The future of the customer journey in fashion retail

Understanding customer behavior, needs and desires is the premise for fashion retail businesses to build sales strategies. By understanding the customer journey, retailers can improve the consumer experience at every touchpoint along the journey, from the first interaction to the long-term relationship.

Join LBC International to learn about the future development direction of the retail fashion industry's customer journey through the following article.

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1. Overview of the customer journey in fashion retail

Customer journey simulates the process of customers experiencing a brand over time or the journey that connects customers with the brand. Describing the customer journey will help businesses accurately capture touch points, what customers are thinking and interacting with the brand, while ensuring consistency at every touch point and across every channel (including online and offline).

Simply put, customer journey is the entire experience a customer has when communicating with a brand. It is considered based on the complete interaction path, from brand discovery to purchase, and then to becoming a loyal customer. The focus of the journey is not simply the transaction but the customer's feeling when interacting with the brand.

In the fashion retail industry, a customer's journey might start by going to Google to search for a dress and be taken to your website. Even if the customer has never heard of the brand, he or she may be attracted by the appeal of the title. Next, the customer takes turns referencing the products on the website, ordering, paying and registering an account because he is satisfied with the experience.

At this time, the brand will collect customer information for marketing purposes, send thanks and provide after-sales policies. Having received a great experience, the guest shares it with friends via social media. In their shared post, customers mentioned the brand and expressed satisfaction with service quality.

The example above is a basic customer journey in the retail fashion industry. The perfect experience that customers receive comes from many factors: SEO optimization to increase visibility on Google, UX/UI optimization to help navigate and simplify the ordering - payment process, thoughtful after-sales policy... On the contrary, if you receive a poor experience from the beginning, your brand is at risk of losing potential customers to competitors.

2. How will the customer journey develop in the retail fashion industry

Each industry and media channel will have a different customer journey. In the retail fashion industry, this journey will develop in the following directions:

Shop anytime and anywhere

Today, thanks to the development of technology, consumers do not need to go directly to the store, they can shop anytime, anywhere via their smartphone. Customers will take "virtual" tours, view product images remotely and interact with sellers. The above customer journey is predicted to be the future of the retail fashion industry, especially when Gen Z gradually becomes the main customer group.

Prioritize data

Customer data is an important foundation of a successful business strategy. Collecting information and building a customer data system is a must to improve customer experience, personalize interactions, increase satisfaction levels and refine business strategies.

The era of AI technology

The explosion of artificial intelligence is a breakthrough in the relationship between customers and brands. With the support of AI, retailers can provide consumers with seamless experiences, increase customer connection and increase brand influence.

In 2018, "giant" Alibaba applied AI technology with the ambition to revolutionize the global shopping experience. FashionAI store launched with special features: smart mirror, smart shopping tag, Bluetooth chip integrated in the product. This is considered a typical case study in applying AI to fashion retail and customers are the direct beneficiaries.

Impact of disruptive technology

As mentioned, technology impacts all parts of the customer journey. The retail fashion industry is no exception, technology influences from the stage of creating awareness, purchasing to becoming loyal customers. Currently, retailers are taking full advantage of technological achievements, especially new technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, extended reality...

Fashion company Hugo Boss has just announced a virtual reality fitting service based on AR technology. This project allows buyers to try on clothes remotely with customized body measurements. Customers can create a mannequin with their measurements, try it on and combine many different outfit styles in the "virtual" dressing room.

3. Retail Pro Prism software - management software that contributes to improving customer experience

Retail Pro Prism is management software provided by LBC International, suitable for many different retail industries. The software effectively supports information management and customer care planning based on collected data. In addition, Retail Pro Prism also has built-in customer loyalty programs, advertising and marketing campaigns for each customer group.

TMG - the owner of two famous fashion brands JOHN HENRY and FREELANCERS, has been a partner of LBC since 2008. In order to keep up with the digital transformation trend in the retail industry, TMG decided to apply Retail Pro Prism to develop a customer care system. Not only does it improve customer experience, the software also supports businesses in implementing loyalty programs at the MEMBER, SILVER, GOLD and PLATINUM levels.

Understanding the customer journey and improving the experience at every touchpoint is the secret to success in the retail fashion industry. Right now, businesses need to invest in building and analyzing consumer journey maps to improve service quality. Businesses interested in learning about retail management software can contact LBC International for more detailed information.

Articles and images compiled by LBC International.