Not just discounts and good prices – about why it’s worth establishing cooperation with a clothing wholesaler.
Firstly: usability and automation
We will start with a feature that is not very obvious, but nowadays indispensable. It is hard to imagine that a modern clothing wholesaler would not provide access to an intuitive B2B sales platform.
Every shop owner – especially in the online sales model – knows how precious time is. The speed of product selection, access to new products, purchase time, lead time and delivery – a ‘stumble’ at any of these stages can directly complicate the customer experience. The easier it is to access the wholesale range and the faster and clearer the buying process – the better customer experience.
This obvious point is not possible without proper automation of the purchasing process. To be honest: as a shop owner, you should not have any problems with online purchase of clothes from a selected wholesaler.Registration should be free and simplified, while being 100% secure.
File integrations for shop platforms
With the growing popularity of Saas-type shop platforms, it’s worth choosing a wholesaler that provides file integrations. This will make it much easier for you to develop your shop. Remember that you also need high-quality product images!
Secondly: high frequency of updating the offer
A modern clothing wholesaler must always be “up to date”. With the fierce competition on the clothing market, you cannot afford any kind of stagnation. Let’s assume that you sell clothes of a particular Polish brand and your customers are used to updating their collections regularly. If there is a fashion new arrival and you are late with the presentation of a new product – the user will find it immediately in another shop. Herein lies the key role of a wholesaler who is able to introduce collection updates 24 hours a day.
Thirdly: certified quality
The times of hyper-popularity of cheap clothes from Asian countries are definitely behind us. The brands supplying popular chain stores have a growing competition, which instead of price begins to consistently rely on quality. Such a change is the result of several factors, the most important of which include a change in consumer awareness. Fashion fans, instead of a “quantity” buying philosophy, are increasingly opting for brands certified as “eco”, “organic” (refers to the origin of fibres) and “fair trade” (i.e. ethical production principles that do not negatively affect the environment).
Doing business with a clothing wholesaler that cooperates with brands that focus on the highest quality textiles, can be a great idea.
Fourthly: access to clothing of non-standard sizes
You should not worry about searching for hard-to-find sizes on your own – a professional wholesaler should provide you with comprehensive service in this respect. Remember that plus-size clothing is not an accessory these days, but a base of standard collections – make sure your customers have easy access to them.
Fifthly: discounts
Finally, the argument that ultimately prevails when you consider buying wholesale clothing. Being able to receive regular discounts from your supplier is obviously a big advantage. It’s worth choosing to work with a wholesaler that offers different types of discounts including a ‘loyalty’ model. Check regularly what and how much you can gain from supplies from the chosen wholesaler. Remember that quality and speed of service are also important.
Do you run a stationary or online clothing shop? The success of your business may depend on your choice of clothing wholesaler. What criteria should you use while looking for a partner that will deliver on time and provide good prices?
Choosing a clothing wholesaler is one of the most difficult issues that every clothing shop owner has to solve. The problem seems especially difficult for those who are just planning to open a new business.
In the clothing market – which is changing very dynamically – it is no longer easy to compete on price alone. The group of consumers interested in the lowest possible cost of clothes is shrinking in favour of customers aware of the quality of materials, production standards or originality of the cut. The enormous competitiveness of the market requires constant observation of fashion trends – from eco style to slow fashion.
Customer loyalty is gained not so much by the price as by the timeliness of the offer. Variety of assortment is the first pillar of your shop, the second is flawless customer service, including availability of goods. Looking from this perspective, it is easier to answer the question “how to find a good clothing wholesaler”?
The wider the choice, the better
“A wide assortment” is the phrase with which most wholesalers advertise. The authentic diversity of the offer always comes out in practice. A good wholesaler is not just a few key categories of clothing, but an extensive “virtual wardrobe”. If we talk about clothes for women – the offer should include clothes for every occasion, at least in a dozen fashion styles (classic, retro, vintage, glamour, chic, plus size). The assortment of a good clothing wholesaler should make it possible to complete a full outfit for 4 seasons, in every size and for every occasion.
Full size chart
Another determinant of a well-stocked wholesaler is access to a full range of sizes. Omitting ‘plus size’ clothing from a clothing or lingerie shop is a simple way to discourage customers. When selecting your range – especially those from countries outside the EU – it’s worth paying attention to clear, standardised size labelling.
