Insights
Farfetch is surpassing most of its competitors with its purposeful and streamlined content strategy, but there are certain demographics that are not properly catered to, such as the 30 years and up crowd, men, and the casual shopper and there are somethings they still need to refine.
They need to cater to window shoppers. If a user accesses their site through the homepage, it is likely they were not initially looking for a particular brand or garment and are looking to be moved or they could already be a fan of the Farfetch brand and are also looking to be inspired. The content should capture their attention and move them to click on the articles, peruse the clothing, and add items to their cart. There should also a 'Still Interested' carusel, that reminds users in a non-intrusive way that they previously viewed on a clothing and puts it in front of their consciousness, that they might still be interested in these items.
Also, Farfetch needs to cater those who may not have a lot of money to spend.I personally leave a site when I feel like I cannot even afford the items even in the sales section. Featuring only your major designer pieces can discourage users from exploring further because they feel like they cannot afford anything and that they are wasting their time by staying on the site. Offering and showcasing affordable pieces can be a gateway for users buying more expensive items and generally becoming a fan of the brand.
Navigating through the Farfetch homepage, I soon realized that there was too much content. At a quick glance on their homepage, you see that there is featured content on top, tons of content that individually showcases all the types of garments and accessories they offer, and a long list of hyperlinks and navigational tools in the footer. Within the main content, there are linked pages to dresses, accessories, shoes, and tops. The vastness of the content could rather overwhelm the user, rather than enliven the user to make a purchase or fall in love with a brand. Less is more in this situation. Since the homepage is one of the main entry points to the site and a jumping point to other parts of the site, it should hook the viewer and drive them to find something and make a purchase. Content should not be focused on keeping users on the homepage for as long as possible because that mentality might be driving people away. Some of Farfetch's competitors still struggle with this. As an anecdotal aside, I often visit MyTheresa and SSENCE, Farfetch's competitors, and leave the site after 15 minutes or so, because of the breadth and clutter within their homepage and site, in general.
Lastly, the content should be entertaining. Users realize when they are being pitched to, so instead of persuading the user to buy something, the content should entertain and that positive interaction with Farfetch should energize users make a purchase.
Conclusion
Farfetch is a fast rising multi-brand retailer that excels over its competitors in its curation of clothing, visual design and content strategy. If they incorporate user focused content and refine their existing content, they will go far.
Future Enhancements
I would like to see Farfetch purposefully incorporate YouTube content to their content strategy. Net-a-porter, the largest multi-brand retailer and Farfetch's biggest competitor, has a youtube channel, where they post styling videos, feature new brands, and invite celebrities to speak on fashion. It makes the brand more personable and drives traffic to their site. I think Farfetch should follow their lead and do the same and even post some of their videos on their homepage as featured content. Right now, there tends to be a lot of promotion and one minute ads posed as youtube videos on their Youtube account that does not inspire anyone to take interest.
Secondly, I would like to see where they go with augmented retail. Allowing users to visualize how they would look in a garment, to speak with a representative about the clothing easily, to receive personalized content that goes beyond, selecting a gender in the top navigation, all would help the brand become more user centric and less salesy. Amazon and Sephora implement augmented retail beautifully and I think Farfetch should take notes from them. Augmented reality can make clothes more accessible and shopping, far more fun!
Update
Since my redesign, they have made some enhancements to Farfetch's homepage design. Users now must selected a gender to view content specific to the selected gender. I think this can make the brand more inclusive because that site will not assume the gender of the user from the beginning and users would be able to see that there is content for men if they are looking for that. This would address the issue, highlighted in the Alphonso and Sammy's user personas that they they get turned off from a site if it caters exclusively to women. I think they could take this a step further and allow users to select whether they want filter what they see by gender. Since, there is a move towards genderless clothing, the brand should work to be inclusive of that. Also, there is a 'view more' button to see more content, which addresses, the issue of too much content of the page.They also have a featured designers and categories page, which caters to those who the window shoppers.
As a Farfetch fan myself, I am excited to see where they would go with the brand.
References
https://www.similarweb.com/website/farfetch.com/#similarSites
https://www.similarweb.com/website/farfetch.com/#similarSites
https://unsplash.com/photos/0WaBdhW2COQ
https://www.farfetch.com/cr/shopping/women/items.aspx
https://mikemessina.design/farfetch-design-system
https://craft.co/farfetch/competitors?competitors=square%2Cshopify%2Cjack-wills%2Callsaints%2Casos%2Czalando%2Cyoox-net-a-porter-group%2Cmatches-fashion%2Cnet-a-porter%2Cbestseller%2Cpatagonia%2Cfarfetch
