Tomek, today I'd like to talk to you about the changes in the fashion market over the past several years. You have a lot of experience here, having been responsible for eCommerce development at 4F for over a dozen years. What changes have had the biggest impact on your business?
The changes are so huge that it's hard to talk about it in a few sentences. The company started to develop at a time when hardly anyone really believed in online sales - everyone thought that a product had to be touched and tried on. Well that approach has definitely changed, we're growing mostly online and so is the whole industry. It's not that offline will completely disappear, I think that only the form will change into some fitting rooms or boutiques, and the rest will take place in the online space.
Probably a big influence on the fashion industry as a whole has been the speed of delivery and ease of return, where the customer has the option to order products straight to their home, and return them just as seamlessly. I think it revolutionized the market a lot.
Yes, that's right. However, we must remember that this solution is both an opportunity and a threat. On the one hand, the online market is moving towards making these returns easier, as this also creates confidence in customers and gives them a sense of security. On the other hand, it increases the risk of being cheated, wearing clothes with a label or sending back counterfeits. What I miss, however, is something that is slowly being created, which is obviously not technologically easy, namely access to a convenient online fitting room and a virtual model on a mobile app. For now, this idea is just beginning to develop and is not yet credible enough. So is the same-day-delivery system, which is not yet satisfactory enough from a country-wide perspective, let alone for overseas shipments, where possible duty charges and complicated delivery logistics come into play. We also try to use the shipment from store feature so that stores closed due to pandemics are used as shipping points. Thanks to this, with a chain of stores spread all over Poland, customers are treated more locally.
The topic of logistics costs and problems with returns is one of the main issues that stores have to deal with. The statistics look interesting - the level of returns varies across European markets. In the East it is about 15%, in Central Europe between 20%-25%, while in the Western part the number of returns reaches 70% of orders. And here, unfortunately, the forecast for you is not optimistic - we will quickly catch up with the West, e. g. through deferred payment mechanisms.
I see deferred payments as both an opportunity and a threat. At 4F we have them implemented, but I don't see them as a big threat in terms of increased returns because of the deferred payment limits, which don't provide as much opportunity to order more products without paying in advance. However, the market is seeing a total arms race in terms of e-commerce and everyone is gearing up for even more growth in online sales. Now the big player on the Polish market - Allegro - will be joined by Amazon, which will also affect the competitiveness of other brands. For many customers, online shopping begins and ends at Allegro, hence the presence of many brands, including us, on their site, as it is clear that we will only reach this type of customer there.
Allegro has also gotten its customers used to buyer reviews. How important is it from 4F's perspective to collect and present them on the store's pages?
Collecting reviews is extremely important for several reasons. Firstly, they provide reliable feedback from consumers, both on the product itself and on the service as a whole. Secondly, it's a good way to create credibility to the offer itself, which is most useful with small and not necessarily recognizable companies. In addition, people rely a lot on what others write about the products in question, including size or color selection. Therefore, I believe that the feedback system has a positive impact, both on existing customers and new buyers. What's important is the ability to properly reach customers in such a way that they want to leave feedback - in this topic TrustMate's tool works very well, because it provides credible and valuable user generated content, perfectly complementing the company's product description.
Are there any noticeable trends in writing reviews?
More women than men are interested in our website, in the proportion of about 60 to 40. It is easy to notice that women are more prone to give reviews, especially when it comes to positive ones. However, the hint system makes the reviews on our site, written by both men and women, long and concise.
And what about the issue of reviews when a company enters foreign markets?
Customer reviews definitely help in building a good image for a company abroad. In the case of 4F, we are present on 9 markets, of which Poland, Latvia and Slovakia stand out for the strength of brand awareness among people. Therefore, in other countries, these reviews have doubled power, building strong brand credibility and customer trust.
How would you sum up your collaboration with TrustMate so far?
We are very pleased not only with the service itself, but especially with the excellent communication with you. This allows us to work together to resolve any non-standard situations very easily and quickly, which you approach very professionally. I'm also very happy about the large scope for development - both 4F and TrustMate are growing, also expanding their international reach, which makes the cooperation more and more fruitful and I really hope it will stay that way.
We're keeping our fingers firmly crossed for that as well. Thank you so much for talking to me.