Regular stock updates
Your clothing shop’s popularity can be determined by a steady flow of new products. Swapping collections every season is not enough if you want to compete in a heavily saturated market. In addition to the regular, “classic” collections of clothes, it is worth betting on fashion news – especially in the series of youth, underwear, sports and streetwear clothes. The more frequent the series updates, the greater the chance of branding the shop as a ‘fashion trendsetter’. It’s worth choosing a wholesaler that understands the dynamics of the clothing market and ensures that product updates are as frequent as possible.
The unquestionable quality of the assortment
Fashion fans want to know where a product comes from, what its composition is and how the garment was made. The use of natural fibres or materials from recycled textiles, precisely described composition, description of production standards – these are the features of high-quality clothing that customers will ask for more and more often. It is therefore worth checking whether the wholesaler with whom we cooperate is open to the latest fashion trends.
The role of location
Choosing a clothing wholesaler located in Europe – and working with European brands – can be a huge advantage for your shop. 2020 has shown the huge impact a well-secured logistics chain can have on a business (not just a clothing business). Many Polish shop owners have seen how much easier it is to ensure an up-to-date supply of clothes by working with Polish wholesalers or those located within the EU.
Transparency of cooperation principles
Clear, precisely defined rules of cooperation – purchasing, payments, frequency of deliveries, etc. – are other key issues while selecting a wholesaler.
When comparing available offers, you should pay attention to solutions beneficial for small shop owners, such as:
no obligatory minimum order amount or minimum quantity of ordered products,
access to discounts – regular discounts for wholesale purchase,
access to advertising materials of clothing manufacturers e.g. high-quality product photos,
fast, safe delivery.
Technical facilities
Modern clothing wholesalers nowadays focus on the fastest and easiest access to the product catalogue. Ideally, the platform should be fully intuitive and available in at least several languages. From the perspective of a shop owner, important advantages of such a platform will include:
free, maximally simplified registration,
possibility to establish cooperation without the need to sign a contract,
simple customer account handling,
access to several language versions,
access to various forms of payment,
free files with assortment in the most commonly used formats (XML, CSV),
for online shops: access to integration files for popular shop platforms,
Own brand of clothing – how to start selling on the Internet?
Let’s find out what decisions you need to make and what you should consider before creating your own online clothes store. Let’s list the mandatory costs and key tools you can gain free access to.
1. First showcase of the store: free domain brand name
How to choose the name of an online store? Originality is not enough. The creative naming should be adjusted to the needs of the users. It is worth asking the question what the name is associated with and whether it is easy to remember. The two basic mistakes while creating store brand names are overstyling – that is too long, fancy form – or oversimplifying and choosing a banal name, dying in a deluge of similar ones. Perfect balance is a short phrase, which is catchy and evokes positive associations in a strictly defined group (age, interests, origin), which we want to reach.
In addition, there is an obligation to check the availability of an international (com, biz, eu) or Polish (com.pl, regional domains) domain – depending on which market we intend to operate on. In case of a small store, we always take into account the cost of domain extension.
2. Online store system – the engine and software
Choosing an e-commerce platform is one of the most important decisions, which the future store owner has to face. It is worth being properly prepared in order to compare the advantages, disadvantages and costs of popular systems.
Which e-commerce platform to choose? The basic set of factors to “review”:
budget, i.e. the costs for the start, for the first 6 months of operation and planned, fixed monthly expenses,
a set of required platform functionalities, e.g. integration of specific payment types,
the scope of work that we want and can do on our own – from small graphic corrections, through the selection of plugins, to changes in the source code of the store,
level of legal responsibility and scope of duties – the choice between the role of a fully-fledged store owner and the option of using SaaS solutions (“Software as a Service” = subscription access to the store platform),
volume of the assortment,
warehouse and logistics – run independently or as a dropshipping option,
planned development – short-term or seasonal business vs. scalable project with planned development path.
A clear, detailed business plan of the online clothes store will enable fitting the platform to your budget.
Free e-commerce platforms
Duo WordPress + WooCommerce (open source plugin)
The reason for the great popularity of this solution is its low cost and intuitive use. Managing a store from the WordPress admin panel does not require advanced knowledge or skills. It will be useful to know the functionality of available plugins, both paid and free of charge. This is a budget-friendly option for both beginners and advanced users.
Advantages: free access to basic functions, full control over the brand’s store and blog, payment only for graphic improvements (interesting, more efficient templates) or functionality extensions (plugins). A variety of available integrations – from SEO plugins to analytics and fast payments. Possibility to make changes in the code.
Disadvantages: legal responsibility of the administrator, regular supervision and quick reaction in case of e.g. plug-in failure, necessity of (paid) implementation by a specialist for people without knowledge of WordPress basics.
