Creating an Online Fashion Store or Marketplace: A Full Guide

You can hardly find a better fit than fashion and digital technology. For years now, online fashion stores have been as much an integral part of our everyday life as credit cards or documents in our smartphones. Everyone working in the fashion industry has either already moved their business online or is considering it. Dinarys has compiled a guide to creating an online fashion store, which will be of use to both startups and companies that have long earned their place under the fashion sun.

Fashion Industry Specifics and Challenges

The size of the global fashion market revenue has grown from 1.328 to 1.802 billion US dollars in less than a decade, and according to experts, this is not the limit.

The statistics are staggering. Even the notorious COVID-19 pandemic failed to cause serious damage to the global fashion industry - for example, the fashion marketplace USA profit in 2020 amounted to 1.5 trillion US dollars. Creating your online clothing store is not a whim anymore but a vital necessity.

Fashion industry overview

The tandem of the fashion industry and e-commerce makes it possible for businesses to not only stay afloat but also to attract new customers. Over the past few years, some characteristic features of this cooperation have emerged, determining the directions for the further development of both areas. Here are some of them:

• Automation of all processes
• Thought-out presentation of your brand
• Quality service
• Special attention to regular customers of the B2B fashion marketplace
• Wide selection of e-commerce platforms

The largest consumer region of clothing in the world is the Asia-Pacific region. Its share is 33% of the global market, followed by b2b fashion marketplace Europe (28%). This is where the benefits of the key e-commerce capabilities are visible.

What are fashion shoppers looking for?

Running a business in the fashion field, regardless of its specialization (be it a men’s fashion online store, a women's or children's clothing store, or a luxury fashion marketplace) is impossible without the main driving force - the buyers. According to research done by marketers and economists, modern fashion retail is different from the way shopping worked in previous decades. Customers visit an online store for more than just the things they need. They also expect to receive

• Personalized service. Online shoppers want an individual approach. This can be helped by a loyalty system and personal discounts - not only for regular customers but also for those who purchase for the first time.
• Mindful consumption. It is not only digital technologies that are in fashion, but a responsible approach to the ethical fashion marketplace. According to a McKinsey & Company survey, 67% of shoppers are willing to purchase if the garment is made from sustainable raw materials and under applicable ethical standards.

• Quick search. To search for products of interest, you need to create a simple but effective filter system. This will shorten the search time for the buyer, at the same time providing an opportunity to show the range of the online store.
• Ability to choose wisely. We are talking about the opportunity to choose, “try on”, and, if necessary, return the product. Virtual fitting rooms and wardrobe technologies will help you evaluate the clothes, shoes, or accessories without leaving your home. Good examples of this approach are ASOS, Rakuten Fits Me, and some other online fashion marketplace U.K., which are actively using AR and VR.

When opening an online store, it is crucial to consider not only the technical side of the issue. The main goal is to anticipate the wishes of buyers and correctly combine them with digital technologies.

Fashion industry challenges

The fashion industry faces many challenges. Overcoming them helps it develop and evolve. The key challenges for the fashion industry are

1. Growing competition. Fashion retail is developing the fastest in the Asian region, followed by the USA, and then the fashion marketplace U.K.

To regain their leading position, brands need to consider cutting production costs and creating flexible pricing systems.

2. Reduced production time. Take into account the experience of well-known brands - for example, Missguided and ASOS (including the version for the fashion marketplace Australia) - that have successfully reduced production time.

3. Smart use of digital technology. For those striving for top positions in online retail, it is important to predict which technologies will be in demand among customers and use them competently in the work of online stores.

Development trends in the fashion industry often change, new ones keep emerging. Successful retailers focus not on solving existing problems, but on being able to predict the occurrence of problems and respond on time.

The future of the e-commerce fashion industry

The joint future of fashion and e-commerce appears to be the most possible development scenario in the coming years.

Experts predict that online fashion retail will be developing in the following directions:

• Multichannel presence
• Stability
• Personalized customer experience
• Focus on new markets

By focusing on the key trends in the development of the fashion industry, you will not only be able to create one of the most popular online fashion stores but also determine the path of your future business development.

