The online market and consumer rate have grown immensely in the past few years. Thus, the online selling of sportswear and equipment is taking over the world by storm. However, these brands have as many challenges as potential. Let’s talk about it.
Online sports brands experience 3 main challenges. First, they lack practical experience. Second, they have insufficient logistics stability. Lastly, they lack buyers’ trust.
If you’re starting a new gym brand, expect to encounter these issues on your journey. That is, if you haven’t already. Don’t worry though! We’ve prepared some solutions for you.
Benefits of Going Online Fitness Colthes Wholesale
The sports industry has always been large. According to the US Department of Commerce, the sales from sportswear and equipment reached $65 billion in 2015. From this, $11.68 billion worth of sports products were sold online because of the pandemic. Now, the volume of sports goods has increased by 86% compared to 2019.
According to I-Verve, these are the top benefits of online selling:
- eCommerce allows consumers to buy products anytime and anywhere they want
- eCommerce websites allow consumers to get to know your product better. They know when it is available and sold out. Also, they are easily updated on new products.
- Social Media presence helps a brand spread their reach and widen their audience
- Vouchers, coupons, and other promotions are easier to manage through eCommerce
Overall, eCommerce has opened the doors to easier buying and selling. It gives convenience for both the seller and buyer and saves a lot of time and energy. That’s ultimately why the majority of sports brands have brought their businesses online.
Without further ado, let’s talk about the struggles of running an online sports apparel brand and how to solve them.
Lack of Practical Experience in Selling Workout Clothes
One risk that comes with online workout clothes shopping is that you’re not sure of what you’ll get. As the saying goes, nothing beats experience. Good pictures do not mean good products. Hence, as a seller, you may meet buyers that will keep asking questions.
Although this reflects a buyer’s interest in your product, this can be draining for you. The more queries you receive the more messages you have to answer. At this time you may wonder, why is this happening? The answer is simple. You haven’t given enough product information to convince the customer to buy your product.
Importance of Extensive Fitness Clothes Information
In a physical shop, buyers can also see the actual color and style of the fabric. Plus, they can test out sizes and see which fits best. For example, when a buyer enters a shop to buy workout leggings the first thing they do is to touch the gym fabric. If they like how it feels on their skin, then they’ll fit different sizes to see which they should buy. If not, then they move to another product.
Extensive fitness product information will not only benefit your customers but boost your sales as well. This is because the better-informed your customers are, the more encouraged they are to pursue the purchase. Here are the things you can achieve with good product descriptions according to Trusted Shops:
● Connection with your Customers
Good product description builds a bond between your business and customers. That is, with little to no conversation needed. Your product descriptions speak for your business. Hence, the better written it is, the more inviting your business sounds. Also, this allows you to convey your empathy towards your buyer and their needs. It lets them know that you are aware of what they’re looking for in a product.
● Higher Rank Online
SEO-optimized product descriptions can bring you a long way ahead. People who are looking for certain products are likely to search via search engines. Since you’re building an online brand, this is important for you to gain an advantage over your competitors.
● Increased Number of Site Visitors and Sales
The higher you rank online, the easier it is for potential customers to find your site. This results in more people visiting and buying from your site. After all, accessibility is also an important feature of an online business.
● Higher Brand Value
The better accessibility and customer relationship, the higher the brand value. This makes you more trustworthy for new customers. Plus, a good product description makes your business look more professional and serious.
How Do We Solve This?
So how do we make up for the lack of practical experience? Since we cannot give buyers the benefit of actual experience. Then, the best we can do is to have very detailed product descriptions. So the question now should be on how to write an extensive product description.
Luckily, we’ve rounded up some good tips for you:
● Include All Information About the Fitness Product
First, make sure that you’ve mentioned everything there is to know about your product. This includes the price, material, color and size variations and more. Your goal is to leave the customer with no questions. If they felt the need to ask something about the product, then you may have overlooked a detail.
● Write Unique and Error-free Descriptions
Do not use the same descriptions for your products even if they’re almost the same. This won’t help the customer choose properly. You have to highlight every product’s differences. This way, your customers won’t be confused about what to buy. Also, make sure that these are error-free to keep professionalism.
● Write for your Customers
Write while thinking for your customers. Since your audience is athletes or people who work out, then emphasize how these can assist in their training. For example, if you’re selling yoga pants, you can mention how these are best worn by those who love pilates or yoga.
● Highlight Top Features
Always highlight the important features. There are some people who prefer to skim over descriptions. Hence, it is important that your customers can easily find what they’re looking for in just a few glances.
● Include High-Quality Images
Images are also very important. Through these, your customers can see how your products fit certain bodies. We suggest having different models as well for different sizes to help your customers better imagine themselves in it. Close-up photos and videos of the product’s fabric also helps customers have a clear vision of how it is in real life.
Insufficient Stability in Logistics
Another challenge of online sports brands is insufficient stability in logistics. According to Investopedia, logistics is the process of managing and transporting resources. So when we say ‘insufficient stability in logistics’ it means that the materials used are poorly handled and transported.
It’s clear why this is a problem. Poorly handled resources could affect the product’s quality. Worse, it could lead to damages. Plus, without movement of goods, there are neither transactions nor profit.
Importance of Good Logistics
● Creates an Environment that Promotes Growth
Good logistics means fewer issues and workload on your end. This is because your logistics partner already knows what works best for your business. Having a good logistics strategy can organize and transport goods more effectively.