Presta Shop
Another free sales platform, popular among people who plan to develop a store and have at least basic knowledge about e-commerce strategy. The basic plugins, templates and functions can be extended with additional, paid solutions. The ability to edit the source code on your own and full control over SEO optimization is important.
Advantages: basic functionality for free, intuitive operation, wide selection of plugins and integration.
Disadvantages: free templates may not meet aesthetic expectations; possible cost of system implementation for people who do not want to set up their own configuration. Excessive or wrong choice of modules can have a negative impact on the page loading speed.
3. Integration with a wholesaler – dropshipping
Another solution to reduce the costs of running an online shop is transferring part of the time-consuming duties from the user to the wholesale store. Those who choose dropshipping, do not have to worry about logistics, timely completion of orders and storage resources – this is what the wholesaler selected by the user takes care of. Apart from obvious advantages (low cost, time saving), disadvantages such as lack of direct supervision over the quality of shipments should also be taken into account. It is necessary to find a partner who is proven and experienced in the service. The shop owner is obliged to operate the platform, acquire customers and build communication channels that will increase conversion.
Integration of the platform with the warehouse is not a process requiring special skills – the files for integration are provided by the warehouse (look at the sample file: https://matterhorn.pl/?str=xmloffer). The speed and ease of the implementation process depend on whether we use a platform that already has a built-in integration with the wholesale company of our choice. Otherwise, use the integrator. In case of any doubts, the user can usually count on the assistance of a technical service or a dedicated expert of a given platform.
4. Marketing strategy of the clothes shop
Instead of a universal image strategy, it is worthwhile to consciously test various marketing tools and quickly separate those that increase conversion. We select the tools taking into account the behaviour and interests of the target customers. What media do they use? What kind of communication do they prefer? Do they need extensive expert texts or visually interesting shopping inspirations (photo collages, infographics, short movies)?
Basic marketing tools for an online clothes shop – checklist:
Email newsletter – a simple communication channel which is easy to automate and use, among other things, to segment customers according to specific purchasing behaviour.
Shop’s blog – to build an expert position, support site positioning and easily promote any product. Recommended types of entries: rankings, tips, shopping inspirations, reviews and guest entries.
Original product and category descriptions – an element influencing SEO quality. An obligatory option for new or limited collections, when we want to emphasize the exceptional quality and character of the brand.
Social media in the fashion industry – to build your own communication channel and consumer loyalty. Facebook for improving conversions, Instagram for image building, Pinterest for those looking for shopping inspirations, YouTube for cooperation with influencers or as an expert advice channel.
Link acquisition – sponsored articles (local press, fashion industry portals, blogs), guest posts, SM, thematic forums.
Google Ads campaigns and advertising campaigns in social media – recommended when promoting new collections or seasonal sales. They may require specialist assistance with the configuration of the advertisement, especially in the case of new shops, starting in the industry.
Dedicated graphic solutions – good quality photos (with descriptions) or mockups, clear infographics, consistent brand image in social media (logo, font, banners).
Segmentation, personalization and automation – a few words about the less and more obvious components of effective B2C email communication.
Only 2 years ago, it was considered as one of the most valuable marketing channels. After the entry of General Data Protection Regulation, email marketing was dethroned by social media. Currently, it is returning to favor again. This time in a slightly new version, in which mass communication has been transformed into a personalized, yet automated process. During the current changes on the e-commerce market, email marketing may prove to be one of the most effective tools for online shops. A properly designed email marketing strategy will allow not only to gain new leads, but also to build a network of loyal customers and regularly maintain their commitment.
Email marketing strategy 2020 – what does still work and what to beware of?
Less is more: consistency between the title and the content of the email
The golden rule of effective email marketing is content and maximum shortening of the message. An email with an “offer” in the title is intended to lead the customer to a tab or entry directly related to the offer. Presenting special offers in a roundabout way – i.e. throwing a subscriber on the home page or on the shop’s blog – is a simple recipe for a failure. A message about a free sample/service has to contain a set of conditions which a consumer has to meet in order to get this free sample or service. A customer encouraged by CTA and redirected to a landing page should make sure as soon as possible that the offer exists and is tailored to his or her needs. Offers which are unclear and have an extensive list of additional conditions (checkboxes, necessity to register) which have to be met, will be rejected immediately and the reader may feel cheated. Possible negative consequences: such email will be marked as spam, and the shop’s address will fall in the reliability ranking.
