The 5 Things Apparel Shoppers Want

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Stylaquin1

Knowing what your customers want makes marketing easy (er)

I ran into an interesting study by Bain & Company that focuses on what customers perceive as the elements of value. The group identified 30 separate elements and grouped them in a pyramid based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. From the bottom up the groups are:

Functional:

Saves Time
Simplifies
Makes Money
Reduces Risk
Organizes
Integrates
Connects
Reduces Effort
Avoids Hassles
Reduces Cost
Quality
Variety
Sensory Appeal
Informs

Emotional

Reduces Anxiety
Rewards Me
Nostalgia
Design/Aesthetics
Badge Value
Wellness
Therapeutic Value
Fun/Entertainment
Attractiveness
Provides Access

Life Changing

Provides hope
Self-actualization
Motivation
Heirloom
Affiliation and Belonging

Social Impact

Self-transcendence

Does Your Site Do This?

It can with Stylaquin! Stylaquin is the easy to add Shopify app that transforms your website. Stylaquin makes shopping faster, more engaging, and more fun. Stylaquin shoppers stay longer, view over 85% more products, come back more often, and buy more when they do. Find us in the Shopify App Store.

Bain’s chart says that the five most important elements in the apparel industry are:

Quality
Variety
Avoids Hassles
Design/Aesthetics
Saves Time

When you read the list, you can see how important it is to really understand your target customer. Quality may not be as valued with younger shoppers looking for fast fashion. Variety may not be important to someone who likes wearing a personal uniform (Think Steve Jobs). Avoids Hassles is less true for real bargain hunters. Though site issues are universally despised. Design/Aesthetics won’t appeal to those who hate shopping and only buy clothes so they aren’t naked and cold. You see where I’m going here.

Understanding what motivates your customers is a cornerstone of marketing. Relying on big data for most customers will actually send you down a path that has broad appeal, but no specific appeal. In other words, it will work well for Walmart, but not for a boutique.

I think some of the most important elements for smaller businesses are in the Emotional and Life Changing groups. We don’t think about clothing as being heirloom but buying a jean jacket your daughter will want to wear in 20 years is an interesting angle.

Nostalgia has appeal to everyone, and if you are selling to a niche that has a time period, you can always hit that note and it will resonate. Steam Punk, Cottage Core, 50’s – 90’s and so on all have a nostalgia element to them.

Fun and entertaining is another element that will resonate with power shoppers. Make shopping more fun and engaging and shoppers will come back. (That’s what Stylaquin does!)

Women often joke about needing some retail therapy, but it’s real, and having a great shopping experience is something those who like to shop genuinely value. When the mood strikes, there is something oddly relaxing about looking at lots of beautiful things, even if you don’t buy them. There’s also a rush when you find items that spark joy, whether it’s the prefect gift, or the perfect pair of shoes.

Social impact is another area that has trementous power. Tom’s shoes, Ivory Ella, Bert’s Bees and many more have social impact at the core of their business model. Younger customers have shown tremendous brand loyalty to companies that give back to causes they care about.

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

The Stylaquin Idea Board keeps customers engaged in two ways: it’s an interactive styling board where shoppers can collect and curate all the things that interest them; and it also acts as a wishlist that shoppers can return to. Find us in the Shopify App Store.

Creating connection with your customers takes time. Use the elements as a guide to spark ideas for everything from sales to social media posts. Think about the ones you can align with easily and focus on them. Good luck!

Get more WOW from the products you have now

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Stylaquin1

How to Promote the right products on your Shopify store's home page

Imagine your home page as the digital red carpet to your store, where you have the power to make a dazzling impression on potential customers. When you strategically select and showcase your products here, you’re not just displaying beautiful items, you’re creating an experience that resonates with your audience. By understanding your customers’ tastes, staying on top of the latest trends, and curating a captivating home page, you can turn visitors into loyal shoppers. So, get ready to boost those conversion rates and sales like a boss! Your home page is your secret weapon in the competitive world of online retail, and it’s time to shine!

Understanding Your Target Audience

Understanding your target audience is the compass that guides your success in the world of online fashion retail. It’s not just about selling products; it’s about creating a shopping experience tailored to their desires and needs. Knowing your target audience intimately allows you to speak directly to their hearts and capture their attention on your home page. To achieve this, start by identifying who your target customer is. How old are they? What do they care about? What’s trending in their world? Put yourself in their shoes.

Does Your Site Do This?

Start with Bestsellers

The best place to go for inspiration on what to put on the home page is your best sellers. Bestsellers should have a prominent place on every home page. Why? Because they’re proven winners. Bestsellers are also a roadmap to seasonality. You probably won’t have the same bestsellers in August that you do in November.

