Enrico Roselli – Co-founder Digital Fashion Academy. Former CEO of La Martina

Gianluigi Zarantonello – Former Innovation Manager at Valentino

Enrico Fantaguzzi – Co-founder Digital Fashion Academy. Former Manager at Gucci, Tod’s, Yoox

How is AI changing fashion retail?

To create a seamless shopping experience, AI must facilitate a frictionless journey where the customer can move between e-commerce, physical stores, and mobile platforms without being conscious of the channel they are using.

The goal is to make the technology “invisible,” operating in the background to enable users to do whatever comes to mind without technical barriers,.

How can AI help to create a seamless customer experience in Retail

Unified Customer Identity and Recognition

A major hurdle to seamless shopping is the disconnection between online and offline Customer Identities. A customer might be recognised in their local shop but treated as a complete stranger online, or vice versa. AI can bridge this gap by analysing cross-channel data. For instance, AI can leverage a customer’s online browsing history, where they may spend time without buying, to enhance their experience and opportunities when they eventually enter a physical retail store,. This requires building technical capabilities to recognise the customer at various touchpoints, creating a holistic view of their journey.

Hyper-Personalisation via Generative AI

AI is moving personalisation beyond traditional customer segmentation. Previously, retailers might identify a segment but still show the same content to everyone within it due to production limitations. Through generative AI, retailers can now unlock data to produce unique content tailored to specific individuals based on their interactions and intent. This allows for a highly personalised experience that still adheres to the brand’s overall creative vision,.

Frictionless Payments and Loyalty

AI enhances the final stage of shopping, the transaction, by integrating advanced payment systems. Machine learning algorithms contribute to a seamless experience by:

• Scoring transaction reliability to instantly approve valid purchases, thereby improving e-commerce conversion rates.
• Utilising tokenisation and blockchain to create safe connections that integrate directly with loyalty programmes, managing client information securely to further customise the experience.

Agentic AI for Natural Interaction

The emergence of “Agentic AI” changes how users interact with complex software. Rather than forcing customers or employees to navigate rigid interfaces and rules, Agentic AI allows them to use natural language to ask for exactly what they need,. This shifts the paradigm from the user adapting to the software to the software adapting to the user, making the interaction intuitive and removing the complexity of the underlying technology,.

Empowering Physical Retail

Since a significant majority of transactions (around 80%) still occur in brick-and-mortar stores, AI is crucial for enhancing the physical environment. This includes using data to improve store efficiency and potentially integrating robotics for deeper interactions, ensuring the physical space is as responsive and data-informed as the digital one.

How can generative AI produce unique content without losing brand vision?

Generative AI allows companies to produce unique content at scale by unlocking data and production capabilities that were previously limited. Historically, even when retailers identified specific customer segments or “personas,” they were forced to show the same content to everyone within that group due to the difficulty of producing numerous variations. Generative AI solves this by using customer data to create individualised content dynamically.

To ensure this unique content does not compromise the brand vision, the process relies on the following principles:

• Adherence to Core Creativity: The brand vision remains firmly in the hands of the creative director and the company. The content produced by AI serves as variants of this central vision rather than independent creations, ensuring that the foundational aesthetic and message provided to the customer remain consistent.
• Strict Guidelines: Businesses can “teach” the AI to provide outputs that adhere strictly to the exact guidelines of the brand, ensuring that automated content stays within the established identity.
• Human-Centric Finalisation: While AI is excellent for brainstorming and providing “divergent,” out-of-the-box ideas to spark inspiration, human creatives are still considered “much better than AI” at creating the final, polished output. The AI acts as a tool to expand possibilities, not a replacement for the creative mind that defines the brand.

This approach allows brands to move beyond generic segmentation to true personalisation without the fear that the technology will distort the brand image.

How can AI identify customers across online and physical stores?

AI identifies customers across online and physical stores by integrating specific “technicalities” into the customer journey that link data points, rather than relying on “magic” or passive observation.

According to the sources, AI achieves this cross-channel identification through the following methods:

Payment and Loyalty Integration
One of the most effective ways to identify customers is through advanced payment solutions. By applying AI to payments, retailers can use tokenisation and blockchain to create safe, secure connections that link transactions directly to loyalty programmes. This allows the system to instantly recognise the client via their payment method, unlocking their history and preferences to customise the experience without requiring complex manual logins.