Pop-up with a newsletter: effective timing
From the point of view of UX (user experience), pop-up is still one of the least liked types of advertising messages. Websites which attack a customer with a newsletter within the first few seconds of entering the site, are perceived by the user as being pushy. A simple analogy is an overzealous salesman who cannot sense the customer’s needs and instead of letting them “making themselves comfortable” in the shop, returns repeatedly with a question: “May I help you?”
A newsletter should appear at a specific time and place on the page, e.g. on one of the tabs or after scrolling through the home page. The issue of a free gift for subscription is still very important. Start-up discounts, special offers, free ebooks, online tools – everything that will bring a specific value to the customer and give the store the function of an “expert” who is worth returning to regularly.
Segmentation and marketing scoring
A dynamic element of the strategy, which requires regular analysis, amendments and testing. It is respected in every shop which focuses on consumer loyalty. Even a basic analysis of customer preferences (favourite categories in the store, activity time, frequency of visiting the site) will quickly separate less and potentially more interested in the offer. Email marketing specialists recommend the implementation of scoring, i.e. a system of awarding points to customers, depending on the level of interest in the offer (source: report “E-mail marketing oraz marketing automation” 2019, Interaktywnie.com). For the needs of the most dedicated customers (e.g. fans of the shop’s social media profile) it is worth to create a personalized email. Inactive leads should be regularly removed from databases in order to optimize the costs of subsequent campaigns.
Email retargeting, which hits the target
Personalised email information from the store is only effective if it brings value to the customer. Too obvious attempts to close the shopping path can be perceived by customers as “disciplining” (“Your basket is still waiting for…”, “Go back and check…”) and will be rejected by them. Instead of typical sales content, it is worth putting emphasis on information, help or advice. If a product has been abandoned, customers may be informed about the available discount, combined special offers (with the product mentioned) or a new, attractive range of products from the same category. Any advice or articles such as “shopping inspiration” or (“Summer Collection in style of …”) will be helpful. The message has to meet the customers’ expectations – solve their problem, interest them or redirect them to a more advantageous purchase option than the one they previously abandoned.
Direction of the future: marketing automation
Automation of email marketing campaigns is a direction that most online stores will follow in the near future. In order for the email marketing to translate into sales, it has to reach a strictly defined group of customers. Continuous targeting, personalization or segmentation of leads from marketing novelties have become a necessity – also in case of small, niche shops. The mailing strategy is a continuous process, operating a dynamic, constantly changing database. Automation is an obvious direction, providing necessary information, saving time and budget for the campaign, which is confirmed by the latest research:
Marketing Automation technologies allow us to reach the right people with the right message. This allows us to raise practically all the key business indicators, such as: ROI from marketing investments, monthly revenue (MRR) or customer satisfaction (NPS) and others. Comprehensive solutions, which assume that all 3 key departments of the company (marketing, sales and customer service) work on one tool, allow businesses, which decide to implement such a system, to grow steadily (report “E-mail marketing oraz marketing automation” 2019, Interaktywnie.com).
In case of failure: back to the beginning
If subsequent email marketing campaigns do not bring the desired results, we return to the initial assumptions. It may be necessary to redefine persona, communication, graphic style or audit basic technicalities. Even the most original campaign may be plunged by simple mistakes.
Popular errors in email marketing of a store:
Among the most obvious, email marketing “mistakes” are still mentioned:
Low aesthetic level of the newsletter (poor quality of images or infographics, not suitable for mobile devices),
clickbait-style email titles,
errors in message personalization (“Mrs/Mr”, wrong age category),
a message that is overwrought or too general,
the abuse of marketing “newspeak”,
no balance between content and graphics,
not visible, clearly separated CTA (“call to action”) button,
no or poorly visible opt-out information.
In case of failure, it is worth considering a site audit or investing in a mailing system with extensive activity reporting functions. The amount and quality of returnable data combined with the time of solution implementation will determine the most valuable leads.
Not only high prices but also high delivery costs drive the customers of online shops away. These are 8 most frequent reasons for abandoning the virtual shopping cart.
E-commerce vs the study of the Internet users’ behaviour
If we agree to believe in the findings of the popular Gemius study – in 2019, as many as 62% of the Internet users shopped online (an increase of 6% in comparison to 2018). The results of the study, conducted on the group of around 1600 respondents, indicate not only the key benefits of shopping online (round-the-clock access and unlimited selection time), but also show the fundamental errors in the field of UX (i.e., user experience), which successfully deter the users from a given site.
Apart from the issue of prices (e.g. delivery costs), the questioned Internet users also pointed out the importance of variety of payment methods, the necessity of registration, or the presence of pop-up ads.
