Type: Type Retailing: Making improvements to Virtual Features for Enlargement

Driven by the digital convergence, fashion brands using personalization are able to understand their customers better, respond to market trends and tailor their sales

The Indian fashion industry has evolved over the last few years, with changing consumer behavior. Rise of e-commerce, new age start-ups and technological advancements are the key factors which have fueled the growth of Indian fashion industry to its current shape. Businesses, too, have transformed itself in the era of digitization, cutting edge technological innovation and rapidly evolving consumer needs and trends along with sustainability.

Focus on customisation

Technology has become the center of customization in fashion. Fashion personalization brands are about providing consumers with personalized fits and styles that are unique to their body types and style preferences.

Fashion retail is one of the biggest categories with the highest number of direct to consumer (D2C) brands. Companies have realized that D2C is not just about selling directly or better margins, it has more to do with better customer experience. Brands are planning their future growth strategy with full visibility on customer data and direct access to leverage consumer brand loyalty.

Helping more consumer engagement

Consumers appreciate the personalized experience of offline shopping world and expect the same online these days. While face-to-face personalization relies on the sales representative’s observation and relation with the consumer, technology-enabled personalization leverages on automated tools. It combines cognitive technologies which collect and analyses historic consumer data and seeks to enrich or build customer relationship. The overall navigation also changes based on customers’ preference and brands can filter the products accordingly.

Using localised and targeted content

Brands are looking at maximizing growth using localization. While it is known that entering new geographical markets is one of the most popular ways to grow, second only to mergers and acquisitions (M&A), yet-to-succeed brands need to adapt their products and services to appeal to their buyers in regional markets. Altering the style and tone, using more cultural references, or the payment methods gives the product a very localized look and feel. This helps in building trust, improving the brand recall, and in turn boosting sales.

Journey for purchase no longer linear

A customer today has a lot more information than what he was having earlier. So, the kind of experience that the customer looks for, be it personalization or discovery, he expects it to be uniform. Brands are relying more on the culture of consumers influencing others. With tech-based retail no longer the only option, influencers have become an important aspect for fashion brands today. Therefore, personalization would play a very important role in the fashion arena.