Managing a fashion e-commerce store comes with a lot of moving parts.
It requires strategy, efficiency, and the right tools. You need to avoid common pitfalls while always looking for ways to make improvements.
In this article, we’ll walk you though common e-commerce management mistakes, and the fundamentals of e-commerce management to keep you successful.
Let’s get into it!
Common E-Commerce Management Mistakes
Be sure to avoid these common mistakes while managing your fashion e-commerce store.
Neglecting Mobile Optimization
Over 50% of website traffic comes from mobile devices. If shoppers can’t easily and quickly shop from their smartphones and tablets – you’re leaving money on the table.
Learn more: How the Mobile Experience of Your Online Apparel Store Affects Sales
Ignoring Data Analytics
Fashion e-commerce is data-driven.
Without leveraging data for decision-making, you’re essentially flying blind. After all, you can’t improve your store’s performance if you don’t know what needs to be optimized. Your metrics and key performance indicators tell you what’s broken and then it’s up to you to find ways to improve it.
Is your logistics team consistently late shipping orders? Consider implementing a logistics management system.
Are your return rates eating into profits? A size recommendation tool could drastically reduce returns and exchanges.
Weak Product Descriptions and Imagery
Looks are everything in fashion. Without being able to touch, feel, or try on clothing, you’re limited to selling clothing with words and visual depictions of garments.
High-quality product images are non-negotiable.
Next, your product pages need to provide as much information as possible: well-written product descriptions, size charts, model size information, and anything else that’s relevant.
Overlooking Size Recommendations
Helping shoppers pick out the right size should be one of your top priorities. However, size recommendation tools only help customers who use them. You also need to look for ways to encourage shoppers to take advantage of personalized recommendations.
Forgetting the Competition
Your competitors are probably facing many of the same challenges you are. As such, their solutions could work for you, too. Browse competitor stores from time to time. See what they’re doing well and what you could implement in your own store.
Fundamentals of E-Commerce Management
Now that we’ve discussed some of the common mistakes in fashion e-commerce management, let’s talk about how to fix them as well as other fundamentals.
1. Optimize Your Website
This cannot be stressed enough!
Your website is your digital storefront. People won’t shop on a website with a poorly designed shopping experience any more than they would shop in a physical store that wasn’t clean and tidy.
There are many different aspects of your website to consider, such as navigation, checkout, product pages, menu structure, searching, and product filtering.
Here’s a checklist of some of the essentials:
Streamlined User Experience (UX)
A smooth, user-friendly shopping experience is key to retaining customers. The way users navigate your site, find what they’re looking for and check out, all need to be optimized.
Your user journey should be smooth from start to finish. If users can’t quickly do what they want to, they’re very likely to give up on their purchase.
And don’t forget about mobile!
Your mobile experience is just as important as your desktop site.
Sizebay tip: Run UX audits regularly to identify and fix pain points in your customer journey, such as confusing menus or slow-loading pages.
Optimized Checkout Process
A complicated checkout process is one of the leading causes of cart abandonment.
At checkout, simpler is better. Think fewer clicks and forms to fill out and clear instructions.
Here’s how you can optimize your fashion e-commerce checkout:
- Follow best design practices;
- Offer guest checkout;
- Accept multiple payment methods;
- Implement one-click payments.
Accurate Product Information
This was one of our management mistakes to avoid, and yes, we’re mentioning it again. That’s how important it is. When you don’t provide enough product information, at best your customer support team will be overwhelmed, at worst your conversion rates won’t be all they could be.
2. Manage Inventory Effectively
Effective inventory management is crucial for maintaining the right balance between meeting customer demand and minimizing operational costs.
Poor inventory management can result in stockouts, where products run out, and customers leave unsatisfied, or overstocking, which ties up capital and increases storage costs. Both scenarios can significantly hurt your bottom line.
To avoid these costly mistakes, here are a few strategies that can improve how you manage your inventory:
Implement automated inventory tools: Implementing inventory management software that syncs across all sales channels is key to keeping track of stock levels in real-time. It eliminates the need for manual stock counts, which also helps reduce errors. Anything you can do to streamline your e-commerce store’s operations and better manage your inventory is a good idea.
Optimize your warehouse layout: Small changes in the physical layout of your warehouse can help fulfill orders faster. Organize products logically and make best-sellers or frequently ordered items easy to access. And make it easy for workers to find what they’re looking for with clear labeling and organization.
Set par levels and use just-in-time inventory: Par levels trigger reordering when the stock of a garment dips below an established minimum stock level. Meanwhile, a just-in-time inventory system where you receive stock only as needed makes for a winning combination. Paired together, they help optimize your inventory while always meeting customer demand.