Let Shopify do the heavy lifting

Go to your Shopify sales report, make sure it includes the date the product was sold, the number of products sold as units, the product name and SKU, the price and the profit. Download the report and open it in excel or whatever spreadsheet software you use. Open the file and subtotal the report by product. Some spreadsheets call this categories rather than subtitles. You are trying to find the products with the highest units of sales. If you have Stylaquin installed you can use the Insights Panel to see your best sellers. We have a video titled Bestsellers you can check out to learn more. Just change the date range to see a specific time.

Use color

This will make spotting the winners easier to see later. Color the cells with the top ten or so products with a bright green color. Then color the next ten or so products with bright blue, and color the following ten or so with bright gold. This will give you an easy way to spot where the best sellers are showing up in each season.

Sort your table by date

This way you can see where the best sellers are working their magic. Are they all Q4 gifts? Are they summer self purchase? What can you learn from them? Are there any the show up consistently throughout the year? We call those perennial best sellers and they typically are problem solvers.

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

But wait! What about new products?

There has long been a debate about which is more powerful—new products or best sellers. If you want to dive in even deeper here’s a post on the subject. But the short answer is that most of the customers coming to your site will be new. That’s just how the online world works. So showcasing new products on your home page in place of bestsellers is risky. What if the new products are a bust? There are stores that can make showcasing only new products work, and clothing and accessories are frequently about tends. How do you pick? Not to worry, you can test it!

A/B testing is easy in Shopify

Head over to the App Store and you’ll find lots of apps that offer A/B testing. A/B testing lets you create two versions of a page which are randomly shown to visitors. It allows you to see which version gets you more clicks. You can A/B test headlines, product assortments, images and offers. Be sure to keep your A/B tests clean by not changing too many things at once. It’s also a good idea to keep a diary of what you’ve tested so you can keep track of learnings.

Keep learning, growing and being creative! ““

Nail the Sale Before the Cart – Browse Baby!

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Stylaquin1

Before the Cart: Using Stylaquin's Idea Board to Curate Your Customer's Journey

We all know where a purchase begins, or do we? The cart is actually the midway point, not the beginning and not the end of a customer’s purchase journey. The decision to buy comes before the cart, not after. So we need to think about how we can help shoppers have a better purchase journey from start to finish.

Mapping the journey

Shoppers come to your store because they are looking for something. It may be a specific thing, so they use the search bar, the nav bar, or the filters to find it. But if they’re just browsing, they may not know what they want, but they’re interested enough to poke around. Most sites aren’t offering the shoppers who are just browsing a great experience. Browsing shoppers want to consider their options. Most women fall into the browsing category. Women will often open a different tab for every item they’re considering. They don’t want to lose track of things they like, but they aren’t ready to put them in the cart. That’s where Stylaquin is a game changer.

The Idea Board Revolution: A New Way to Shop

This browsing behavior, which we can easily do in any brick and mortar store, gave birth to the Stylaquin Idea Board, it allows shoppers to collect all the things that interest them, rearrange them, change colors and sizes and visualize them in different combinations, all before committing anything to the cart. Shoppers who use the Idea Board when they shop will view more items and come back more often than those who don’t. When they come back, they’ll see all the things that interested them the first time, so they can start shopping right where they left off. When you think about why Stylaquin shoppers buy more on return visits, it just makes sense, they had an engaging experience that they enjoyed, and when they returned, they didn’t have to remember, and then search for, all the things they liked on their previous visit.

Does Your Site Do This?

An Interactive Styling Board or a Wishlist?

There’s nothing like Stylaquin. In fact it’s so unique it’s patented. Stylaquin totally transforms the current shopping experience into something fun and engaging. Stylaquin shoppers stay longer, view more products, come back more often, and buy more when they do.

Think about how different the two shopping experiences are. In the experience we have now, shoppers have to click on each product and the click through each product picture. If they like something, but aren’t ready to add it to the cart they have to save what interests them in tabs, and then toggle through different tabs trying to figure out which is the best choice. If they have to leave and close the browser window they will have to start from scratch when they return. Maybe they’ll find what they liked, or maybe they won’t. Now let’s compare that with Stylaquin. Stylaquin shoppers can flip through a site like a magazine, collect all the things they like in one place, and then edit them till they have exactly what they want. When they come back to the site, all the things they were interested in are right there, so they can pick up where they left off. It’s a better journey, a more engaging experience, and a whole lot easier.

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Once you look at the shopping experience as a whole, from the moment of need or curiosity, through the consideration phase, the purchase decision, the actual product experience, and finally to embracing the brand, it’s clear that the cart isn’t last step in a journey of discovery and consideration. Meeting your customer at each phase of their journey and finding ways to delight and engage them throughout is what creates a passion for your brand.

Use Brand Colors to Make Your Shopify Store POP!

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Stylaquin1

Brand colors can make your site more consistent and more recognizable.

