3 key things I learned working in fashion e-commerce

From demanding luxury and premium womenswear to menswear and childrenswear - I have travelled though over a decade of fashion e-commerce transformations as a Graphic Designer. The journey has brought an abundance of priceless experiences that I can use to help new up and coming brands grow and avoid the most common pitfalls. Some of the smallest tweaks to your business can be time savers and help start-ups fast track their business to the next phase.

So what are the top 3 things I've learned working in fashion e-com?

1. Your customer journey is a 360 experience

When it comes to designing content for your online business it is no longer enough to focus on one specific channel. The reality is customers can link to your content from anywhere online.

A common misconception is that your website homepage is effectively your shop window - so that's where you should expend most of your efforts right?

Well no, not really... your homepage is your shop window - yes! BUT we must always keep in mind that users do not travel in a one-way fashion to you site. Your users could travel through your social channels, email newsletters, paid advertising or a spontaneous organic search before they even hit your website. Which means that EVERY page on your site and every piece of content you post must make good first impression and prove to be a good user experience.

How can you apply this to your business?

• Keep an eye on the bigger picture - Plan your content as a journey

• Keep design & branding consistent (it's a deal breaker)

• Think mobile first, mobile device usage is on an all time high

• Aim for a good user experience on your website site as well as across all of your other channels

2. Test, test, test

So you've launch a campaign, a new website or sent out an email.

There are guarantees on how your fresh new content will perform.

We can't guess or anticipate how we think our users will react - we are not them!

and trying to guess what your customer might do could lead to a downfall.

The only way you can be sure about your customers behaviours is to research and analyse how your content is received. This is a good way to secure reasoning behind the types of content you produce.

It's ok to test your content and make modifications based on customer feedback or reaction.

...but how can you gather customer feedback as a small business?

• Monitor the engagement of your content

• Talk to your customers - send out a survey or create mini focus groups

• Use google analytics

• Use heat map integrations

• Keep an eye on your social media analytics

• A/B split test your content

The best part is, if you are just starting out all of the above is free!

How can you apply this to your business?

• No matter how much you think you know your customer - don't make assumptions about their needs or behaviour.

• Test, analyse and use data to support your content creation decisions

• By testing and improving you'll become an expert in providing the perfect content for your users

• You can test anything from imagery, colours, web pages and more (there's no limit!)

3. It's ok to be reactive!

I'll be honest this is is my least favourite lesson learned as a designer, because you could spend months planning the most cohesive, consistent and beautiful campaign and on launch day a spanner is thrown into the works and the campaign launch folds based on a turn of events (this can be a simple as a change in weather!) ...No one wants to launch a summer campaign in the middle of an unforeseen snow storm.

Changes of events mean you have to go back to the drawing board with very little time to create something new. But we have to do it! It is so beneficial for a business to be reactive.

The last 3 months during the Covid19 crisis says it all. Anything pre planned for Spring/Summer 2020 went out of the window for nearly all businesses!

How can you apply this to your business?

• Still plan your content but be prepared for last minute changes

• Always have a library of assets that you can interchange

• Don't hesitate to be reactive (but do give your designer a heads up!)

• Being reactive can have a positive impact on your sales

So that's my top 3 things, that have been a reoccurring theme over the last decade or so. I hope it can help smaller fashion businesses make informed decisions when planning for content.