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Marketing effectively has the opportunity to increase sales even more this holiday season but can be tricky to do, especially when busy, so learning how different types of marketing can be effective for Christmas sales is increasingly important.  With so many purchases being carried out online – SEO and PPC marketing are extremely useful for raising awareness for your brand, and Email marketing can be a great way to retain customers and send out notifications or communications. SEO SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) marketing is an organic tool to bring in customers who will potentially love to your products/brand. SEO is completely free to do (other than your time) and will help increase traffic to your website. The only drawback for SEO is that it is not quick so it helps to have the future in mind when developing SEO tactics.  If you want to start increasing your SEO presence, the first thing you need to do is to make sure your website is structured properly. This included ensuring keywords are inline with your goals and your market, categories are relevant, and all links and backlinks are working.  To begin – you can use various keyword trackers (SEMrush, Google Ads Keyword Planner) to find out high-volume searches that relate to your brand, these can be incorporated into your website and if it is strong enough, the algorithm will pick it up and bring the ranking of your site up.  SEO planning should realistically be a few months ahead of the season you are aiming to target – so preparation is key. In this time, be sure to update update update, curate your content and start some blog posts! PPC PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing is a paid tool that will help you get your products out there quickly. Missed the holiday season preparations but still want to increase your profits? With PPC you are able to do this quickly and efficiently, and sometimes at a relatively low cost depending on what you decide to target.  Approximately 35% of all searches start on Google, so getting to the first few pages is key. With paid ads, you can bypass all of the SEO links and even sometimes appear directly below the search bar, which would increase traffic exponentially.  If you have a smaller business and run on a tight budget, make sure do to tailored research to decide where best to spend your precious coins, as PPC will add up due to the number of clicks. One way to combat the big costs of the Christmas season is to get in early. People like to make sure they’re prepared, so there’s plenty of opportunity for targeted ads. PPC is a visual sales pitch, so getting product pictures right is the first step to any campaign. You should also ensure the description is tailored, your keywords are on-brand, and the price is clearly visible. Try looking at the closest competitors product – what do they include in theirs? If you are able to master this, you will be able to rank above them and channel their sales to your website. PPC is an extremely useful option, so keep it in mind if you have the budget for it and it will likely make your investment worth the risk.  Email marketing As mentioned above, email marketing is essential for building customer relationships and ensuring that established customers and potential customers are all kept up to date with your business over the holiday season.  You can receive initial email data through sign up forms on your website, or through the option to become a member to create ease for repeat payments. A simple way to get new customers information is to run a 10% off everything with your first purchase campaign, as customers will have to enter their email to receive the reward.  Email marketing is a fabulous way to reach out to people with personal messages, newsletters, sales, new lines dropping, special deals and more.  Email marketing is also trackable – and you can look into how your customers are engaging with you in order to categorise them. Having categories such as long-term buyers, repeat buyers, one time buyers and potential buyers will help you to develop different marketing strategies to best reach them.  Understanding all of these processes can be intimidating when first looking into the holiday season – but are needed to increase sales. You don’t need to do everything – just try incorporating a few of these tips and tricks into your plans.  If you would like to read more blogs around business development or the wider fashion industry, Chanodil has you covered. You can check out our blog posts here. 

