French luxury fashion conglomerate LVMH (owners of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior), have announced that after the first nine months of 2021 they have recorded revenues of £38 billion after a rocky plumet in sales amidst the pandemic.

Financial results at Poshmark for the second quarter of 2021 show that their revenue is still on their year-to-year track of financial growth. Similarly, ThredUp reported their revenue was at an increase of 26.7% year-over-year and gross profit has grown 34% year-over-year.

This cannot be said for strictly e-commerce businesses, however, as in early August, Amazon reported lower than expected revenue in the recent quarter of 2021. Will this report from Amazon show this online shopping boom during the pandemic is beginning to slow and the next industry to suffer a plummet in sales through online channels, could be the fashion industry?

In a report by Forbes, it is discussed that consumers spend more at a clothing store in their in-store visits in comparison to an experience through their online channels. Through these statistics it can be presumed that customers who enjoy an experience within a retail store are more likely to spend more and can also improve customer loyalty and customer retention.

With stores re-opening again in April of 2021, a survey was conducted by the BBC showed that two in five people intended to carry on purchasing goods online rather than in-store due to the newly coined phrased FOGO – “Fear of Going Out”.

To entice customers who still have FOGO after Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, it is crucial they offer an omnichannel customer experience through both in-store and online interactions with customers to increase revenue across all sales platforms.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, brands did begin to venture into their use of a digitally enhanced customer experience due to customers isolating at home and social distancing measures in place. Beauty brands alike Chanel and Charlotte Tilbury began experimenting with their use of virtual try on software’s that customers could easily access through their online site and sales began to advance because of this. Digital customer experience in the fashion industry has also excelled throughout the pandemic as luxury brands alike Gucci began branching into gaming and creating a snapchat lens where users could virtually try on the Ace sneaker collection through AI.

Is this the future of an omnichannel customer experience as fashion brands fear customers need for an experience whether it be in-store or virtually?

Article written by Callum Graham