During these unprecedented times, fashion brands are facing a challenge like no other. Whilst fashion has been low on many people’s priority purchases during this time and estimates from IMRG suggesting that online clothing sales are down 23.1% year on year — there are still a number of strategic initiatives fashion brands can be exploring.
We conducted research with Retail Week to explore how leading brands like Superdry, Missguided, Asos, Topshop, H&M and New Look are performing across marketing and selling channels. The rankings are based on a combination of follower counts for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest; social commerce features, such as having shoppable feeds; and presence on Amazon.co.uk, with additional scoring given to those with branded storefronts.
Read on to see what our analysis found about these companies, what they are doing well and what could be improved.
The New Normal
The lines between marketing and commerce have become blurred. Traditional marketing channels like Facebook and Instagram are becoming increasingly transactional as they encourage consumers to purchase in app.
Once the most influential advertising platform in the world, Google is increasing its selling capability through Google Shopping; whilst Amazon, one of the largest retail sites in the world is investing more and more in their advertising services.
The winners in this new world are the big four: Amazon, Google Shopping, Instagram and Facebook. They have each united their strengths to become marketing and commerce powerhouses, with the two strategies working in tandem to drive customer interaction, and ultimately sales.
In general, Amazon is a great starting point for consumers who know what product they’re looking for, while Google Shopping is useful for those who are looking for a type of product or category. Customers on social media such as Facebook and Instagram may not be looking to shop at all – which is where creative marketing content comes in.
Discovery is the keyword here. Customers have little brand loyalty and therefore can be inspired to buy from new brands from any digital touchpoint they interact with.
What Did We Find – A Snapshot
13 leading brands and retailers are benchmarked in the report, we found that:
9 sell on Amazon
3 have an Amazon branded store
7 have a Google Shopping presence
4 manage Google Shopping through 3rd parties
With all of the recent features and activities released by Amazon to grow its fashion category, retailers and brands can’t afford to miss out (click here for more info)
Our Industry Is Changing:
We speak to brands and retailers every day in your industry who are grappling with questions like:
How can I develop new revenue streams amidst a retail pandemic?
Are we taking advantage of social selling effectively across Instagram and Facebook?
How do we know we are spending on ads wisely? What if we could remove negative ad spend?
How can we ensure we protect our brand when selling on multiple channels?
How should we be listing on Amazon? And are we using Amazon Advertising effectively?
How should we manage excess inventory profitably and what do we do with returns?
So Where Do We Come In?
At ChannelAdvisor we help brands and retailers to stay competitive as platform selling becomes the new normal. We offer both technology and expertise to help you optimise existing operations and grow new revenue streams. We have consistently outranked and outperformed our industry for the past 8 years as…#1 Channel Management Provider.
How Do We Do This?
We connect the dots between advertising and selling and ensure the right products get in front of the right consumers. It’s all about advertising in synchronisation with listing, whether this is on Amazon, Zalando, La Redoute, eBay, Afound, Bluefly, Harvey Nichols or many others — we’re here to help you manage your:
→ Digital Marketing
→ Feed Management
→ Marketplace Integrations
→ Product Intelligence
→ Where to Buy
→ ….. and much more.
Our team of strategists will ensure not only do you have the right technology, but also the expertise and guidance to build a better strategy.