With the holidays being such a competitive time of year, it is important to gain an understanding of what customers want out of their shopping experiences in order to grow and make more sales. In this part of our holiday sales series we will be going through how you can add a unique twist to your brand so that you can stand out from the crowd! How do you get ahead of the shopping curve? In 2021 – the initial hunt usually means going straight online and searching something related to ‘gifts for…’ and browsing the endless supply of items. So how are you supposed to be their first choice (especially if your focus is on bricks and mortar)?  Well, before a customer will make a final purchase, they will usually shop around. To start increasing your sales, you need to increase interest. Your brand will need something to stand out with to get them to click on your website or enter your store in the initial decision-making process.  But how do you do this successfully? The key to this is to create an experience that will engage people in the shortest-time possible!  Increase physical and mental engagement quickly The holidays are usually a bit of a ‘rush’ so combatting this in the best way is important to keep sales increased. Make sure that your website and shops are updated and ready to go, with all the information, demos and reviews you might need. Don’t allow for disjointedness – have everything located in one place and make it visually pleasing, allowing the customer to find exactly what they want without wading through everything they don’t want like on competitors sites. Ensure that your offering the best possible options – make sure to price check competitors, look at their packaging and make yours better. Constantly review which areas you can be improving on and make the changes – your customers will reward your dedication with purchases. Add fun experiental aspects You could also look into creating a unique experience through event or activities people can get involved in. Experiential shopping has become the new thing for getting customers in-store post Covid-19, and it can be transferred online as well, so if you have the means then try it out! The festive spirit is so important for customers around Christmas, with people prioritising spending time with loved-ones and focusing on self-care. There are a multitude of ways to use this to create unforgettable experiences. Examples to try out include holiday pop-ups, livestream shopping, augmented reality, make-overs, personal styling sessions, and picture trails. You could also try offering prizes for engaging with your brand – such as posting a photo of your product with a hashtag on social media for the chance to win a free product hamper.   The most important thing to remember is to think outside of the box, and to make sure you’re thinking of your customer first! Check out the other posts in this series over on our blog.

It is always important for brands and businesses to look towards the season of trading and make adjustments and grow ideas for how they can best increase sales and brand reputation.  The importance of ensuring the biggest number of sales for the Christmas period is huge, with the possibility to turn around the rest of the year and grow for the future seasons.  How to engage customers Engaging with your customers in the right way is key to capturing their attention for the holiday season. Every company on the map will be trying to make the most of this time of year, so you have to make sure that everything you do is centred around them and their needs. Your customers want one thing – and that’s ease. They want the best products to gift their loved ones (and themselves) at Christmas for the best prices, and they want to find them easily.  One potential way to become more readily accessible is to make customers aware of anything that will be happening over the holiday period through a newsletter or a subscription notification that they can keep track of.  Having an update will direct people to your products as they are reminded of the necessity of planning purchases for the upcoming season. Sending out regular reminders of the Christmas period (even if not sales focused) will make them associate it with your brand. Build genuine relationships You should also make sure that your attempts to reach out are personalised and have meaning. People connect better with things they relate to – so try to form an understanding with your potential customers. Creating relationships with your customers is not something that will happen overnight, so be patient and keep attempting different ways to connect. You will be able to see their interaction with emails/posts, so adapt and respond accordingly. Do not just accept defeat – if a customer has added something to their basket but hasn’t checked out, it’s not a lost purchase. This is simply a new opportunity to grow a relationship with them.  Launching an abandoned cart rescue campaign is great way to increase your sales this holiday season. Maybe the customer had forgotten about their cart, or another present idea fell through last minute, or they suddenly need a new gift.  Reminding them of their basket contents and suggesting other options could change their mind and make them go through with the purchase as this would ensure an easy process. Become their go-to for loyalty Another way to invoke ease of purchase is to inspire loyalty – customers who put their loyalty in a brand will likely want to repurchase with them time and time again because they know that they can trust you and it is easier than trying a new brand that they aren’t 100% sure about.  Some simple ways to create loyalty for the coming months include a percentage off their next order, a complimentary product, or a 2 for 1 deal when they next shop, all of which would inspire a repeat purchase. 

