Daily Debate

17 Mar 2009

Online Window Shopping

We have seen many great examples of bringing the window shopping experience online over the last couple of years. See the list and browse the web.

What’s important?
What’s working?
What’s not?
What do you think about the examples?
What’s your all time favorite?

http://www.hm.com - Spring Fashion ‘09
http://www.bjornborg.com - In Action
http://www.uniqlo.com/merino/
http://www.uniqlo.jp/uniqlock/
http://www.net-a-porter.com

Viewing 23 Comments

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    I just want share this really old but good article, featuring the briljant Swedish Marketing proffessor Evert Gummesson, written by the Swedish newspaper (DN). I find it very intresting, regarding to the subject.

    Sorry it is in Swedish: google translate might do the job!
    http://www.dn.se/ekonomi/varum...
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    I guess we are likely to see more co-creations of goods between brands and its customers like Nike ID, or maybe even more likely DIY (do it your self) in the future. Where the customers will be everything from designers, retailers, buyers and sellers and take care of the whole chain.

    Not so surprising, but wait and see. Maybe, in the future we will see shops only to be filled by Brand tags hanging on "empty" hangers.

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    i only buy T-shirts online, from LaFraise or Threadless.

    i love brand sites and mode sites though, take it like a showroom. but when it comes to actually considering buying the stuff, i pay a visit to my favourite offline boutiques.
    when i grew up, le coq sportif used to be the brand no one would like to be seen with. funny how things can change. i think the brand still functions better abroad than in France. "den sportige tuppen", snälla...

    i also find it interesting when people show and discuss their looks, like on http://www.cloziz.com/
    my favourite is still couture catwalks, like on Coutorture: http://content.coutorture.com/...
    i'm satisfied with static photos. thanks to this site, i don't need to buy Elle anymore and pretend it's for my wife!
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    Augmented reality is still pretty damn ugly (even if it's cool)...

    A unified profile won't make that much of a difference until you both
    have super good measurements of yourself AND as good measurement on
    the clothes.



    19 mar 2009 kl. 00.13 skrev "Disqus" <
    >:
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    Hey guys... thanks for all the links. Maybe it will be possible to add your measurements/avatar to OpenID/Google/Facebook account and take it with you where ever you shop.

    I'm really looking forward to a semantic 3D Internet world... I'm often testing cars in Monaco and Golf clubs on St. Andrews... on my Xbox ;), but when we get decent 3d scanners, we will be able to scan our homes, bodies and so on... and wear clothes, decorate rooms etc. Why is the development going so slow? Augmented reality is already boring and sooo yesteryear.
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    My first purchase I ever made online was back in 1999 at the Rafaello network, even though I was very satisfied with the experience, the most of my shopping for clothes have been done offline since then.

    On the other hand I have been a very diligent customer of technical stuff. And made a couple of visits to Apple store and other websites.

    But from my earlier experience, the way of showing the Goods is important, but there was something else that cought my mind. I was more intrerested in the second part of the purchase like logistics and how much discount you get on your next visit to the webshop. And I think this is important for those frequent online shoppers.

    I think most of the time you know what you want. But you go online to search for a better price deal.

    Anyway, back to the topic of Online Window Shopping, witch I think is a great way for brands to promote their new collections in a more creative way. There are alot of interesting ways of selling clothes online thats for sure. Some choose to use a "Meat Puppet" and others Avatars.

    When it comes to Fashion, I kind of like the mix up between online and offline activities. From Events to Digital.

    Since all the best examples from Flash Thunder already was taken I had to go for my all time favourite ecommerce site. http://www.terrace.se/
    I admit it has alot to do with my passion for a certain Swedish fotboll club. The idea of promoting a fotboll club thru fashion is briljant. Fotboll fans and Fashion is a great combination, and in the sam time you make an extra profit out of it.

    Now, this is what I like to share.
    http://www.asos.com/ (Cool idea and concept that actually works)

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    I don´t usually buy clothes online either. Maybe its because I like strolling for hours looking for clothes and stimulate more of my senses. I think the examples presented above inspires me to make a purchase but some have a few things missing according to me.

    -Know where in the world I am located and if I change country, don´t go back to where I´m located. (I´m in France but are not that good that I prefer websites choosing french language)

    -Show me the price ASAP!

    -Don´t talk about i.e. Italian sizes and let me do the research of what the right size is.

    -Don´t force me to sign in for just entering my measurements.

    I really like when you get easy access to all necessary information/tools for the product. Price, color, size (including i.e. M-chest 38-40in/96-101cm), wear it with..., add to wishlist, scalable images, a tailor´s dummy, delivery info, returning info, add to shopping bag, share/bookmark tools, tell a friend, ... Maybe you think its basic, but most sites don´t have all this for easy access. Probably I have forgot some good elements as well. Aah, the site must be easy to navigate (many fashion sites are bad at this).

    I think we are going to see avatars that is going to look like yourself when you are going to a dressingroom on a fashion site.

    Net a porter and Björn Borg is my favourites but they are not in the same category. Net a porter is a retailer with many brands unlike Björn Borg and therefor acts differently.
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    Well, usually it isn't THAT much easier to go to a shop than doing the
    occasional return. Unless you happen to live right next to the specific
    store you're looking for.
    Online is just so nice, not crowded, not long lines, no obnoxious sales
    people etc. And I can do my shopping at whatever time fits me best. (Don't
    get me wrong, I like brick and mortar stores as well, I'm just a bit more
    picky with how they are)

    Ola

    2009/3/17 Disqus <>
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    I don't think it' s fear. It's just if you are picky with details and if you are putting up a lot of money you would like to be sure you really get what you want. Otherwise what's the point of buying at first place. I'd rather give away my money for charity instead.
    Baggy tees and jeans are perfect to buy online I guess, but to have send back items if you are not happy is not much easier than to walk down to your local shop and fix it straight away. Or is it?

