How can fashion put up a fight against Amazon?

To compete with Amazon, fashion retailers need to focus on creating experiences per square foot. This means ensuring physical opportunities for customers to try, play, learn, be inspired, and perhaps even co-create in the space. Brand ambassadors can be deployed to share their expertise and experience with guests. Sales will get measured, but accounting for the communal gathering aspect of the business is just as important.

The retail apocalypse has been well documented. But while some sectors have been hard hit, others have managed to weather the storm. The key difference? A focus on experience over transaction. And nowhere is this more important than in fashion retail.

Fashion is an emotional purchase. It’s about how a garment makes you feel — not just how it looks on you. As such, the in-store experience is crucial to driving sales. But in the age of Amazon, how can brick-and-mortar retailers fight back?

The answer lies in creating experiences per square foot. This means ensuring physical opportunities for customers to try, play, learn, be inspired, and perhaps even co-create in the space. Brand ambassadors can be deployed to share their expertise and experience with guests. Sales will get measured, but accounting for the communal gathering aspect of the business is just as important.

It’s time for fashion retailers to stop thinking of themselves as merely places to buy things. They need to become powerful places for communal gathering — places where people can come together and bond over their shared love of fashion. Only then will they be able to compete with Amazon and other online retailers.

Conclusion

To compete with Amazon, fashion retailers need to focus on creating experiences per square foot. This means ensuring physical opportunities for customers to try, play, learn, be inspired, and perhaps even co-create in the space. Brand ambassadors can be deployed to share their expertise and experience with guests. Sales will get measured, but accounting for the communal gathering aspect of the business is just as important.