In this article, we bring to life the fashion use case for live video shopping. A lot has been said about reduced footfall caused by social distancing. This has had an impact on fashion sales, particularly given fashion has traditionally relied upon on the changing room as the primary driver for purchase .
A live video shopping experience in fashion gives the opportunity to Engage with customers and immerse them in the product experience from a distance. With a video commerce platform, new possibilities open up.The aim is to replicate the retail experience as much as possible from a distance, but also leverage the scale of eCommerce to assist with conversion en masse.
Matching shoppers with stylists
Confer With connects shoppers browsing on a website with stylists, who can assist with fashion decisions. If someone is browsing the evening wear section of an apparel website, Confer With provides the opportunity for a shopper to talk to someone specialised in that space. The best experts can be prioritised, over people just training, so as to give your brand the best opportunity to highlight the key selling points of the product, alternatives and add ons.
Engaging with a fashion expert
Once the shopper and their fashion expert are connected, Confer With engages in a one to one video call between the two. This video call allows the evening wear expert to understand their shoppers needs. What type of body shape do they have? What is a good colour match? What do they usually wear to a formal occasion? What is their partner wearing? The video engagement allows a connection to be made and prepare for immersion.
Immersing a shopper in an apparel experience
Because the shopper and the stylist are face to face, the expert can:
- Show how the product looks and feels
- Demonstrate with a model of a similar body shape to the shopper what the fit looks like
- Ask the shopper to show similar products they have purchased and even try on to show the stylist what look they are going for
- Respond immediately to feedback
These are hugely powerful tools, but when using the immersion toolset that is linked to the entire inventory of the eCommerce platform, the stylist can take that immersion to the next level.
- Using the “Alternatives” selector, select similar products at a higher and lower price bracket
- Using the “additions” selector: Select belts, bags, jewellery and shoes
- Show product specifications, images, and also prerecorded videos relating to how it matches
Making it easy to buy, then and there
Confer With have developed patent pending a shared virtual basket, which allows both the shopper and the stylist to add items to a virtual shopping basket. Once the shopper and the stylist agree on the dress, bag and shoes, the expert can offer “Shall I add that to our shared virtual basket”? If the answer is yes, the expert can do the equivalent of take it to the till.
While the stylist is demonstrating an add on, like shoes, the shopper can add that to their shared virtual basket too.
This basket collaboration, is designed to match the behaviour online and take an online shopping basket from being a one way thing to something that both the shopper and the brand can collaborate on.
Lastly, to help along the sale of the dress, shoes, bag and jewellery, the stylist can offer a 20% off voucher by applying a voucher code at her discretion.
Booking a further appointment to check the fit and style is also on the cards.
Returns the fashion industry can expect from live video shopping
In the example above, a website sale is likely to have netted just the dress purchase, if the website was able to meet the shoppers needs.
Conversely, with video shopping the stylist can learn that their customer has to attend a special event – justifying the need for the Add-ons. Special events justify a larger basket and follow up sessions can deepen the relationship.
This response to needs will drive up conversion rate anywhere up to 10 times, depending on the skill of the stylist – but in particular, prevent the need for returns that are purely speculative which is a drag in the bottom line.
Furthermore, if the stylist is successful, they ill have established trust with their customer – they can choose the right moment to suggest the additional items. The Confer With add ons selector empowers this by using data to suggest the right thing. The Shared virtual basket allows both the shopper and the expert to add it to their pre-selection basket.
These tools help increase average basket size by at least 30%, and much higher when your teams get the hang of it.
Last word on the fashion use case for live video shopping
On a practical level, the use case is very clear – video allows face to face connections between shoppers & stylists and importantly to demonstrate. Immersion deepens the customer experience to ensure there is a commercial framework for driving incremental volume.
Please get in touch if you would like a live demonstration of how Confer With can facilitate highly effective live video shopping experiences with customers.