Leveraging Digital Intent in Physical Spaces
AI bridges the gap between the two worlds by analysing a customer’s online browsing history to enhance their in-store experience. For example, in the luxury sector, e-commerce conversion rates can be as low as 1%, meaning 99% of visitors are merely browsing. AI can capture this “intent to buy” or interest shown online and make it accessible to store staff when the customer eventually visits a physical location, transforming a “stranger” into a known prospect with specific preferences.

Designing Identification Touchpoints
The sources emphasise that technology alone cannot identify people without a strategy. Retailers must engineer specific “moments in the journey” where the customer is prompted to reveal their identity. Whether through a mobile app interaction, a loyalty scan, or a tokenised payment, these intentional touchpoints provide the data AI needs to connect the online user with the physical shopper.

What are the hidden costs of implementing AI in fashion?

While the surface narrative of AI often suggests a “plug and play” solution, there are several hidden costs and challenges associated with its implementation in the fashion industry.

Unpredictable Financial Costs A significant hidden cost lies in the pricing models of corporate AI tools. While individuals may be accustomed to free versions of tools like ChatGPT, corporate environments face costs based on consumption. This variable pricing makes financial planning highly volatile; while CFOs and boards may request three-year forecasts, it can be difficult for technical leaders to predict consumption costs even one week ahead. Without proper knowledge and management, companies risk wasting money rather than investing it effectively.

Organizational and Cultural Reinvention Implementing AI is not merely a technical update but requires a complete “reinvention of the organization”. The costs involve:

• Cultural Shift: There is a need for a deep change in mindset and culture to adopt these new instruments, as they cannot simply be used from scratch without preparation.
• Education and Literacy: Companies must invest in educating their workforce. There is a risk that without “literacy” (understanding) and “fluency” (ability to use), employees will struggle to adopt the technology.
• Underutilization: A historical hidden cost of technology is that companies often pay for tools with huge potential but only utilize 20% to 25% of their capabilities because they are too complex for staff to use effectively.

Data and Process Preparation Before AI can be effective, significant resources must be spent on the “boring” background work.

• Data Quality: AI operates on the rule of “garbage in, garbage out.” High-quality output requires high-quality structured and unstructured data, necessitating substantial work to clean and organize existing databases.
• Process Mapping: Companies must invest time in mapping their actual processes to understand what they want to achieve, rather than applying AI to obsolete workflows which would result in little more than a faster version of a broken process.

What strategies help manage the consumption-based costs of corporate AI?

To manage the unpredictable consumption-based costs of corporate AI, businesses must shift from a fixed-budget mindset to a value-driven strategy rooted in education and process efficiency. Unlike consumer tools like the free version of ChatGPT, corporate AI vendors typically charge based on consumption, making financial forecasting difficult for CFOs and boards.

Based on the sources, the following strategies help manage these costs:

Invest in “Literacy” and Preparation
The most critical cost-management strategy is education. Leaders must possess “literacy” (understanding) and “fluency” (ability to use) regarding AI technologies. Without deep knowledge, it is impossible to determine whether the organisation is “wasting money or investing money”. Thorough preparation allows companies to unlock actual value, whereas jumping in unprepared leads to financial loss and reduced competitiveness.

Optimise Processes Before Automation
Implementing AI requires a “reinvention of the organization” rather than a simple software installation. A major hidden cost arises from applying AI to obsolete processes; this merely results in a faster version of a broken workflow without generating real value. To control costs, companies must perform rigorous process mapping to ensure the AI is solving a valid problem efficiently.

Focus on Efficiency and Sustainability
Strategies should aim for maximum efficiency across the value chain, from sourcing to logistics and marketing. This approach aligns cost management with sustainability: by using technology to identify and eliminate waste (whether materials or energy), companies can simultaneously reduce costs and meet environmental goals.

Avoid “FOMO” Driven Adoption
Entrepreneurs are advised to be “bold but not a fool.” Rushing to adopt AI due to the “fear of missing out” (FOMO) often leads to wasteful spending on tools that are not fully understood or utilized. Taking the time to understand the specific value proposition for the business ensures that the consumption costs incurred actually drive return on investment.

How can AI identify waste and improve sustainability in fashion?