Key Features of Successful Beauty Brands

Anyone who sets out to launch their clothing brand needs to know more than just the market situation. It is also important to learn about the qualities that are inherent in successful companies if you want to create your own, no less recognizable brand. Many people launch their clothing line or start an online fashion store, but, unfortunately, not everyone can stay in the business.

There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for building a successful company. However, all successful brands have features in common that you should focus on when starting your business. Here are some of them:

1. A clear understanding of your target audience. This applies not only to women’s fashion online stores. If you focus on the needs and tastes of your customers, you will be able to offer them the best option they are looking for. This means forming a circle of regular customers who will also be attracting new ones.

2. Uniqueness. The global clothing market is quite saturated and competitive. To stay afloat, you need to offer products that will be noticed among many similar ones. And it is not only the products that should be unique but also the work of your online store.

3. Openness to communication. Communication is an important component of business promotion. Companies that value their customers are always open to communication but without unnecessary intrusiveness.

4. Offering more than just clothes or shoes. Customers are looking for companies that offer value. Caring for the environment, family values, focus on children - the list goes on and on.

5. Compliance with trends. The fashion industry welcomes those who know how to predict the wishes of customers several seasons ahead. This will not only turn your brand into a recognizable name but also make you a trendsetter.

6. Moderation. Having sufficient stocks of a popular product is important, but what is the point if everyone and their dog are walking around wearing the same clothes? It’s better to stock a variety of your products in moderation.

7. Consistency. When creating your online store, make sure that the quality of the products, service, interaction with customers, the overall design, and navigation of the website is convenient for your target audience.

The seam fashion marketplace is quite volatile, but there are some stable markers of a successful company. Combined with a high-quality technical base, they will help bring your business to the top of the market.

Fashion Industry Trends

Now is the time to talk about the fashion and e-commerce trends that will be setting the tone for the entire industry.

So, if you want to launch your online store, you need to watch fashion trends online store:

• Accessibility. Make sure to create not only a functional website, but also a mobile application, or use social networks - for example, Facebook - as a marketplace.
• Making the most of digital technology. Offer your customers services to help them shop. For example, use virtual and augmented reality technologies to create virtual fitting rooms, machine learning algorithms, and a voice assistant to search and select products you like.
• Working with the audience through social media. Many companies partner with top influencers from popular social networks. They also help shape content with the direct involvement of the buyers themselves.
• Artificial intelligence. To make the buying process mutually beneficial for customers and sellers, use chatbots and virtual assistants. They will reduce the time spent on searching for the product of interest, and will also help to make the right choice.
• Personalized approach to each client. Ensure fast and high-quality service, add a variety of payment options, create a system of personal offers and bonuses for everyone.

A good online store is a combination of up-to-date products, quality service, and functional tools. Use the help of professionals from Dinarys and start your journey to success!

How to Build an Online Fashion Store on Magento, Shopware, and SFCC?

Now that we have talked about the specifics of the global fashion market and the main trends in its development, it's time to find out how to start an online fashion store.

There are several platforms with which you can create a functional online store:

• Magento
• Shopware
• Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Now let’s learn more about their functionality.

Basic Magento/Shopware/SFCC functionality for an online fashion store

Regardless of which platform you choose to work with, your fashion marketplace needs a basic set of options it cannot function without. We mean the basic online store architecture, which includes:

1. Functionality for customers. It consists of several basic sections:

• A home page that represents your brand and has easy navigation to other sections of the site.
• A product catalog with a search filter system, where everyone can find the product of interest in a matter of seconds.
• Specific product pages where you can learn more about the characteristics of the product, see its images (including interactive ones) and read reviews left by other buyers.
• A shopping cart where the buyer can place a purchase in any convenient way.
• An authorization system (personal account), which allows you to implement an individual approach, create a personalized shopping system, and keep in touch with customers.

