Customers are and will be less and less loyal. To get and keep them for a longer time, traders need to add emotional connections. Brand image and loyalty are built on basic assets such as proximity to the store, a wide selection, low prices, and quality. To attract customers for a longer period, it is necessary to add an emotional connection.
Are Shoppers Loyal to Their Brands?
Loyalty-based factors previously offered by most retailers now need to add experience and interest. The right price can be a key factor between buying a brand and switching to a competing brand.
Of the five attributes studied (price, service, assortment, features, and quality), price is the strongest factor in changing a brand, service provider or retailer. 45% of respondents cite pricing as a major factor in their purchasing behaviour and decision-making and whether they remain loyal or change the brand.
However, the advantageous price is not the only one in the long run. British consumers also emphasize quality – for 39% quality is a key factor. Thus, the price may attract more customers to the brand, but there is no chance of keeping it if the product does not meet their expectations of price-quality.
Is Second-Hand the Answer to Sustainable Fashion?
But the big boom nowadays is not luxury shops that are all over the world but worn-out vintage clothes. Fashion chains are pushing for a fast turnover of goods, with something different every year. Thousands of people throw bags of clothes out of the closet that is decent, maybe a little worn but no longer trendy.
We refer to this global problem as fast fashion, which is very un-ecological and even unethical. The turnover of clothes is therefore extremely large today, with many clothes endings up in landfills, where materials such as artificial fibers do not decompose. Second Hand Clothes Could Save The Planet
Fortunately for our environment, a relatively large proportion of this discarded clothing is recycled through collection containers and sorting facilities. And that is what we call second-hand today.
Second-Hand Stores Set to Boom in 2020
Customers begin to buy more and more in second-hand stores in contribution to the current effort to extend the trend of slow fashion. This reflects a time when it was well-made and served for a very long time without being subject to fashion trends.
In conclusion, if protecting the environment is the new loyalty for customers, then shopping second-hand will remain a present threat to bigger fashion companies unless they focus on a different strategic approach to attract the emotions of customers.