The COVID-19 continues to spread over the globe and shows no signs of slowing down. Many swimsuit businesses have also been seriously impacted. Read our article to learn about the challenges that swimwear company owners have experienced and the advice for boosting sales during lockdown.
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What Challenges Do Swimwear Stores Face During Lockdown?
The coronavirus outbreak has struck swimwear retailers. At the same time, customer demand is a hurdle for the swimsuit fashion sector.
1. Swimsuits production is slowed down
Lack of fabric availability and order cancellations are the biggest challenges. Still, swimsuit businesses that planned ahead of time by importing textiles and storing them in a safe house would lessen the harm. After low or no sales during the lockdown, many swimsuit merchants will be financially unstable when they emerge from this crisis.
Inventory build-up and how swimsuit sellers handle it may be a source of sustainability issues. As demand for new goods falls and shops are forced to close their stores for weeks at a time, stacks of swimsuits will go unsold.
2. Consumers spend less on swimwear
Due to the statewide closure order, most activities in hotels, public swimming pools, motels, restaurants, and transportation have been postponed. As a result, it is mostly impossible for visitors to go swimming, leading to a drop in demands for swimwear.
Obviously, when the demands decrease, it leads to low to no sales during the lockdown.
3. Orders are on hold for fear of illness spreading through freight
As a viral epidemic disrupts port services and delays delivery, businesses and consumers in the swimsuit sector are bracing for another shipping catastrophe. To prevent the virus from spreading too quickly, authorities have closed off areas and businesses, as the virus’s ability to spread rapidly via freight is a problem.
According to shipping experts and others, this is causing significant shipment delays in swimsuit purchases, as well as boosting already expensive shipping charges as waiting times “rose sharply.” Therefore, order-based sales during lockdown are volatile and tend to decline.
4. Swimwear products become an unnecessary need
Consumers are also less likely to spend more due to the coronavirus pandemic’s economic impacts, with many seeing their household income continue to decline. The COVID-19 epidemic has also changed how and where people spend their money, now they prioritize essentials than unnecessary items like swimwear.
Best Tips To Increase Sales During Lockdown
So, how can a swimwear brand build brand recognition and sustain connection against the impacts of the pandemic? With a bit of innovation and determination, there are still open doors to opportunities for these businesses.
1. Design swimwear to diversify its uses
Because of the extraordinary extent and breadth of the lockdowns, people have created a natural desire for home-related products and services. Consider how you may adjust your product offering to meet your clients’ demands. When no one is travelling, what is a suitable swimming suit? Is it possible to expand into other product categories?
To begin with, swimsuit businesses might create underwear and sportswear to expand their product line. These outfits are ideal for this time, whether for sports or regular use, as they are simple to absorb sweat and keep you cool.
On the other hand, swimwear retailers may sell products for those who swim in indoor or apartment pools. The lookbook also shifted from a beach theme to an indoor pool theme. While fewer people may go swimming, yet indoor pools may still be available depending on their regions, unlike most of the beaches.
2. Implement a two-in-one communication strategy
Even with social isolation, brands can still create content that works across a variety of platforms to establish intimate customer connections. You may want to look at the option of collaboration with influencers if you haven’t already done it. Work with them to create content that reaches and keeps people interested in your products.
Now is also a perfect moment to start a swimsuit brand ambassador program and provide a discount in exchange for social media marketing. Beyond standard influencer programs, a brand ambassador program is intelligent to get user-generated content and enhance social media reach. Consumers are looking for factual information rather than aspirational glossy visuals, which brand ambassadors may give.
Moreover, swimwear businesses frequently spend on beautiful lifestyle and on-model picture shoots, which makes sense given that the goal of swimwear is to elicit sentiments of escapism and desire.
If you roll out a sale, why not do it with Facebook Live? You may even make an online fashion show using swimsuits designed by your business so others can register their interest in attending. Promote it in advance by discussing what’s going on and when it’s going to happen. Before commencing the event, remember to let folks 5 minutes to open and “attend” your video broadcast.
3. Upgrade your swimwear e-commerce store, optimize UX
During the epidemic, your swimsuit business needs a strategy to modernize the store, improve the user experience, and attract more consumers.
Integrating your online swimwear business with a PWA is one method to improve the client experience. PWA is a web app developed using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but offers the feel and functionality of a native app.
With a few clever tweaks, practically any website can be transformed into a progressive web app. So in comparison to a native app, a PWA can be built faster.
When installing a PWA, swimwear store owners may benefit from features such as instant-loading and compatibility with various screen widths. Furthermore, you may provide all of the functionality of native apps, such as push notifications, offline support, and much more. It’s considerably easier to re-engage with people thanks to pushing notifications.
TigrenPWA is a Magento PWA development company that offers excellent PWA integration service. You can use their ready-made PWA theme or a custom one, whichever best fits your demands. They will advise on the best methods for PWA integration so you can save more time and money on that.
4. Boost communication with swimmers and online customers
Find creative ways to draw customers to your online store or remind them that you exist. You can make the most out of social media and videos as they cost nothing to post and connect with the audience.
- Share your content on your social media platforms regularly, and use hashtags, such as #swimsuit, #bewhoyouareinourswimsuit, etc. This helps people reach you more easily. Include a link to your swimwear e-commerce website or a direct link to the goods that allows your consumers to buy quickly.
- Showcase your store’s products by making a video or going live on Facebook Live. You can broadcast content such as utilizing swimwear models for a specific purpose. Or you can create posts which educate customers about proper swimwear care. Set a date and time to go live so your customers know when to expect it and check back with you the next day.
- Create stock swimwear picture albums organized by category, such as age or events, and keep them updated.
- Create unpacking videos and show off your store’s swimwear on YouTube to display your products.
- Is your swimsuit product made and packaged differently from others? Is there anything else they should be concerned about? Share these facts on social media to give your customers trust when buying from you.
- Inform your consumers about all of the methods they may reach you. Have you turned on Facebook/Instagram Messenger? Is it possible for them to call you via WhatsApp? Consider installing a complimentary “Live Chat” widget on your website as well.
5. Create promotional discounts
Now is a great moment to provide discounts to attract people to purchase.
Your store can stimulate sales during lockdown by creating promotions. If customers agree, store owners will delay shipping. They will ship when they are able. Customers who buy and pay in advance, for example, will obtain desirable pricing. They may still sell items this way, and there is no inventory.
Wrap Up
The methods listed above can assist swimsuit retailers in efficiently increasing sales during the lockdown. However, before using the approaches mentioned above, you must first evaluate your business’s issues during the epidemic season. You may build a particular cost-cutting plan and how to implement it step-by-step near to the problem. As a result, the probability of success may be anticipated more precisely.
Hopefully, business owners can get essential pocket suggestions from this post and manage a profitable swimsuit shop during the epidemic season.
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