Imagine a fashion student who is fresh out of college launches their first collection. But, instead of going through the hassles of procuring shelf spaces in boutiques, building an expensive website, they share their designs on Instagram. For arguments sake, let’s take the best-case scenario, let’s say that the designs blow up on social media. What do you think will happen next? Well, the engagements on the post turns into inquiries and inquiries into sales.
You might think that I am painting a fantasy here, but if you just do a search on Instagram or other social platforms, you will see so many businesses thriving just by managing a paging and posting consistently. Gone are the days where you had to depend on e-commerce websites or offline retail stores where you buy shelf space or pay commission on each sale that you make. Unbelievably, social media as levelled the playing field for everyone.
Still don’t believe me? Here are some facts that can help you understand how the fashion retail landscape is shifting towards social commerce.
- Social commerce sales are projected to triple by 2025, with an astounding 87% of consumers acknowledging social media’s influence on their purchasing decisions.
- Fashion and apparel are among the most-purchased categories on social media. In 2024, an estimated 110.4 million people are expected to shop via social platforms globally
- Recommendations from social media influencers drive higher engagement and sales. About 46% of shoppers prefer to see product videos before purchasing, emphasizing the value of interactive and visual content
I can go on with more statistics, but this blog post is not about the statistics. This blog post will help you understand the shift and how to leverage it’s potential.
The New Fashion Marketplace
Remember when shopping meant physically visiting stores or browsing through multiple ecommerce sites, comparing prices and then making the purchase? While we still do that, it’s not long before those days are gone. Today’s fashion consumers find their next purchase while scrolling through social media feeds be it Instagram reels or YouTube shorts or even Pinterest feeds. The social media platforms have transformed themselves into powerful retail channels instead of just being mere inspiration for its audiences’ decisions.
I do agree that this democratisation is not altruistic, but a byproduct of social media platforms trying to maximise their ad revenue & user base.
Let’s take Instagram as an example since most or all of us use the platform and let’s face it, we may be pretty addicted to it as well. What started out as a simple photo sharing app has evolved into a comprehensive shopping eco system. Brands or Pages can now tag products directly in their posts and create immersive shopping experience through stories or even through DM’s. There is no need to leave the app unless you are moving away to make the payment for the purchase that you just made on the app. The platform’s visual nature makes it a natural fit for fashion and fashion related brands, allowing designers to show off their designs in context and build a cohesive brand aesthetic.
Something similar has happened on YouTube as well, where if you have noticed, you see product placements just below YouTube Videos. This is not confined to just one or two social platform but across all of them. The only way they differ is how they have implemented it. Some allow placement of products within organic content, others through ads.
Now, what makes social commerce so effective? Is it just the ease of use? I think not since the e-commerce excels at that. It’s the social proof that makes social commerce so effective in today’s time. Let’s have a deeper look.
The Power of Social Proof
If you are someone who is interested in human psychology and curious about how human behaviour is influenced, this section will be an interesting one for you.
Human as a social animal has always been looking for validations from various sources. The only thing that has changed is the way that we seek validation has changed. It’s all mostly about likes & engagements on our posts combined with brand reputation and product quality. When customers share photos wearing a brand’s clothing, it fosters a sense of community & authenticity. This relatability resonates with potential buyers more than polished product photos, as it demonstrates real-life application and styling. For example, campaigns like Dove’s “Real Beauty” and GoPro’s adventure-focused UGC (User Generated Content) effectively showcase products in action, driving engagement and trust.
The community driven nature of Fashion is what makes social commerce so effective. When a potential customer discovers a new designer, they don’t just see the professional photos of the product, instead they see real people wearing & styling the pieces in real life situations. The GRWM is one of the best examples I can think of. For those of you who don’t know what GRWM is, it’s Get Ready With Me – A popular social media trend where a influencer basically shares their getting-ready routine.
