A GUIDE TO STYLING SOCKS WITH SHOES

Socks in the fashion industry are a section of focus now instead of being limited to just an afterthought, they are considerably involved in the making of an entire look and cultivate it into a fashion statement. Fashion is basically the regular way of human life and not necessarily it has to do with what one wears on a particular occasion, what you wear to work or even a date is considered to be fashion. Socks are playing an integral part in the process of contributing to everyone’s personal choices and complement each and every outfit wore by a person. The manufacturing of socks have shot up in the past few years with greater demand and the swift floating in of the ‘Athleisure’ style of casual dressing, individuals now wear socks with almost every outfit and not just socks but sneakers with almost everything which indicates that comfort has taken over the hard and fast rules of fashion clearly.

Socks and sneakers are complementary to each other, sometimes the length of the sneakers are too low when most people prefer wearing socks that will not show from above the shoes while some like to experiment with high length socks that will show above the monochromatic white shoes. Socks can be categorized based on their lengths as ankle socks, calf length socks, mid-calf length socks, loafer or ‘no-see’ socks, crew socks, knee high socks etc. among these the most worn styles are the ankle socks and the calf length socks. Socks are now worn with almost everything by both men and women paired with either formals or street style. For formals one generally sticks to neutral and monochromatic, checkered or striped calf length socks or crew socks, for a casual day out, street style or for staying in there are endless designs and patterns to choose from, worn with sneakers and even heels by women.

The ankle length socks are a go to add on with the gym attire as they are ideal when exercising and possess maximum flexible capacity, they are however also worn with sneakers and only a portion a little above the ankles are visible. This is for those who do not want to go for no see socks nor are calf length or mid-calf length socks, Adidas, Reebok, Puma etc. some of the best brands to get athleisure and best quality ankle length socks to wear with a pair of converse.

The common question that arises is that whether one should wear visible or no-see socks with casual shoes? While wearing sneakers or casual shoes, ankle socks are paired them and shorts worn with it and that is athleisure worn to the gym or even a casual day out, however dress socks are worn with formal shoes like oxfords just so that when sitting down the socks can be seen and not the bare leg beneath the trousers. Mid-calf socks and knee high socks are being paired with heels by women which not only is comforting when worn with heels but also adds edge and makes you look quite funky. However when choosing a pair of socks to wear one must always give precedence to comfort if the socks are to be worn with closed shoes like sneakers or boots. Ankle socks are mostly worn with sneakers since they are made from towel like material especially to be worn at the gym or with athleisure since they have cushioning towards the heels and are sweat absorbent letting your feet breathe. No-see socks on the other hand are worn with loafers, boat shoes and oxfords which is worn mainly for comfort and protection against the coarseness of the shoes. Women pair their heels with socks now, this gives comfort and helps make a fashion statement as street style as well, wearing socks is an essential in the winters, however with this wearing of socks with shoes provides comfort and protection, prevents bad odor and also makes a fashion statement with almost every attire irrespective of the event or occasion.

EVOLVING E-COMMERCE TRENDS FOR 2020 AND BEYOND

The e-commerce industry has been evolving at a gradual pace ever since the 2000s and looking at the upward movement of the graph we know for sure that it is here to stay. The global e-commerce market has been steadily growing in the past few years with the market size being a US$2 trillion in 2019 and contriving a sale of US$634 billion in 2018. Among the major players in the world China has been headlining the e-commerce industry for most of time now, however there has been a major shift in the purchasing capacity from the US and European countries to the Southeast Asian, countries with rise in consumerism due to a rise in per capita income of the consumers, diffusion of better internet connectivity to dense parts and of course the availability of mobile phones at cheaper rates. So far China has been mastering the art of e-commerce trade however, with the advent and origination of the Corona virus in China, political impact may fall on its overseas e-commerce trade business.

With new and advanced trends and business techniques evolving into the market every day, they need to be analyzed and adopted by e-commerce businesses in its due course. These trends are the driving forces of the businesses and lagging behind in the adaptation of such one might fall back in competition. The competition in the online shopping businesses is much steeper than in retail in respect of higher cost of advertisement, the ways of web based purchase is looking at new arenas to explore. According to the data prediction of 2020 the global e-commerce sales was to account for almost $4.2 trillion of 16% of total retail sales. Keeping up with the preserving competition in both areas of back end efficiencies and front end conversion-optimizing experiences the e-commerce business is looking forward to large scale opportunities in 2020.

Trends to check out in 2020 and beyond:

Mobile shopping, shopping through mobile apps, payment through customized mobile apps:

Mobile shopping has been the go to method of onlineshopping from the time of its very evolution. The rise in mobile shopping apps and e-commerce trade through mobile phones have concurrently been on a rise since the easier availability of mobile devices and internet connectivity has been possible. Almost 87% of the world population make access to online shopping sites through mobile phones and apps. This happens due to the long time spent on mobile phones by users, and also because of the user friendly interface provided by e-commerce websites for a better mobile experience. Facilitation of payment through e-wallets have also been made possible for better user experience with China leading the platform with almost 1 billion users on Alipay.

