Today I wanted to cover an old technique that many clients don’t seem to embrace enough. I am referring to split testing, if you are not familiar with it that’s okay. It’s the art of scientifically testing two or multiple items one against the other through a period of time.  In marketing the purpose of the tests can be very diverse from different wording in your content to trying different call to action buttons. The variables are endless and so are the tests.

So what does this all mean and why is it related to dating you may ask? Well let me tell you that this is the true story of a friend who happens to have used simple A/B testing whilst trying to find a date online. Our friend (who has requested to be kept anonymous) shared the story with us and we thought that it was really ingenious and funny as well as a great source of creativity and inspiration.

In this case our friend A.K.A Mr. D had created a bunch of profiles on several dating sites like The Guardian’s Soulmates and Lovestruck.com amongst others. He had pretty much the same information on all of them, bio, picture, interests etc. At this point he thought that he had done all that was required to get bombarded with requests for further information and consequently a date.  Sound familiar? Yet, Mr. D had made a crucial mistake. He picked the information and images himself without any additional feedback. Being somewhat unsuccessful on his first couple of months he started investigating what it was that was making his profile less appealing than he had hoped. The most obvious in this case was the profile picture; this is by far the most important aspect of a profile in this sector. We are very much led by first impressions so this was the first variable that needed to be looked at.

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Compared to travel, FMCG and electronics the bulk of the UK fashion industry stumbled out of the ecommerce starting blocks back in the early noughties. Today however, the sector is in rude health with a growing market and many thriving online brands. With ecommerce set to grow in the UK by 36% in the next 18 months and increasing online competition, the spoils are there for the retailers that get it right.

Shopping Mall, Kuala Lumpur by NeilsPhotography

The internet, of course, is not the high street and there are many new things to learn. There are many good companies helping retailers but stories of egregious claims and inflated fees from unscrupulous SEO agencies persist even today.  Here then, are 4 of the biggest challenges a fashion retailer must consider when launching their business online.

1.      Communicating your offering – Having a website that successfully translates the brand and clothes to the visitor. Placing visitors as close to the clothes as possible is vital but so is showing them the reason to buy into your brand in the first place (or reminding your loyal fans why they love you). The website can’t just look good either. It’s got to convert and be easy to use for you and your visitors.

2.      Stock management – Having items in stock seems obvious but the website is often treated by retailers as secondary to the shop. As such, a vicious circle is created where website sales are held back by unavailable stock and it never gets the chance to grow and exceed the offline presence.

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