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What you still don’t knowUX for fashion

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Have you ever wondered why your store is to be successful among the many fashion e-stores? Can you easily enumerate 5 advantages of your e-commerce over the competition? Advantages that are formulated specifically, e.g. free returns, rather than general phrases such as “we are the best”. Do you already have such a list? That’s great. Perhaps you even use these advantages in communication with your customers...

But does communicating these advantages actually affects customer shopping satisfaction? Today I will focus your attention on four key areas that really affect the user experience the fashion industry.

Learn quick wins that will improve the experience of your customers and have a positive impact on your business.

Introduction

What is a homepage for?

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What is a homepage for?In response to this question, many product owners might say:

“Homepage is not a store – it’s a place to create trends, image and lifestyle. It’s also a place to communicate about different promotional actions or products.”

Of course, being a trendsetter is the dream of most of the companies involved in fashion sales. There is probably nothing more exciting than creating an e-store brand, with a community of existing and new users reading our articles to learn a lot about fashion, places, and news. We would like them to draw inspiration from our site, share our content, build commitment and, of course, buy our products while they’re at it.

Are you sure that customers of fashion e-stores want the same thing? We checked it out. We conducted a number of individual in-depth interviews with users and quantitative research.

The conclusions are as follows

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Homepage is not a store – it’s a place

to create trends, image and lifestyle -

is this the truth?

Only 60% of users scroll a page down, if upon entering it they see a banner that ends at or below the fold. The others don’t notice that there is content below and go further into the website. How can we fi x this? Scrolling is favored by content that is e.g. a box fragment with a product, showing above the fold: it indicates the content available below.

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A large group of users seeing project banners expect to view the product after clicking them, not a product listing in this category. In short, they expect to be able to buy the product, not to browse similar products.

What is ahomepage for?

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The e-store user wants to see

products, not lifestyle content.

Less than 5% of users choose content clearly separated from a product. It proves that the e-store user wants to see products, not e.g. lifestyle content. If you want to create such content, publish articles that directly relate to the product. They also present products and stylizations offered by your store, giving the opportunity to purchase directly or move to a product card where users can get to know the product and decide to buy. However, keep in mind that such content is an addition, not a priority, to the user.

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Does gender matter? Yes, a lot. These are one of the most clickable links in main navigation, according to move and click-tracking maps. Therefore, if you are selling products for both sexes, present your offer in a transparent manner, always giving the possibility of changing this important parameter.

What is ahomepage for?

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Presentyour offer in a

transparent manner, always giving the possibility

of changing this important

parameter.

If you are a multibrand, this message is also important to you - brand listing is an equally important link. Some users have their favorite brand, it’s a well-known fact. When looking for their brand, they look for products rather than descriptions and information about the brand. Of course, you should provide such information for SEO reasons, however, it shouldn’t be more important than products themselves.

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What about product listing?

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What about product listing?It’s another important point on the road of a customer making a purchase. What do you think can help in selecting the right product? What do users expect from this part of your e-store? When testing fashion e-stores, customers surprised me with their determination and cunning. Here’s why.

Let’s take a look at some examples

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How to present a product? On a model, or in a packshot photo? We checked it out and found that 50% of users want to see products on models in listing. They say that such images allow them to see how the product really looks like. The other half of users want to view packshots, because they don’t want to be infl uenced by a model. How to reconcile these expectations? You can design and implement the ability to switch the listing, taking into account both packshot and model options. A win-win situation.

What about product listing?

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50% of users want to see products on

models in listing.

Have you ever thought creating a store which looks like an industry catalog? There are no prices, products are the most important. We conducted a study on a product listing that looked exactly like that - nothing impaired the beauty of product exposure. The price could be seen only after moving the cursor over the product box. What was the result? Again, I was surprised by customers’ determination and cunning, because a certain pattern repeated almost every time. Users were sorting products from the cheapest to the most expensive. Then, by moving the cursor over the products, they checked which is the last product that satisfi es them in terms of price. Perhaps people like dreaming, but when it comes to shopping their needs are different - they want to see the products they can afford.

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Another question that bothered us was the number of products in listing. In most e-stores you can see options of 90, 180 and 270 products per page. What do you think, which number customers choose? Quantitative research proved that the majority choose the largest number of products per page, as it allows for scrolling and comparing products within a single page. A good solution is to set the option to 90 products per page (which eliminates long load time) and automatic loading of products during scrolling or including a button that will show another batch of products when clicked. I think that this solution is ideal for e-stores in RWD or AWD, where mobile users are accustomed to free scrolling.

What about product listing?

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How to present a fashion product

in e-commerce? Product card.

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How to present a fashion product in e-commerce? Product card.This is where we can convince users to the product they’re looking at and add it to cart. What can contribute to their positive feelings and emotions? Surely you’ve read about it many times. We asked users: what influences the decision to purchase a particular product? One thing can be deduced from the answers: how it is imagined. Yes, the idea of the product - how does it look, how it is to touch it, how it behaves in motion. And most importantly, how does it look and how does it feel when it’s worn.

