Introduction
When you have a fashion business, you can never have enough tips and tricks for meeting your sales objectives. There are numerous ways to help you get there, but few offer better return for your effort than accessory sales. Fashion accessories are well-known for their ability to boost margins and retain customer interest. Most brands are aware that offering accessories in their store can help them increase profits, but there is often confusion about what factors to consider when they’re ready to invest in this significant area of inventory.
In this post, we are going to discuss 11 different strategies to pull your customers through the sales funnel and increase your profits in fashion accessory sales.
What is The Fashion Marketing Sales Funnel?
- Run A/B Tests for In-Store, Online, And Email Accessory Marketing
- Incorporate Suggestive Selling Techniques
- Offer Irresistible Sale Discounts
- Hold Seasonal & Holiday Promotional Events
- Focus on Customer Convenience with Virtual Shopping Tools
- Strategically Place Accessories in Your Store
- Showcase Your Products on Social Media
- Incorporate a “Shop by Outfit” Experience in Store and Online
- Run a Giveaway a To Increase Accessory Product Awareness
- Incorporate Pop Culture into Your Displays & Product Lines
- Level Up Your Customer Service
Conclusion
What Is A Marketing Sales Funnel?
Before you learn how to assist customers and understand how to increase sales in fashion accessories, you must understand what the marketing sales funnel is and how it will apply to your fashion business.
The fashion marketing sales funnel: Represents the steps a consumer takes before finally purchasing your product in the last stage of the funnel. There are a few levels in a sales funnel, usually known as the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel, although these steps vary depending on a brands sales model.
Just like an actual funnel, the top of the theoretical sales funnel is wider than its bottom. Not everyone who walks by the storefront will enter. Not everyone who does enter will buy your products. And finally, not everyone who buys clothing will buy accessories.
The goal is to attract a wide consumer base and work to pull them through to the bottom of the funnel, losing as little customers along the way as possible.
Let’s dive into some of the ways we can drive our customers down the funnel and increase profits on fashion accessory sales.
1. Run A/B Tests for In-Store, Online, and Email Accessory Marketing
One way to evaluate your conversion funnel and increase your fashion accessory profits, is to study your preliminary consumer behavior through A/B testing.
A/B testing is the process of comparing two versions of an advertisement, webpage, email, or other marketing material and calculating the difference in performance. The purpose of using A/B testing is to determine which visual advertisements are going to increase traffic and the customer conversion rate, while decreasing the website and email bounce rates.
- An A/B test could tell you which picture of your accessory had the highest click rate in your email campaign.
- Or, you could test which position a mannequin displaying your accessory made them want to enter the store more.
Consumer trends change often, so you should continuously conduct A/B testing to optimize your accessory marketing.
After your A/B tested advertisements succeed at bringing the customer in, you want to keep them moving through the funnel using suggestive selling techniques, which we will cover in the next section of this post!
2. Incorporate Suggestive Selling Techniques
A/B tested displays alone will not help brands reach their sales goals. However, engaging displays combined with persuasive selling techniques will! Using product knowledge, anyone can learn to incorporate conversational selling into their strategies.
Here are a couple of suggestive selling techniques to know:
- Be timely with your add-on sales suggestions. Accessories can increase the total customer bill quickly if the consumer is properly nurtured. Capitalize on this opportunity to introduce customers to other products while they are still in shopping mode, not when they reach the counter.
- Phrase suggestions according to “need” or “want” products. A “need” is a product that complements the customers “planned” purchase. Example: A customer who plans to purchase shoes is going to need socks. Present the socks in a way that assumes the customer will purchase by saying, “I grabbed a pair of white socks for you, would you like me to bring you the black socks as well?”
When suggesting “want” items, or accessories that do not complement the product the customer plans to purchase, use their interests and information you’ve gathered through conversation to suggest a similar product you feel they might like. Let’s say a customer is set on purchasing a pair of dress heels. You may say, “We just received this brand-new line of summer heels in today, can you try these on to see how they feel? These would be perfect for wearing to breakfast the day after your evening event!” Now the customer is in the second pair of shoes, moving their way through the sales funnel.
Let’s discuss a few ways to retain customers like the one in our example.
3. Offer Irresistible Sale Discount Promotions
While promotions can be a cost to your business, running them is an extremely effective way to boost accessory sales for your business and attract new lifelong customers.
Reasons why discount promotions are attractive to you and your consumers:
- For most people, saving money brings peace of mind.
- Coupons make people happy! Studies have shown that oxytocin levels increase when you receive coupons and vouchers.
- Discount strategies add a layer of time sensitivity to the experience. As a result, your cart abandonment rate decreases, pulling more customers through sales funnel.
