First and foremost, start with a strong platform. From Woocommerce to Shopify, there are no shortages of e-commerce platform options that allow store owners to create their own online store in minutes.
Shopify, being an especially competitive option in the fashion vertical, is easy to setup with custom themes made to look professional with little to no work. It’s with that peace of mind that store owners can start selling clothes online with Shopify rather than the technical nuances of creating a website that looks and performs well.
Regardless of the platform you choose, gaining customers and visibility will be the biggest struggle you need to overcome. While a modern and user-friendly platform can strengthen your brand esthetic, it won’t automatically fill your online store with eager shoppers. It’s important to have a solid strategy for getting the word out about your brand.
Most new website strategies contain a healthy mix of paid, SEO (organic), social, referral, and direct marketing tactics. It takes time to build your website traffic to find the perfect mix of marketing spend to bring prospective customers into the door.
Once in the door, the question quickly becomes “how do I convert them”? One innovative way that is hitting the fashion industry by storm is video chat capability. Video chat has become a great way to connect, help style, and co-shop with potential customers. With more online clothing brands looking to sell internationally (without expanding their brick and mortar) it’s essential to build relationships with potential customers that encourages repeat visits.
Sometimes using video chat can feel like a hassle or it may be intimidating, but there are many reasons why this feature is important and could also help your business grow.
Here are 3 tips for selling clothes online online with video:
From choosing the right size to creating the perfect look, online shoppers have a never-ending list of potential questions while buying clothes online. Maybe they want a looser fit, or they need to find a cardigan to go with that newly featured top. Regardless, your virtual personal stylists should have no problem co shopping, recommending products, and advising on that perfect fit.
Uptok’s product recommendation tool available on Shopify (other platforms coming soon) is the perfect complement to this need. With your whole product catalog integrated into the dashboard, virtual personal stylist simply needs to type in the name of a product to send it direct to the shopper during the video session. Even better than that, customers can click on that recommended product, be brought to that page, while maintaining the video session. No dropped calls here!
In addition to Uptok video chat capabilities, our data storing and profile creation tool can be just as powerful. In order to connect to the video session, the user needs to accept the privacy statement. Once that’s accepted, the session is started and the sales rep can ask customers for personal information like name, phone number, email, etc. If the customer is willing to share, Uptok’s platform will allow sales reps to capture all information directly on their dashboard view. This can be a game changer in gathering vetted customer information for newsletters, marketing campaigns, and much more.
Not only that, but with cookie storage we are able to save the data for up to 30 days! If that same customer comes back to the store to request a video session, all personal information is saved and available on hand for your sales team.
From under-utilized in store employees to store owners who have time throughout the day, video chat gives the team a proactive solution to increase sales. While it’s crucial to have the right team trained and ready to sell face-to-face with customers, it also opens doors to keeping the team occupied and proactive while they have down time.
You should consider utilizing separate widgets like chatbots or chat messaging for basic customer service questions. While proactively helping shoppers get to check out via video chat is a great time investment, jumping on a video session to answer a basic FAQ or for a shipping status update can be a major drag. Filtering your customer’s requests through different outlets can be a game changer in productivity.
Shopify is a great platform but using it alone will not solve all your problems. You should also use other tools and platforms to help manage & grow your shop. Using video chat and having a team of employees ready to answer questions is just one tip to selling clothes online.
By using the right combination of platforms, tools, and strategies you'll be well on your way to achieving your goals and selling clothes online.