Based on the sources, AI identifies waste and improves sustainability in the fashion industry by reframing the concept of sustainability from a regulatory “burden” to an exercise in maximum efficiency.

Here is how AI achieves this across the value chain:

Redefining Waste as Inefficiency
AI helps retailers understand that waste—whether it is energy, materials, or products—is simply something that has not been utilised effectively. Instead of viewing sustainability solely as compliance with regulations, AI allows companies to view it as the elimination of inefficiency. If a resource is “put apart because it’s not useful to anyone else,” it represents a financial loss as well as an environmental one.

Granular Visibility and Root Cause Analysis
To improve sustainability, AI acts as a diagnostic tool that illuminates the “road ahead”. It provides access to data across the entire value chain—from sourcing and logistics to sales and distribution. By analysing this data, AI can:

• Pinpoint Origins: Identify exactly where waste is coming from in the production or supply process.
• Analyse Consumption: Monitor and reduce the usage of materials and energy.
• Forecast Accuracy: Help forecast the future to prevent overproduction, ensuring that what is produced is actually needed.

Maximizing Asset Utility
Once waste or potential waste is identified, AI helps determine how to maximise the value of every item produced. If a product fails in its primary channel, AI can calculate the best alternative path, such as:

• Selling the item in a different market.
• Repurposing it for a different use.
• putting it back into circulation rather than discarding it.

Aligning Profit with Planet
The sources highlight that cost reduction and sustainability are now intrinsically linked. With the costs of doing business in fashion (sourcing, advertising, logistics) skyrocketing, AI drives the efficiency needed to lower expenses. This creates a scenario where the “perfect company in terms of efficiency” is also a sustainable one, fulfilling both business objectives and legal requirements (such as those in the European Union) simultaneously.

Key takeaways from NRF 2026

Based on the discussion regarding the NRF (National Retail Federation) and the state of digital transformation leading up to 2026, the key takeaways focus on moving beyond the “hype” of AI to practical, structural, and “invisible” implementations. The sources suggest that by 2026, the industry focus will shift from simply adopting new tools to a fundamental reinvention of the organisation and the customer journey.

Here are the central themes discussed in the context of NRF 2026 and Fashion AI:

1. From Omnichannel to “Seamless” and “Invisible” Experiences The speakers argue that the industry is moving past the concept of “omnichannel,” which can feel disjointed, toward “seamless” experiences. In this model, the customer moves between e-commerce, physical stores, and mobile apps without consciously thinking about the channel.

• Invisible Technology: A major takeaway is that technology should be “invisible,” operating in the background to enable the user’s desires rather than being the focus itself.
• Unified Identity: A critical component of this seamlessness is using AI to bridge the online-offline gap. For instance, using payment tokenisation and blockchain to recognise a customer in a physical store and instantly access their online browsing history and preferences.

2. The Rise of Agentic AI “Agentic AI” is identified as a dominant trend at NRF, though the sources caution that much of it is currently marketing noise.

• Paradigm Shift: True Agentic AI shifts the paradigm from users adapting to software rules to software adapting to users. Instead of navigating complex interfaces, users (both employees and customers) can use natural language to command the software to perform complex tasks, such as creating a landing page by fetching data from disparate databases.
• Current State: While promising, the sources note that the industry is still “far away from actually adopting the real Agentic AI potential,” as it requires robust data structures that many companies currently lack.

3. The End of “Plug and Play” A recurring theme is the demystification of AI as a simple add-on. The sources emphasise that AI is “not plug and play”.

• Organisational Reinvention: Successful implementation requires a complete reinvention of the organisation, including culture shifts and extensive employee education.
• AI Literacy vs. Fluency: There is a distinction made between “literacy” (understanding the concepts) and “fluency” (the ability to use the tools). Leaders must possess both to avoid wasting money on technologies they do not understand.
• Process Mapping: Before applying AI, companies must map and optimise their processes. Applying AI to an obsolete process merely results in a faster version of a broken workflow.

4. Hyper-Personalisation via Generative AI The sources highlight that Generative AI is finally unlocking the true potential of personalisation, which was previously limited by production capacity.

• Scaling Content: Retailers can now use GenAI to produce unique content variants for specific individuals based on their data, solving the problem of having customer segments but only one piece of content to show them.
• Brand Integrity: This can be achieved without compromising the brand vision. The creative director sets the core vision, and AI generates variants that strictly adhere to these guidelines, ensuring consistency while increasing relevance.

