Inner Monologue

Unless you live in a city like New York or London, which has actual brick and mortar stores for cool brands or (actually) good boutiques and vintage shops, you’re probably doing a lot of your shopping online. Even if a brand is stocked in stores, it’s often a curated edit based on what that store thinks it’s customers will buy, not necessarily the entire range of clothes on offer. Fashion ecomm is really just a crucial part of how many of us shop now, especially if you are seeking out more unique pieces or want to find items that aren’t necessarily “on trend.” However, I have A LOT of issues with the current state of ecomm user experience that drive me absolutely nuts. This will be a two-part post because there are several different aspects here, but for this initial diatribe, I am focusing more on smaller changes that I would like to see more commonly applied by retailers to make ecomm a better experience for all.

As a buyer it can be a bit daunting to try to search a ton of brands, many of which have similar offerings, and then go through page after page of products until your eyes glaze over and you realize an hour of you life has gone by. Not ideal, especially if you are searching for something specific. As a retailer, I understand that the fashion business is notoriously difficult: margins are thin, sizing is difficult, and returns are often a huge problem, nit just for brands’ cash flow, but also for the environment. That being said, I think a lot of these issues could be mediated (if not solved) by some of the following:

• Provide enough filters for searching: some retailers do this really well and once you’ve experiences it, going on sites with limited filters will drive you nuts. Sometimes I’m just generally browsing for a shirt or a skirt or a sweater, and in these cases I’m fine to be shown a variety of options. However, when you are shopping for something very specific or you just want to filter out sleeve lengths/necklines/cuts/etc that you know don’t suit you, not being able to filter your searches to include these details means you are having to scroll through page and pages of products that you know you don’t want. Now I understand that to have all these filters means that someone on the backend of the website has to tag these keywords to every garment, but please, for the sake of us the customer, consider increasing the filters for searches.
• Provide an accurate size chart in inches/centimeters: As someone who knows their measurements (and if you don’t I would highly encourage you to do so), I often rely on size charts to help me select the size of the garment. As we all know, sizing varies wildly brand to brans, sometimes even garment to garment. What is a small? Is it a size 4, or does it extend to a size 6? Why am I a size 4 in a dress from this brand but a 6 or 8 in pants? That’s where it’s really helpful to have a size chart where you can look up sizing by your bust-waist-hips measurements. Even if you’re in between sizes, then you know “ok so to get the hips size I need, I’m going to buy a size X and then have it taken in on the waist.” Very helpful to know when purchasing, especially if you are trying to avoid having to buy two different sizes to figure out which one fits best. However, my plea here would be please actually have the size chart be accurate, ideally to the garment more than the overall brand. I also find customer reviews for “fits true to size or runs small/large to be very helpful with this. I have definitely bought larger sizes than I would normally because the size chart told me that would be best for my measurements, only to get the garment and realize, surprise surprise, it’s too big.
• Provide multiple photographs of a garment: similar to the above, it helps a customer make an informed decision on how the garment will fit on their body. I don’t want to just see a flat lay of the garment or it hanging limply on wrinkled on a mannequin. I want to see it on a human body, preferably styled in a few different ways and from a few different angles. I also want a close up shot of the fabric, because that is a significant consideration for whether or not i will purchase. Again, I know this takes more time and effort to style and photograph, but it really does help the customer visualize how the garment will fit (tighter, more oversized, structured, etc) or how it might sit on the body. I’d get into layering possibilities, but that is another scam of ecomm; yes that sweater looks so cute tucked into that leather skirt but unless you like uncomfortable bunching or want to buy that skirt 1-2 sizes up so that you can only wear it with things tucked in, buyer beware.
• Show the garment as it actually is: if I buy one more white shirt for it to be completely see through, I’m gonna scream. Please do not photoshop that image into high hell so that it looks like a thicker or more opaque fabric than it really is. I want to know if my bra will be visible through a shirt (whether by color or outline). Please also photograph it in the right lighting so the color is the same online as it is when it arrives. I recently bought a pair of cream silk trousers and when they arrived they were a champagne gold, not even remotely the same, btw.

These are just some suggestions for how to make online shopping easier and more sustainable. Armed with the right information, people won’t have to buy multiple sizes and return the one that doesn’t fit, or return a garment that is not the color or fabric shown on the site. Streamlining the ecomm experience will also endear you to your customers, who feel like they’re coming to a curated space that’s easy to navigate, and doesn’t take up half of their afternoon to wade through.