Through social media, retail stores, and augmented realities, technology is transforming the way people shop. To promote their products in front of their customers, brands are adjusting to changes. Creating a fresh and innovative experience can set a business apart from the competition in an overly catered fashion industry.

Despite fashion and technology are frequently thought to be completely separate areas, they have always crossed paths, usually to the benefit of both.

Take, for example, today’s ultimate staple fashion: blue jeans. Initially designed for cowboys, miners, and factory workers in the mid-nineteenth century, Rebel Without a Cause and its star James Dean sparked their popularity and widespread adoption in the 1950s,  a perfect example of the powerful influence of technology and the fashion industry have when they collide.

With the use of data analytics, artificial intelligence, virtual technology, and other technologies, tech is redefining how businesses work, as it is in many industries, resulting in simplified and efficient procedures. The retail sector is developing due to these technologies, as is the necessity for merchants to adapt to the new terrain and embrace the fashion industry’s turning point. 

So, in the fashion sector, which technologies are having the most impact?

E-Commerce

Mobile commerce has made shopping more simplified in this era of connectivity. We can now purchase online and make simple payments using digital wallets like Apple and Android Pay with our smartphones. According to BigCommerce, two out of every three millennial generations prefer to buy online rather than in a store.

Push Notifications

With email open rates rapidly dropping, fashion firms are turning to push notifications as a new marketing medium to attract customers! Consumers generally accept push notifications: over 90% of downloaders will opt in to get these alerts.

Geo-fencing

This means when your phone recognizes your location so that apps may send you location-based offers, invitations, and promos. It is an excellent tool for fashion firms to connect the dots and combine customized online and offline experiences.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Have you ever noticed how when you discuss a product with your friends on social media, ads for the same thing start to appear? That is what AI does.

Currently, social media reigns supreme on the internet, providing customers with a platform to correct and define trends. However, most customers are unaware that they are also supplying brands with a wealth of data that can be used to forecast trends and close the gap between what is created and what is sold.

Many fashion firms are already using machine learning to improve prediction and search capabilities on their websites. Whether produced in-house or through a third party, this intelligence entails training algorithms to accurately forecast customer behavior based on a set of mainly consistent and repeating parameters. Customers are virtually trained to expect this to be the default setting. More and more sites focus on the need to be super speedy in obtaining products, recommending acceptable alternatives, and improving the entire shopping experience.

While 1:1 personalization is unlikely until you have years of data on each consumer, a few criteria can be used to predict a customer’s preferences. Factors like the frequency of visits to a website, the type of device used to make a purchase, or a shopper’s geographic location are generally permanent features of a shopper that help brands gauge their preferences and adapt experiences on the site accordingly.

Internet of things (IoT)

The adoption of IoT is one of the most significant potentials for the retail business. This technology automates our reality by allowing us to engage with commonplace objects over the internet. The term “internet of things” (IoT) refers to anything that is connected to the internet, but it is increasingly being used to refer to devices that “speak” to one another. “To put it simply, the Internet of Things is a collection of linked devices ranging from simple sensors to smartphones and wearables,” says Matthew Evans, the IoT program head at techUK. It is feasible to “gather information, analyze it, and develop an action” by merging these connected devices with automated systems to assist someone with a specific activity or learn from a process. In practice, this includes anything from intelligent mirrors to beacons in stores and beyond (February 2018). Matt Burgess’ Wired Explain).

This signals a significant shift in the fashion industry. According to a recent Retail Vision Study research, 70% of retail decision-makers worldwide are ready to implement the Internet of Things to improve customer experiences. Apparel items will include digital capabilities that allow retailers and customers to communicate more efficiently – for example, OM signal is a next-generation thread that can detect your heart rate, breathing rate, steps taken, and calories burned.

Each generation of computers becomes more intimate as technology advances, and wearable technology like the Apple watch appears to be the next natural step.