Like most of the retail industry, fashion and apparel retail has also experienced some shake-up from the rise of online shopping. These days everyone, from big name retailers to indie entrepreneurs, is harnessing the power of the internet in order to put their designs at the forefront of popular culture.
According to Cotton Incorporated, one of the main concerns within the apparel industry is the need to "improve ease and satisfaction among apparel shoppers by addressing online shopping concerns and providing transparency and consistency of information across all retail touchpoints."
Omnichannel technology is ideally poised to help the apparel industry into creating a synergy between brick-and-mortar locations and their online store. 
Here are some of the unique challenges in the fashion industry which can be addressed an omnichannel business solutions.
Multiple variations of one product
Customers thrive when companies give them the opportunity to choose products that reflect their particular style. In the fashion, this means not getting stuck to a single color, size, or embellishment.
Connected Business includes Matrix Items and Bundles that allow you to carry multiple variations of an item and even market multiple products together as a price-saving deal. The system automatically creates different unique item records for each item variety, and the web store beautifully presents these matrix and bundle items for your customers' ease of shopping. You can maximize your potential to sell more of your items, while gathering pertinent data about the kind of items that sell better within your market segment.
Quick inventory turnaround from season to season
The apparel industry celebrates creativity and dynamic design, resulting in a quick turnaround of inventory. Fashion is no longer restricted to the traditional Spring/Autumn fashion cycle. For retailers, this requires the capacity to input a larger number of items at a time. They also need to cycle items in and out of their selling channels in order to keep up with the hottest trends.
A fully integrated omnichannel inventory management system is necessary to keep track of these quick and high volume changes, especially for businesses selling in multiple selling channels. According to Apparel Magazine:
"Without a true omnichannel approach, retailers will never be able to forecast [their] pricing strategies for seasonal inventory; instead they will be left with fringe sizes and styles, forcing them to get rid of dead inventory."
Inventory sourced from multiple wholesalers at a time
Connected Business helps you keep track of all your supplier transactions through a frictionless workflow. You can easily move from requisition, receiving, to payment, with all the subsequent records connected with each other, making the paper trail so much easier to track.
Demand for responsive customer service and marketing
A retail company's relationship with shopper does not end at the checkout counter. Brand identity is one most sought after ideas within the competitive fashion industry. Identifying with a company's aesthetics and style enables customers to feel an ongoing relationship with that brand. This makes them more likely to return and purchase items at another time.
Connected Business allows you to initiate and follow through with effective campaign waves using the built-in CRM. This module makes it easy to gauge the impact of your marketing efforts over time and calibrate the frequency of your campaigns.
Customer service is also essential for customers with issues about their purchases. They may want the opportunity to swap a defective item or return their purchase with a refund. Addressing problems that may occur during a purchase will make your customer feel that their concerns are valid and that your company values personalized service.
Connected Business's fully integrated system makes returns and refunds easy and hassle-free. Because customers' purchase history is automatically created when they check out items from your web store, it is much easier to access the purchase documentation and convert them into returns. You can also enable the Live Chat feature to give your customer representatives a chance to walk your customers through their purchase issues.
Product reviews and ratings also empower your consumer base, and inform future shoppers about the products that will truly fit their needs. All of these elements add up to the kind of customer engagement that entices new shoppers and invites the old ones to keep coming back.
Find out more about Connected Business products and how they can streamline your workflow and make your apparel business stand out in this competitive field.