5. Sustainability as Efficiency In the context of 2026, sustainability is reframed not as a regulatory burden but as an exercise in maximum efficiency.

• Waste Reduction: AI provides visibility across the value chain (sourcing, logistics, sales), allowing companies to identify “waste” as simply “inefficiency”—resources that are not being used effectively.
• Profit Alignment: By using AI to forecast accurately and maximise asset utility, companies can simultaneously reduce costs and meet environmental standards, such as those in the European Union.

6. The Financial Reality of AI Finally, a practical takeaway for the roadmap to 2026 is the shift in cost structures. Unlike consumer tools, corporate AI often operates on consumption-based pricing.

• Budget Volatility: This makes financial forecasting difficult for CFOs, as costs fluctuate with usage. The sources warn that without proper knowledge (“literacy”), companies risk “wasting money” rather than investing it, making education essential for financial control.

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The Shopify features that won over fashion and luxury brands

• Ease of Use: Shopify’s user-friendly interface and intuitive tools make it quick and easy for brands to set up and manage their online stores without requiring extensive technical expertise.
• Cost effectiveness: with Shopify you have the option to start with small budgets and then grow.
• Scalability: Whether a brand is just starting out or already established, Shopify offers scalability to accommodate growth. It can handle large volumes of traffic and transactions without sacrificing performance.
• Security and Reliability: Shopify prioritizes security and reliability, providing robust infrastructure and encryption to protect customer data and ensure secure transactions.
• Native ability to integrate with social networks and digital marketplaces such as Facebook Shopping and Google Shopping.

Despite all the “pros” and the quick implementation timeframe and reduced set-up costs, Shopify brings also a number of contraints and attention points that, if unknown, can lead to reduced or deteriorating performance.

What are the cons or risks connected with Shopify?

• Dependency on Third-Party Apps: While Shopify’s app ecosystem is extensive, relying heavily on third-party apps for additional features and functionalities can increase costs and introduce potential compatibility issues.
• Transaction Fees: Shopify has transaction fees associated with each sale, which can eat into your profits, especially for high-volume businesses. Salesforce Commerce Cloud, on the other hand, typically uses a tiered pricing model that doesn’t include per-transaction fees.

However Shopify has a solution or a different plan for different sizes of businesses.

How to implement and successfully run a Shopify Ecommerce channel?

To take advantage of the SAAS solution provided by Shopify you need to work within the boundaries established by Shopify and get to know the environment of applications available to extend Shopify functionalities.

The good news is that Shopify is really easy to use, but the truth is that you need some essential skills in order to craete a fully functioning fashion ecommerce and run it.

For example you need to know about managing couriers and shipping if you want to deliver your products to your customers. This is one of the overlooked aspects of fashion ecommerce.

To set up your shipping policy which is mandatory in Shopify you’ll need to decide how much to charge your customers for express and standard shipping, or decide to offer free shipping. And these options need to be configured in the shipping rates and zones of Shopify,

This is not an exclusive feature of Shopify, any ecommerce platform will have Shipping Zones and Shipping Rates features available, therefore you need to learn what they are and how to configure them.

How to use Shopify to deliver  Ecommerce and Brand Experience in fashion industry

Agenda

• Multi-channel integration:
  • Marketplace: Sell where people shop by linking your Shopify catalog to multiple online marketplaces.
  • Social media: Expand your audience with integrated tools to sell on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms.
  • Online search: Sync your products to Google and post ads for free on various interfaces.
• Omnichannel selling: Reduce the gap between online and offline retail with Shopify POS (Point Of Sale)
  • Buy online, pick up in store
  • Browse in store, buy online
  • Buy in store, ship to customer
  • Online returns and exchanges
• Marketing & Promotions: Implement different promotions and discounting rules to increase ecommerce KPIs such Average Order Value and Units Per Transactions, Revenue and Gross Margin
• Integrated payment manager: accept payments with Amazon Pay, Apple Pay and implement buy now pay later
• Apps and extensions: chose among 8.000 free and paid apps including
  • Wishlist app
  • Translate and Adapt 
  • Instafeed app
• Reviews app
• Internationalization & Localization
  • Currency conversion
  • Languages
  • Domains and SEO
  • Duties and import taxes calculator
  • Market-specific content
  • Product publishing  by market
  • Customized prices by market
• Order Management & Sales Reports
  • Manage large order volumes and inventory.
  • Manage returns, track shipping, restock inventory, manage return fees, and send automated customer notifications
  • Detailed data and Advanced reports for in-depth analysis of store performance.
• Customization: Customization allows you to create a unique look and feel that reflects your brand personality and resonates with your target audience.
• Themes
  • Drag & Drop Interface
  • Pages & Templates
  • Metafields
  • Metaobjects
  • Blog
• Advanced personalization: how to use metafields and metaobjects to personilize the user experience
  • Theme Selection (free and paid)
  • CMS: Page and block modifications / content editing based on the market
  • Product Carousels
  • Adding fields to the product page (e.g., composition, model measurements)
  • Customizable fields (meta-fields) and additional information (What do customers ask for? What can be customized independently?)
  • How to create a store locator in Shopify: using meta objects
  • Magazine / Blog