Enhancement of reality shopping: Augmented Reality (AR)

When it comes to online shopping the advent of augmented reality feature has left no gap for inconclusiveness. This updated feature can be found in most of the mainstream online shopping apps, it helps the customer to compare the digital image of the product with the physicality of its appearance. This feature is bound to attract customers as there I no space for ambiguity with looks and appearances of the product being bought by him. To cite an example, ‘Burrow’ which is a DTC furniture brand uses the ARKit app which helps its customers to visualize a real life setting as to how the product they are about to purchase might fit into their living rooms, or any sitting area according to the choice of the buyer.

Rising expectations of more functioning PWAs (Progressive Web Apps)

Progressive web apps are basically mobile websites for e-commerce purpose with the look and feel of a mobile app. Major websites like Facebook, Twitter, Gmail started off as PWAs paving the for successful e-commerce development.A PWA ensures a well streamlined user friendly interface which gives the exact resemblance and experience of an android mobile app or iOS app when viewed in their respective devices, without actually having to download apps in the phone. PWAs have existed a long time and in the e-commerce business they’re becoming popular due to the catchy advertising present in almost any search engine, site speed, navigability and functionality.

Expansion of voice search settings

A comprehensive surge in the voice search settings has been replacing the more commercial ways of searching for a product by simply typing the name into the search bar. People increasingly have started to depend on Amazon’s Alexa and Google assistant as easier ways of web direction like use it to check the weather forecast and nowadays even shop online. The voice search setting which is gradually developing has a lot of untapped potential and has given most households the comfort of making swift purchases by just saying it out loud and not having to touch a single screen. Loop Ventures has forecasted that almost 75% of the US households are to own a smart speaker by 2025.

Headless E-Commerce

Headless e-commerce are basically e-commerce platforms that do not require a pre-designed storefront and thus the title of ‘headless’. This feature enables the creators to have total free control over their storefronts spanning over a variety of channels inclusive of desktops, mobile and social media. The data can be retrieved with the help of an API from the backend which doesn’t involve the frontend. With the help of headless e-commerce customers are given a better personalized and content rich experience.

Prevalence of AI for an in-store assistance

One aspect of the regular stores that has been missing on the online sites is that of an in-store assistant. However, with the advancement of AI i.e. Artificial Technology that problem has been done away with, it has helped personalize data and led to improvement in customer experience. It has further enhanced productivity and customer attraction of certain online sites with better personalized experiences, optimized prices and discounts based on demand and an automated 24x7 customer support where it provides the buyers updates of ongoing and forthcoming sales or discounts.

Subscription Services

Subscription services on a generic level among the e-commerce sites has brought about marked changes in the social revenues of the companies. This has enabled the major subscription service enabled sites to become more cost effective, time-efficient and drive learner operations. It has also become easier for the web based purchase platforms to spread awareness, advertise products based on consumer preference patterns. This feature has helped with making up to date decisions about the business and efficient customer management.

Using personalization on site to create individual experiences

Buyers can customize the products according to their wants and needs with the assistance of AI (artificial intelligence), this experience was lost with the switch to online purchasing of products however with AI it has been successfully and aptly restored. Personalization has led to 25% rise in the global e-commerce revenue and also an increasing relevance of it in the near future.

Chat bots: preferred way of customer communication

A big slice of the chat bot representation comes from the e-commerce industry with an expected revenue generation of almost one thousand million dollars from the same industry. Almost 45% of end users prefer chat bots as their primary way of customer communication and this way the global chatbot market has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 23.4% and will continue to be of relevance in the future as well.

Digitization of payment

Customers are always keen on what new ways of payment methods are there, like when shopping from an overseas site consumers mostly prefer a local payment provider due to security concerns. Retailers like Amazon, save the customer’s preferred way of making payment information which leads to easy and friction less check out with a lot less data entry each time one makes a purchase. E-commerce websites have widened their payment horizons and ventured into payment through apps like PayPal, Apple Pay and other payment options for a hassle free user experience.

In addition to all of this what the consumers and retailers both pay heed towards is sustainability. With limited resources on earth consumers have become aware off their purchasing decisions and act wisely. With this simultaneously the brands are also improving their business methods opting for a eco-friendly way of buying and selling, lot of the companies have started exercising bio-degradable forms of packaging, recycling processes have developed, less use of hazardous plastics. Brands acting towards the betterment of environment and holding up in its maintenance are going to impact robustly on their buying fronts.

Deciding which trend directs your business

The above mentioned list are a generic number of trends which will affect the global e-commerce industry as a whole. However jumping at the bandwagon of every trend before deciding what fits your business best would be a decision with loopholes. A new trend is developing almost every day with technological advancement thus swift decision making as to which trend will affect your particular business niche would be a driving force towards better operations. Market research, keeping track of influencers, publications, keeping up with new industry analytics and technical tools to foster business development and most importantly keeping track and information about your competitors.

Conclusion

With better and widened horizons of the e-commerce sector, 2020 and the future looks encouraging, the e-commerce industry in the recent past few years has been growing profoundly looking at the competition. Not just these, there is expectancy of some new wings in the sector such as facial recognition of customers for online sites, are delivery drones the new idea for faster delivery? Or will one-day shipping be the new expectancy of customers? The future most definitely has answer to most of these operative queries.