Intro
It seems like the future is in E-commerce. Today, thanks to social media and other digital channels, E-commerce is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. That also means that thanks to E-commerce, the fashion industry is also on the rise. If you’re looking to start an E-commerce fashion business, you’ve made a good decision. Of course, starting any business isn’t all that easy. Before you decide to start an online fashion business, you should know how to do it properly and how to manage it later on. Here is a guide that will help you a lot when starting and managing your E-commerce fashion business.
How to start your E-commerce fashion business
Before we start, let us tell you that now is the perfect time to start your online fashion business. With the rise of social media, the fashion industry has finally begun to change and you can capitalize on those changes.
The customers are those who are demanding certain fashion standards and the industry is finally listening to them. Let’s see how you can start your online fashion business.
Choose your area
The beginning is always the most difficult part of everything. Where do you start? Well, when it comes to online fashion businesses, the best place to start is by choosing a fashion niche. Instead of trying to satisfy the needs of every demographic, the best would be to settle for a niche that you are passionate about and that interests you.
Start with yourself, what kind of clothing do you like and buy, and what would you like to see more of on the current market? It can be custom teamwear, for example. Or maybe plus-size clothing. Once you determine that part, it’s time to work on being unique.
How will the products you sell be different from a ton of other similar products? Choosing a certain fashion niche is just not enough, you need to think of ways to stand out.
Create a business plan and model
Just like for any other business, when starting an E-commerce fashion business, creating a business plan is crucial. The point of a business plan is to help you operate your business.
It’s a document that provides an overview of what your company hopes to accomplish and how. In addition to that, a good business plan should also have a detailed description of all the product lines, and customer demographics, as well as ways to stay competitive further down the line. A business plan also consists of a detailed market and competitive analysis, and all the possible marketing strategies you intend to employ.
Creating a business plan also involves choosing the business model you plan to implement. The most common options for E-commerce businesses include private-label clothing, custom cut and sew, print-on-demand clothing, and dropshipping.
Choose an E-commerce platform for your business You probably already know that an E-commerce platform is a software application that allows selling and purchasing online. It’s also used for managing websites, marketing, sales, and other things in online businesses.
This means that if you want to have your online store, you need to choose an E-commerce platform. Thankfully, the market is full of great E-commerce platforms, you just need to choose the one that ticks all your boxes.
To be able to choose the right platform, you should answer questions such as how you want to run your business, do you have the technical knowledge to bring the store to life, what sort of features you want the platform to have, and finally, how much can you spend on a platform?
Answering all these questions will help you decide which E-commerce platform is the most ideal for your business. For example, there are three types of platforms – SaaS platforms, PaaS platforms, and on-premises platforms. Each of these platforms delivers different kinds of E-commerce solutions. SaaS (software-as-a-service) and Paas (platform-as-a-service) platforms are ideal for small and startup businesses as they offer professional setup and support. On-premises platforms, on the other hand, allow businesses to have more control over their E-commerce site. Shopify, Magneto, Squarespace, Vix, and BigCommerce are some of the biggest E-commerce platforms currently on the market.
Choose a domain name
The first thing many business owners tend to ask is whether their business and domain names need to match. The answer is no. Your business name and your domain name serve completely different purposes. The domain name is an online website address where people will go to find your website. What your domain name should match is your brand name. The brand name represents what a company sells – products or services, and it’s the name consumers connect with your business name. With that out of the way, let’s talk about choosing the domain name. The best would be to choose a simple, short, and easy-to-remember domain name. Avoid using hard-to-spell words and names, simple words and phrases work best because they are easy to remember. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t be creative and think of a unique name. Your domain name should represent your brand identity and should stand out from the competition. Another important thing to consider when choosing a domain name is scalability. You should choose a name that can evolve and grow with your business.
Customize your online store
Depending on which E-commerce platform you choose, you’ll be able to create and customize your online store in just a couple of steps. Almost all E-commerce web builders offer quality templates that you can use for your store, they also offer ways to customize the navigation bars, product pages, and everything else you may need. Take templates and themes for example, you can either choose between free or paid templates and themes that are specifically designed for fashion stores. On some platforms, you can even bring in your custom design elements to customize the store.
Publishing and marketing the store
The last but equally important step in starting your online fashion store includes publishing and marketing your business. Getting your store up and running is not enough. You need to attract customers. And the best way to do so is to employ some digital marketing strategies.
