CASE STUDY

Fashion Marketplaces – The Future of Upcoming Fashion Brands Post COVID-19

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2020 has been a not-so-good year so far, especially for the fashion industry. Even before the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus, the fashion industry leaders were not optimistic about 2020. The financial markets have been volatile and the crushed consumer demand due to the Corona virus has traumatized the fashion Industry tremendously. The coronavirus has increasingly been harming the fashion industry and it escalated quickly during the last month and caused brands and design houses to shutter their doors and postpone upcoming runway shows. The fashion industry’s most iconic and significant events like the Met Gala and CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers Awards) have also been postponed indefinitely and the impact is becoming much more apparent now.

Major department stores like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Selfridges, and Saks Fifth Avenue have closed their stores worldwide and other retailers like Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, Apple, Urban Outfitters, Everlane, Lululemon, Glossier, and many more have also latched their doors to contain the virus. If big brands are taking such drastic steps amidst the virus, the state of affairs of smaller and upcoming labels is unimaginable

As the world is under the grips of COVID-19, with people home quarantined and cities locked-down, be ready to witness a dramatic transformation in the fashion Industry with a dip in flowing funds. With so many stores being shut down amid the lock-downs, brands that do not have an online presence might fail to sustain once this is over. For such small upcoming brands, fashion marketplaces might be the perfect option. Please also find a good read on this by BOF “Time to Rewire the Fashion System”

Why a fashion marketplace?

A fashion marketplace is essentially a type of multichannel e-commerce and can be a way to streamline the production process. It can be a great way for retailers especially new start-ups or small scale businesses to get discovered, while being cost-effective and attracting the right audience. These marketplaces spend a lot of time, money and effort to acquire traffic from various platforms. In times like these, they can prove to be a great bet when it comes to e-commerce.

Here are a few benefits of marketing a brand in a fashion marketplace :

• Listing your brand on a marketplace is a cost-effective way of presenting it to customers, especially during these tough times
• The marketplace creates an identity for your brand so you can skip putting an effort to build a social media presence.
• A marketplace can help acquire more customers as they have a huge database facilitating clients to discover new brands easily.
• A marketplace presence is great to collect reviews plus feedback from customers and use it as testimonials for the company.

Some of the Fashion Marketplaces which can help

Nineteenth Amendment is a unique marketplace that operates on a pre-order model. They mainly focus on a reduction in inventory costs for quick-turn production and on-demand retailing. Keeping the current situation in mind, the Nineteenth Amendment is a great option for new upcoming brands as this marketplace is not only cost-effective but can help the brands to avoid an accumulation of extra inventory – a problem many retailers are currently facing.

ShopStyle.com is a marketplace that offers a smarter way to shop. With over 14,000 brands, you can discover new looks and trends, never miss a sale and earn Cash Back every day. ShopStyle is known to reach more shoppers at more points than any other platform while delivering targeted awareness for your brand across a wide range of shoppers. ShopStyle also has a network of over 20000 influencers, helping them to monetize their content. Retailers can work with custom influencer campaigns to increase their sales potential as well as brand awareness.

Zalora – If you are an Asian brand, Zalora is a great marketplace option for you. They have a huge variety of the most coveted local brands along with many regional and international brands. Brands can have their own personalized shop on the platform, set your own prices and basically own a shop virtual space. They have a huge customer base which again helps in brand awareness and wider clientele.

Zalora MarketplaceAs we enter a new decade, there is going to be a major shift in consumer behavior post-COVID-19 and it will play a major role in how retailers can choose their marketplace.

A consumer shift towards Sustainability and Responsibility towards the environment

As we are spending more time quarantining, I am sure many of us are going back and thinking about our choices that we made pre-COVID19 and how it may have impacted our environment. Many of us are realizing that the unnecessary buying done on fast fashion websites is not a necessity and most of the times we are slaves to mere compulsive shopping.

We are going through a life-altering time right now, that is making us reflect on the choices that will bring value around sustainability into sharp focus and more and more shoppers will start shopping consciously.

The gen-z and millennial shoppers were already at the forefront of clean and sustainable fashion even before the crisis hit the world and now their concerns have heightened. The fact is that brands who will reorient their business models around sustainability will be able to cater to a more captive audience.

MAMOQ – is an online retailer that partners with 85 brands and only sell items that have a positive impact on our planet. It is a highly curated platform that offers clothing and accessories, all under one roof to help shoppers find eco-friendly alternatives. “The concept came out of a frustration of being unable to easily find high quality, stylish sustainable brands that could be trusted. We wanted to help environmentally and ethically conscious consumers find stylish clothing that reflects their values, whilst creating a greener, more positive world,” explains CEO Madeline Petrow, who co-founded the company with Matt Williams and Lenny Leeman. The marketplace curates accessories and clothing and brings them under one roof to allow shoppers to quickly locate eco-friendly alternatives.

Wardrobe of Tomorrow is a fashion marketplace dedicated to an ethical, cruelty-free, and sustainable fashion marketplace. It is a place for conscious designers that fight to reduce greenhouse and CO2 emissions, environmental footprint, waste, and pollution. This marketplace offers eco-conscious, bespoke gender-free, vegan and up-cycled products that are not harming the environment. As a sustainable designer, if your application is accepted, their team of branding experts will construct a dedicated brand profile page and your very own shop, for increased brand awareness and visibility along with free advertising support, and preferential prices through their global network of social media influencers.

Credo is a clean beauty marketplace for beauty brands. This clean beauty shop offers a wide variety of cruelty-free to non-toxic ingredients options at every price point, and for every skin type. Beauty is one of the least regulated consumer category and Credo is on a mission to establish the highest standards in beauty. They are dedicated to inclusivity, transparency, and education when it comes to beauty products.

TheGreenLabels – At the Green Labels, their philosophy is to envision a world where people can easily find and buy products that have a positive impact, both on themselves and the world. They are a European based marketplace making sustainable fashion accessible and also creating a demand for sustainability. They provide 100% transparency in every aspect and all their products are locally sourced, vegan, clean, and low on waste. It is a great platform for labels whose values resonate with theirs.

The coming few months are going to be challenging for brands both big and small and marketplaces can be a saving grace for many of those brands, especially the new ones. We will also see a shift in consumer preferences and choices post this pandemic. This is the time for brands to observe, study and rethink their business models and strategies, giving utmost importance to environment and sustainability.

Hope is a decision we all need to make and work together towards reforming the fashion industry.