User generated content is the most powerful marketing strategy in the recent times. When a customer wears your design and shares pictures or videos of it, they are not just giving you free marketing, they are offering social proof that helps you and your brand build trust with the potential customer. Their styling choices might inspire others, their positive experience might convince hesitant shoppers, and their engagement with your brand helps build a community around your designs. Now, it depends on you on how you want to motivate your users to create User Generated content around your brand or products.
The Mobile-First Revolution
This can be a little technical, but bare with me. You will understand how the user behaviour has changed over time and how that change in behaviour led to where we are today.
The shift from desktop to mobile has been an interesting one. In 2012, only 9.8% of global internet traffic originated from Mobile devices whereas 59.1% of global traffic & 63.7% of global e-commerce traffic originates from Mobile devices. If someone had told me that people would prefer smaller screens instead of bigger one’s in 2012, I would have laughed it off. But ease of use, ease of access and portability has played a significant role in this shift towards smaller screens.
The user behaviour started changing with change in preferences in terms of screen sizes. The technology and every platform started thinking from mobile first perspective which led to advent of today’s social media – Imagine browsing through Instagram reels on a desktop. With Ad Revenues in mind, social platforms & E-Commerce started focusing more towards making customer journeys easier on mobile. This shift has had a profound effect on how fashion is marketed & sold today.
Think about the typical shopping journey: A customer might discover a piece through an Instagram reel, YouTube short, YouTube video or a Pinterest board, save it to their Wishlist, and complete the purchase while commuting to work – all on their smartphone. This seamless, mobile-first experience is not the exception, but the norm.
The Future of Fashion Retail
The advancement in technology is never ending. The integration of recent technologies has the potential to make social commerce even more immersive & engaging. AR Technologies has made it possible for people to try on clothes through Virtual fitting rooms. Personalization’s powered by AI is helping match customers with the styles they would most likely be interested in. Even the metaverse is opening up new possibilities for digital fashion and virtual showrooms.
With social commerce levelling the fields, success now is not determined by established networks or big budgets. Instead, it’s now driven by creativity, authenticity & community engagement. A student designer with his/her creativity & vision can build a strong following & customer base with engaging content without depending on traditional mediators.
What Does This Means for Fashion Students
If you are studying fashion or planning on studying fashion and pursuing it as a career, there can’t be a better time than this. The changes we see today pose exceptional opportunities, you just need to understand them and learn to grab them. It’s a lot easier for you to build a brand & sell designs compared to a few years ago. From AI making it easier to generate content (Text to Video) to Social Platforms providing a field to play on, all you require is a blend of creativity and digital skills.
Learning to create engaging content, build a brand presence and leveraging the platform features is as important as mastering tradition design skills with various fashion designing courses. The good news is that these platforms & tools are intuitive, and they are fairly easy to learn. Mastering designing skills would still require a course, which IIFT can definitely help you in mastering with our expert faculty and state of the art infrastructure.
Looking Ahead
If you think that this shift to social commerce is just a fad that will go away with time, think again. It’s a change at fundamental level on how fashion is discovered, marketed and sold. In 2024 alone, 110.4 million people have shopped via social platforms, the opportunities for aspiring fashion designers have never been greater.
Though, to be successful, you would have to be intuitive enough to understand and adapt to the changing consumer behaviors and embrace new ways of connecting to your customers. But, if you are willing to learn and experiment, social commerce can offer an exciting path to building a sustainable, direct-to-consumer fashion brand.
The future of fashion retail is social, mobile, and community driven. By understanding and leveraging these platforms effectively, you can turn your fashion dreams into a thriving business, one post, one video, and one engaged follower at a time. The revolution in fashion retail is here – and you’re perfectly positioned to be part of it.
Interested in learning more about fashion? Check out some of the fashion designing courses offered by IIFT.
- Diploma in Fashion Design & Boutique Design
- Diploma in Fashion Styling & Communication
- BSc in Fashion & Apparel Design
- Master of Fashion Management