Enhancing the Luxury eCommerce Experience Through Sizing

Luxury apparel used to sit as a distant blip in the stratosphere for many of us mere mortals, but the lingering effects of the pandemic have changed shopper buying habits (seemingly) for good. Despite rising inflation and persistent global uncertainty, luxury eCommerce sales in both the Asian and American markets are soaring in 2022.

The question you're likely asking yourself right now is, how? How can shoppers be spending outlandish sums of money on luxury apparel during these tough economic times? As it turns out, the recent drop-off in global tourism is the most likely cause of the 2022 luxury apparel boom. It seems that shoppers who budgeted significantly for that summer trip to Hawaii are just as happy to spend that cash on a new luxury wardrobe.

While luxury eCommerce sales are booming, brands aren't resting on their laurels and simply watching the numbers climb. In addition to building and maintaining brand equity, luxury apparel brands are also making strides to optimize the shopper journey by removing common points of friction. For some brands, this means identifying drop-offs in the shopper journey and remedying them. Others, however, are taking a more proactive approach by eliminating the most common point of friction for eCommerce apparel shoppers, sizing.

What Makes the Brand Experience so Important?

Contrary to popular belief, luxury apparel isn’t exclusively catered to members of the A-list. A significant number of luxury apparel sales come from middle-class shoppers looking to add an air of exclusivity and prestige to their wardrobes. This phenomenon isn’t coincidental; luxury brands have admitted to targeting their products toward these demographics to expand their shopper bases and drive sales.

The problem with expanding into different earning classes is that shopping sessions can quickly escalate from a routine wardrobe refresh to a high-involvement purchase, amplifying the fears of ordering the wrong size, color, or style. A single t-shirt from brands like Versace or Balenciaga can easily run into the four-figure range, which (for reference) is around the average monthly mortgage payment for most Americans. While prices haven’t entirely deterred middle-class shoppers from converting, they are understandably cautious when venturing into the world of luxury apparel and must be handled with care. 

This is what makes a curated shopper journey so important for luxury brands. Boosting shopper confidence by eliminating common points of friction helps break down the barriers to conversion.

Addressing the Hurdles of Apparel eCommerce

We’ve said it before, and we'll say it again, eCommerce is the future, but for luxury apparel brands, eCommerce is the lifeblood of their business strategy today. The number of brick-and-mortar luxury stores in both America and Asia are few and far between, and the few that do exist are mostly clustered in coastal cities notorious for their high-earning and fashion-forward demographics.

In the absence of widespread brick-and-mortar locations, luxury brands are pulling out the stops to address the hurdles that come with apparel eCommerce, such as accurate product representation and, of course, sizing and fit. This is where modern sizing solutions have come into their element, as they provide shoppers not only with absolute clarity on sizing and fit but also provide insight into how a garment will look on the wearer without them ever having to use a physical fitting room.

Combining a Premium Product With a Premium Sizing Experience

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A great example of a luxury brand enhancing the shopper's journey through sizing is CADOGAN. This Los Angeles-based, premium menswear brand knew that a primary point of friction within the shopper's journey was size confusion. Their eCommerce team sought to streamline their sizing process and boost shopper confidence which led them to consult with WAIR on how to bring this vision to life. WAIR worked with CADOGAN to optimize their sizing strategy around the bodies of their shoppers and provide them with the seamless sizing solutions they were craving.

While modern sizing solutions aren't necessarily a new technology in the world of apparel, CADOGAN chose WAIR because our approach to sizing is a bit different. Rather than relying on the sizing strategy of your competitors or purchase and returns data, WAIR is built atop the world’s largest and fastest-growing database of 3D body scans taken from real people across the globe. With this information, WAIR can take the basic body dimensions of any shopper and perfectly align them with the scan that matches their unique measurements. WAIR achieves this without the shopper having to use a measuring tape, download an app, take photos of themselves, or divulge any personal information. The sizing process is the epitome of seamless. On the back end, WAIR also factors in the designer’s intended fit, ultimately providing a size recommendation both the shopper and the brand can feel confident in.

Size recommendations are only half the equation. As shoppers use WAIR to order their best-fitting products, their unique body dimensions are seamlessly captured in the background. WAIR pairs this body data with the shopper's journey to create a complete 360-degree view of each individual shopper. Armed with this information, CADOGAN was able to tailor its eCommerce strategy entirely around the bodies of their shoppers, resulting in efficiency gains across all business units.  

The results? CADOGAN saw a 15% increase in average order value and a 27% increase in conversion rates in Q4 2021, an impressive showing to say the least!

Paving a Road To Shopping 3.0

While brands like CADOGAN are certainly leading the charge towards sizeless commerce, luxury apparel brands are not the only ones capable of enhancing the shopper experience through sizing. As eCommerce continues to grow its influence and shopping habits shift to digital, the age of mass customization and enhanced sizing and fit technology is soon to be upon us, one question remains, is your brand ready?

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Eager to learn how WAIR can transform your eCommerce brand through sizing? Schedule a demo here, and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram , LinkedIn, and Facebook for all your fashion content needs!