Merchandising and personalization platform Searchspring reveals how fashion retailers can boost Black Friday sales this year despite surging ad costs.
Another Black Friday/Cyber Monday is fast approaching. This year, it’s a similar story on the advertising front: ad costs are rising sharply as conversion rates remain low.
According to new data from Wordstream, the Apparel/Fashion & Jewellery category sees a hefty 25 per cent increase in cost per click (CPC) in 2024 versus 2023. The category also has one of the lowest conversion rates of 3.33 per cent—well below the 6.96 per cent industry average. The only categories seeing smaller conversion rates this year are Real Estate at 2.91 per cent, Finance & Insurance at 2.78 per cent, and Furniture at 2.53 per cent.
The good news? Apparel/Fashion & Jewellery reaches a 6.13 per cent click-through rate (CTR) in 2024, much closer to the average of all industries, at 6.42 per cent.
What does all of this tell us heading into BFCM this year? To boost clicks and conversions, it’s critical to enhance your product discovery—before, during, and after the shoppers arrive on-site. How?
Start with a strong product data foundation
To build a strong home, you need sturdy materials. To build a scalable, successful ecommerce store, you need reliable, high-quality data. Before BFCM arrives, make sure you have processes in place to identify and fix broken and missing product attributes. You’ll also want a baseline of product data quality to satisfy the channels you’re sending that information to, such as Google Shopping, Meta, Amazon, and others.
By fixing holes in your product data and upholding high-quality standards, you can put your best foot forward with every product (wherever shoppers see them) and drive more clicks and conversions.
Test and improve how your products appear on external platforms
There are over 50 product data attributes for Google Shopping. When you think beyond size and colour into more granular detail like material, pattern, or even sizing system, the complexity of putting your best foot forward with every product becomes evident.
To gain your shoppers’ clicks (and trust) without even visiting your site, you must help them make informed product decisions. So, how can you equip shoppers with the right data for each of your items and simplify their decision-making? It may sound like a tall task—but technology can make short work of it. Tools like Intelligent Reach - a Searchspring Company automate A/B test cases, monitor performance against KPIs, and scientifically prove how best to optimise your product data feeds.
Searchspring’s Head of APAC, Kate Massey, explains, “Intelligent Reach also visualises product data quality, giving marketers a clear view and full control without needing to engage developers. Brands should make full use of product data feed optmisation leading into BFCM to enhance product visibility, encourage clicks, and make tested and proven impacts on revenue.”
When shoppers arrive on-site, serve personalised, relevant experiences
Well before the BFCM rush begins, take a step back and look through the customers’ lens of shopping on your site. Are they seeing relevant, personalised products wherever they go? Or are they potentially heading into product dead-ends with no further items of interest? Whether on a product display page (PDP), a zero-search-results page, or even a checkout page, look for opportunities to help shoppers discover more of what they love.
Massey adds, “Also, think about how to test your different strategies in terms of displaying cross-sell, upsell, similar products, complementary products, and accessory items. Then, look at pushing those relevant items into your mini-cart, checkout, and email flows to keep the right products in front of motivated shoppers.”
Reduce the load, enhance the experience
Choice is often a good thing, but psychological studies have found that too many choices can cause mental strain, induce a state of “choice overload”, and impact decision-making.
Shoppers already have a lot coming their way at BFCM. They see a torrent of ads, emails, and promotions flowing towards them in a condensed time frame. How can you reduce their cognitive load and the manual workload for merchandisers?
AI-driven product bundling solutions automatically bundle complementary products together. They can reduce the chance of choice overload, increase the appeal of items, and effectively do the “heavy lifting” for merchandisers. Additionally, they can include frequently bought-together products that are tailored to each shopper’s interests.
Consider the impact that dynamic, personalised, AI-driven bundles could have on revenue this BFCM—and beyond.
Learn more about how Searchspring and Intelligent Reach can help your fashion brand boost clicks and conversions this year.