Technology has swept the fashion industry. Nobody knows what might come in the next ten to twenty years, and therefore, brands always have to be on their toes to match the latest fashion trends, and brands are reinventing themselves in the dynamic landscape. And the latest technology that has completely altered the image for apparel brands is augmented reality. The technology has enabled fashion houses to offer top-notch services to their customers and enhance their shopping experiences. Likewise, the custom t-shirt design software provides robust customization solutions to brands and gives their buyers a free hand to design t-shirts in the way they like. Besides, the tool comes with digitalization features that allow buyers to preview their top t shirt designs before moving to the final payment gateways. The solution empowers brands to establish transparency with their buyers and make them feel a part of the manufacturing process.
T-shirt Designer Software Offer Latest Business Solutions to Scaleup Businesses
Fashion goes by many names, and one of them is an experiment, and how could an experiment be good if it can’t be tested. Therefore, many researches have been conducted in the fashion industry only to reveal that technological innovation has still managed to take hold of the $2.4 trillion industry. It indicates that the recent technological innovations offer promising opportunities for brands to explore and revolutionize the entire fashion business. Among many technologies, augmented reality (A.R.) is the one that has taken the fashion industry by storm. Its wide range of adaptability makes it even more popular among buyers and brands equally, and in the last few years, we have witnessed the force with which A.R. has remodelled the fashion industry and its models. Brands that were reluctant to show any inclination to join the latest stream are now looking for various ways to dive into the changed scenario. The fashion houses that have invested in the new-age technology have by far introduced blending real-time surroundings with animated design to their business, a change that is giving their customers the opportunity to interact seamlessly with the brand, in a way that was not possible before.
Consequently, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that A.R. shopping is the way forwards, and as more consumers get an opportunity to explore the various benefits, it offers to them. According to Vertebrae, only 20 per cent of American consumers have experienced AR-powered shopping; however, three-quarters of customers in the U.S. prefer augmented reality experiences over video content for shopping, gaming, and entertainment. Additionally, the study also reveals that the majority of customers would prefer to use A.R. technologies to help them with purchasing decisions.
Although augmented reality is a kind of technology that allows fashion brands and retailers to offer a personalized experience to their customers, it is also true that lesser brands have incorporated it into their business model. However, since the pandemic outbreak, the need to switch to digital solutions has never been seen before. When people stayed in their homes for months, they naturally saw ecommerce as the ray of hope that would allow them to connect with brands, shop, and virtually see all the products. Besides, it can be argued that technology adoption is slow because the solutions are still finding their feet in the online marketplace. Nonetheless, many brands are testing the waters by using these advanced solutions in the business model, and with the appropriate use of technology, they also allow their buyers to gain a user-friendly and affordable experience seamlessly. As a result, many consumers are increasingly relying on this experience and are eagerly waiting for brands to blur the lines between online and offline stores to adopt A.R. solutions rapidly. Therefore, we need to introspect and look at the various practises of digital solutions that enable brands to thrive in the intense competition of the fashion industry.
Here are some ways brands are navigating their ways into the digital fashion world:
- Exploring Numerous Untapped Opportunities
As we have discussed, the implementation of A.R. in the business model opens various doors for apparel brands to experiment with and rise above the competition. When the technology is adopted, it allows buyers to wear clothes in real life and view each other adventurously. Therefore, fashion has adopted an NFT approach that allows buyers to view the collection after wearing A.R. glasses, which overlay extra information onto a user’s real-world scene. To help you understand the notion better, let us look at the case study ofRtfkt, arguably the most successful NFT fashion brand recently posted a video of people walking around New York City wearing the brand’s clothing in A.R. The video included people wearing its Metajacket, from the point of view of a person wearing A.R. glasses. This promotional video became an instant hit with the consumers and offered numerous opportunities to other brands to capitalize on the trend. In fact, many experts believe that augmented reality will dominate the market, and it will be the next paradigm shift that will change buyers’ lifestyles and fashion sense in the coming years. They also suggest that NFTs combined with the future release of consumer-ready A.R. glasses will enable that revolution to happen.
It is true that the A.R. glasses have not yet made it into the common space for people to be comfortable with it. However, using mobile phones and their cameras are the most commonly used technology to superimpose digital clothing and share it on social media. This holds true, especially for Snapchat’s A.R. technology. Many brands and fashion influencers are capitalizing on this trend and making the foray into AR NFTs. At present, though its user experience may seem basic, it is appealing to early adopters, and crypto-savvy fashionistas with the technology are improving quickly.
