Fashion brands should listen to and engage with customers

Consumer demands are increasingly driving fashion retail, and retailers and brands should listen better to their customers. The report “Proactive Retail” by fashion industry solution provider Attune Consulting confirms what retailers have been observing

for a while.

Consumers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to the interaction with their favourite brands. They want to engage via various channels and use technology like mobile communication and social media to their advantage. Brands are well advised to invest in this area of their business, otherwise the competition, which consumers are only too aware of, will be a step ahead. “Consumers … are therefore dictating the shape of the high-end fashion market”, observes the study.

“As mobile technology plays an increasingly important part of consumers’ lives, so is it impacting the customer service relationship, while demand for a continually high quality of customer service is pushing retailers to re-evaluate their methods of customer engagement,” said Richard Emmott, Director of Retail Europe- Attune Consulting.

Reduced spending among key findings of retail study

Attune evaluated questionnaires from 1,000 fashion consumers from a broad range of age demographics and locations across the UK regarding their changes in shopping habits in view of the financial crisis and the shopping experience online and in stores.

Key findings were that consumers did watch prices more closely and were shopping around (67 percent) and had reduced their spending (61 percent), with deals and loyalty programs being important.

Of the in-store experience, 52 percent rated it as “quite important” and 19 percent even as “very important”. Being able to see the goods one was buying (75 percent) and trying them on (62 percent) were the big advantages of stores.

In terms of improvement, there is certainly a lot that stores and online retailers can do. Faster check-out times, loyalty schemes, stock diversity and a “fun” store experience ranked high for brick-and-mortar stores, whereas lower delivery charges and showing them upfront were high on the wish list for online retailers. Promotions and discounts are what consumers would like to see online as well and “cool stuff” plus a simple check-out experience (see image).

Multichannel engagement with customers is key

The survey’s clearest trend, however, is a growing demand for multichannel engagement. “Retailers that are connected with their customers are able to determine the right balance of channels to market and to build a supply chain that can respond to the ways that those customers now shop”, recommends the study.

That means for brands and retailers, to be up-to-date in terms of channels and communication options available. “The modern consumer demands lower prices, better value and a wider selection of goods to always be immediately available, but fulfilling that demand will increasingly require the application of retail technology, engaging with social media and expanding the use of multichannel retailing. To achieve this, retailers must use smart, integrated technology,” concludes the study.

Images: Marc Samsom / Attune