The luxury fashion and beauty industry is constantly evolving and to stay ahead of the game, it’s essential that brands have the relevant skillset in place in order to keep up with trends.
In this post, WE take a deep dive into the must-have strategies for creating a winning eCommerce team in the luxury, fashion, beauty and retail sectors. From ensuring diversity and inclusion to embracing new tech, these strategies are what will set brands up for success in 2023 and beyond.
1. Diversity is KEY
High-performing teams don’t happen by chance, they happen by design. A diverse team is one of the secret ingredients for success in the fast-paced world of eCommerce – in fact, a study by McKinsey & Company found that an ethnically and culturally diverse workforce can lead to a 35% increase in a company’s financial performance.
Brands with diversity and inclusion at the forefront of their hiring strategy also have better access to top talent and increased levels of engagement and trust in their workforce. A diverse team brings a range of perspectives, resulting in more effective problem-solving and innovation, and inclusive leadership enhances talent and productivity, leading to higher-performing teams and better decision-making.
By assembling a team of talented designers, developers, marketers, and customer service reps, from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, brands will have a diverse set of skills and expertise to drive team results and tackle challenges.
2. Customer experience is KING
For fashion and beauty brands, customer loyalty is crucial. In order to cultivate this loyalty, it’s important to prioritise the customer experience (89% of customers are likely to purchase from a brand again after a positive customer service experience)!
This means having a user-friendly website, providing excellent customer service, and making the checkout process as seamless as possible. In the future, advances in technology will allow for even more personalized and seamless customer experiences at every touchpoint.
For the online beauty business Glossier, customer experience is at the heart of the brand. Glossier believes that the relationship with the customer is even more important than the transaction, and therefore shapes its channels to customer behaviour.
To understand customers’ behaviour and preferences, brands need to leverage the power of data analytics tools. By tracking website traffic, customer purchases and other relevant metrics, eCommerce teams can make informed decisions about product development, marketing campaigns, and website design, all of which impact the customer experience.
A firm favourite of our Company Director’s for CRM Strategy is Hunkemöller, Europe’s fastest-growing lingerie brand. This true omnichannel brand believes that “customer loyalty is worth more than gold”, and WE couldn’t agree more. Operating in 25 countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, with ultramodern mobile shops and 900+ stores working as multi-sensory shopping experiences and digital hubs, this brand is absolutely leading the way for customer experience.
3. Technology is your ALLY
The world of technology is constantly changing, and to stay on top, brands need to keep up-to-date with the latest trends and innovations.
In the USA, spending on AI is estimated to reach $120 billion by 2025. From using AI to personalise the customer experience to implementing chatbots to improve customer service, brands need to be open to new technologies.
Retail giant Zara’s use of technology and data analytics has been a significant contributing factor to its success. Zara is renowned for its fast fashion and has a diverse team working to bring new styles to market at a rapid pace, plus they adopt new technologies such as RFID tagging and mobile apps to improve customer experience.
Another brand embracing new tech to dominate the eCommerce market (and this will come as no surprise!) is Amazon. Amazon makes use of advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning to personalise the customer experience and improve product recommendations. From Amazon Alexa-enabled voice shopping to AI optimisation in the Amazon warehouses, AI plays a crucial role in the brand’s continuing success.
4. Influencer marketing is a GAME-CHANGER
Social Media is a HUGE channel for eCommerce brands, especially with TikTok becoming the new search engine for Gen Z, so influencer marketing continues to rise. It can be an especially powerful tool for luxury fashion brands, with an 11x higher ROI than traditional forms of advertising.
Brands can leverage social media by partnering with influencers who align with their values and aesthetics, to reach new customers and drive sales.
One brand consistently nailing its influencer marketing strategy is Nike. Nike is one of the top users of influencer marketing worldwide and hits it from all angles by working with celebrities and social media influencers to gain maximum exposure.
The brand allows respected athletes they partner with to have a say in product design, which goes a long way to building trust among their customer base. Long-lasting relationships have a much better pay-off than one-off campaigns – WE even think that Nike’s partnership with Michael Jordan might be the greatest influencer marketing campaign of all time. They’ve celebrated 38 working together and though Jordan no longer plays basketball, the partnership is stronger and more influential now than ever before.
Building a winning eCommerce team in the luxury fashion, beauty and retail sector takes a winning combo of diverse hires, a strong focus on customer experience, data-driven decision-making, adoption of new technologies, and collaborative partnerships with influencers. Brands implementing these strategies will undoubtedly be the ones to stay ahead of the competition and continue to thrive in the rapidly-evolving world of eCommerce, throughout 2023 and beyond.
Looking to hire within your eCommerce team in 2023? WE have over 15 years’ experience in hiring top talent across eCommerce, Marketing, Digital Marketing, CRM, Creative, Tech and Data – and WE would love to help.
Email us at info@wecomm.co.uk or give our team a call on 020 4526 8526.