The conclusions are as follows

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Use pictures that allow for enlarging

a product, takenat an angle that

shows the fabricand shots that show

the key elementsor decorations,

such as buttons, zippers, pockets.

Photos - large and in good quality. I bet I didn’t surprise you. But are pictures always the same? Our respondents repeatedly drew attention to the incompatibility of the appearance of the product in the picture and after unpacking it at home. What actually helps in such situation? Pictures that allow for enlarging a product, taken at an angle that shows the fabric. Shots that show the key elements or decorations, such as buttons, zippers, pockets, etc. In the end, everything is made up of these small things. They make a product whole, giving it style.

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It’s also important to show a product in motion. How many times in a retail store have you seen when someone leaves a dressing room to make a few steps in front of a mirror or simulates sitting on a chair? Fortunately, there are ways to do it online as well. The fi rst is to show the product on a model in motion. It’s a basic solution, which shows how fabric and cut behave. The second, and far better way, is to present short, 30s videos that show a model wearing the product, taking a few steps and turning. It’s best to combine both ways.

How to present a fashion product in e-commerce? Product card.

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Present short, 30s videos that show a model wearing

the product, taking a few steps and

turning

Another point worthy of note is the way of presenting product details. In a retail store good shop assistants will tell an interesting story about details, functions and components - obviously, showing them on the product. They know that showing something replaces a thousand words. In order to help making purchase decisions, especially in sports and luxury fashion, it’s good to present functionality of the product in the pictures with descriptions. You can magnify elements with commentary, create links from functional elements to their description, or create a video with presentation of important details.

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Process orprocesses?

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Process or processes?Without doubt, the main objective of e-commerce is selling products. Therefore, finalizing a purchase is for many the most important process of e-shopping. However, this is one of the few processes that affect the overall user experience. Shopping is not only a moment of search, selection and purchase. It’s also the time after making a purchase, where sales dissonance may occur. I personally think that purchasing process lasts from entering the e-store, through purchasing itself, to receiving the product, trying it on and potential refund or replacement. This is how the rules of e-commerce market are nowadays. How can we actually influence the user experience? By designing tailored processes.

Take a look

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Doubts and negative emotions can occur during purchasing process. Why? Today the choice of products we have is practically unlimited. When buying pants, a customer doesn’t choose between a model A and a model B, but chooses from at least a dozen models of one brand. And what if each model is in 2 or 3 color versions? How can you be sure that you made the right choice? The solution may be to use product editing on the cart level (the ability to change the color/size). Implementing such functionality allows the user to maintain a sense of control. Customer knows that even at the time of making a purchase they can still change their mind about the fi nal product version.

Process or processes?

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Use productediting on the cart

level (the abilityto change the

color/size).

How do users want to receive the purchased products? Our research shows one thing: it depends. There are no clear indications. However, it’s worth to diversify delivery methods. Not everyone can receive a parcel between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., when most couriers work. A lot of people use parcel machines and similar solutions, as they give more fl exibility in terms of reception time. There are buyers who want to buy clothes for a special occasion which takes place very soon - the option of same day delivery will be important for them. What is certain is that in the current world of online fashion delivery should be free of charge.

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The next point is click & collect. If you’re selling online and offl ine, implementing this point is mandatory. There is a lot of customers who will gladly go to a retail store to pick up the product they’ve bought. How does click & collect affect the user experience? Customers can buy online when they want, so our offer is always within their reach. When picking up the product from a retail store, they can try it on and have the possibility of exchanging it on the spot. This is a big advantage, the staff can suggest a replacement as well. There is only one step from this solution to making our online offer available in retail stores, allowing the customer who couldn’t fi nd a desired product in one store see the online offer and fi nd out where there is the closest store with this product in stock or order a home/store delivery.

Process or processes?

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Click & collect - if you’re selling

online and offl ine, implementing this

point is mandatory.

How to take care of customers during returns? Start from the very beginning. Send products in packages that can be used to return them. Enclose instructions specifying how the item can be returned or replaced. By designing friendly return and exchange process, you show that you care about your customers, which, in turn, increases their sense of security. Automate processes of return and exchange and let them become really customer-friendly.

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Summary

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SummaryIn the above document I have described four specifi c areas of a fashion e-store which practically affect user experience. I have discussed facts and conclusions, supported by research for our clients and own experience. I know that these areas are much more numerous, so if you have any questions about searching, fi ltering, quick view, ratings and social media in e-commerce, please contact us. If you have other questions about user experience, I’ll gladly answer them as well

If you have any questions on how to conduct complex UX projects, contact us: sales@divante.co

Krzysztof JagiełkaSenior User

Experience Designer

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We are working with

DivanteDmowskiego 1750-203 Wroclaw, Poland

hi@divante.co(+48) 733 355 596www.divante.co