Growing a sustainable fashion business is a big enough challenge as it is, without throwing a clunky website and hours of inventory management into the mix. When you're trying to sell as much as you can so you can change the world with your fashion business, it's easy to forget about your selling platform, but your website is your store front and it's important to get it right.
When I first launched The Fashion Advocate, I started it as a blog on Tumblr (yep, remember that old thang?) and I could blog and that was great, but I had big world changing plans and I needed more, so I switched to Wix.
For a short time, Wix was great. I got to flex my design muscles and create the look and feel I wanted, but when I wanted to couple my blog with my ecommerce store, Wix became redundant. Yes, I could plug in a few apps and host a clunky version of an ecommerce store on my Wix blog, but I was constantly finding issues, roadblocks and limitations, so I switched to Shopify.
Let me set the scene for you before you think I'm getting paid to write this blog post. Shopify doesn't know I'm writing it and I don't get paid by Shopify. What I'm doing, is sharing the proven reasons why Shopify is the best platform to use if you want to scale and grow your sustainable fashion business. I've been there and done that, I've tested all the platforms and used all the hosts, and I know from running the largest online store for ethical and sustainable Australian and New Zealand fashion, that Shopify is the best choice.
I want to make running a sustainable fashion brand as easy and as profitable as possible for you so you can focus less on the boring stuff and more on the sales-increasing stuff, and that means sharing helpful information that's going to improve your business.
'If you're serious about growth, it's time to switch from Wix to Shopify' is the most helpful tip I could ever share. I can give you all the social media and marketing strategies and I could share all the industry secrets in the world, but if your foundation - your website - isn't right, the rest won't matter.
If you're an eco-preneur with a purpose and you want to change the world with your fashion business, a powerful online store makes all the difference in spreading your sustainable message. Shopify's SEO prowess, user-friendly-ness, and easy inventory management make it the best platform for building your sustainable fashion business and here are the top three reasons why...
1. Shopify is better than Wix for SEO purposes.
- In the crowded space of fashion and e-commerce, having a good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy is essential for driving organic traffic to your website. Being seen in a sea of fashion websites is key, and Shopify takes the cake in this department.
- It has a plethora of built-in SEO tools and features, a user-friendly dashboard, and every function and feature you need to optimise your online store for search engines.
- Shopify also creates user-friendly URL structures and it generates clean and SEO-friendly URLs to improve your store's chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- In the era of mobile dominance, Shopify also ensures that your store is mobile-friendly, contributing to better search engine rankings and a better experience for your customer.
- Shopify also has an integrated blogging platform, and blogs are essential for fashion business growth. It allows you to maintain an SEO-optimised blog too, improving your search engine rankings.
2. Shopify is easier for your customers to use than Wix.
- Wix websites have a track record of not working properly or clunking out at the worst possible time, and the last thing you want is a website that doesn't work properly when a customer is half-way through the checkout process.
- Your website is your storefront and you have to think about your platform (Shopify or Wix) as your sales assistant. Wix was created as a blogging platform and Shopify was created as a dedicated e-commerce platform, so Shopify will always win when it comes to the customer experience. It's called UX and it's short for 'user experience', and while it can sound tech-y and complicated, the simple fact is this: using Shopify increases customer satisfaction.
- The success of your sustainable fashion label heavily depends on your customer's experience when they're on your online store, and Shopify delivers above and beyond Wix's capabilities on this front. It offers an intuitive and seamless user experience that keeps customers engaged and coming back, and it offers creative themes that are tailored to fashion businesses which means less time designing your website and more time selling your products.
- It's also crucial that your website loads in less than three seconds, and Shopify pages are optimised for faster loading times which means a reduced bounce rate and better conversions. You might be selling slow fashion, but some customers want a fast online experience, and Shopify wins again at this.
3. Shopify's inventory management system is streamlined and built for growth.
- As a sustainable fashion brand, keeping track of your inventory, sustainability practices, and supply chain is essential, but it's a lot of information to juggle if you're using Wix. Shopify's inventory management system is built in and it has all the tools you need to efficiently manage your range, cut down on inventory management hours, and maintain seamless operation.
- Shopify's centralised product management system also allows you to easily add, update, and organise your products, which means more accurate information for your customers and less risk of overselling.
- Shopify also allows you to add sustainability-related product attributes such as eco-friendly materials or ethical sourcing, so you can easily share your commitment to responsible practices and share your values as a business.
- Shopify integrates with postage, shipping and order fulfilment services, so if you're using a third-party fulfilment service, you can streamline your order process, automatically generate shipping labels instead of manually doing it through Australia Post, and completely remove the risk of hand-written address mistakes.
When your business growth aligns with a purpose-driven mission, scaling is easy, but only when you're using the right platform. Shopify is hands down the best possible choice for sustainable fashion brand growth because of its powerful SEO capabilities, user-friendly experience, and efficient inventory management features.
I am all about working less, living more and using fashion as a force for good, and that means working smarter, not harder. The smartest thing you can do for your ethical, sustainable, circular or slow fashion label is to give yourself a good foundation to build on, and that's a Shopify website.
If you're ready to transition and need a little help, book a strategy call and I can help you through the process, or reach out to me, I have a spare $100 Shopify credit voucher I'm happy to send you to try it out.
Claire x
