Fashion is in a dire state in Australia. Australia is a small savvy market and the fashion industry has failed to keep up with the wants and needs of their customers who are increasingly trending to use the net to “shop around”. You need only look down main shopping precincts across the nation to see a gammit of empty “For Lease” signs in once bustling shopping meccas.
We have worked for many years with a number of fashion related clients. Let me share with you a few learning’s and my thoughts on the future of retail in Australia:
- Try to run online and offline business will be your downfall. What I mean by this is for those business owners who fail to integrate and embrace convergence in their business model are doomed! You cannot run an online business like you do a bricks and mortar business.
- Budget for the same you would otherwise invest in opening a new bricks and mortar store on your online shop. Many fashion businesses make the fundamental failure of perceiving web to be cheap. You will fail if you do not properly invest it on your online shop as you would otherwise if you were to open your doors on a new bricks and mortar shop. That’s not to say you need to spend up big. But, if you are looking at creating an online offering for your business, look to apportion a budget of $50k – $100k (including first year marketing) to do it right!
- Online consumers demand efficiency in the processing of their orders and are price conscious. Don’t delay or fail to communicate with them.
- Communication is key. Online customers want to feel as though they matter. Communicate with them, via email or even via phone.
- Get the fundamentals in place first before you add the bells and whistles. You will never get it right the first time. Like in all businesses, changes, refinements and tweaks will need to be made. For that reason, don’t overcapitalise on the bells and whistles too early on at the sacrifice of your marketing budget. Prioritise getting the engine working and in line with revenue growth, then look to roll out enhancements and enrich the overall customer experience.
- You need to market your business. You can’t just open the doors and expect customers to flock to your brand / store (online or offline). You need to market yourself.
Fashion, in particular is plagued by business owners being either designers or accountants. They are promoters they are not marketers. There is a considerable difference between the two!
Online retail is on the up as more consumers look for convenience, good price and service.
You can promote to the cows come home but if you have an online shop, you need to market yourself both online and offline.
While there is considerable opportunity online, only a select few are doing it the right way! Save yourself and your business and speak to Pivot Digital to help guide you in the right direction!
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