Think of your company as a person. The core values are its soul, the name is the body, the logo is the little black dress, and the brand colors are the accessories that tie it all together.

Great brand colors are a foundational element of a great brand. Getting your brand colors can be tricky. There are some real challenges; like if you pick pink and teal, how do you make it work for Christmas? What about pastels? They look great at Easter, but not so much at Kwanzaa. Before you give up or throw a dart at the Itten color wheel, think about what colors mean to you, then be brave.

Does Your Site Do This?

There’s a festival in India called Holi – the festival of colours – Holi marks the last full-moon day of the lunar month and celebrates the beginning of spring and the victory of good over evil. People literally throw colors on each other. The colors mix, and swirl, and drip, and go everywhere. Holi made me see that there is nothing to fear when it comes to color combinations.

So what are the rules for brand colors?

Every year Pantone picks its “Color of the year”. This year was Viva Magenta. It’s a bold choice. The actual Pantone logo is often Black and grey which, it must be said, goes with every color. By picking very neutral main colors, Pantone assures that their logo can work with any color. But Pantone also makes their logo just about every color when it suits them. They are the svenglis of color. Target and Coke just stick with their very specific and copyrighted shades of red. So the rules for Pantone would seem to be different from the rules for Target and Coke. The truth is there aren’t any rules when it comes to color but, before you regret the time you’ve spent reading this post, I’ll share a some helpful guidelines.

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Guidelines for using Brand Colors

Pick colors you like—you will be stuck with them for years and after that it will be harder to change. You can find inspiration for colors in a picture, landscape, flower, or piece of art.

Pick a bold color for your main color unless you are going for a minimalist tone-on-tone look. Again, you can make just about anything work, but you have to be consistent in order for it to be meaningful and recognizable.

Stick with it even when it’s hard. Any color combo can work. Look at Howard Johnson’s for an iconic but unusual pairing. Where things go off the rails brand wise is when folks get bored or scared. Target NEVER moves away from red, Home Depot NEVER moves away from orange. You have to commit.

Start with one color. It’s easier to have one main color than many colors. Lots of iconic brands have one main color, L.L. Bean is green, Target is red, Pacific Life is blue, Home Depot is orange, and so on. I bet you saw the color for each of those brands in your head as you read them.

If you’re brave or a pro add a second. If you want to dial up the color recognition further, go with two colors like McDonalds or Pepsi. At Stylaquin we have two main colors, Stylaquin green and Stylaquin magenta. We also have four additional colors that all work together. I chose the Stylaquin colors so that they’d stand out and get attention. Holi was my inspiration. I love bright colors. But bright colors don’t work for everyone, and we encourage customers to choose whatever color works for their brand when they add Stylaquin to their site. Working with multiple colors adds visual complexity.

Here are a few more tips on working with brand colors.

Create seasonal palettes that work with your main color(s). If you’re a Shopify clothing, fashion and/or accessories store, you will probably have seasonal items, and seasonal sales. Creating palettes ahead of time, and then reusing them, is just one more thing off of your always full plate.

Colors are like flowers, they usually work together, so don’t stress. Think of all the times you’ve seen a bouquet of wild flowers that surprised and delighted you. Colors usually magically go together. Some people have strong opinions about color and that’s okay, but I’ve never seen a garden that clashes. Once you have the basics chosen, you’ll develop go-to combos and things that just work. Forcing it just makes it harder.

You can go with the tide, or against the tide. If you sell things that fly, like kites, choosing sky blue as your main color can work. That’s going with the tide. You can also go against the tide and choose yellow, or orange, which will always pop on blue, Going with the tide typically produces a more calm color palette, Going against the tide usually gives designs more energy.

Play. Designers rarely finish where they start. They play and noodle, and make mood boards, and play some more. Then they let everything sit for a bit. Then they show it around, and then play more, and then finally make a decision. There’s an industry joke: How many Art Directors does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Eleven. One to do it and ten to say “I don’t know, what do you think?”

Consistency is the key to creating recognizable brand colors. Create a document that explains your brand colors and how to use them. Be sure to include the RGB web color codes and the matching CMYK print percentages. When you find an OMG amazing color combo that you love and goes perfectly with your brand color(s), write it down and add it to your palette. Be sure that everyone who contributes to your brand has a copy of the brand colors document, and an understanding of how to use your brand colors.

Rock your Shopify Store with Killer Apps

Posted on October 10, 2023 by Stylaquin1

Navigating the World of Shopify Apps for Stores that Sell Clothing and Accessories

Venturing into the Shopify App Store can feel akin to a child stepping into a candy store – so many options, yet so little time. And just like that child, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. With an array of apps labeled ‘essential’ for your Shopify clothing store, how do you determine which ones will genuinely elevate your customers’ experience? The solution lies in understanding the heart and soul of your store – your customers.

