Guided Buying for Apparel: The Ultimate Guide

Guided buying is changing the way we shop for clothes. It helps customers find exactly what they need without feeling overwhelmed.

This post will explain everything you need to know about guided buying for apparel, from its benefits to choosing the right solution and improving user experience.

Key Takeaways

  • Guided buying makes shopping for clothes easier and more enjoyable.
  • Personalization features in guided buying can recommend items that match a customer's style.
  • Mobile accessibility ensures that customers can shop anytime, anywhere.
  • Guided buying increases the likelihood of conversion, increases average order value, decreases the likelihood of product return, and increases customer trust in the brand.

Benefits of Guided Buying

Guided buying is an approach to ecommerce that helps shoppers make better choices by showing them products that match their needs. It simplifies the shopping process and can lead to higher satisfaction.

This can be anything from product labels that identify popular items, to AI-powered personalized search functions that display apparel that complements previous shopper purchases.

Guided buying provides the benefits of an in-store assistant or personal shopper, reducing the amount of product a customer must sift through and showing them more personalized options. This increases the likelihood of conversion, allows for more targeted upselling and cross-selling, and reduces bounce rates.

Key Components

There are several key parts to guided buying. These include personalized recommendations, size guides, and urgency labels.

Personalized recommendations can suggest items that go well together, like a complete outfit. It can even display a complete outfit and enable users to "shop the look." This comes from an AI algorithm that quickly sifts through customer-offered information to present choices the consumer's past behavior indicates they would like.

Personalized recommendations include semantic search, where a user might enter a sentence about what they're looking for on the website, or a carousel of suggested products on the homepage that automatically loads when the user signs in.

Size guides help customers pick the right size, which reduces the likelihood of returns. In addition to static size guides, augmented reality (AR) functionality allows a virtual try-on experience that gives the customer a sense of how that apparel item will look on them. This reduces common clothing uncertainty when buying online, increasing the likelihood of conversion and customer satisfaction with the product.

Urgency labels, like "going fast," create a sense of urgency to buy. This subtle pressure both helps the consumer take advantage of stock before it's sold out, and encourages completion of a sale by appealing to emotions, with a feeling of scarcity. This tactic is especially effective when paired with a generous return policy, as the consumer risks less in completing impulse buys. 

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Implementing Guided Buying

To start with guided buying, you need to set up a system that can recommend products and provide useful information. Threekit offers a robust AI solution that, paired with their cutting-edge visual engine and comprehensive integration abilities, enables a number of guided buying components.

These include:

  • Showing options similar to an item the user is interested in.
  • Select and purchase items from a full outfit or look.
  • Semantic search, to serve up results based on customer intention rather than requiring specific keywords.
  • Walking a customer through technical specifications with prompts, such as configuring a shoe to their exact design.
  • Suggesting complementary products so the consumer can purchase a bundle.
  • Enabling photo uploads that find the visually matching item or complementary ones.
  • Accounting for "close enough" text search that allows typos and synonyms.
  • Allowing the purchase of apparel directly from social media feeds.
  • Automated product descriptions that hone in on key elements of each item.
Guided buying is about helping shoppers find what they need quickly and easily, making the whole process more enjoyable.

Enhancing User Experience

Personalization Features

Guided buying can boost shopper confidence by offering personalized recommendations. This helps shoppers make decisions faster and supports them at every step of their journey. For example, suggesting items that complement their initial choice can drive more conversions and increase the average order value (AOV).

Mobile Accessibility

Ensuring that your guided buying solution is mobile-friendly is crucial. Shoppers often browse and make purchases on their phones, especially when shopping from a social media feed. A seamless mobile experience can make a big difference in customer satisfaction and conversion rates.

Product Configuration

Customization and configuration or apparel gives shoppers a sense of ownership over the item they're designing. Whether it's monogramming on a polo shirt or choosing the specific colors on a sneaker, the ability to configure a product to personal desires increases brand trust and loyalty, as well as engaging shoppers.

In addition, custom configured products are less likely to be sold second-hand and less likely to be returned. They reflect the user's unique style, and thus can be invaluable when paired with AI algorithms that suggest complementary products.

Visual Discovery AI

Threekit's visual discovery AI boosts shopper confidence by helping them make decisions faster. It supports shoppers at every step, from discovery to purchase, and even post-purchase. This AI-driven tool answers questions that static product pages or chatbots can't, driving more conversions.

Product Recommendations

Threekit provides personalized product recommendations, even when shoppers don't know exactly what they want. This approach increases the average order value by offering organic recommendations tailored to each shopper's unique needs.

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Conclusion

Guided buying for apparel simplifies the shopping process, making it easier for customers to find what they need while helping retailers boost sales and reduce returns.

Whether you're a small boutique or a large retailer, implementing guided buying can lead to happier customers and a more efficient shopping experience. Start exploring your options with Threekit today and see the difference it can make.