Dolce & Gabbana is the latest luxury brand to create fashion NFTs. Augmented reality may hold the key to making them attractive to consumers. The AR component of Dolce & Gabbana’s NFTs has yet to be confirmed, but it has partnered with Unxd on the project. The brand is seriously looking at the potential of the A.R. and how it could be possibly used in the fashion space. The NFTs will include haute couture pieces with virtual components, designed personally by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.
- Creating High-Value Demand
Consumers resist buying NFT clothes because they think the money and product bought through this platform can only be sold on the same platform. Therefore, though the Epic Games made $50 million off one set of Fortnite outfits, which were unlimited in supply, are still find their ways to make a way into customers’ minds and hearts. Though NFTs are built on public blockchain infrastructure and aren’t the provenance of a company, they hold the key to mimicking real-world scarcity and true ownership that enables goods to be sold at high prices. If we look at the case of Larva Labs, which has used NFTs to issue CryptoPunks avatars that have sold at prices up to $11.7 million, hundreds of thousand times greater than avatars in hit games like Fortnite. The reason behind the surge in sales was that people believed in the product, and as long as brands sustain this belief, consumers are going to put a lot of money into the products. The theory is simple, the longer a customer believes it will be useful, the more places they can use it, the more they will spend on it.
In fact,Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee, CEO of fashion NFT marketplace Digitalax, says that she is focused on providing multiple use cases to NFT owners. Digitalax sold several versions of the Rtfkt Metajacket, and the buyers received a digital art piece, an A.R. version to try on digitally and a gaming skin. The t-shirt design tool works on similar lines and allows brands to offer customization solutions to their customers for top t shirt designs. Additionally, its customization features come with built-in digitization that allows buyers to preview the product they have already designed before heading for the payment. The tool empowers buyers to believe in themselves and enables brands to capitalize on the trend and charge more, which buyers would happily oblige for. This would happen because they will be a part of the designing process and feel welcomed, and this overwhelming experience will drive them to buy something extraordinary with extravagance. Besides, customization also helps them earn a name in society, and who wouldn’t want that. For example, in the past, we have helped Mp-Tshirt, a Malaysian brand that wanted help to hit the market and quickly make its mark. With the help of the tool, it became one of the leaders in selling customized T-shirt’s online. Also, the software made the ecommerce storefront highly successful in the online market as they observed a high volume of traffic to their site & marked a high rise in conversion rate.
- Letting People Speak their Mind
Top t shirt designs is the only apparel that serves multipurpose, as it allows the wearer to show support to a cause, use imprint for gift, and most importantly, used as the greatest marketing tool. Some people use to support their favourite athlete and Rockstar; therefore, we must have across many people wearing t-shirts that have some reference to the celebrities. Some wear it for fun, while many are passionate about it when donning a t-shirt for a specific celebrity. This passion can sometimes cross boundaries and upset people. Therefore, when Kourtney Kardashian was pepped wearing The Cure merch this summer, some passionate fans of the rock band behind their safeguarded I.P.s went furious and indignant. They wrote a few nasty things for the celebrity on Twitter. This trend compelled researchers to dig in a little deeper and understand why fans behave in a particular way, and it was revealed that customers believe that while wearing something that supports a cause or person, the wearer should believe in it, or else it would be considered to be a fraud. A new poll seconds this notion by Rush Order Tees, where they discovered that people are, on average, expected to know ten whole songs by any given band before wearing their merch.
The survey furthermore tried to investigate that why customers behave in a way they do so that they thought of bringing together 1,017 owners of bandt-shirts in a pub full of geriatric Ramones fans. It was found that there are some unspoken rules when it comes to wearing a musical allegiance on the sleeve because 43.3 per cent stipulated the significance of buying a band t-shirt before a show and wearing it during the gig. Conversely, 20.6 per cent of people thought that was the tell-tale mark of a noob. When the craze for wearing a Rockstar top t shirt designs is so high among the buyers, there has to be a way to allow them to don clothes they believe in. As a result, you must have seen various singers join hands with the designers to start a collection that caters to the customer’s specific needs. For example, Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo” had dropped, the clothes designed by Virgil Abloh bore was drip-fed to the public via hype beast pop-ups and timed releases. A similar trend was followed when Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” was released, and its clothes became the new talk of the town. Thus, this area also offers ample opportunities for brands to incorporate the latest augmented reality in their business model and help buyers virtually try on various t-shirts.