    Well, let´s now pretend we all are Irish for a day. I know I will do it. Cheers!

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    What's with this fear of buying clothes online? It's not THAT hard to get
    the measurements right and not the end of the world if you need to do a
    return to get the right size. Or is it?
    (Björn, Nice find those pillows..)

    2009/3/17 Disqus <>
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    If I had to buy clothes online, it would probably be these: http://www.majagan.com/pillowf...
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    Dressing rooms and avatars and all are nice features to limitate the size problem. Still it doesn't work to 100%. The more money you are about to spend on something the more picky you are with the details.
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    Eskil: Here's the dressing room guide at H&M. It has been around for a while but is still nice. I think it started out as a summer/bath try out.

    http://www.hm.com/se/fashion/p...
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    I have only bought clothes from the internet once or twice. I have to know if it fits exactly like I want before I buy it. I have to go to a store and hold and try it on. Therefore the branding exercise that some brands perform works best on me. Nice and entertaining online, then when I'm in an actual store, it will be in the top of my mind, so to speak...
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    When I'm looking for clothes etc, I always go to the specific brand's own homepage to check if there is anything I like. The important thing for me is that the clothes are presented in such a realistic way as possible. Therefore I like the H&M's spring 09 site and Bjorn Borg a lot. They present their clothes in a way that gives me a clear picture of the product and by doing so they make me want to buy what they have to offer. But I wouldn't buy it online. I only use the sites for window shopping. I have never bought clothes or shoes online. The reason is simple; in sizes I don't trust. A large for one brand or even another model is not a the same large for another brand. That goes for shoes and clothes and to wait a couple of days for the package to arrive and realise that, it's not my thing. I have to try it on live to see if it fits or not. But I also want to feel the garment to see what kind of fabric it is and that can no website do. Unfortunately. I also appreciate to talk to the salesperson and hear his or her opinion before I hand over my Diners.

    This one is an old favourite. And that's not just because Hisingen is in the background ;-).
    http://www.nudiejeans.com/fitg...
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    I'll agree with Linda that for actual shopping, good pictures and good easy to understand measurements are a must. The fancy stuff (like Björn Borg) mostly serves as branding in my opinion. At least today, maybe we will get more rich content stores eventually, but we're far from being there yet.

    I tend to buy quite a bit of clothes online, and rarely need to do returns. What really annoys me is all those taxes that you get when buying outside europe. So I mostly buy from swedish stores. I've bought from threadless a few times (why isn't threadless on your list?), crazy long delivery times and taxes. But still ended up being fairly cheap (when the dollar still was weak at least).

    Another plus of the online shopping is that you get double gratification, first when buying, and then when you get the delivery...
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    And yes I really like playing around with NIKE ID, but havent bought anything yet. I would like to see the numbers of how many purchases they have for ID shoes.

    I also like H&Ms fitting room where you build your avatar with the right measures and then can try on clothes. But I won't make me buy anything until it really fits exactly, for example I want to see the lenght on a top not approx lenght. etc etc
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    I don't really care about fancy catwalks site etc when it comes to REAL shopping online...all I want is proper measurements, sizes, colors, turning the garment around, close ups etc etc...
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    Net a porter ins't only for the people that dream about being able to afford the clothes.
    They have a super nice business, that makes money. It is'nt just a complimentary site to a brand but the main business. Their site is build up as a fashion magazine so it is easy to understand and navigate for the target audience. And the buying process is super sleek. They have services just like the very expensive departments stores they can come to your home or hotel if you are in need ( in London and New York), and does emergency deliveries within hours.... ( check out this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... )
    I personally think Bjorn Borg, Uniqlo and such are more branding and look and feel sites. Don't get me wrong I am the greatest fan of Uniqlo, but it is too complex for me when I just want to buy something.
    I am also a fan of Nike I.D. I tend to play with it alot. But I haven't bought anything yet.
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    The important thing is to make it look good and make the experience go further than the clothes, for me at least. Underwear obviously works best. Simplicity rules! A lot of clicky, flicky, rollover stuff doesn't do it for me. Bjorn Borg really does the job there. I think the net-a-porter really fits in with the "I'm gonna blog about what I and other people wear" kinda thing, like http://thesartorialist.blogspo.... A bit to savvy for me.



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    This is one of my fave sites http://www.lecoqsportif.com/se... because the mixing of different media.

    And as Eskil already used my absolute fave in the example above http://www.net-a-porter.com. I just going to explain why I like them. they have created an experience around the buying both online and when you get the package at your door. All the things you buy are wrapped in beautiful black boxes;) They also has the best selection of very high end fashion.

    The tax issue is super annoying, I hardly ever order anything outside Europe.
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    Personally I'm rarely buying clothes online... sneakers are an exception, but I find it difficult to judge the quality and fit. So it's primarily re-orderings that I feel comfortable doing online.

    I'm curious to hear how you deal with these issues... if it's order from the US or Canada to Europe (or vise versa) you often have to pay tax and returning the goods will become quite expensive, or?
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    Forgot this... not really a window shopping thing, more a browsing...
    http://www.tutuanna.co.jp/tutu...

    But still cool.

    What's making you by clothes online? How can we make the products so tangible, that even the most resistant customer are ready to buy it online? When did you feel like pressing Order now?
 

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