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How do the big fashion and luxury brands guarantee an optimal User Experience for users and customers? It all starts from a solid testing strategy

In recent years the Fashion & Luxury sector has undergone a significant revolution, triggered by the adoption of digital technologies, by the change in
behaviour and habits of consumers and of ever-increasing centrality of digital experiences.

The growth of e-commerce in the sector is rapid and constant. For example according to Statista, fashion ecommerce is expected to grow by 16% in Italy and by 11% in Spain from 2023 and 2027.

These numbers contain a series of challenges and opportunities for brands and industry professionals.
Always characterized by strong competitiveness and the importance of experience and of customer service, fashion & luxury today finds itself having to adapt to the rhythms and necessities of digital processes. Values such as excellence, luxury, uniqueness and exclusivity have always had a central importance in the boutiques of the global brands of luxury; today the challenge is to be able to transfer them to online shops and digital experiences of all the world.

Companies today must be able to adapt to the changing needs of customers, e.g. aspire to offer the same level of excellence and exclusivity in their online stores that customers live in boutiques. And here is the first and most important challenge: how to achieve these levels of excellence for e-commerce?

The importance of testing for fashion & luxury e-commerce

Creating a flawless experience for online customers in the fashion industry it goes beyond the visual appearance of a website. While companies invest considerably in the design of their website and in the care of the brand image, there are factors not immediately visible that can compromise both the image and functionality of the sites. Furthermore, fashion e-commerce have to face a series of specific challenges related to their digital nature:

• the request for continuous updates, both of the catalog and of the platforms;
• the international (and often global) dimension of e-commerce;
• the lack of direct feedback from customers, which is instead present in physical store

The impact of technology changes on user experience

The continuous updates of the e-commerce platforms, the changes in content and the implementation of new features on sites are frequent causes of links not working, 404 errors, problems viewing sites on mobile devices, broken payment systems and so on.

A complete and effective response to this need comes from methodologies of testing.

Testing methodologies as a solution to user experience problems

The practice of testing for e-commerce – not only in the world of fashion – is established in recent years as one of the most solid ways to guarantee a level of a satisfying experience for the demanding fashion & luxury clientele.

The tests are carried out both before the launch of an e-commerce (for example on a navigable prototype, or in a staging environment) both later, with the site already active and public, coinciding with the release of a new version, of an important update or within a testing strategy that involves recurring cycles of testing and maintenance.

These are tests that are carried out by both expert and qualified personnel – Quality Assurance professionals, with skills relevant to the world of development and programming – both with the involvement of real users and they test e-commerce in real contexts and with real devices, simulating navigation and the purchase.

What problems does website and e-commerce testing help solve?

This type of activity allows you to highlight operational defects that would otherwise not be possible visible, but which have a profound impact on crucial aspects:

• Site Performance: A website that loads slowly or has technical errors can frustrate visitors, regardless of beauty of design. Accurate tests must be conducted to ensure that the site is responsive and fast on a variety of devices and internet connections.
• Browser and device compatibility: Visitors can use a wide range of browsers and devices, both mobile and desktop, for navigate. A design that looks great on a browser might have problems on another. Tests must cover different platforms for ensure uniform viewing.
• Security and Privacy: With the growing concern about security online, ensuring the protection of customers’ personal information is essential. Safety tests must be carried out to identify and resolve any vulnerabilities.
• User Journey: An attractive design can lose its meaning if the Site navigation is complex or the purchasing process is short intuitive. User journey tests are crucial to optimizing customer journey.
• Bugs and operational defects: Broken links, pages that don’t open, filters that do not work properly. These are all aspects that have an impact negatively impacting the browsing and purchasing experience not on user satisfaction, but also on metrics business.

