How to Boost Fashion eCommerce Conversion Rate

The fashion industry is set to hit a valuation of $907 billion by 2024.

Some of the most significant factors contributing to this growth include:

• Technological advancements including the improved use of virtual technology
• Expansion of global markets beyond the west
• Increased online access and personalized shopping experiences
• Increased use of smartphones in buying decisions
• Influencer & celebrity culture guiding purchases
• Growth of social media & social commerce

With these eCommerce trends in mind, we have built a series of ideas to help you optimize your fashion eCommerce product page—into being the final nudge that gets customers to check out.

19 Ideas to Optimize Product Pages for Fashion Brands

Effective product pages are the cornerstone of eCommerce growth.

They're where you show customers the value of what you have to offer, the benefits they gain from buying from you, and how much the entire experience will cost.

A well-optimized product detail page template can help drive sales for your fashion brand — and it only takes a few tweaks to achieve this goal.

1. Differentiate your Limited Edition from the Classics

We love how Allbirds positions their Limited Edition collection right beside the Classics.

This makes choosing the Limited Edition range a whole lot easier and signals that the Wool Runners are a popular product.

Pro Tips:

Introduce Limited Edition collections for products doing well already.

Bring in more colors, more designs, and make these products seem more exclusive. 

Avoid launching a whole new range of products as Limited Edition.

Build momentum on popular product lines than struggling with building new traffic for a whole new range.

2. Enable shareable wishlists for more visits to product pages

As a fashion-forward retailer, you know how important wishlist pages are.

We love how Mulberry encourages customers to share their wishlist as hints. 

Pro Tips:

Include wishlist data in your marketing and sales campaigns.

If you call out a product that’s been oft wishlisted, chances are potential shoppers will find it more attractive. Also, consider incorporating ‘add to wishlist’ in your add to cart conversion rate calculation.

Enable various levels of privacy for the wishlists.

Taking a note from Amazon, you should include options for making the wishlists 'Public', 'Selectively Shared', or 'Private'.

You can also enable options to share with access to 'Edit' or 'View' only.

3. Use ‘Out of Stock’ pop-ups to collect warm leads

‘Out of Stock’ alerts can be a bummer but they don’t have to be the end-all-be-all.

Take a note from JACK1T.

Pro Tips:

Use these leads with intent.

Avoid spamming them with irrelevant information. Instead, curate content that will either help them find what they are looking for or discover relevant alternatives.

Give customers room to sign up for pre-sales.

This helps customers ensure they get the product before anyone else while helping you create potential customers on the waitlist.

4. Show channel-wise & season-wise price breakdown

We’ve all heard of the importance of pricing transparency — but there’s more to it than just avoiding hidden costs.

See how Pulse does it? Pretty classy.

Pro Tips:

Give a full breakdown of the price.

Include information on the price before & after a sale, price availability in different channels, and even what customers can do to get some more of a discount.

If your prices are higher because of sustainability-driven processes, mention it.

Whether it’s to do with ethically sourced materials or special labor charges to avoid harm to, let’s say, animals, you’ve got to state it loud and clear. This will also help you improve your add to cart rate for your fashion store.

5. Relate product information to real-life scenarios

Use language customers would understand and appreciate.

See how Bellroy does it?

Pro Tips:

Use lingo your customers use.

Using popular lingo goes a long way. This includes switches like ‘fit’ for outfit, ‘fire’ for awesome, ‘jeans’ vs ‘pants’ for American vs British.

Optimize product information with a relatable, real-time use of the product.

In the example above, Bellroy breaks down the use of its wallets into the currencies it can hold. 

Do check out: 33 "Underrated" Conversion Rate Optimization Ideas For eCommerce Stores

6. Pull out review snippets to stir buyer’s confidence

While an in-depth review section is great, we’ve seen conversions soar when you pull out review snippets in a format that’s more easily scannable. 

This is the approach we took for our client Hanro, a brand that sells premium innerwear for men and women: 

Pro Tips: 

Use powerful callout words. 

Highlight the most important phrases to reflect the benefits of the product as closely as possible. 

Highlight reviews by those who’ve repurchased.

Your repeat customers have a depth of experience that can build confidence more easily. 

You'll also love reading: 24 Scientific Strategies to Increase your eCommerce Conversion Rate

7. Cross-sell with ‘Shop the Look’ features

‘Shop the Look’ is a feature that allows you to cross-sell recommended products that go well with the style profile.