2. Functionality is available to the administrator. This dashboard is essential for salespeople for managing the sales process. The main functions of the admin panel include

• Order management. Here the administrator/seller can change the status of the order, resolve issues with its shipment, issue invoices to customers, and provide all the necessary information about changes in the order’s status.
• Stock management. Here you can track the number of items in stock, add or remove information about a specific item, edit the catalog, and much more.
• Content section. This section allows you to edit the content on the online store pages by adding or removing images or information about products, as well as changing the number and content of existing pages.
• Customer management. The tools in this section allow you to collect analytical data about customers and their actions in your online store.
• Settings and configuration. These tools offer turnkey solutions for your online store that can be customized to suit your individual needs.
• Pricing policy management. Here you can set up the pricing conditions of your store for all clients or specific groups of clients.

A well-thought-out underlying architecture helps to attract customers - as seen from the example of the Orangeshine wholesale fashion marketplace. You can use ready-made solutions with individual settings chosen for your needs or use custom-made unique plugins.

Popular e-commerce extensions for your fashion store on Magento

Magento offers a wide range of modules to help you optimize your e-store:

1. Shop by brand option. By adding this extension to the catalog, you will help customers quickly find a product they like from a specific brand. The advantages of this option have already been evaluated by Zalora - one of the best examples of a fashion marketplace Singapore has to offer.

2. RMA system. Online shopping is always a risk. Even trusted sellers can sell a product that doesn't meet buyers' expectations. Adding the option to return an item after purchase will help build trust with your customers as well as validate your reputation as a reliable seller.

3. Gift Cards system. Gift cards will help increase the average bill and also motivate customers to make more purchases. Thanks to Gift Card Pro plugins, you can create your unique design of gift cards, as well as track their use.

4. Countdown timer. It is necessary for creating the illusion of a shortage of specific products and motivating customers to make a purchase immediately. Important: the timer should not severely limit the decision-making, and should also be consistent with pricing.

The purpose of third-party extensions for an online fashion store is to increase traffic and create a strong motivation for shopping. With the help of Dinarys, you can make your most daring ideas come true.

Popular e-commerce extensions for your fashion store on Shopware

Like Magento, Shopware provides unique online store development opportunities. The most popular extensions are

1. Sale countdown. You can set up a countdown both for an entire category of products and for individual items. For the convenience of buyers, you can add a detailed description of the promotion and detail the counter itself, indicating the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the end of the promotion.

2. Back in stock notifications. It happens that the product you like is out of stock. You can add an option for customers to get notified when an item is back in stock. This way you can retain the customers.

3. Returns. By adding a return option to your online store, you can maintain the trust of your customers. Shopware tools make it possible to add return instructions to the customer's account. You can set up a system of restrictions - for example, by limiting the categories of products that can be returned or by specifying a period when returns are accepted. It will also help you track your refunds and receive notifications.

4. Digital products. This option will mark individual products as ESD products and allow customers to download them. In addition, you can set up a system of public and private downloads to make it easier to track the popularity of specific products.

Using Shopware tools, you can make your online store unique. This will help you achieve top positions in the market and form a system of loyal customers.

Popular e-commerce extensions for your fashion store on SFCC

Like Magento and Shopware, Salesforce Commerce Cloud also provides the option to add unique features to your online store:

1. Gift Cards. Electronic cards can be downloaded and used in various marketplaces. You can choose a ready-made design or use the services to create your unique design for the gift cards.

2. Returns. With the help of SFCC tools, you can provide your customers not only with the return option but also with the option to pre-order the product they like.

The advantage of Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a wide range of ready-made products and services for online stores, including those in the fashion industry. They are easily scalable to the size and needs of every project, which simplifies collaboration and reduces development time.

Custom feature development for your fashion store

The off-the-shelf and custom designs that Magento, Shopware, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud provide will not always help create the original wholesale fashion marketplace. However, there is a way out - unique functionality developed by the Dinarys team. Our clients can enjoy the following services:

1. Development of "virtual assistant" services. This is an application that will help customers choose the right product and make the final choice. Users can enter their parameters and specify the color and style of the required products, and the virtual assistant will select items that will exactly match the specified parameters.