To better understand the importance of these aspects, let’s consider a customer who visit a fashion site. If the site loads slowly, the customer may abandon the experience, negatively influencing the overall impression of the brand (the 60% of visitors expect the site to load in less than 2 seconds, otherwise they leave page). Also, if the site is not compatible with the customer’s preferred browser could generate frustration, undermining trust in the reliability of the site and therefore of the brand.

Security is another critical aspect: imagine if a customer were to encounter security issues during the payment process. This might not only damage the reputation of the brand but could also lead to loss of customers.

Finally, a complicated user interface can lead to a high abandonment rate cart, although the design is aesthetically pleasing. Test and optimize the The user journey is therefore crucial to maximizing conversions.

Testing of e-commerce in fashion & luxury: ROI and metrics from keep an eye on

Evaluating the Return on Investment (ROI) of Quality Assurance is one step crucial to determining the effectiveness of dedicated efforts. When measuring ROI, several key factors are taken into consideration:

• Bug Reduction is one of the main indicators. Calculate the number e the impact of fixed bugs after implementing QA practices provides a clear metric of effectiveness in improving stability e the reliability of the system.
• A second important element is the Increase in Conversions. Monitor from close how many additional conversions occur after user experience (UX) optimization allows you to establish a direct link between the QA activities and commercial success. Under the acronym CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) all those practices and methodologies are collected, across the board between User Experience Design, research and programming, which allow you to increase the conversion rates of a page or website.
• Furthermore, it is essential to consider Positive Customer Feedback. Collect and analyzing the positive reviews, along with customer satisfaction, offers a direct indication of how Quality Assurance is contributing to the appreciation of end users. In this case, metrics like CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) and NPS (Net Promoter Score) are essential to track good QA and UX optimization work.
• Last but not least, the saving in terms of time for the development team and Quality Assurance – considering the average cost that such qualified professionals have within a company – is another fundamental element for measuring the positive impact of a strategy testing.

In summary, measuring QA ROI is not limited to quantitative metrics, but encompasses also qualitative indicators that reflect the overall customer experience and the value added by quality control activities.

Functional and experiential tests

There are numerous types of Quality Assurance tests, which verify just as many various aspects of e-commerce functionality. The most frequent and useful ones in the world of luxury are:

• Copy testing: Ensures correct display and contextualization of text information, in different languages. Often, for large e-commerce sites, it is created on a global scale by specialized companies (for example with the methodology of crowdtesting), which involves involving native speaker testers.
• Payment testing: Verify that payment methods are integrated correctly and work smoothly.
• Device compatibility testing: Ensures the site fits and works correctly on a wide range of devices and operating systems.
• Checkout testing: Optimize the checkout process to maximize conversions.
• Non-regression testing: a type of test (actually a real one methodology) created by professional testers, which allows testing the features of a site introduced with a new release, without having to re-test the “core” elements of the architecture.

To these tests, which are defined as functional in that they allow the correct functionality of a site to be verified, are added experiential tests, which they have a profoundly different nature, methodology and objectives. Indeed they come usually created with the help of a team of User Researchers, professional figures with specific skills, which deal with analyzing interactions between users (who also in this case are testers) and the e-commerce or site under consideration. This type of test aims to highlight usability problems of the site, which technically they are defined as clutches.

In the world of fashion & luxury the most relevant experiential tests are:

• End-to-End Testing of the Purchase Journey: Covering the entire journey online purchase, these tests ensure that every phase, from navigation to payment until return, is optimized for a customer experience without hitches.
• Usability testing: These tests allow you to create an engaging experience for eCommerce customers. Through consolidated methodologies and analysis in-depth, they focus on optimizing brand touchpoints to maximize the impact of the customer experience. They aim to optimize the UX, improve conversion rates and reduce cart abandonment.
• Phygital experience test: With this type of test, that is verified purchasing path, increasingly frequent in large e-commerce sites brand, which starts with online browsing but then ends with collection boutiques.