With the rise of ethicality and sustainability on the majority of consumers’ minds at the moment, especially now that COP26 has been in the news for the past few weeks, the fashion industry is experiencing changes in relation to worries about where certain practices may lead to.  One topic in particular that has been causing concerns for a good few years is the leather industry. The leather industry is claimed to be the second oldest profession in the world and it is a major industry with huge economic importance on an international scale. In just one year alone – 23 billion square feet of leather is produced, accounting to around 45 billion dollars. What is leather? Traditional leather is the end-product of tanning the rawhide of animals. Tanning is a process that alters the protein layer of the hide (such as fat, fur and meat). It is a complex process which scientists still do not fully understand to this day. Leather is usually produced using cattle hide due to the size, cost and quantity – however a range of different animal leathers are available including other mammals and even exotic animal leathers such as crocodiles and pythons.  Different parts of the animal hide produces different types and qualities of leather, and higher quality leather can be made by altering the production process. One alteration revolves around the amount of surface coating – as genuine leather should be no more than 0.15mm thick.  Animal leather is very versatile and is used frequently within the fashion industry today – the final product is a very tough but flexible material that can be found in clothing, boots, bags and a range of other products such as sofas and saddles.  Why can leather be seen negatively? Unlike fur, the leather industry was not hit as hard by animal rights concerns, yet it is not too dissimilar from its counterpart. Whilst fur is produced through farms specifically designed for the sole purpose of killing and stripping animals of their fur, leather is often thought of as simply a by-product of the meat industry.  This connotation made the leather industry seem less harmful than the fur industry, as cows would have to be killed regardless for meat, and using all of the animal seems less wasteful than the alternative.  However, this is not always the case. The majority of leather being made in countries such as India, China and Brazil is not a by-product, and the animals are killed specifically for their skins. Leather is also harmful to the environment – turning animal skin into leather requires chemicals such as formaldehyde, coal-tar, oils, dyes, and finishes (some of which are cyanide-based). The production process also uses mass amounts of energy and creates C02 and methane gas.  “A chrome-tanning facility wastes nearly 15,000 gallons of water and produces up to 2,200 pounds of ‘solid waste’ (e.g. hair, flesh, and trimmings) for every ton of hides that it processes.” (PETA). What are the alternatives? Due to these impacts – there have been many leather alternatives popping up over the years.  One of the most frequently seen on the market is ‘pleather’ which is plastic leather.  This artificial leather contains polyurethane (PU), a thermoplastic polymer which is completely synthetic.  ‘Pleather’ or plastic leather is an alternative that aims to solve the ethical concerns of animal based leathers. It is usually marketed as a vegan alternative – and it is used frequently within the fashion industry today.  Many large brands including Dr. Martens, Ted Baker and Saint Laurent and a range of fast fashion brands use plastic leather in their products, and many individuals consider it one step in the right direction away from animal leathers.  However, plastic leather is likely an even worse alternative for the environment than animal leather is. Unlike real leather, plastic based leather will never break down, and will end up sitting in landfill or our oceans for hundreds of years if the product isn’t recycled – with 13 million tonnes of synthetic fibres entering the oceans each year. ‘Micro-plastic pollution is a big threat, as it uses an extensive amount of water, energy and chemicals to be processed and made into the material which sadly impacts the earth.’ Harpers Bazaar. The other alternative to animal leather and plastic leather is plant-based leather. Plant based leather alternatives have been developing over the last few years as a more sustainable and ethical option to animal and plastic leather.  A new report from British charity The Vegan Society highlights the growing importance of leather alternatives in the fashion industry – a survey revealed over 70% of customers would be ready to spend more money on plant-based leathers over animal-derived ones, confirming a flourishing demand. If you would like to read more about plant based leather alternatives, you can do so over on our blog!