2. “Try at Home”. This is an additional service that allows customers to try the product after ordering, but before completing the purchase process. This will not only help you find the perfect product but also reduce the number of post-purchase returns.

3. Virtual fitting room. This option will help customers choose not only a specific clothing item but a whole style based on the customer's looks. This will not only save time but also increase the average size of the check.

Unique developments from our team integrate well with the ready-made functionality of Magento, Shopware, and SFCC. This combination will help create a recognizable style for your online store, focused primarily on the needs of customers.

Magento themes

Page design is an important part of an online store. The theme does not only add color and emphasize their content, it also works well with the installed functions. You can use the help of professionals from the Dinarys team and choose one of the ready-made themes for your online clothing store. This will save time and money spent on searching and adapting to the needs of your business. But there is a risk that owners of other similar stores will use a similar design.

You can also order a unique design that will not repeat the design used by your competitors. It costs more, takes longer, but can accurately reflect your vision and business values.

However, it’s best not to assume that ready-made and custom-made themes differ in quality. There are many decent options among the ready-made themes. We recommend the following themes:

• Bauhaus – a responsive theme suitable for working with Magento. It is equipped with a responsive web design, scales to the resolution of users’ devices, and has an AM Revolution slider. It can be easily changed to fit individual settings (even without coding individual pages), and there is also support for mega-menus and smart menus.
• SNS Ostore. An elegant theme based on the Flat Long Shadow design. Its advantages include easy customization, responsive design, ready-made home page layouts, and a wide range of settings.
• LaParis Magento – an easy to customize but functional theme. Suitable for a quick start as it has fifteen ready-made designs. The main advantages of this theme also include adapting to mobile devices, the option to add reviews and product ratings, and integration with social networks (in particular, Instagram).
• Trendy – a colorful and user-friendly theme. Has an interactive slider, a convenient search system, and pop-up advertising windows. It adapts well to different user devices.

Shopware themes

Like Magento, Shopware offers a wide variety of themes for your online store. You can have a unique theme custom-made, but it can take extra time and money. It makes much more sense to choose a ready-made theme. Our favorites for Shopware integration are

• Caprice – a premium responsive theme. Despite the wide range of ready-made design solutions, this theme allows you to choose individual settings for your needs. It boasts high-speed page loading, optimization, and scalability for user devices.
• Kara – another responsive theme for Shopware. Its main advantage is optimization for various CMS. The theme has many plugins that usually need to be purchased separately. The design is quite simple but functional, with no distractions.
• Manu Theme – a free solution from Shopware. Has about 150 settings that you can set yourself. Scalable for mobile devices integrate with social networks and can be combined with other Manu plugins.

Whatever choice you make for your online store, the Dinarys team will help you with any task.

How much does it cost to develop a fashion store on Magento, Shopware, and SFCC?

The question that interests everyone who wants to open their online store is how much it will cost. To begin with, the final cost of the project will depend on its complexity, the options chosen, and the number of specialists involved. Also, don't forget about the additional options that you need to buy on external platforms.

The table provides a summary of the cost of Dinarys services. We are ready to discuss all the details concerning your project in person. Contact us!

How to Build an Online Fashion Marketplace on Magento, Shopware, and SFCC?

The latest fashion industry trends presuppose the presence of a trading platform. However, it does not always have to be focused on only one supplier. Fashion marketplaces that cooperate with many suppliers and sellers are gaining popularity.

This collaboration has several benefits:

• A wider range of products and services the client can get without spending time on unnecessary searches.
• Reduced financial risks - the web platform is not aimed at selling products, it only provides space for other sellers.
• High demand for marketplaces from retailers - selling your products through a marketplace is much cheaper and safer than developing and launching your website.

Therefore, there is a trend of converting existing online stores into e-commerce platforms cooperating with several retailers. Dinarys offers its services of creating e-commerce platforms, as well as of transforming existing websites into marketplaces. To achieve this goal, we use

• Marketplace Multi-Vendor for Magento.
• Shopware Multi-Seller Marketplace.
• Salesforce Commerce Cloud with MuleSoft Accelerator for Commerce Cloud.