We love how Missguided does this.

Pro Tips:

For each product, pick one style and hype it up. 

Instead of creating a whole bunch of options, focus on one style that you think your audience would enjoy. 

Gamify the experience—let customers do the picking.

Most people interested in fashion grew up playing styling games. Build on this with your own. Use products available in your catalog and give customers the space to create their own styles, share them with friends, and save them for future use.

Read further: eCommerce Product Catalog: Common Mistakes + How To Fix Them

8. Highlight why customers bought 

See how Forever 21 does this? Customers know exactly what works and why they should invest in the product.

Pro Tips:

Focus on recency—never stop asking for new reviews.

It’s even more efficient if these are unedited, authentic reviews from verified customers.

Let customers rate the helpfulness of a review and highlight the most useful ones.

It’s best to use a dynamic system that periodically updates top reviews based on customer preferences. 

9. Keep product recommendations close at hand

Research says that personalized product recommendations can actually help a brand gain an 11% increase on their AOV. 

For our client SKINY, we decided to make them super accessible with quantities being easily editable and the products addable/removable from the list:

Pro Tips: 

Offer discounted products as recommendations. 

And when you label them with % discounts, it’s even more effective when you’re trying to get them to buy higher quantities. 

Make it easy to view the variants of each of the products. 

For example, you could use a dropdown list or a pop-up box to reveal the swatches of a particular recommendation. 

10. Optimize content flow for mobile responsiveness

According to Salecycle, 69% of all fashion purchases happen over a mobile device. 

The important thing to do is to keep the most important content elements around the add-to-cart button—just like we did for our client TiScrubs: 

Pro Tips:

Prioritize enough whitespace. 

For example, if you’re placing visual elements like swatches on one side, see if you can keep the microcopy at a slight distance. 

Let your radio buttons show microcopy when clicked. 

This is especially useful for product fit and variants, because the shoppers can see a little popup of text for informational clarity—make sure it comes with an X for easy closing.

Hey, you need to check this out: 27 Founders/Store Owners Share eCommerce CRO Best Practices

11. Use videos to create a store-like experience

Videos are also a great way to humanize your brand and audience.

See this example from Everlane? Having something like this on your product page would be absolutely spot on.

Pro Tips:

Create demo videos that show your personnel explaining the product in real-time.

This is perhaps the most authentic way to create a store-like experience: by bringing someone from the team to explain the product as they would in an actual store. 

Implement UGC as part of your fashion product page features.

Customers love hearing from other customers. Involve them in your content marketing efforts and position them at the center of your fashion product page template.

Keep Reading: eCommerce product videos: 30 brand examples to learn from

12. Involve your customers while creating Looks

One great way to keep customers engaged is by involving them in creating the Looks we’d discussed earlier—check how Nordstrom does it:

Pro Tips:

Use these like a Pinterest board. 

Gamify the experience and encourage your customers to invite their friends.

Have tons of perks available to customers who create Looks.

Getting an extra discount, a freebie, or a shoutout makes the experience even better. Look into cool ways for you to incentivize this behavior.

13. Be intentional with your brand messaging

An excellent example is No Nasties—they’re clearly invested in the planet and it shows even in their email list signup popup on their product pages: 

Pro Tips:

Support an actual cause & show proof that you’re doing it. 

When you make the effort, you can make meaningful impact including fundraising, awareness, project development. Your audience will see that.

Be inclusive and intentional.

Inclusive Marketing has gained momentum, especially in 2022. Use it to your advantage. Whether it’s support for the LGBTQ+, better initiatives for BIPOC, or niche products for the specially abled, be intentional about being inclusive.

Do check out: Reducing Fashion eCommerce Cart Abandonment: 12 Proven Strategies

14. Let customers personalize their product design

A growing number of eCommerce stores have been implementing this feature into their product detail page template to involve customers in the process.

Take a look at how Converse nails this.

Pro Tips:

Implement quizzes to help customers build on preferences.

Give customers the space to customize their products based on answers to key questions.

Keep customizations simple and easy-to-apply.

Even a simple engraving or patchwork helps customize the experience. This is especially true for bags, jackets, and denim-based products.

15. Include a hyperlink to your Returns FAQ page

We love how Hugo Boss keeps it simple (and effective) with this nudge.

