Customer feedback: why fashion brands can no longer afford to ignore it

Etam, Undiz, 1.2.3, Jennyfer, Aigle and Catimini are just some of the brands that rely on WizVille to gather customer feedback both in-store and online.

In the apparel industry, the popularity towards the customer feedback solution which allows brands to capture customer reviews in real-time, is forever growing. “In comparison to other sectors such as large-scale distribution, where only a few forerunners have as yet dared venture down this route, in the fashion industry, you can sense that the need is real and immediate”, says Louis Meens, business engineer at WizVille, “Fashion store brands are extremely interested in learning more about what we have to offer and many have spontaneously contacted us to tell us about their projects.”.

What is causing this new-found enthusiasm for in-store customer reviews?

First of all, the apparel industry is peculiar in that customers are less and less likely to visit stores with a good idea of what they are about to purchase and more and more likely to engage in impulse purchases. According to a study by the French fashion federation, only 52% of french women now shop for fashion products they need, compared to 42% who only shop spontaneously. In this context, stores must become places for inspiration and expectations towards staff and the in-store experience are evolving accordingly.

Now, to adapt services and differentiate, brands want to base their decisions on concrete facts. By continuously listening to the voice of their customers, and by gathering hundreds of comments and suggestions in a single dashboard, able to show emerging trends in real-time, brands are able to get an accurate picture of what their customers really want, for each unique store: morphological advice, a different store layout, or even additional services and little extras to make their purchases a truly relaxing and pleasant moment…

The feedback may also be used to reassure on services already in place, as David Lamarche, sales manager for Aigle attests: “WizVille’s customer feedback software helps our teams get constant and objective feedback, in real-time. This is very rewarding for our teams as it is not only based on areas of improvement but also on the positive points. It is a significant step forward for us in our monitoring of the quality of service we provide”.

For Laurent Brangeon, Sales Manager at 1.2.3, the solution has been especially helpful when it comes to increasing customer loyalty “Seeing as we  generate a large proportion of our income through loyalty cardholders, we particularly wanted to listen to what they have to say. Furthermore, we took steps towards improving our customers in-store satisfaction, it was therefore essential for us to be able to measure the level of satisfaction.”. And in this highly competitive environment, satisfied and loyal customers are worth their weight in gold.”