- Brands can clear out items that are clogging up inventory by putting them on sale.
Before starting your promotion, you need to consider the current costs of your customer acquisitions, product development and restocking, and marketing efforts. Recording and analyzing a detailed inventory report will also help you figure out the type of promotion for the highest return on investment.
Once you determine a feasible promotion for the company, think about how to “package” it for the consumer so they feel like they have no choice but to buy the product.
In the next section, we’re going to cover how and why you should take advantage of the peak discount promotion periods throughout the year by holding in-store promotional events!
4. Hold Seasonal & Holiday Promotional Events
A specially designed promotional event can have a significant impact on product demand and sales. By planning several of these exciting events each year, you are giving customers a reason to return to the store on a regular basis.
The holidays are a great time for brands to leverage events and increase accessory sale profits. Customers are more likely to buy accessory gifts for friends. Also, many people look for accessories when finding outfits to dress for a themed occasion.
Like creating any promotional deal, holding a themed promotional event is no easy task. Consider these tips for smoothing out the process to ensure you host a memorable and profitable event!
- Choose a promotion that fits your target audience and business goals.
- Promote events through your social media channels.
- Try to schedule events at least 3-4 months in advance for advertising.
- Involve employees in the creative planning process.
- Sell, sell sell! Take advantage of this time to really impress customers.
Not only will customers receive good deals, but they will also be persuaded to return to your store again.
5. Focus on Customer Convenience with Virtual Shopping Tools
Brands are quickly catching on to how fast technology is developing. Now, they are looking to tap into virtual marketplace opportunities. With a rise of concern for consumer health and safety, this is a perfect opportunity to try these out.
Using digital technologies helps provide a seamless shopping experience for your customer through tools such as:
- Google Shopping Campaign. This online tool makes it easy for customers shop purchase. Customers can shop your store products through the convenience of their browser search engine results, rather than clicking through your website to find a product. Fewer clicks for your customer are simple conveniences that can make a big difference in a busy consumer world.
- Augmented Reality Technology. Some brands like Warby Parker are taking the next step into digital shopping tools by using augmented reality to help consumers virtually “try on” products without stepping foot outside of their home. With a camera and the brand’s mobile app, customers can see how different glasses look on their face.
- Chatbots are taking the fashion industry by storm. Similar to an inperson sales associate, ChatBots also guide consumers through the sale funnel by offering assistance with finding a product or answering a question.
Interested in learning more about how fashion brands are using digital technology and data science to reach their consumers like never before? Check out this post: Why Data Science Has Become the Hottest Trend in The Fashion Industry.
6. Strategically Place Accessories in Your Store
Where and how you place your accessory merchandise effects your sales big time.
Making a good first impression is important for setting the customer experience off to a good start, so first, you’ll want to make sure your space looks presentable.
Next, you will need to consider the following before developing your placement strategy:
- The size of the building and the amount of shelving available.
- Where the bulk of the foot traffic is in the store. Chances are you will want to fill this area with products.
- The type of products being sold. Can anyone of these be placed together to offer a quality customer experience?
When it comes to accessories, the most important strategy is to place them in a visually appealing way near products that could be paired together, like by seasonal trends. For example, if it is summertime, consider placing sandals, swimwear, and tote bags altogether.
Another display tactic to increase sales of your accessories is to place products within easy-to-reach, easy-to-touch locations. You want t stay away from using displays that diminish customer engagement, like glass cases. Placing products up on high shelves also diminishes customer engagement.
To learn more about managing and improving the look of your storefront, check out this post: How to Make Your Store Atmosphere Generate Sales
Keep reading to learn about the other strategic ways to increase profits in fashion sale accessories, outside of the traditional brick and mortar building!
7. Showcase Your Products on Social Media
Advertising your accessories on digital platforms is an effective way to maximize exposure to your brand and reach customers in spaces they consistently visit every day.
Many consumers’ purchasing decisions are directly influenced by the brands they follow on social media because of the close connection opportunities the platforms promote. You can message, interact with each other’s posts, and now, sell and buy products directly on the platforms.
Why create social media accounts if I already have an established website?
- The main idea behind retail social media marketing is that you direct traffic to your website, providing your target customers a convenient way to reach product listings– but times are changing.
- Today, apps like Instagram are working to perfect their direct business-to-consumer sales feature on their platforms. You can search, place the product in your cart, pay, and ship directly through the application.
- No google searches and no waiting for page after page to load on a website. This is extremely convenient for those customers who want to streamline the buying process.