The findings of 2019 study largely square with the observations of UX/UI (i.e., user interface) specialists, operating on the Polish market. Let’s take a look at the key e-commerce errors pointed out by the Internet users and web designers.
8 errors of web designers:
1. Complicated Internet navigation
Usefulness and high practicality are the key pillars, on which the effectiveness of the website is based. Under UX underlies a maximum simplification of the purchase process. A user is to act intuitively, quickly and effectively – where “effectiveness” is understood as the finalisation of the purchase process.
Each impediment on the website – unusual menu layout or font size, unclear instructions – is a risk of discouragement or leaving the website. Poorly designed search filters – too general categories, requiring too much time or too detailed ones, from the users’ point of view – may also act as deterrents. Page speed still remains one of the key, Internet deterrents.
2. Product descriptions – too general content or insufficient product data
Insufficient product data is another reason for abandoning an online shopping cart. This issue is obvious, as online shopping should be based on trust and credibility. It is difficult for an online shop to be trusted and be credible if:
the product descriptions are too short and they do not include key information
the product descriptions are taken directly from the manufacturers’ websites (the risk of duplicate content)
lack of product fiche
Referring to online shops, one of the biggest problems may be a mismatch between the product descriptions and SEO (i.e., search engine optimization) rules. Our unique selection of products will fall behind the competition due to one simple reason – our products will simply not be visible in Web search results.
3. Lack of professional product images
The preferences of Internet users are still unambiguous – people choose offers and products which are visually attractive.
Coming back to the findings of the Gemius study
37% of respondents resign from online shopping due to the lack of possibility of physical contact with the product.
Such thoughts may only be resolved by the perfect picture quality (in order to improve UX, for example, 3D high-quality pictures are recommended) and by professional mock-ups. Conversely: poor quality pictures, with a poor resolution may guarantee a shop’s failure. Another issue, which is not consistent with SEO rules, is lack of alternative product descriptions (ALT attribute).
4. Incompatibility of websites with mobile devices (RWD, i.e., Responsive Web Design)
Responsiveness, which is adapting shop’s website to mobile devices, is an essential facilitation from the user’s point of view.
In 2019, as many as 61% of Internet users did their online shopping using a smartphone (Gemius).
Considering the scale of mobile marketing interest, outdated websites, which are also incompatible with this kind of devices, fall behind the shops, which follow the RWD (Responsive Web Design) rules. Poor screen resolution, small font size, complicated layout or too big, slow-loading pictures may often irritate the Internet users. The next issue, which is very often problematic for young people, is lack of mobile app.
5. Complicated order process
Proper product placement will not help, if we complicate the order process. A constraint of creating an account remains an effective deterrent, which causes that customers leave certain websites quicker. Users do not like being forced to fill in the forms or submit personal data. An alternative option would be a detailed division of purchasing process (“Order in three steps!”) and a clear indication of benefits of registration, e.g. a detailed preview of an order or granting award credits.
6. Communication and customer service
A round-the-clock access to offers is one of the key advantages of online shopping. Unfortunately, from the user’s point of view, a round-the-clock customer service would also be an ideal option. Any difficulty connected with lack of customer service between certain hours, may also be one of the reasons of leaving a certain online shop. Lack of e-mail address, lack of phone number, lack of clearly stated working hours of an online shop, too late responses – each of these problems may successfully discourage Internet users from shopping online and expose a given shop to pejorative opinions.
Another important issue, which requires a comment is a method of complaint handling and well-thought-out communication during crisis situations. It requires jurisdiction, patience and understanding of consumer’s needs.
7. Lack of contact details
An issue connected directly with communication and availability. It is required not to hide manufacturer’s contact details – as a user does not have enough time to look for terms and regulations and shop’s privacy policy. Such an act may be a real concern and is inconsistent with rules of modern online marketing, which requires building strong relationships between a customer and a given brand.
8. Old-fashioned payment methods
In previously cited Gemius study, as many as 20% of Internet users declared to have abandoned online shopping cart due to the inconvenient (from their point of view) payment method.
In contrast, for more than a half of respondents (56%), a major motivator to purchase products in a given shop was a wide range of payment methods, e.g. by card, instant bank transfers.
Internet users are more and more interested in mobile payments. Briefly, the quicker and easier the payment process, the more chance someone will make a purchase.
The summary of our ranking gives quite obvious conclusions, which should be taken into consideration while creating an online shop.
Apart from the price issue, people usually leave online shops which:
