Impact of E-commerce on Fashion Retail

Question: Write about theImpact of E-commerce on Fashion Retail. Answer: Introduction With the globalization and the rapid growth in the information technology, the e-commerce industry has developed drastically. It has intervened in all the consumer goods industry along with the fashion industry. The e-commerce concept refers to the process in which the companies sell their products through online mediums. The fashion industry is a global industry with very long supply chain in which various processes such as production of fiber and yarn, garmenting and retailing occurs. Previously, the fashion industry was a local industry in which the garments and the textiles were designed and produced near customers (Agarwal Durga, 2016). In the last two decades, the fashion industry all across the globe has faced several structural and disruptive changes. These changes have occurred due to the globalization, technology emergence and sustainability issues. In this essence, the present literature review examines the view of the various prominent authors regarding the impact of the e-commerce industry on the fashion industry in Australia. Impact of E-commerce Industry on the Fashion Retail in Australia According to Saha (2015), various technological developments such as the use of internet and e-commerce are transforming the fashion industry. There are three main stakeholders in the fashion industry, namely producers, retailers and the designers. However, with the emergence of the internet, the fashion industry is more driven by the consumer demands and the preferences. The consumers are becoming more specific regarding the fabrics, colors, prints and style of their clothes. Burt Sparks (2003) have stated that previously, the fashion retailers used to access the online retailers through physical stores only. However, in the recent years the rise of the e-commerce and the m-commerce has reduced the distinction between the online and the offline medium rapidly. The impact of the internet on the retailers is to increase the access of the fashion retailers to their customers. With the internet, the fashion retailers are able to connect with their customers in a new manner. Moreover, they do not need a specific floor design and tremendous space to reach their potential customers. The physical stores have become a part of the communication and the sales strategy of the organizations rather than being the only way to connect to the customers. Steel, et al. (2013) have discussed that although was estimated that the reduction in the importance of the physical stores would result in less interesting designs, the opportunity to the retail stores to communicate and build their online brand has resulted to create more impactful and attractive physical store design. Moreover, the opportunity to the fashion organizations to use both the physical stores as well as the online stores has been useful to create strong brand awareness and customer loyalty. The e-commerce industry has also been integral in identifying the needs and the preferences of the customers. Presently, the consumers can pick dresses from much larger and varied collection of dresses. The shoppers and the e-commerce have been responsible for it. The fashion companies are using e-commerce shopping patterns to examine the choice of the customers. The omni-channel retailing has integrated the experience of online and offline shopping. The retailers who are using both the approaches have been benefited in the number of retail sales. According to Kim, Jin Park, (2009), the online retail in the fashion industry has increased drastically. The number of factors responsible for the sales of the e-commerce sector can be classified as digital penetration, limitation of the physical stores, growth of internet habitual customers and the improved supply chain of the fashion industry. The digital penetration has increased with the convergence of the physical and digital retail space. The digital penetration has reduced the cost to the companies with the penetration of the smartphones and the internet penetration. According to Flavin, Guinalu (2007), with the increase of the internet users, the internet habitual users are rapidly growing all across the globe. The internet habitual users are the consumers who are increasingly dependent upon the users. They are habitual and adept in performing complex task on the internet. With the growing usage of the internet users, e-retailing is growing at a fast pace. Recently, the phenomenon of the social-e-commerce has also emerged in which the social media users are posting pictures of their outfits and also showing it to other customers and details are provided regarding the places at which others can buy it. Burke (2002) has discussed that the organized retail or the fashion retail has been in the market for many years. However, the percent contribution to the total sales has declined due to the structural issues faced by the physical stores. The most important challenge in the physical presence is that most of the retail outlets are present in the large cities and cannot fulfill the increasing desire of citizens in the smaller cities. This issue in the physical presence of the retail stores is increasing the demand of online channels because of its wide reach and capability to deliver at very small regions where the presence of the physical stores is not viable or take several years to reach. Due to the easy access of the online retail, several fashion retail brands have entered in the online retail category. Trusov, Bucklin, Pauwels (2009) have stated that the marketing and the promotional strategies of the e-commerce companies have also increased the penetration of the e-commerce in the fashion industry. The availability of discounts and promotion, easy returns, EMIs, mass media campaign and fast delivery has increased the popularity of the e-commerce companies. Moreover, 3D trial rooms have provided the option of the virtual trials for apparel and lifestyle products for the customers who want to try the fashion product before using it. According to the perception of Park, Kim, Funches and Foxx, (2012) the fashion industry is a fast evolving market segment and the customer expectations is changing the structure of this industry. The e-commerce fashion companies need to understand the customer preference and change their proposition accordingly. It is also important for the companies to constantly innovate their products to remain profitable in hypercompetitive