The RealReal Fights the Uncertainty of Buying Online With a Physical Presence

If you ask the majority of millennial shoppers about whether they prefer to shop online or in-store, most in this demographic will say that they overwhelmingly prefer purchasing their goods online. Statistics show that 65% of people aged 18-35 do their shopping online, with almost 35% of that shopping being done from a smartphone on the go. A vast majority of the purchases made by the people who were surveyed were made on Amazon.com, meaning that their purchases ranged from everyday items to clothing.

The reality of fashion purchasing is much more complicated, especially when it comes to online-based stores or fashion programs like Stitch Fix or private sellers on Etsy. High-end and designer fashion customers range in age, technological ability, and are, in general, much more diverse than other buyer subsets. This is something that The RealReal, an online retailer of high-end consignment fashion, has addressed as an issue and has worked tirelessly to find a solution to end the uncertainty associated with buying online.

So, Why Do People Buy Clothing Online?

Although not everyone purchases their clothing online, those who do are seeking a particular shopping experience. Here are big reasons why people choose to buy clothing online.

1) To compare prices. It is tough to compare prices on things in-store, especially on things that are as specific as articles of clothing. Being able to have multiple online retailer windows open allows online shoppers to compare prices on items of clothing and get the best prices possible.

2) Because prices seem better than offline competitors. Often, online shoppers can find better prices online than they can even find in outlets. The myth that online shopping is cheaper than offline shopping is just that, though – a myth. Where online shopping goes right is that its promotional deals tend to be easier to find.

3) To see what other shoppers have to say about those products. Sometimes it’s just nice to know that the items you’ll be buying are as great as they look. Online reviews from customers have helped this process, making it a little clearer whether or not a product is actually as it says.

4) To save a trip into town. Online shoppers love the convenience of being able to purchase items from the comfort of their own home. This goes doubly for clothing, as clothing not only involves a trip into town but time spent at the store trying things on.

5) For a bigger selection. You don’t always see all products offered by a brand when you visit a storefront. Most online retailers will show you everything that they have in stock across their site or storefronts, which leaves a broader selection.

Why People Choose Not to Buy Online

Despite these reasons, there are still many different justifications behind why people don’t enjoy online shopping. Some of these include:

1) Many people tempted to purchase online are unsure of what they might get from their purchase. Not all products are always what they seem. While customer reviews on actual retail websites might be a good indicator as to whether or not an article of clothing is a dud or not, there are thousands of instances in which customer reviews were not all that they were cracked up to be. A great example comes from Amazon, where many amazon clothing retailers have gotten away with selling items of clothing that differ drastically from their description by paying real amazon users to write good reviews of their clothing.

2) Some are afraid of something going wrong with the shipping process. This is especially pertinent when it comes to purchasing high-quality items from online retailers. They’re scared they’ll make an investment, and it will go missing in the mail. It happens every day, and there is little that can be done about items that go missing in the mail.

3) Things go out of stock as you research them. Except in the instances of intense Black Friday sales, nothing has ever been snatched out from beneath a customer’s nose when it is physically in front of them. This happens all the time online.

4) People are wary of giving their credit card information online. Identity theft is a real hazard in today’s digital age, and a staggering number of cyber crimes are related to online shopping.

5) People are often afraid of online return policies. With chain stores, you can be relatively confident that all in-store return policies will be the same. However, if you shop online, policies might vary due to any number of reasons, from what state or country you live in to when you purchased an item.

How The RealReal is Changing the Online Thrift Shopping Experience

The RealReal looked at common problems and identified the most significant threat that online customers worry about – authenticity. People who shop online worry that the entity on the other end of their credit card is real, that the products they purchase are high-end and not knock-offs, and that they won’t be met with any purchase policies they didn’t know about. As well as employing gemologists, experts in fashion, and horologists to ensure their products are authentic, they also tried something new – a return to the traditional brick and mortar store.

Employing pop-ups in cities like Los Angeles and New York City, who tend to hold more customers interested in high-end fashion and designer labels, The RealReal was able to show customers that the products they sold on their site were, in fact, real and quality. These pop-ups not only increased online sales, they saw $2 million in sales from the pop-up sites alone.

The moral of this article? In an increasingly digital era, sometimes it helps to remind people that online purchasing doesn’t have to be dangerous. If more online retailers catered to the worries that digital customers had about their online experience, they, too, might see an increase in sales and more satisfied customers overall.