WhatsApp for Fashion – How the Instant Messaging App is Changing the Industry

WhatsApp Catalogs for Product Showcase

WhatsApp is the new e-commerce store for many brands. Users can add collections, new arrivals, and bestsellers to the WhatsApp Business Catalog. This feature makes products easily discoverable and enables customers to find what they want without having to actively search for it.

Personalization at scale

With the WhatsApp Business API, personalization at scale today is possible beyond just using the recipient's name. Based on historical data like types of products purchased, average purchase value, and time between consecutive purchases, fashion brands can send customized messages that feel like one-on-one conversations.

AI chatbots for customer support

Automating customer support is one of the biggest time-savers for fashion brands. They no longer have to maintain call centers with hundreds of people. What once required an army of people can now be automated with the help of WhatsApp chatbots and a small support team to handle advanced queries or escalations.

Effective promotion

With an open rate of 98%, WhatsApp messages get read much more than emails. This means users are far more engaged on the platform, and there is a higher likelihood of getting the sale compared to other forms of communication. 

A promotional message from men’s apparel brand Allen Solly

Educating the audience

While running promotions is a major objective of WhatsApp for fashion brands, many of them also share valuable tips and educational content using the platform. For example, a skincare company can use the platform to share beauty and daily skin enhancement tips and techniques. Similarly, a men’s fashion brand can send best practices on staying fresh throughout the day.

Virtual shopping experiences

With the catalog feature, users can shop within the WhatsApp interface by discovering products, adding them to the cart, and finally making the payment. This increases convenience and the overall shopping experience for the customers. While customers benefit from the ease of buying their favorite products, fashion businesses gain by improving sales and revenue.

Gucci

As a luxury brand, Gucci always has high standards when it comes to customer service and support. WhatsApp is one of the elements that makes this possible for the Italian fashion giant. Through WhatsApp, customers can chat with a sales associate, receive styling advice, and even complete purchases.

Dior

French fashion brand Dior creatively collaborates with influencer Jisoo on WhatsApp to offer exclusive access to content and conversation for four days. This is a great example of combining WhatsApp chatbots with influencer marketing, thereby offering a unique and premium experience to Dior’s future customers. It also shows that WhatsApp can strengthen other forms of marketing with key features like chatbots, quick replies, catalogs, etc. 

Lifestyle Stores

Lifestyle Stores is the fashion destination for millions, offering a wide variety of products, including apparel, footwear, skincare, health and beauty, and wearables. It uses WhatsApp to promote special offers like birthday month discounts, seasonal sales, new arrival advertisements, etc.

WhatsApp promotions by Lifestyle

Given its large customer base, WhatsApp is an effective communication and promotion channel for the brand. The company has focused on encouraging repeat purchases by introducing offers and loyalty programs, the effectiveness of which is enhanced by using a platform like WhatsApp with wide adoption.

Aurelia

Aurelia is an Indian ethnic wear brand launched in 2009. It is known for blending tradition with modernity in its designs. It effectively uses WhatsApp to promote its products and offers. In addition to leading users to an online store, Aurelia also encourages them to explore their retail stores by adding a Google Maps link to find the nearest outlets.

Aurelia’s WhatsApp promotion

Zara

Spanish brand Zara is one of the best examples of creative marketing. It uses WhatsApp for customer service, allowing customers to connect instantly and chat about issues like sizing, colors, material, order updates, and returns. The brand takes it to the next level by not only allowing customers to receive offers but also to easily manage orders and returns, thereby being a part of the complete purchase journey.

USPA

US Polo Association is a North American sports organization with a global presence, with stores and products in over 160 countries. The brand uses WhatsApp to offer customers quick support and run campaigns and promotions.

USPA’s promotion using WhatsApp

USPA uses WhatsApp to build awareness about its products and invite customers to visit their stores. The copy focuses on promoting specific products and attracting loyal users. 

Louis Philippe

Louis Philippe is a premium men’s fashion brand from India. It is known for its elegant formal wear, sophisticated casual clothing, and high-quality accessories. Owned by Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd, the brand represents luxury, craftsmanship, and timeless style for modern gentlemen.

A Louis Philippe promotional message on WhatsApp

The brand uses WhatsApp Business for customer support and order assistance, hosting product catalogs, offering styling advice, running promotions, and store-related communication.

1. An optimized WhatsApp Business profile

Your profile is your brand’s face. So be sure to make it professional with a display picture, detailed business description, business hours, and automated messages. These can act as the first source of information for any user chatting with the business, whether it is for customer support or product discovery.

2. WhatsApp product catalog

As a fashion brand, you wouldn’t want to miss any opportunity to showcase your products. WhatsApp Catalog makes it easy for you to upload high-quality images of your products, organize them into categories, and regularly update the list.

3. Automated responses and chatbots

Automated responses and chatbots are a great way to save time and ensure customers get what they want. With the integration of AI and LLMs (Large Language Models), chatbots are getting smarter in responding to customer queries. Hence, forward-thinking fashion brands should consider investing in intelligent chatbots to differentiate their business from the competition.

4. Using WhatsApp broadcasts

While the WhatsApp Business App has a limit of 256 when it comes to broadcasting messages, using the WhatsApp Business API, you can scale it to as many as you want. This way, you can run campaigns and promotional offers with ease.

5. Ensuring data privacy and security

Getting the consent of your customers and prospects is extremely important before sending any communication. Consent can be in the form of in-store data collection or through online channels. Whatever the method, fashion brands need to take all the steps needed to adhere to data privacy and compliance rules like the GDPR and CCPA.

6. Engaging and creative content

While WhatsApp acts as a communication channel, the content you use is equally important. Some ideas include sharing behind-the-scenes videos or photos, testimonials, influencer collaborations, event updates, etc.

7. In-app shopping experiences

For convenience and privacy reasons, many customers do not want to go to another app or website to do shopping. Enabling a virtual shopping experience within WhatsApp will help address this scenario effectively. This would also involve integrating payments into the whole experience.

1. Is it possible to integrate WhatsApp with e-commerce platforms for seamless order processing?

Yes. Using the WhatsApp Business API, you can integrate WhatsApp with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento to enable a seamless ordering process.

2. Are there privacy concerns when using WhatsApp for business communications in the fashion industry?

Yes. As mentioned in the best practices section of this article, fashion brands need to take utmost care while collecting and processing customer data. It is mandatory to take consent in some form (a best practice is to go for double opt-in) to ensure that the privacy of customer data is respected.

3. Can WhatsApp be integrated with e-commerce platforms to streamline sales for fashion businesses?

Absolutely. By integrating with e-commerce platforms like Shopify (or any custom-built application), fashion brands can optimize their sales process for more revenue and average order value.