Even the most faithful clients had to adapt.Those who used to visit their favorite stores every week, who had friends who called or reserved them a garment that knew that it would be of interest and for those who buy was not so much a need as a program in itself.When the quarantine left everyone locked, the fashion shopping had also reinvented.And he did it quite quickly: from the hand of technology, the brands, designers and showrooms began to reach their audience also at home.Digital testers, video calls, WhatsApp assistance and even ad hoc applications were deployed to continue selling.A year and a half later, the face -to -face purchase is back, but some of these habits seem to have arrived to stay.
By mid -2020, with the Pandemia already very installed, the French firm Balmain made a virtual replica of its Parisian store, in the 44 Rue François.There, the creative director of the brand, Olivier Rousteing, received customers as a hologram that could assist them in all their purchases, while digital models crossed the space to show the new collection in motion.It was an answer to the tremendous decrease in sales that the textile world lived at the beginning of last year.In fact, many brands had to close their stores. Por ejemplo, el segundo minorista de moda más grande del mundo, H&M, planea cerrar 250 de sus 5000 tiendas globales; en tanto Inditex, propietario de Zara, cerró ya más de 1000 a principios de 2021.This last decision has its digital corollary: Inditex has inverted more than US $ 3.000 million to boost chain commerce operations such as Zara and Bershka.
For these parts, in the fall of 2020 and with their winter collections and lists, the brands Naíma and Calandra (united by the same owner) found a way to show them in their "virtual shop".It was an immersive experience that invited to visit the physical stores in a digital way and buy the desired items on a 360º route.From Unicenter, for Naíma and from Patio Bullrich, for Calandra;The proposal was to allow to approach each corner and see the garments presented in the same way that it would be made in the physical space.And when selecting a product, the eShop is redirected to end the purchase.What this proposal contributed was to relive the feeling of walk in the middle of the strictest confinement."We try to think about strategies that kept animated and in contact with our clients, so we apply this new form of rediscovering and providing a breath of fresh air," Nicolás Pollala, general manager of both brands, explained at the time.
Other strategies that were enabled forever?A WhatsApp number available for online purchases that allows you to satisfy all kinds of doubts, while the digital store proposes garments combinations and offers a simile fashion magazine curatorship.
In the personalized consultation line are the staff shoppers, another resource that comes to stay and that many brands use.It consists of a seller who, through a video call, travels the place with the client and is advising him.You can answer consultations about materials, falls, calces and other issues that are not always explained in the basic information of the garment.Sometimes, even, you can ask the saleswoman to try the product to see live and live how it is and continue to pay doubts.In general, this service is implemented with an online shift order, since it requires a dedication time.In the Nike Store of Alto Palermo, for example, they propose this advice through what Nike Live Expert Sessions call.
When in 2021 the second wave forced a new closure of premises, from Casiopea, a local and timeless clothing store in Recoleta, they also decided to implement a new purchase method for those clients who lived within the city.“We made the free shipping between three and 10 garments to the house of the buyers available.Placing a code in the online store, they could receive clothes in their homes, try it quiet, look in their own mirror and build sets with other things about their closet.And everything that would not look good could also return it for free, ”says Carmen García Balcarce, at the head of the label, which ensures that the measure had a very good reception.
But the brands were not alone in their efforts.Along with all this movement, new ventures were emerging that professionalized these services to provide them in an integrated way.The pioneer in the country was "Go Jiraf", a platform that allows access to personnel shoppers, making personalized purchases, having access to exclusive releases and becoming a new window for all shops.And although he was born in Argentina, he begins to take off at the regional level.Just look at the world to verify that this modality, for example, in China, represents 20% of e-commerce;and in the United States and Europe, by 2023, it is estimated that it will report sales for about US $ 25 billion.What is this rage?That the service is so agile and simple that industry metrics demonstrate that average tickets increase by two and a 30%conversion is evidenced;that is to say that with the "Live Shopping" the purchase decision grows.Something that makes a lot of sense in a world of millennials that prefer to interact online than buy in person.
Go Jiraf works with three different modalities of "Live Shopping".The first is "One To One", with a personal shopper private who attends from the store in real time and puts the cart so that it can be bought within the same call.The second is "One To Many", a tool that allows a virtual event to expose the brand, news or releases.Sometimes, these events are held with influencers and always allow buying without leaving the video live.The third is "One To Few" for which more intimate group meetings are held, to make purchases with scheduled invitations.This is ideal for direct sales products.“The traditional e-commerce was practical, but there was no true personalized attention and the detail of the products was never exhaustive enough to determine the purchase.Go Jiraf comes to unite the best of the two worlds: the immediacy and practicality of virtual purchase with the warmth and monitoring of the face -to -face, ”says the partners behind the venture, Patricio Cossio and Agustín Campos.Among other brands, today they work with the rapsodia application, L’Oreal, 47 Street, Desiderata, Portsaid, Cardón and even Showrooms such as Blue Sheep.
For experts, what is coming in the fashion world will be a hybrid.Although there will always be those who want to touch and prove, digital will continue to add adherents and increase their numbers, especially as the native generation of this world begins to be the preponderant consumer.From the hand of that growth, the strategies will be further sharpened, together with a technology that will continue to innovate.The experiences will be "omni-canals".In all this route, however, something remains: even on the other side of the screen, we are still looking for the eyes of others in front of the eternal question of "How do I do?".