Wool is a largely popular naturally derived material that has been part of the fashion industry for centuries. Harvesting and producing clothing out of wool is part of history all around the globe as a way to provide warm clothing accessibly.  Overview Wool is a natural fibre (similar to silk and cotton) that is taken from the coat of animals such as sheep, alpacas, llamas, rabbits and goats. Wool can range from very cheap to extremely expensive depending on the type of animal it is harvested from and the location that the animals are kept.  Products such as Merino Wool are well-known for their fine, premium feel and can be found at the top end of wool production. There are a range of uses for this versatile fibre and it is extremely useful within the fashion industry. Types of Wool Wool is a term that can be used for the fabric made from the fleece of a range of different animals, all of which vary in quality and production method.  Sheep Wool Sheep wool is the most prominent type of wool on the market and is often what people associate the majority of wool with. Sheep’s wool is used within many different types of garments and varies in quality and price.  Sheep wool is the basis for a lot of wool blends. Merino Wool Merino is a type of sheep’s wool specifically from Merino sheep that is harvested most frequently from sheep in Australia and New Zealand. It is extremely fine and high-quality wool and can be found often within high-end garments. It has more desirable qualities than regular sheep’s wool such as increased softness and comfort.  Merino wool has a strong reputation, and can be found within premium ranges for product categories such as athleisure and knitwear. Cashmere Cashmere has a high natural crimp, resulting in an incredibly soft and lightweight fabric. Cashmere is very costly because it’s difficult to obtain (fibers must be combed from cashmere goats instead of sheared), and the cashmere goat produces a limited amount of cashmere wool per year.  Cashmere is luxurious but is not very durable, meaning it requires more care. Angora Wool Derived from the coats of rabbits – Angora wool is amongst the finest types of wool fibers in the world, making it very silky and soft. This type of wool is extremely fluffy, and since the cores of Angora rabbit hairs are hollow, it is very warm to wear.  Angora wool is also hypoallergenic as it does not contain the allergenic properties of other wool types. Angora can also be made by combining angora fibres with sheep’s wool fibres to make it cheaper and more accessible.  Alpaca Wool  Alpaca wool is a medium-weight fabric that is very durable and warm, and is well suited to hard-wearing products such as coats. Two breeds of alpaca, Huacaya and Suri, produce different types of wool – Huacaya fleece is thicker and often used for knit items, while Suri is silkier and used more in woven apparel. Lambswool Lambswool is taken from a baby sheep’s first shearing when it’s only a few months old, it is smooth, soft, and does not misshapen easily. Lambswool can only be produced once within a sheep’s lifetime and therefore is more expensive. Wool Production The majority of wool types are harvested in a similar way. The animal used for the wool production is sheered to remove the fleece coat from the rest of their body. Unlike the production of fur, the majority of the time harvesting wool does not harm the animal when done correctly.  These are the main steps for wool production: Where is wool produced? Wool is produced worldwide, but the leading countries typically host climates or land mass that make raising livestock easy and accessible.  Large producers of wool include Oceania countries Australia and New Zealand, with around 25% of the world’s wool being produced in Australia and New Zealand with 11%. So called ‘greasy wool’ is largely produced here, including sheep and alpaca wool types. Australian wool exports in 2016-17 were valued at $3.615 billion; this reflects the continuing strong global demand for Australia’s wool, which is regarded as among the world’s best. Wool is produced in all Australian states except the Northern Territory. New South Wales produces the greatest volume of wool, followed by Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. Sheep breeds such as Merino thrive here, making is a huge player in the world wool market. Wool is also frequently produced in China – with 18% of production, and America – with 17% of production.  Wool Fabric Properties UV Protection Sheep wool has a natural UV protection factor of up to 30. Wool naturally absorbs the suns UV rays before it can make contact with your skin; by wearing wool you will be protected against the sun harmful rays. Antibacterial The thin waxy coating of wool fibre contains fatty acids that inhibit the growth of mold, mildew and bacteria. The same coating repels water that can cause mildew and mold to grow.  This means that woolen items do not need regular washing and will smell fresh after repeated use, unlike synthetic fibres. Stains The waxy outer coating of wool helps to repel liquids, meaning if you spill anything on your knitwear it is most likely to roll off, and what is left is easily wiped off.  Ease of Care It’s a well known fact that woolen items do not need regular washing. Bacteria causing odour is naturally inhibited by fatty acids that coat wool fibre.  Static, which attracts lint, dirt and dust, is also inhibited by this waxy coating. The scaly surface area of fibre acts to block dirt and stains from being absorbed. Instead, particles sit on top which means they are much easier to remove. Heat Retention Wool is renowned for its ability to regulate body temperature. In the winter, wool’s insulating qualities trap dry air and warmth near the skin. Wool’s natural insulating quality and its ability to

