The era of COVID-19 is a time of reinvention for many retailers around the world, all quickly trying to pivot and leverage the resources and tools they need to survive shutdowns and social distancing measures. While some retailers have had to close up shop, others have turned to eCommerce to continue offering their products and services to customers. Editorial Boutique, a Montreal brick-and-mortar that focuses on offering affordable and avante-garde fashion trends, did just that.
Once the pandemic hit, co-owner Jackie Wong wasted no time in finding new solutions to maintain the same level of personalized services to customers. Her first order of business? Set up an eCommerce store with Lightspeed’s eCom solution.
Editorial's launch is a textbook example of how to go online the right way — extending what your customers know and love about your retail store to your online shop, and reaching new customers while you're at it. By embracing eCommerce best practices, Editorial Boutique managed to create a seamless transition between brick-and-mortar and online.
Great product images can make or break a sale
Part of Editorial's strength lies in their amazing merchandise setup. To make sure this translated to their online store, Wong made sure to have great, on-brand, product photography up and running in record time. By leveraging the photo zoom feature and brief but detailed descriptions, they gave customers all the information they need to decide if they want to purchase.
When building your online store, great product photography should be your first priority. One of the drawbacks of an online shop is that customers can’t touch or feel your products. This means your product images and descriptions have to do all the heavy lifting to make sure customers get all the information they need.
Personalization is the name of the game
In order to keep the spirit and personalized service of their brick-and-mortar shop alive, Wong took customer service to the next level by offering Facetime styling appointments with her eclectic team of stylists. With their Facetime appointments, Editorial encourages customers to try new things and even pairs them with specific stylists that complement their personal styles. For Wong, it’s all about keeping the element of real people and real connections alive.
“Customers want to shop with real people, not just a “customer support team” but with team members you can form relationships with.” - Jackie Wong, Owner, Editorial Boutique.
Just because your store is online, doesn’t mean your services need to fall flat. Editorial made sure to push the boundaries of the online shopping experience to create connections with their customers just like they did in store.
Incentives are always appreciated
For many shoppers, free shipping is the main incentive behind shopping online. Editorial offers customers free shipping on all orders of $50 or more. With many of their products having a price tag of over $50, most customers will receive free shipping and this also ensures Editorial isn’t losing money on a sale.
With so much competition online, customers have come to expect certain types of incentives in their shopping experience. Whether that incentive takes the form of a promo code with discounts, BOGO offers or free shipping, customers sometimes need an extra push to get them to the finish line.
Don’t lose customers over a complex checkout
One simple way to make sure your customers don’t abandon their cart? Don’t insist on making them create an account. Editorial makes checkout easy by offering guest checkout and in four simple steps customers are ready to finalize their purchase.
Once your customers are close to the finish line, it’s your job to get them to the other side, and if they think your checkout process is too lengthy or complex, they might abandon their cart and you might miss out on a sale.
The bottom line is to always keep your checkout simple and easy.
Offer the best experience offline and online
Going from in store to online doesn’t have to be daunting. Shops like Editorial Boutique are living proof that setting up a successful online shop can be done easily, with great results and without losing touch with your customers and community.
“We want to make sure we don’t forget our community — meaning the people we live close to and are around us — not just our community of followers”. - Jackie Wong, Owner, Editorial Boutique.
By syncing their entire inventory across channels, Editorial Boutique was able to extend their offline shopping experience online and offer their customers new possibilities, without losing sight of their mission and personal touch.