All these modules offer both general options for all marketplaces and additional options for a specific marketplace.

Basic Magento/Shopware/SFCC functionality for online marketplaces

Unlike a regular online store, where the main actors are the admin and the buyer, the online fashion marketplace also has a seller. Therefore, the basic architecture of the marketplace consists of several basic options for the administrator, buyer, and seller:

1. Admin functionality. The admin’s role is to monitor the operation of the marketplace and the behavior of other users. The basic functionality includes the option to approve sellers and products, check product information, set the commission percentage, track the income of sellers, the total number of buyers and orders, and the progress of their implementation.

2. Seller functionality. The panel helps customize the page, add and remove products, manage orders, communicate with customers, and track overall statistics of visits and purchases on the page.

3. User functionality. The basic options enable users to view products from different sellers, add products to the same cart, and leave reviews of purchased products. Moreover, each buyer can become a seller by submitting an appropriate application.

Without these basic options, the marketplace will not work correctly, because they form its foundation.

Popular e-commerce extensions for your fashion marketplace on Magento

If the basic options are not enough, you can use third-party extensions. Popular extensions for Magento include

• Marketplace Seller Price Comparison – a tool for comparing identical products from different sellers.
• Store pickup – a convenient tool for buyers who can choose sellers or a specific store to pick up their purchase.

• Sell as a Brand – a tool that allows administrators or individual sellers to create their brand on the marketplace.
• Marketplace RMA System – a product return module that allows the buyer to return the product to the seller rather than to the marketplace platform itself.

Various modules and extensions add uniqueness to the marketplace and make it convenient for all users.

Popular e-commerce extensions for your fashion marketplace on Shopware

Shopware also provides tools that complement the functionality of trading platforms. You can add one of the most popular extensions:

1. Extension for grouping products. This allows sellers and administrators to group different products into an offer for a specific customer.

2. Seller Membership Group. This module allows sellers to create groups to restrict listing and limit the placement of certain products. It also allows you to expand their product range.

In addition to the suggested options, you can also contact the Dinarys team for additional extensions made specifically for your business.

Popular e-commerce extensions for your fashion marketplace on SFCC

Those who choose the Salesforce Commerce Cloud for their fashion marketplace platform can use a full range of SaaS development tools. Therefore, in the first stages, you can choose the functionality that you need. If the need arises, you can use the services of SFCC partners who provide various products and modules to improve the working options.

You can select the required modules to complement the admin and seller panels. For example, you can add options for grouping common customers of different vendors or distributed order management. Dinarys consultants will help you learn more about Salesforce Commerce Cloud for marketplaces.

How much does it cost to develop a fashion marketplace on Magento, Shopware, and SFCC?

It is quite difficult to determine the exact cost of a project in advance if we are talking about a multi-channel trading platform. The final cost will be influenced by

• The complexity of the project and the goals that the customer wants to achieve.
• The time spent on the tasks.
• The complexity of marketplace development levels.

Unlike a standard online store, a marketplace is not that easy to develop. It is important to take into account not only the goal but also the scale of the business that covers several retailers at once.

By contracting Dinarys, you are guaranteed quality service in developing and testing the platform.

Read more in our blog How to Choose Fashion Eсommerce Theme from Magento or Shopware (with Examples).

Conclusion

According to analytical data, the global fashion marketplace is the most stable market, not afraid of shocks and falls. Even the dramatic production cuts failed to seriously hurt companies. Yes, the approach to running the fashion business has changed, but the profitability has not changed.

Every owner of a fashion business needs to take into account the new requirements of the target audience. Success comes to those companies that offer quality service using modern digital technologies.

The key to success also lies in a functional online fashion store, where everyone can shop at any convenient time. Dinarys is a team of professionals who provide a full range of services for online store development and modernization. Contact us today to become better tomorrow!