‘The fabric of retail is changing’; Marketing Week Article
Take a look below to see how Baukjen’s eStylist powered by Vee24 is shaping the fabric of retail. Along with other interesting innovations it is clear to see how technology can bring about a more personalized online shopping experience.
Marketing Week Article | by Lucy Tesseras
‘Digital innovations are enabling online retailers to offer highly personalised, boutique-style services to shoppers, who like it so much they are spending more’
‘As a pure-play digital business, women’s clothing brand Baukjen realises just how critical it is to interact with consumers on a personal level, as it doesn’t have the benefit of being able to offer customers a place to try things on in a shop. It introduced a free eStylist service for customers last year, which head of customer operations Chloe Smith believes “removes the final barrier to buying fashion online” and has resulted in higher sales, fewer returns and more repeat business.
Boutique experience online
“The eStylist service is a way of providing a boutique experience online,” she says. It works by shoppers outlining what they’d like help with ahead of a session, giving the stylist time to select relevant clothes, which they then present to customers via a live video chat.
“We don’t push the customers to purchase there and then if they are not ready to buy,” adds Smith. “Instead we follow up a little while after. We find this works better for our customers.
“The key is developing a relationship; our customers come back to us for guidance and tips time and time again as we offer genuine advice, not a sales pitch.”
Results are good, with 94 per cent of session customers going on to purchase and their average order value is 28 per cent higher than for customers who don’t use the service, says Smith.
Fewer returns
Baukjen offers an eStylist service which includes advice from a stylist and a live video chat
The additional guidance, which can also be conducted via email or live chat, means customers are 40 per cent less likely to return items, while 89 per cent become repeat customers.
All of this means Baukjen was able to achieve a return on investment within two months of launching the service.
It is for these reasons that the company extended the service to its sister brand, maternity wear company Isabella Oliver, particularly as it finds pregnant women seek additional reassurance about sizing.’