● Better Customer Experience
All customers want to receive their goods as soon as possible. So with good logistics, they can receive their products quicker and in their best shape. This satisfies the customer and encourages them to purchase from your business again.
● Faster, Easier, and Accurate Transactions
Logistics makes sure that your resources are transported where they need to be at the right time. This keeps processes smooth, continuous, and without delay. Furthermore, good logistics ensure that products are delivered correctly and safely.
● Cost-Efficiency
Since logistics ensure product safety, less is spent on damages and returns. Also, it cuts off shipping costs and storage.
● Increase’s Brand Value
All previous results lead you to a higher brand value. The more accessible, well-priced, and faster the delivery, the more value your customers will give. Who knows, eventually you may be one of the biggest online sports brands.
How Do We Solve This?
So how do we guarantee logistics? Ultimately, the best way is to have a reasonable price and fast delivery at all times. But to dig deeper, we’ve gathered 6 factors to consider from the Oracle Net Suite:
1. Find the Right Supplier
The cheapest supplier is not always the right supplier. This is called strategic sourcing and logistics is important for this. To find the right supplier, consider the backorder delays, location, warehousing costs, extra fees, service costs, etc.
2. Choose the Suitable Transportation Method
Find out the best method to transport your resources. For example, choosing between land or sea transport. It should be the safest, fastest, and most cost-effective mode of transport available. Track and document your shipments. Also, know about the rules and regulations at the customs, tariffs, etc. for smoother transportation.
3. Fulfill the Orders Precisely
Pack every order accurately. Secure it, label it, and then have it shipped to the customer. This is an important step in logistics. Make sure that there are little to no mistakes on this part. Otherwise, your customer might get the wrong items, or worse, damaged goods.
4. Ensure Good Warehousing
Think about the warehouse space availability. Organize the materials based on which needs to be shipped first. For perishable products, you may need to consider cold storage. However, since we’re talking about sports products then there’s no need for that.
5. Forecast the Demand
Analyze the demand rate, and predict how much materials you would need next. This way, your business will never run short on high-demand products.
6. Manage Inventory Smartly
Use inventory management techniques to deal with seasonal and trending items. This keeps your profits high and inventory turns fast. These techniques help you identify the perfect times to offer promos. Furthermore, it tells you the best time to reinvest in certain products.
Lack of Buyer Trust
Last but not the least, one of the biggest hurdles you need to deal with is the lack of buyers’ trust. For beginners, it is normal for potential customers to doubt your service. After all, there is little customer feedback that they can hold on to.
However, if you’re sure to give the best service and products, then you have nothing to worry about. All there’s left to do is to get customers to buy from you.
Importance of Buyer Trust
Without trust, you will not be able to build a good buyer-seller relationship. Without this, there will be no profit. Without profit, what’s the use of your business? Let’s find out reasons why buyers’ trust is important:
● Customers Buy from Businesses they Trust
As expected, people will prefer to buy from businesses they already trust. This way, they don’t have to worry about being scammed or paying for poor quality. Hence, it is important that you gain a first-time buyer’s trust. This way, you are assured that they come back.
● Customers will Recommend your Business to Others
Aside from loyalty, trust also introduces your business to new customers. New customers are as valuable as loyal customers. They widen your business’ reach and network. However, you should be aware that this goes both ways. Hence, if a customer’s experience is bad then they may also discourage others from buying from you.
● Better Brand Reputation
The more positive feedback and loyal customers you have, the better your reputation. All these reflect your competency as a business and help customers trust you easier. It boosts your company and employees’ morale as well and helps you perform better than before.
How Do We Solve This?
Now that we’ve established the importance of buyers’ trust, it’s time to get into detail. Here are some tips you can do to gain buyer trust as a new business. We’ve combined our own tips with SalesForce Search’s in this shortlist:
● Be Knowledgeable and Convincing
To gain trust, you have to be both knowledgeable and convincing. You cannot lack either of these or you might fail. Being knowledgeable means you know what you are doing and what you are advertising. You should be able to answer all their questions about the products. Also, you should be able to convince them that the products you are offering are helpful in their workout regimes. Much better, if you’re able to talk about why your products are better.
● Improve the Return Policy
Reassure them. Surely you will receive questions such as “what if I don’t like the products I receive?” or “what if the quality is poor?”. This is the time the return policy becomes handy. The buyer’s trust increases if your return policy is well-established. This keeps them assured that if they are unhappy with their purchase, then they have the option to return it and ask for a refund.
● Keep your Word
The most important part is to keep your word. Do not make promises that you can’t keep. Make sure that whatever comes out of your mouth is true. This way, you maintain the trust the buyer has for you, and you keep your reputation clean. False advertisements and commitments are big no-nos.
● Be Empathetic
Make the buyers feel special by listening to their feedback, concerns, and suggestions. Do not invalidate their experiences. Instead, express your plans of improving your products based on what they said. Another way is to suggest better-suited items for them.
● Prioritize the Buyer’s Needs
Lastly, make sure that the product you are advertising reaches the right audience. Your priority should be that the people you are talking to need your products. Since you are working on an online sports brand, then your audience should be athletes and people who work out.
In Conclusion
If you want your online sports brand to succeed, then you have to overcome 3 hurdles. Lack of practical experience, insufficient stability in logistics, and lack of buyer trust. Luckily, all of these can be solved. Just keep learning, be persistent in your actions, and be open to criticism, and for sure you’ll reach your goals in no time.