- Luring in Younger Buyers
Youngsters have been born and brought up around technology, and the millennials have actually seen the world transition. Therefore, it is crucial for brands to tap on them and get inside their brains to understand what is that they require. Moreover, in the time when going out and shopping is a risky business, offering the latest business solution will allow buyers to shop from home. Many brands, such as American Eagle, are leaning into their young ambassadors’ appeal with a back-to-school campaign that uses their digital likeness to show off new clothes on Bitmoji. The brand deploys the “Dress Yourself try-on experience” on Snapchat, thus carefully setting the ground for the buyers to experiment with their looks and offering marvellous content that can be safely linked to buying clothes. Customers can also outfit their Bitmojis in digital digs.
As per American Eagle’s press release, the brand is all set to test an A.R. experience with its buyers by letting them virtually try on clothes and shop selected looks directly from Snapchat using the front camera of their phone. The apparel brand, which has seen products take off in popularity thanks to creator endorsements, continues to try and blend marketing content with social commerce tools. The trend doesn’t stop with American Eagle, as there are more brands that are willing to explore the online economy through social commerce and thrive in the business. In fact, studies have shown that social commerce sales in the U.S. are forecast by eMarketer to rise 35.8% year on year to $36.62 billion this year. More brands are ready with their “back-to-school” campaign through social media platforms than there have ever been in the past years.
Some American Eagle products like a pair of Aerie-brand leggings have become a viral favorite on TikTok thanks to creator endorsements, a phenomenon the company could be trying to replicate elsewhere as social commerce tools proliferate. Besides, social media offers brands enormous time and space to dive in a little deep and check what customers are up to; they can introduce their collection based on it. Likewise, Ralph Lauren is all set to pitch for popped collars and sundresses to a new generation of avatars as the iconic clothing brand moves into selling digital apparel inside of the metaverse. The brand has designed virtual clothing aligned with Zepeto, a South Korean social media platform. This is the first time that Ralph Lauren will be selling its products through social commerce. Each product bought costs anywhere from 14 to 40 ZEMs—the app’s digital currency—which converts to U.S. dollars costing between $.57 to $2.86 depending on the item. There are madras shirts and Polo bear sweaters on the high end, while cheaper products include sunglasses and baseball caps.
Ralph Lauren isn’t the first brand to sell its product through social media; in the past, we have seen Guccicollaborate with Zepeto and offered a way for users to dress their avatars in clothing from the Italian clothing designers’ House collection while walking through an interactive Gucci Villa.
- Offering Virtual Trials
In a time when social distancing is the to keep oneself safe from the deadly coronavirus, it is essential that brands adopt strategies that enable customers to maintain this distance and keep them safe and healthy. One way to attain this target is by allowing customers to try on their clothes and then ask for payment virtually. Because, in the past, no trial rooms have been the biggest weakness for brands and their ecommerce storefronts, and offering a virtual trial room is just a way to rectify it. There are few brands that have dipped their toes inside the A.R. world. The ‘early pioneers’ of A.R. include companies, like GAP Inc., who entered the A.R. space with Dressing Room is something others should take inspiration from and learn how to cater to the evolved demands in the continuously changing times. The brand uses a Google Tango-enabled device which allows users to use the app to customize their look based on their body type. The technology also allowed GAP customers to see how different pieces of clothing looked on them at different angles before deciding whether to purchase the clothing, which they could do directly from the app. The experience allowed GAP to offer its customers a seamless shopping experience while boosting their revenue, a definite win, win.
The trend of using these novel technologies is not just common among bigshots, several emerging companies and startups, such as Wanna Kicks and Tenth Street Hats, investing in A.R. They are using the solution to give their buyers a golden opportunity to see how they can try various looks and purchase products they are only sure about. By investing in A.R. features, the companies conversion rates increased by one-third, which emphasizes the potential that A.R. solutions could bring to small and larger businesses in the fashion industry.
Closing Comments-
Towards the end, we can say that more consumers are demanding a seamless shopping experience, and adhering to these demands’ brands have to think out of the box and augmented reality offers them the perfect opportunity to meet them. Technological advancement is occurring rapidly, and these developments have made their way into the fashion industry. And with customers already being too much comfortable with them, provide a little space for brands to stay away from them. They don’t have much time to think and invest, as the time delay is equal to a time gone; therefore, they must act now. If you are overwhelmed by the process of venturing into an unknown domain, you must implement a t-shirt design maker online by iDesigniBuy. A customization solution is a leading name in the fashion-tech industry, offering a robust business solution to brands to scale up their business in the online economy.