marketplace. Ko, Kim an Lee (2009) have stated that with the popularity of internet and the mobile devices, the mobile commerce has become the new service frontier. With the increased business competition, the mobile commerce has become the most common tool for the communication between the business enterprises and the customers. The mobile commerce refers to the indirect and the direct transactions which involves a monetary value and conducted on an online medium or telecommunication network. The m-commerce involves several kinds of transactions such as auctions, shopping and mobile phone services. The m-commerce is an extension of the e-commerce; however, it is considered as a separate channel which provides convenience and accessibility from any place and time. Therefore, the mobile commerce can be commonly used in a number of contexts. The mobile is commonly used for delivering numerous value-added services to the customers along with the traditional entertainment and communication facilities . Therefore, the marketing managers are effectively using m-commerce to increase the individual adoption intentions of the customers. With the development of the IT and the internet infrastructure, the fashion companies are adopting the opportunity of mobile retail to increase their customer base. There are certain factors in the mobile commerce such as ubiquity, instant connectivity, localization and personalization which has increased the popularity of m-commerce in the industry. Vecchi (2016) has stated that as the large fashion companies have started relying on the e-commerce industry to gain more customers, the small and the medium enterprises are also trying to grow by using e-commerce. The clothing industry in the e-commerce is using designers, manufactures, e-retailers and customers in an online platform. As a result, the fashion companies in the e-business are entering through the medium of business-to-business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) business models. The fashion industry in the e-commerce has also well-developed as few companies are selling a specific products whereas other companies are using diversity of products. Accordng to Gunasekaran et al. (2002) with the emergence of the e-business, there has been a shift of impact from manufacturers to retailers. The traditional supply chain of the fashion company used to concentrate on product rather than customer relationship. However, the paradigm has shifted now and the companies are focusing on providing the customers with a better shopping experience and diversity of choices. It is due to the fact that providing customers with effective services will increase the customer loyalty in the organization. The e-commerce in the fashion industry is in nascent stage; however, it has tremendous potential for the business organizations. The e-commerce has also assisted in creating collaborative network which reduces the logistics cost. It is also reducing the intermediate links between the apparel manufacturers and the end consumers which can assist the apparel companies in reducing the cost of the inventory and increasing the transaction efficiency. With t he e-commerce, the companies can react quickly to the market changes. The e-commerce also provides equal opportunities to all the companies; therefore, the small companies are also able to break the monopoly of the apparel market. The successful e-commerce strategy can be used for the development of apparel brands in international markets. According to Brynjolfsson Smith, (2000) the e-commerce can also be used for the online marketing purposes and confronting the competitors from the fast fashion industry. The e-commerce can assist the fashion companies to invest in the promotion and marketing activities with better results. It involves the specific use of the online mediums. Taylor Cosenza (2000) have stated that the e-shoppers have certain characteristics which distinguish them from the traditional shoppers. According to the literature, e-shoppers are not a homogenous population and both males and females commonly use internet for shopping. However, in the upcoming trends, e-shopping will be more frequently used by the women shoppers rather than male shoppers. The average women e-shopper is in her thirties with a high household income. Moreover, a large number of women shop online because it is easy. The result shows that price is not the most critical component in the decisions to shop online. With the e-commerce, the consumers can not only buy new product but they can also browse different products in the same category. In the selection of the e-commerce websites, the customers also give preference to the ease-of-use, product selection, information, website navigation, delivery time and customer support. In Australia also, the retail industry has gone through various changes in the recent years. The most important impact of the e-commerce is that it is becoming a significant channel for the revenue growth of the retailers in Australia. If the fashion companies are trying to achieve sustainable growth in this highly competitive market, they should focus on the integration between the online channels and the physical supply chain. Troselj (2015) has stated that in Australia, the local and the overseas online retail purchases amount to 25 billion Australian dollars a year. However, in the Australian e-commerce industry, about 50% of the revenue goes to the maintenance of the overseas sites; therefore, it has become important for the retail organizations to sell online. Moreover, the facilities in the overseas has also disrupted the previous model of traditional single supply chain and a large number of retailers are finding it difficult to handle the ever-increasing expectations of the consumer regarding the speed of delivery and low cost. In Australia, the distances between the major cities are also larger, which makes it crucial for the retail businesses to have an efficient supply chain. According to Lewis Cockrill (2002), the companies should focus on maintaining robust yet flexible supply chain. The supply chain should be the able to meet the changing demands of the consumers in an effective manner. The supply chain is the most vulnerable part of the e-commerce business as proper and on-time delivery of the products depends on the supply chain. Once the business partners are connected, they depend on each other for keeping their promises. References Agarwal, S., Durga, P. (2016). 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