Last year on our blog, we wrote about Covid-19 and what it might mean for the fashion industry – you can check it out here. Now, just a month away from 2022, we revisit the subject to find out the impacts in terms of short to long term alterations on the industry now that we are starting to see some kind of end in sight. Covid-19 troubles Back in early 2020, we knew that Covid-19 was likely to have some short to medium term effects – from supply chain disruptions such as manufacturers having to shut down to a reduction in consumption whilst multiple countries went into lockdown.  However the extent to what the Covid-19 pandemic could mean for the fashion industry was exponential. A huge decline in sales and a freeze in production would lead to questions about where the fashion industry would go after the pandemic was over. Short-term effects There will continue to be many short-term effects for consumers and businesses alike, from economic to social issues, even after the worst of the pandemic is over. One of these effects is the fact that despite vaccinations being more widely used around the globe, workers are still falling ill and having to take time off of work, which will continue to impact supply chains and production.  With people still being vulnerable to the virus, a full recovery to the production process across manufacturing and shipping will still have small impacts on the productivity of the workforce, the amount of products they can produce and the price of them. Another short-term issue linking to this is that consumers who are vulnerable or have Covid-19 will be unable to get out and about to shop in the ways they once could. Online shopping will be more accessible this way, however bricks-and-mortar shops may still feel the impact of this well into 2022.  This short-term effect means that smaller businesses who were once in-store only will need to start to think about gaining a better digital presence. Digital is the way forward out of the pandemic, and with more and more customers exclusively shopping online even if they are not vulnerable, this will be key to short-term success.  Medium-term effects  There are various medium-term effects for the fashion industry due to Covid-19, with the last year being an example of how we can see improvements but still under-go issues. When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, the majority of us did not need to buy lots of new items just to sit around in, so comfortable clothing and loungewear became the new normal whilst every-day occasion wear took a backseat in our wardrobes. Now that we move back into a more regular schedule of going outside again for work and social events, we are not so quick to go out and buy, instead more people are gravitating towards the pieces they already owned but haven’t been able to wear for the past few years.  This can be traced back to economic worries as well as practical ones – with the majority of people still recovering from financial troubles that they went through due to lockdowns, with furlough pay and many people losing their jobs reducing the amount of income many households have to spend on non-essential items.  This means that the fashion industry will likely continue to see declines in profits for a while yet and businesses will have to think of new ways to get customers engaged with their products – from interesting marketing tactics to sales. Another medium-term effect is the change in the physical fashion calendar. The last year and a half has seen runway shows and pop-ups to everything in between stop, with the majority of large houses events starting to go strictly online.  Whilst few events have returned in person, a lot of brands are continuing to be cautious with big in-person events, and it’s likely that some won’t return for a while yet, or will be less often and instead of different gendered categories, they will be all-in-one shows with a mix of everything! Long-term effects One major long-term effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is the emphasis that the fashion industry has on the environment. Whilst factories were effectively shut down and businesses supply chains came to a halt, we saw an increase in natural biodiversity.  Many people also had more time to learn about the impacts of fast-fashion and why a more circular economy is more important, as companies’ greenwashing tactics came to light and smaller sustainable fashion brands had the chance to grow.  Forbes said that ‘The disruptions of 2020 have forced fashion retailers into a new era of reckoning. While the top and bottom lines have been the key markers all along, businesses are starting to realize that doing good and doing well can add up to doing better.’ Lower sales placed a strain on large companies to try and do better in order to make sure their consumers before the pandemic kept shopping with them online and after lockdowns had ended. This meant that they had to take sustainability more seriously.  Lots of companies have started recycling programs in this time, such as Nike and H&M, and the likelihood that others will do the same is very large. Zero waste has also become a focus – with lower impact packaging for online orders and a more transparent supply chain. A circular industry would allow people to make the most of the clothes they already have, and allow them to be more smart with the purchases they will make in the future!  Other long term effects range from permanent in-store closures, lack of jobs, a change in work dynamic all due to finances. With economic issues being the worst of them all when it comes to the pandemic, the fashion industry will continue to live out the effects of this long after 2022.  Many businesses took a major hit, with smaller businesses going bankrupt and an impending recession, it seems almost impossible