To carry out these types of testing it is essential to have access to a pool of tester that has characteristics as close as possible to those of the end user.

Testing for fashion & luxury sites: UNGUESS solutions

There are several companies that offer very advanced testing services, with specific skills and expertise in the Fashion & Luxury field. One of them is UNGUESS, a crowdtesting platform founded in Italy in 2015, which among its own success stories presents the one with Canali. This renowned fashion house men needed to refine and optimize the online shopping experience in various international markets. UNGUESS played a crucial role in identifying and resolving challenges that limited the customer experience on the site Canali e-commerce.

Methodology:

• Bug Hunting: Detailed testing has been carried out to locate and resolve bugs and defects in the functioning of the Canali website. This process has ensured that ecommerce was efficient and reliable, improving quality overall shopping experience.
• Analysis of the purchase and return experience: UNGUESS conducted an in-depth analysis of each phase of the online purchasing journey on different platforms. From navigation processes to product selection, from payment to returns management, every aspect has been examined and optimized to ensure a smooth customer journey
• Evaluations of texts and translations: The accuracy and effectiveness of Product descriptions, as well as translations into several languages, have been carefully evaluated to ensure a clear and consistent message for customers of different nationalities.

The testing project carried out by UNGUESS involved 6 different countries (Italy, Germany, France, Spain, United States, United Kingdom) supporting Channels in obtaining an international dimension for your e-Commerce.

Through the work carried out by UNGUESS, Canali has seen improvements significant in the overall user experience on your e-commerce site.

The collaboration between Canali and UNGUESS has demonstrated the fundamental value of
thorough testing, direct customer feedback and constant optimization to ensure an impeccable online shopping experience.

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The impact of an experiential test: the Decathlon Case Study

If a good testing strategy involves the combined iteration of functional tests and experiential – in order to guarantee perfect functioning of e-commerce, together with offering a satisfactory User Experience – it is indeed possible take care of only one of the two aspects, for example if one of the two parts is already managed through internal processes and activities.

This is the case described in the UNGUESS Case Study with Decathlon. Decathlon Italia turned to UNGUESS to make its online experience smooth and memorable users, at a time when – following the pandemic – the institutional site has registered. It was a digital infrastructure that was already perfectly functional and effective, but still lacking external, objective and objective validation.

This approach, guaranteed by UNGUESS, allows you to obtain reliable insights from translate into practical and actionable actions on the structure of the online store.

Decathlon initiated the tests with the aim of optimizing the shopping experience on its eCommerce. In particular, the work of the UNGUESS team and the community was aimed at understanding the real user’s perception of the experience of exploration of the catalog and understand if the navigation and information are clear enough to allow the user to find what they are looking for and enter the desired products in the cart.

A pool of testers was then built within the UNGUESS crowd, with
characteristics and purchasing habits targeted by Decathlon, with a series of tasks very specific to be created on the site, both desktop and mobile:

• homepage display
• product search using filters and guided search
• interaction with the product sheet
• cart navigation
• checkout and registration

The product purchases have actually been completed, so that the experience was as natural and realistic as possible.

Once the paths to be tested had been established, the methodology applied was that of Thinking Aloud. This method involves asking users to think aloud high as they interface with the test subject, explaining their movements, actions, impressions and difficulties. Participants independently record a video while they carry out the test steps with their own devices in their real-world environment.

Knowing the sensations and blocks that real users have encountered, it is possible overcome all the assumptions of the decision-making process and put into action corrections based on objective data produced by end users. The recommendations generated by this experiential test – which was also carried out in just 3 days – have allowed Decathlon to direct design choices, increasing Conversion 15% installments in the year following implementations.

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Prenatal

The example of Prenatal is no less relevant. Once developed by an agency external, Prénatal eCommerce has been tested by the UNGUESS community in pre-release phase.
The engagement of real users, as in the case of this test, indicates a high level of engagement attention to the customer and a user-centric Prénatal strategy.

The community’s work was aimed at: reporting bugs on the Prénatal site in a test environment starting from the homepage until the purchase is completed (with the use of gift cards and choice of payment method); identify malfunctions that are annoying to users or that block the user from completing of your purchase to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Thanks to tests carried out with UNGUESS, Prenatal identified 138 unique bugs, of which 26% malfunction bugs – which affect the correct functional flows of the site – e 35% usability issues during checkout.

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