Let's face it, most of us are over in-store shopping. Between our jobs, daily errands, and everything under the sun lined up on our schedules, the last thing we need is a trip to the department store for a blouse in our free time. Unless it's a fun shopping spree with the gang, we're sure many people would do just fine without the long drives, queues, check-out pains, and impulsive purchases synonymous with brick-and-mortar shopping.
In-store shopping has done its time, and though it remains a primary option for some commodities and services, it is fast waning for cloth wear thanks to online platforms. Clothing brands and retailers have now shifted to virtual media and websites to offer their shoppers the ultimate experience of convenient and hassle-free shopping- and that's not even half of it.
Five tips for identifying quality clothes online
No doubt, shopping for clothes online has been life-changing; the catch, however, is assessing the quality of what goes into your cart. With traditional shopping, we maintained the advantage of physical scrutiny, a crucial step to determining the quality of our clothes- something often missed out on with virtual wear shopping. But here's a silver lining, while it's hard to check the cloth's stitching, material density, alignments and finishing when shopping, there are ways to assess quality. Read on for the scoop.
Reputable brands
Going for a reputable European clothing brand or retailer is the foolproof approach to landing some quality pieces online. Rather than gamble with new novice sellers, place your bets on the popular retailers and brands with years of experience and exceptional service in the field; this will guarantee you up-par wear items. Naturally, these big names have built their reputations off a consistent stream of positive feedback with the help of efficient quality control teams and effective policies that have been tested and proven to produce quality output.
Reviews
You'll find the reviews section of clothing companies quite enlightening. Take some time to critically read through the clothing wear's review section on their brand's webpage, carefully assessing any comments and feedback previous customers left.
This step sets you up with some intel on their product quality and gives you insight into the company's professionalism. For instance, how does the brand respond to dissatisfied customers? You'll also want to keep your eyes peeled for any pictures posted by the client; check to see if they match the description.
Note-There'll be online clothing brands that'll fake their reviews; be sure to use Fakespot to analyze and weed out any suspicious feedback.
Guarantees
What security is the European clothing brand offering you? Fashion brands and retailers that pride themselves on quality garment production will always stand by their products, often offering decent quality warranties and guarantees to their clients.
The brand will either guarantee total compensation or replacement in case of customer dissatisfaction with the delivered apparel- this is a show of the brand's confidence in their output. Companies with wavering quality would never be so quick to trust the durability and grade of their work hence offering no reassurances whatsoever to their buyers.
Descriptions
As a rule, item descriptions are a can't-skip detail. You want to know what you're buying, and what better place to start than the description box? Scan the clothes descriptions before adding them to the cart for a definitive look into the material(s), density, washing instructions, care and build used. Can you imagine the disappointment of buying a pair of cotton cigarette pants for work only to find out they were see-through all because you never read the description? Tragic. When buying clothes online, look out for item descriptions and be wary of brands and retailers with vague or no descriptions for their items; this is usually a red flag.
Pricing
Below average market pricing is a blaring red flag. Brands offering cheap clothing items are known to have compromised quality. So before you get too excited about that steal deal, you saw online, ensure you've compared it with the standard market pricing. For instance, it would be insane for a woolen houndstooth blazer to go for a dollar even with sales and discounts. You know the drill; you get what you pay for, and if the pricing runs a little too cheap, you can always bet the materials and finishings will be below the margin.
Conclusion
Cheap is expensive- this statement couldn't be more accurate. Poor quality clothing pieces, however low-cost, are an unsustainable choice, notably contributing to pollution, waste and greenhouse gasses, so if you think you're only hurting your pockets, you might want to think again. With the average annual clothing expenditure ranging at $1800 per household, purchasing clothes should be an investment. You'd like to take a critical approach when buying garments; this way, you're guaranteed durability, significant cutbacks on your clothing expenditure, and an impactful effort in saving the planet.
