By Charli Rogers, Senior Vice President, International Client Solutions & Strategy at Yext
Autumn is the perfect season for fashion enthusiasts as it marks the beginning of fashion weeks all across the globe. Designers showcase their latest collections from New York to London to Paris, setting the trends for the upcoming season. However after all these Fashion Weeks end, many celebrities, magazine editors, influencers, and retail buyers were seen looking for the best seats on the front rows of the runway. This has led to increased clothing and accessories labels eyeing shop openings in London.
As per Statista’s research, the apparel market revenue in the UK was estimated to be just under 58.5 billion British pounds in 2022, which is slightly less than the previous year. However, the market is expected to recover and reach more than 75 billion British pounds by 2026. Therefore, it is unsurprising that brands target the UK market to increase their revenue.
Property consultant Savills’s new figures show 21 international fashion and footwear brands opened debut London stores last year. With new players emerging in the game, what can existing retailers, particularly those with a digital presence, have to do to stand out from the crowd to ensure customer loyalty?
Leveraging London Fashion Week’s web traffic to drive more SEO search onto their landing pages
The need to drive traffic is critical for a fashion retail business’ survival, specifically as new players emerge in the game. With 68% of web traffic coming from organic and paid searches, a cost-effective SEO strategy is critical for retailers to achieve their revenue goals. That’s where optimising location listings and local landing pages can make a difference, especially with increased web traffic pre and post-London Fashion Week. This is one of the steps existing retailers can take to stand out from the competition and attract more customers.
A customer’s search journey starts with a search engine. According to Kinsta, 86.4% of users surf on Google to find information about a brand. But ranking high on the search engine results page (SERP) with inaccurate listing information only pushes high-intent shoppers towards the competition. This creates confusion for consumers who have multiple query options. Having accurate information is crucial to capture potential customers.
This means creating search-optimised local landing pages with structured data can help search engines associate all the content on that page with the corresponding listing. By borrowing elements like design, products, and store hours from your listings, you can create a local page that improves your SEO strategy and drives better results. This approach can help you maximise your online presence and improve your visibility to potential customers.
Creating customer loyalty by having all the ‘right’ information in one place
Providing efficient self-help solutions can be very beneficial for brands to keep the consumer’s attention once they have landed on your brand’s page. Self-help solutions empower customers to find answers independently, which can lead to significant rewards for the company.
Research from Yext highlights that more website help info is needed to prevent 47% of customers from online purchases, demonstrating how customer experience impacts loyalty. The same research also highlights that 42% of consumers say help sites infrequently provide the answers they seek with their first search. It shows consumers want to find solutions independently, providing a positive digital experience.
A positive digital customer experience is the most powerful tool for consolidating customer loyalty. This is particularly helpful if the brand can meet consumer expectations by giving them the answers they want. One such case would be being able to provide customers with self-service online support, such as AI-driven chatbots that understand their questions and give them direct answers, which is crucial in delivering the customer service they expect.
Due to the consumer’s perception that they can rely on the brand to give them all the information they may need, it also fosters a relationship of trust between them and your brand. Additionally, it creates a pathway for customers to make transactions due to the trust created, which will drive up fashion retailers’ revenue.
Using intent marketing to turn revenue for your business
But how can retailers motivate customers to go from searching for information to making website transactions? The answer lies in intent marketing. Intent marketing is marketing a product or service based on a consumer’s intent to purchase, as demonstrated by their actions. Put simply, it’s about marketing to individuals whose behaviour dictates that they are more likely to take a specific action or purchase. So, how can your fashion retail business determine your consumer’s intent?
One way is by analysing your customers’ behaviour over time through search data. Retailers can identify trends — like recurring search engine queries or certain types of content driving engagement on your website — that lead to conversion, like a purchase, appointment booking, newsletter sign-up, or in-store visit. This allows marketers to target prospects who make transactions.
For a fashion brand, searchers with transactional search intent are some of the most valuable users on the internet. If you can get your content in front of transactional intent users, this will more likely convert to sales. But often, informational and transactional search intent is combined for these searchers.
One way to convert users with informative search intent into transactional is by inviting them to subscribe to your brand’s newsletters that offer store discounts or updates on new product releases. By doing so, retailers can establish their brand’s presence and tap into their transactional intent.