As you know, there are many digital marketing strategies, but some that may work for your business include social media marketing, content, and email marketing. Social media marketing is essential nowadays. It’s crucial for launching a new E-commerce business. Make sure you have at least one social media account before you open your store.
Having some followers before you even open the store can be a very good thing. Through social media accounts, you’ll be able to use sponsored and promoted posts to attract the attention of your target audience. Content marketing can also help you out quite a bit. Having strong content can help you optimize your SEO – find the right keywords and phrases and rank higher on search pages. Email marketing is the best way to target customers and introduce your brand to new customers, and offer promotions, and discounts to your current customers.
How to manage your new online fashion business
Starting an E-commerce fashion business is one thing, but managing it is a whole other. Fashion trends and styles are constantly changing, customers are always demanding something new and fresh – new colors and patterns – that’s why managing a fashion business is not easy.
To run your online fashion business successfully, you should be aware of all the methods that make managing your business much easier and less stressful. Let’s take a look at them.
Invest in new tech
Running a successful business without the help of some kind of technology today is almost impossible. Every day new technological discoveries make our life much better and the same can be said about our businesses. Today, we can integrate technology in almost every segment of the online fashion business from production to the finished product. For example, AI software and tools can help you analyze data and predict new fashion trends, keep track of inventory and so much more. With the help of AR, you can provide your customers with an amazing user experience. Technology can also make your fashion brand more sustainable and eco-friendlier. So, you can see how investing in new technology can help you manage your business.
Prioritize user experience on your website
Customer experience is crucial for the success of your online business. Make sure you get to know your audience and discover what they like. Most customers like to shop in easy-to-navigate, fast, and responsive E-commerce stores, so ensure that yours is that kind of store.
Another thing to consider is customer service. You need to have good customer service for your store to be successful. This means incorporating chatbots on your page and also being always available by phone or email.
Work on your website design
People like seeing and buying from a nicely designed website. Visually attractive websites can make a great first impression on your customers, so it’s important to work on creating a website that corresponds to your brand’s personality and message. When designing a website, create a professional and credible-looking logo, and choose colors that can evoke positive feelings in your customers. The layout also matters a lot when it comes to good web design. To make sure that you’re doing everything the right way, you should invest in web-building and digital tools or simply hire a professional who can make your website look perfect. The better the web design, the more likely are your customers going to stay on your site.
Optimize SEO
You know by now that optimizing your SEO is a must if you want to attract more customers. Increasing traffic on your E-commerce website, as well as improving search rankings can be easily done with SEO. Finding the right keywords and phrases and including them in your content can help people find you faster on search pages.
Connect your social media with an E-commerce site
Having at least one social media channel can help you immensely. Social media channels are ideal for marketing and connecting with your customers. But if you connect social media channels with your E-commerce website, you can benefit greatly. Connecting these platforms will help customers find you and maybe make a purchase.
Create ads for your audience
Sometimes, getting traffic to your online store is the most difficult part of owning an online business. Customers won’t just show up out of nowhere. You need to work on attracting customers to your store. And ads are how you’ll get them to click on your website. That’s why you need to work really hard on creating ads that appeal to your audience and that will entice them to visit your store. Of course, that’s the most challenging part because there are tons of similar fashion stores that offer similar items. To attract customers, you’ll need to create ads based on your target demographic. You will also need to make a budget that will go towards targeted social media ads such as Instagram or TikTok ads.
Enable popular payment methods
Yet another thing you have to consider is payment methods. Customers like to have options when they are buying online. If the customers don’t see their preferred payment method, they will cancel their purchase and never come back to your store. That’s why the more payment options you offer, the more likely you’re to attract a larger audience. Luckily, today you have many payment options that you can offer your customers. A great number of online payment services from PayPal, Amazon Pay, and Masterpass to Apple Pay.
Wrapping up
It may be the right time to start your own retail business, however, no one can guarantee that your business will be successful. Starting and managing any business is a challenging feat – it takes a good business plan and a lot of patience.
Choosing a good E-commerce platform can also contribute to your store’s success. But starting a business is one thing and managing it afterward is another. For a business owner, there’s no time to rest, you need to work on being up-to-date with all fashion trends and styles, and you also need to be innovative. If you think you can handle all that, then good luck on your journey!