The bottom line: Keeping up with your competitors, utilizing a free platform to showcase your products, and connecting with potential prospects is never a bad idea. One of the biggest benefits is the option to pay for hyper-targeted ads, which you can use to market new accessory collections to promote sales.
8. Incorporate a “Shop by Outfit” Experience in Store and Online
Have you ever walked into a store with mannequins dressed head to toe in store products that were easy to locate? What are the odds you would be interested in those products if they weren’t presented together?
Sometimes customers do not know what they want until they see it. If consumers cannot visualize how an accessory will look when paired with an outfit, they won’t be compelled to go through with the sale.
Brands know that when customers can see the accessories “in action”, they are more willing to purchase the clothes and accessories together. For online retail, some brands take photos of their models wearing accessories that are linked to each other on product pages of their website.
Other brands are turning to smart digital technology to offer a “shop by outfit” feature. This tech, called complete-the-look-technology is a series of algorithms that take product images, data, and consumer purchase behavior to create customized outfits for the customer. This makes for a more personalized and engaging experience for online shoppers, in turn driving more sales.
As always is the case of accessory marketing, the purpose of using “Shop by Outfit” tools and technology is to expose shoppers to products that complement what they’re already buying.
9. Run a Giveaway a To Increase Accessory Product Awareness
Product giveaways are a quick way to temporarily increase your sales accessory profits. Driving potential business to your website and social media.
Need to know how to run a fashion giveaway? Follow these steps:
- If you have a very popular accessory in your store, run a giveaway for it on your social media platforms.
- Assign your followers “entry” tasks, like tagging three of their friends or reposting to their accounts.
- Have your followers comment why they want to win the accessory that is shown in the photos.
- Then, direct them to tag three of their friends who would also want the gift.
- Use special hashtags to promote the giveaway.
- Finally, announce your random chosen winner!
Instagram is the most popular app to run giveaway promotions on, but Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter work as well. Running an Instagram giveaway campaign will increase your followers and brand awareness among Instagram users.
10. Incorporate Pop Culture into Your Displays & Product Lines
If it makes sense for your business, incorporating elements of pop culture into your store is a great way to capture the attention of shoppers, draw them into your store, and buy speciality accessories.
To leverage this type of marketing, start by identifying a popular trend or a hot topic among consumers. You could take inspiration from a new game, movie, tv-show, online joke, or mass social event.
Incorporating pop culture can improve your accessory sales by:
- Exposing your content to extra traffic.
- Humanizing your brand and challenging you to know your audience better.
- Contributing directly to sales by selling pop-culture affiliated accessories.
Back when Game of Thrones was still on the air, jewellery retailer Alex and Ani had the right idea and launched a Game of Thrones-inspired jewellery line during its concluding season. The company placed Game of Thrones displays everywhere in the store and dedicated its front window to Game of Thrones graphics. Customers were instantly drawn to the store to see these speciality products.
11. Level Up Your Customer Service
Investing in customer service ensures loyal customers will help you acquire new customers, free of charge, by persuading potential customers to engage with your brand. Positive reviews are more effective than any marketing strategy — and less expensive as well.
Getting customers to enter your store is a large part of the challenge of increasing sales. That is why every person who walks through your door should be treated like a valued resource. Good customer service starts by greeting them as they walk in, quickly assessing what they need, and immediately start working to solve their problem. Take it a step further by making their experience a personal one. Compliment the customers and ask them questions about their day, their job, and even the occasion they might be shopping for.
By personalizing their experience, they will start to trust you as a sales associate and be more susceptive to sales accessory suggestions. Another way to build trust and improve customer service is to offer a rewards program
Conclusions
We hope you enjoyed reading our 11 different marketing strategies for increasing profits in fashion accessory sales! Let’s recap all that we have covered:
The Fashion Accessory Sales Funnel: The sales funnel represents the steps a consumer will take before eventually making the purchase. Always keep the sales funnel in mind when developing marketing strategies for your brand. Ultimately, you know your target customer best, so determine which strategy is best for sealing the deal.
Most of the strategies we covered all lead back to one important step for bringing awareness to your brand and its products: create an online presence!
As a baseline, your business should have a website. In order to reap the benefits of a consumer interaction-rich platform, consider expanding your brand to social media if you haven’t done so already. This is essential for:
- Running targeted paid ads.
- Running accessory giveaway promotions.
- Humanizing your brand and developing deeper connections with your consumers.
- Promoting pop-culture content and products.
- Offering safer alternatives to shopping than going in person.
Above all, practicing quality customer service is going to help you receive referrals, keep customers returning, and develop a steady stream of product profits. You can accomplish this by paying attention to your customers, determining which suggestive selling technique is appropriate, and offering customers fun and exciting promotional events to attend.
