How To Buy Women's Fashion Online
Pros and Cons of Shopping for Clothes on the Internet
May 18, 2008
According to the Telegraph's article of 12 March 2008, “Insider’s Guide to Style-Surfing,” a recent survey of British shopping habits reveals that there has been a 40 percent increase in the number of women buying clothes from the internet since 2006.
Add to this the mushrooming number of sites, be it dedicated online stores, individual designers or online versions of favorite high-street chains like Topshop or Marks and Spencer, and shopping from the sofa has become big business. Dedicated sites like Net-A-Porter have become the place for fashion-forward women to shop. In the words of Imogen Edwards-Jones, in her designer exposé book, Fashion Babylon, “if you are not listed on Net-A-Porter, you aren’t really in the fashion business.”
Advantages of Buying Clothes Online
Whilst searching the web for fashion can be time consuming, once you know where to look, you can have a huge range of products and styles in moments, at the touch of a button; a far greater choice than from shopping in a conventional bricks and mortar store.
Searching for Sites
- If you are looking for a particular product or trend, then refining search engine terms are key to saving time when style-surfing. The more specific your search, the more appropriate the results. This is particularly true for Ebay, as if you are not specific in your clothing search (e.g. size, color or brand) you will wade your way through thousands of products. Some sites like successful online store, Asos allows you to search by product style, brand, trend and celebrity inspired style.
- It also helps to localize your search. For example, if you are living in the UK it makes more sense to use a locally based version of a search engine like google.co.uk, rather than google.com, if you want the primary results to show local stores, for shipping purposes.
Shopping at your Convenience
- It can be day or night or you can be shopping in your nightwear.Stores on the internet have no closing time!
Hard-to-Find Items
- If you do not conform to typical high-street commercial sizing then the internet is your new best friend. Whether you take a large bra size, or have tiny, narrow feet, you can find stores that specialize in niche markets such as these. Sites like designershoes.com deal with large size shoes and wide fittings, Bravissimo.com specializes in fashion, lingerie and swimwear for big busted women.
Geographical Location
- Shopping online has opened up a new world of fashion for those who live in remote areas. It has tremendous advantages for those who have retired or now work abroad, in countries where western sizes or on-trend items are hard to come by. Living somewhere like Thailand, for example, is a nightmare for curvy western women when it comes to shopping for lingerie and swimwear. Products available locally are built for the much smaller and narrower Asian frame and targeted, quite naturally for the Asian market. Even recognizable international brands like Adidas or Truimph, have their own "asian cuts", which can inevitably lead to costly buying mistakes.
Online Payments
- Online payment options have increased during the last few years. If you do not hold a recognized credit card then it is now possible, with many sites, to use online payment gateways like PayPal and WorldPay, which can debit your bank account. Use of debit cards or virtual shopping cards are also possible through the banking systems in some countries, like Thailand's Kasikorn Bank Virtual Shopping Card.
Innovative Websites
- Interactive fashion sites are becoming more common, such as moulding a model to your figure. Sites like Trinny and Susannah.com have a section where you can input your body shape and atch the model change, and knickerpicker.com lets you pick a virtual model, with similar figure dimensions, to try on garments before you buy.
Disadvantages of Buying Clothes Online
Fit and Sizing
- Buying clothing online means that fit and sizing will always be more of an issue than shopping in conventional stores, as it is impossible to try before you buy. You can reduce the risk of ill-fitting garments by getting to know the brands which best fit your shape. Find out your exact clothing size in terms of whatever country you are buying from. There are size differentials between the USA, the UK, Australia, Asia and Europe, so you need a reliable women's clothing size conversion chart.
- Buying shoes online gives added complications when it comes to actual shoe size and foot width, but if you measure your shoe size beforehand use an international conversion chart, you'll reduce the margin for error.
Shipping Costs and Returns
- One main disadvantages of shopping online has always been the additional costs for shipping or the extra costs and hassle involved in returning a garment. Many sites, these days offer competitive shipping prices, occasional promotional shipping discounts and reduced shipping costs for multiple items. Some sites will deliver only to their domestic market (like Boohoo.com) and others like Net-A-Porter deliver worldwide.
- When it comes to returns, some offer free returns policy for domestic shipping, others enclose return shipping labels etc to minimize hassle. Online stores like Zappos.com not only offer free domestic shipping but have a 365 returns policy, with free domestic returns. Some, like Net-A-Porter, offer a free collection service with DHL.
Internet Software
- A few sites, particularly the innovative ones, are so high-tech that they may require you to download specialist software. Due to the visual impact required, many individual designer sites are produced in flash, which can be time consuming to load and frustrating at times, depending on where you are in the world and the speed of your internet connection!
Browsing the internet for designer collections and the latest in "It" bags and shoes is an essential pastime for fashionistas who want to be fashion-forward before the new season's clothing hits the commercial stores. If you are still reticent about buying online (for whatever reason), then, before you hit the high-street, at the very least , it is an invaluable resource in providing product information and keeping you up-to-date with the latest trends.
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