Leverage predictive analytics for demand forecasting: Analyze past sales data, seasonality patterns, and market trends to prepare for peak and slow seasons as effectively as possible.
3. Make Decisions Based on Data
As we’ve mentioned, fashion e-commerce is multifaceted. Fashion forecasting is not easy and when selling garments online there are additional challenges related to sizing and fit.
Your decisions should always be grounded in data because it’s your data that will tell you what you need to do.
Here are some essential key performance indicators you need to be tracking:
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of your website visitors who actually make a purchase. If your conversions are low, look at who you’re targeting and the shopping experience you’re providing.
- Average Order Value (AOV): The average amount spent per order. Low AOV suggests missed cross-sell and upsell opportunities or a lack of bundled offers.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The cost to acquire a new customer. High CAC might be a sign of inefficient marketing strategies.
- Return and Exchange Rate: The percentage of customers returning products. High rates often result from ordering the wrong size or unmet style expectations.
- Cart Abandonment Rate: The percentage of carts abandoned before purchase. Things like slow checkout, unclear sizing, and unexpected extra costs lead to high abandonment rates.
- Traffic Sources: The channels driving traffic to your store. Knowing this helps you know which market channels are performing and which need work.
- Email Open Rate: The percentage of recipients opening your emails. If you have low open rates, start testing with different subject lines and delivery timing.
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. This could be a sign of things like needing to optimize your website and which audiences your targeting with marketing.
- Customer Retention Rate: The percentage of customers making repeat purchases. Your post-purchase experience and personalized marketing are essential to retain customers.
Learn more: 9 Essential Key Performance Indicators for Fashion E-Commerce
4. Sell On Multiple Channels
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
Today’s shoppers are everywhere, and your brand needs to be, too. Sell on multiple platforms, including your website, social media, and third-party marketplaces. This will help you meet your customers where they are and how they like to shop.
It’s also important to remember that different generations shop differently.
Gen Z loves to discover brands through social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Meanwhile, millennials often rely on thorough online research, reading reviews, and comparing options before buying. Finally, Gen X and boomers may prefer more traditional shopping experiences – but they’re increasingly shopping online, typically on brand websites.
By selling on multiple channels, you cater to each generation’s unique shopping preferences. But remember, there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to determining which channels to sell on. Conduct your own audience research to figure out where your shoppers are.
5. Invest in Digital Marketing
You need to get shoppers into your online store to sell clothes. And for that, you need digital marketing!
Here are some of the basics to consider:
- SEO, or search engine optimization, helps ensure your driving the right traffic to your website from Google searches.
- Paid advertising allows you to target specific customer segments and keywords. Because of how highly visual fashion is, social media ads could be the best option to boost brand visibility and increase conversions.
- Email marketing lets you keep your shoppers up to date about promotions and new collections. It’s a great way to keep customer retention rates up. Be sure to segment your audience and deliver personalized email content.
- Influencer marketing may make sense for your brand. Consider your audience, budget, and who the right influencers could be.
- Personalize your marketing based on audience segments. Ads and communication should always speak directly to the viewer.
- Continuous A/B testing is how you can continuously optimize your efforts, whether it’s garment descriptions, email subject lines or call-to-action buttons. Make sure to only test one variable at a time.
6. Offer Strong Customer Support
No matter how optimized your website is or how seamless the checkout process is, customers will always need support before or after their purchase. How you support and engage with them plays a crucial role in shaping your fashion store’s brand identity.
A positive customer service experience can significantly impact how shoppers feel about your brand. And even the most loyal customers can be turned off by poor support. Meanwhile, exceptional service can turn first-time buyers into repeat customers.
Make sure your team is responsive, knowledgeable, and approachable across all channels – whether it’s through live chat, email, or social media.
7. Enhance with Technology
Implementing the right tech tools into your fashion e-commerce store can make all the difference. They can help you address issues that need to be prioritized, whether it’s inventory management, email marketing, or sizing.
If you’re unsure of what tools you should implement, look at your KPIs. They can give you a clear insight into which areas need the most attention.
Here are some useful tools to offer a better shopping experience:
- Personalized product recommendations help shoppers discover products tailored to their preferences.
- Size recommendation tools remove the guesswork out of ordering sizes. Look for tools that use anthropometric models to offer personalized size recommendations.
- Mix and match tools allow shoppers to put together entire outfits with garments in your store. This will keep them engaged and expose them to new products. The result? More traffic to your website and higher average order volume.
Start With the Fundamentals
Mastering the fundamentals we’ve laid out in this guide will help set your store up for success. Remember that how you go about improving your store’s performance will depend on your unique scenario and challenges. Learn to prioritize what makes sense for your store!
If you’d like to learn other ways to improve your store’s performance, read our article with 5 tips to sell more clothes online.
