DIGITALIZATION OF FASHION

Digitalization is at the forefront of the conversation about what is changing in the fashion industry. The need for brands to have an online presence and run their business digitally has been significantly rising, especially over the past few years.

We’ve compiled insights from reports and interviews with fashion industry experts working in different essential fields that can make or break your brand: buyers, trade shows, and PR. We summed up the findings in three important pieces of advice for brands’ growth.

The online landscape has gained more control over a brand’s success

The online landscape has been fragmented by the internet, whereby thousands of new niche channels have been created to reach markets. Nowadays, many large fashion brands have a global community of stylists, influencers and retailers that have a significant reach on their social media platforms, websites, newsletters, and other digital channels.

This has also led to a shift in the role of consumers. With the use of social media and the internet, people are no longer just buying fashion items, clothing and accessories. Consumers want to be part of a community, interact with brands, and influence what they buy. They want to be empowered, informed, selective, and they take into consideration how they are perceived on social media. Most consumers use multiple digital channels before, during and after shopping. Most of the brand discovery is done online.

Becoming a digitally-savvy fashion brand has thus become a fundamental pillar to captivate and satisfy partners and consumers. Having a strong digital game is no longer an option but rather a necessity for brand growth.

Your brand’s values & identity need to be matched by your digital game

The fragmented media landscape is a very tricky path to navigate. Brand heritage, identity and values are at stake. Every digital representation of a brand, from social media platforms to third-party distributors, must be aligned with sophisticated brand values and personalized to consumer needs. Mismatched digital services can even jeopardize brand reputation and growth. Traditional channels tend to stick to specific product categories. Fortified foods, multivitamins, and skincare products are still mostly sold in brick-and-mortar stores.Other breakout categories (such as fitness wearables) are mostly online native. Possible strategies for your brand: Build seamless omnichannel and digital services to meet your consumers where they are. In addition to building relationships with channel partners, consider developing a supply chain, and a marketing strategy specifically for e-commerce. For service offerings such as gyms, use a holistic online strategy to build online features that keep consumers engaged throughout the ecosystem.

Continue (or start) sharing high quality content to maintain control over your brand’s image

This competition has led buyers to calculate the ROI and brands are filtered by tradeshows to fill each season with a great selection. Ultimately, consumers want to be nourished with state-of-the-art storytelling (that is seamlessly integrated in the brand’s digital presence) in order to have the brand on top of mind. All of this leads to one thing: content. But not just content, it should be content with a purpose, tailored to each stakeholder. Content for buyers to promote specific leading styles and collections to feed into e-commerce, content for trade shows that complements the brand's physical presence. And, ofcourse, content that keeps consumers engaged and keeps the brand alive and relevant among this target audience.

Are you interested in more insights concerning this topic or are you curious on how you can make your lifestyle brand future proof? Reach out to us.

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