The Challenge: Filtering the Essential from the Extravagant

Every entrepreneur’s journey in the Shopify realm invariably includes a pitstop at the app store. The goal is simple: enhancing functionality, aesthetics, and user experience. However, the process? Not so much. Here are the challenges many face:

Overchoice: With thousands of apps vying for attention, how do you select the right one?
Compatibility: Will the app seamlessly integrate with your store’s theme and ethos?
Value Addition: Does the app offer genuine value, or is it just another shiny tool?

Does Your Site Do This?

Adopting a Customer-Centric Approach

The best way to address the app-selection dilemma? Flip the script. Instead of thinking about what you want for your store, consider what your customers desire. Here’s a guideline:

Simplify the Browsing Experience: Your customers should find joy in the journey, not just the destination (or purchase, in this case). Consider apps that simplify and enhance the browsing process.
Personalize Their Journey: Apps that allow customization and personal curation can turn a passive browser into an engaged buyer.
Retain and Re-engage: Think about apps that can draw your customers back, turning them into repeat visitors.

The Easy Way to Get Everything You Need in One App

Among the myriad of apps available, Stylaquin stands out, particularly for Shopify clothing stores. Here’s why:

Look Book Experience: Shopping becomes a delightful journey with Stylaquin’s Look Book, allowing users to flip through products much like they would in a magazine. Not only is this faster, but it’s about as close as you can get to the joy of flipping pages, and finding new things that delight and engage you.
Idea Board: The Idea Board is a revolution in the digital shopping realm, especially for female shoppers. It allows them to curate, change, and visualize their selections, an online experience that traditional wishlists simply cannot match. It’s not just about adding items to a cart; it’s about creating a personalized narrative of one’s style journey. Best of all, the idea board remains active as long as the Stylaquin cookie exists, so when shoppers return, all the things they liked are right there waiting for them.

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Why Stylaquin Resonates with Female Shoppers

Women shop differently than men, but the online shopping experience was designed for the way men shop. Now both experiences can exist on the same site at the same time. Women, more than just buying a product, are investing in an experience, a story. Stylaquin’s Idea Board offers just that – a space where they can weave their own story, visualize combinations, switch things around, and truly engage with the products. While the digital experience isn’t the same as in person shopping, Stylaquin’s offerings mirror the fun, and engagement of an in-person shopping spree.

Reimagining Your Shopify Clothing Store with Stylaquin

The road to selecting the perfect apps for your Shopify store is paved with challenges. However, by putting yourself in your customer’s place and choosing tools like Stylaquin that genuinely understand and enhance the shopping experience, you can turn these challenges into opportunities. Remember, in the vast digital ocean of e-commerce, it’s the quality of engagement, the depth of connection, and the joy of the journey that sets your store apart. Choose wisely, and let Stylaquin guide your customers on a shopping adventure like no other.

Stylaquin

Shoppers stay longer, view more, return more, and buy more!

Category Archives: Fashion and Accessories

The 5 Things Apparel Shoppers Want

Knowing what your customers want makes marketing easy (er)

Does Your Site Do This?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Get more WOW from the products you have now

How to Promote the right products on your Shopify store's home page

Understanding Your Target Audience

Does Your Site Do This?

Start with Bestsellers

Let Shopify do the heavy lifting

Use color

Sort your table by date

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

But wait! What about new products?

A/B testing is easy in Shopify

Nail the Sale Before the Cart – Browse Baby!

Before the Cart: Using Stylaquin's Idea Board to Curate Your Customer's Journey

Mapping the journey

The Idea Board Revolution: A New Way to Shop

Does Your Site Do This?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Use Brand Colors to Make Your Shopify Store POP!

Brand colors can make your site more consistent and more recognizable.

Does Your Site Do This?

So what are the rules for brand colors?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Guidelines for using Brand Colors

Here are a few more tips on working with brand colors.

Rock your Shopify Store with Killer Apps

Navigating the World of Shopify Apps for Stores that Sell Clothing and Accessories

Does Your Site Do This?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Knowing what your customers want makes marketing easy (er)

Does Your Site Do This?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

How to Promote the right products on your Shopify store's home page

Understanding Your Target Audience

Does Your Site Do This?

Start with Bestsellers

Let Shopify do the heavy lifting

Use color

Sort your table by date

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

But wait! What about new products?

A/B testing is easy in Shopify

Before the Cart: Using Stylaquin's Idea Board to Curate Your Customer's Journey

Mapping the journey

The Idea Board Revolution: A New Way to Shop

Does Your Site Do This?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Brand colors can make your site more consistent and more recognizable.

Does Your Site Do This?

So what are the rules for brand colors?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Guidelines for using Brand Colors

Here are a few more tips on working with brand colors.

Navigating the World of Shopify Apps for Stores that Sell Clothing and Accessories

Does Your Site Do This?

Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!

Book a Quick Demo!