Pro Tips:

Feature this link as close to add-to-cart as possible.

Some of the most successful eCommerce businesses place their FAQ link right beneath the add-to-cart button. 

Work on reducing the need for returns.

Use verified customer reviews that address potential queries, implement smart pricing to skip buyer’s remorse, have a stellar post-purchase program, etc.

Curious? Check out 9 Proven Ways to "Prevent" eCommerce Returns (+ Smart Handling ideas)

16. Limit product pictures to <4

Information overload (leading to cognitive load) is real — and it has no place on your product detail page template.

See how Solillas keeps their image gallery concise?

Pro Tips:

Know how much content you need to use.

Look into limiting your fashion product descriptions to 2 - 3 lines per section, having 4 pictures (at most) for each product, and using 1 or 2 videos.

Skip the flashy animations and automatic image shuffling.

Opt for static images with zoom features, product sections that they can expand as needed, and videos they can play when they choose to.

17. Use creative copy to build product USPs

Having a strong and eye-catching product description is a great way to engage potential customers.

This example from Enro’s fashion eCommerce product page is absolutely spot on.

Pro Tips:

Bring in your “brand speak”.

Have a particular way of communicating as a brand? Including this brand speak will help make product information more memorable.

Go beyond the basics.

Talk about how your kid inspired a particular product, or how a particular customer used a product differently. Make it as personalized as you can.

Recommended reading: Fashion Email Marketing: 32 Workflow Ideas (With Real Examples)

18. Limit menus & categories to what’s essential

See the menu on the Tabitha Simmons fashion page? Minimalism at work!

Pro Tips:

Ensure each tab on your menu is there for a reason.

Align these tabs with the search intent of your target audience and you’re set. 

Create categories built on use cases.

Similar to the ‘Shop the Look’ functionality we’ve discussed earlier, you can improve navigation by grouping similar product pages together.

19. Add personal details to testimonials

In the world of fashion eCommerce, this means including details like size, gender, build, age, etc.

Why? Because it helps other customers relate to the testimonial better. 

Take a note from MeUndies’ fashion product page.

Pro Tips:

Include relevant details, but remember to protect data privacy.

Establish credibility by maintaining privacy protection acts that keep your customers safe while also helping other customers benefit from this information.

Let customers filter through testimonials based on personal details.

This helps customers find testimonials from those like them, likely with similar preferences. Doing this will help you boost your add to cart as well as conversion rates in one go.

What is the average conversion rate for fashion eCommerce?

Across fashion eCommerce brands, the average conversion rate stands at about 2.4%. While men's fashion has a lower conversion rate, the cart success rate seems to be significantly higher than women's fashion and stands at about 75%.

The average conversion rate for online fashion stores also seems to be at least 10X lower than physical stores, which are at an advantage as a result of trial rooms and ready customer support.

What is the average conversion rate for luxury fashion?

The average conversion rate for luxury fashion stands at just about 1.5%.

The major reason behind this seems to be the need to touch and evaluate, that customers feel before making these expensive purchases.

What is a good add to cart rate for fashion?

Any add to cart rate above 8.4% for fashion stores is considered excellent. However, this can go up and down by seasonality – for example, winter boots get more add-to-carts in winter than in summer.

If you’re getting anything below 5.4% (average add-to-cart conversion rate for fashion), chances are your product pages aren’t convincing enough.

FURTHER READING: How to Increase Add to Cart Rate: 32 Brilliant Ideas

What is the average add to cart to purchase rate for fashion?

Add to cart rate measures the level of interest – ‘add to cart to purchase’ measures the number of sales from add to carts (the same as cart success rate).

For men’s fashion, nearly 75% of all add to carts result in sales – for women’s fashion it’s 82% – and 65% for unisex fashion.

However, if the items require higher investment, the add to cart to purchase/cart success rate drops between 10% to 20%.

FURTHER READING: 21 Clever Ways To Reduce Checkout Abandonment Rate

Related reading:

Jewelry Product Page: 24 High-Converting Examples

24 High-Converting Apparel Product Page Examples

Top 20 Product Page examples from the UK (eCommerce)

Because fashion is all UX…

You’ll have to find ways to prevent the 98% from dropping off without buying anything. 

It’s because user experience issues cause friction for visitors. 

And this is the problem ConvertCart solves. 

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions. 

How we can help you: 

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.