I've worked with a number of fashion brands this year who are trying to launch their brand with Meta ads, or scale up Meta as a growth channel.
A pattern I've been seeing: strong ad creative that drives CTR's over 2%, but scale is sabotaged by poor conversion rate.
There are seven specific mistakes I see fashion brands make repeatedly that kill the conversion of strong ads. In this issue, I'm going to explain what they are and how to fix them.
Before we get into it, I want to thank this week's sponsor: Layers. Layers is the AI search, visual discovery, and merchandising platform built only for Shopify Plus.
Fashion brands like Rainbow Shops, Gorjana, and Negative Underwear use it to turn their search bar and collection pages into revenue, without synonym spreadsheets or manual merchandising.
Click here to book a demo–my readers get 15% off their first 3 months.
7 Fashion eCom Mistakes That Tank Conversion
#1: Inconsistent PLP Photography
Check out this product listing page (PLP). You'll notice that there is very little consistency in how individual product types are photographed.
Sometimes a cardigan is shot with the model's entire body in the frame. For other product listings, a cardigan is shot close-up.
The same inconsistency carries across product types. This makes it hard to scan the page visually (without reading product titles) and know what you're looking at.
I've seen other brands where this was even worse–the "view all" PLP looked like it had been shot in three different locations, with three different photographers who had various levels of skill.
A lack of cohesion in your eCom photography will give off an amateurish impression. That gets cold audiences wondering if your brand is a "scam", which hurts conversion rates (obviously).
Your eCom photography doesn't have to be expensive, but it does have to be consistent across the site, especially when it comes to cropping/framing within each product category.
#2: Key Lander Merchandising
How many times has this happened to you:
- You're scrolling through your IG stories and get an ad for a really cute dress, top, pair of shoes, etc.
- You click the ad, wanting to see how much it costs, what the material is, etc.
- You're dumped on a PLP where the product you're looking for is nowhere in sight.
- You get to page three of this PLP and you still can't find it, so you give up and head back to IG
When you run ads featuring a specific item, that item must be featured prominently on the landing page, even if it's sold out.
You can send your ads directly to the relevant product detail page (PDP), or a PLP with the featured product sorted so that it is in the first two rows of the page.
#3: Weak Or Broken Sort/Filter & Search
Shopify's "out of the box" search capabilities are notoriously weak, and its product sort and filter capabilities are basically nonexistant.
That might not matter if you're a supplement brand selling a single SKU. But if you're a fashion brand with 20+ products, it's definitely costing you money.
If you run your store on a drop model where products quickly wind up with broken size runs, or you sell a product like footwear with a broad range of sizes, "filter by size" is critical.
And Shopify basically doesn't have that feature out of the box–a criminal oversight if you ask me.
Layers solves this problem, and it's a lot more affordable than you might assume if you've talked to "enterprise" search apps in the past–up to 40% less than legacy solutions.
Layers delivers accurate and blazing fast search results, robust collection filtering with accurate sizing availability, and even visual discovery: a shopper uploads a photo and gets the exact item or the closest match.
They also let you–the operator–merchandise by what actually matters: sort collections by margin, sell-through, newness, or 7-day revenue. These sorts are updated daily–no spreadsheet grunt work, no tech tickets.
Rainbow Shops saw a 30% increase in conversion rate after switching. Across customers, Layers drives +13% conversion rate and +14% revenue per visitor, with average order value held steady.
Layers is offering my readers 15% off their first 3 months. Click here to book a demo.
#4: Hidden Value Props
"Perceived value" is the hidden secret to scaling a fashion brand. You can read more about it here, but to summarize:
"Perceived value" is the gap between what consumers think your product should cost, and what it actually costs.
If you get this math wrong, you will struggle to make a single sale.
For many fashion products, the perceived value is communicated instantly via the level of design detail and reinforced with branding and art direction.
But if you're selling basics or "quiet luxury", it gets more complicated.
For example: you can get a six pack of Hanes men's tees for $25 at any big box store. That's $5 per tee shirt. If your brand is selling tees for $48 a piece, you better have a really good reason why.
For some brands, that reason is communicated entirely through branding elements–logo, art direction, etc. If this is you, attention to detail is critical (see item #1 on this list).
For other brands, that reason is communicated through direct response storytelling and key product features.
If this information is hidden or nonexistent on the PDP, viewers will bounce without buying, because the only thing they'll focus on is the price.
#5: Site Overlay Widgets
Another common scenario I run into as an eCommerce consumer:
- Click an ad for a product I really want to purchase
- Hit the website, immediately smacked in the face with the giant GDPR cookie popup
- Close that, immediately assaulted with the email opt-in popup
- Close that, asked to confirm what country I'm in (even though I am browsing from the US and it's a US-based brand)
- Try to scroll, foiled by some widget offering 10% off my order if I sign up for SMS
- Rage quit before I've seen a single product
I shared my incredibly in depth thoughts on email welcome promos and the associated pop-ups here. TL;DR–test it thoroughly before you implement it (the linked post explains the right way to test).
Before you add another widget, popup, or line of javascript to your site, you need to run an A/B test to determine how it impacts conversion rate.
As a rule of thumb, I would limit yourself to two popup overlays per session start, including GDPR.
So, if you're required to do a GDPR popup and a location select popup for every new visitor, save the email popup for the second pageview.
#6: Putting Key Info In Nested Menus
Something I've learned from doing a number of UX interviews: people over 55 still don't full understand hamburger or accordion menus.
Another fun fact that many brands love to ignore: the majority of consumer spending (especially if Meta is your key customer acquisition sources) comes from women 45 and older.
If this is you:
- Do not put key product info like sizing, care instructions, fabrication or your return policy inside acordion menus
- Swap out the hamburger menu icon with the word "Menu"
#7: Poor Inventory Management
When a SKU sells out in half of its size run, conversion rates on ads promoting that SKU start to drop. Stock-outs kill more winning ads than "ad fatigue" or seasonality.
This doesn't mean that you need to put all your items on replenishment (although you should have some core/replenishment in your assortment).
But it does mean that you need to keep inventory levels and sell-through trends in mind as you build out your sales plan, product assortment ad ad creative plan.
Another way this sabotages brands–they leave a ton of partially or fully sold out items in key positions on high traffic PLPs, because they think it makes the brand look desirable.
In reality, it's simply frustrating. Sort them to the bottom if you're planning on restocking. Otherwise, remove them from high traffic PLPs entirely, but keep them live on site.