27
Gender/Behavioral Marketing
Traditionally, online retailers
believed women made up the
majority of online purchases. While
this may be true, research shows
that 38% of men from a 2018 NPR/
Marist survey have made an online
purchase of $1,000 or more.
When creating marketing
campaigns, fashion brands should
use different marketing tactics for
each gender based on what we
each gender based on what we
know about how men and women
shop. Women tend to be bargain
hunters and are likely to spend
more time gathering information
about a product before purchasing,
while men, on the other hand, tend
to be more focused on completing
the task as quickly as possible.
Behavior-based marketing is similar
to using demographics like gender
to using demographics like gender
to shape your marketing efforts.
Fashion brands can use their own
customer data to create these
campaigns, but third-party sources
like Think with Google and
Facebook Audience Insights can
provide valuable data to assist this
process.
Use a tool that allows you to automate
newsletters and nurture campaigns. For
personalized, automated campaigns, we
recommend Klaviyo. Other popular tools include
MailChimp, Drip, and Campaign Manager.

28. 646-982-1574 / INFO@AVEXDESIGNS.COM / AVEXDESIGNS.COM
The online fashion business is booming. By taking advantage of classic
marketing techniques and current marketing best practices, your brand can be
on its way to becoming a powerhouse.
If you’re looking for help putting your best foot forward, we’d love to help.
Avex Designs creates effective digital shopping experiences and marketing
campaigns for brands both large and small. Give us a call today!
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