Selling clothing online takes a bit more finesse than it does to sell non-wearable items. Most consumers consider the look of clothing before they think about the benefits.

Unfortunately, this consumer tendency has a lot of brands focused on product features (e.g., neckline, sleeve length, fabric) instead of the benefits.

Problem is, appearance is easy to replicate. Besides the look of the clothing item, what benefits does your clothing offer? If you can’t answer that question, then you’re likely losing out on sales. Once a prospect decides they like the style of your clothing item, if they happen to find another clothing piece that looks similar, you’re left competing on price.

Instead of leaving your apparel’s benefits to the imagination—and only listing out product features, like every other brand—you want to be sure to include just as much, or maybe even more, benefits.

Remember that customers purchase products for the benefits. When you’re selling clothing, appearance is one benefit; for example, a person wants to dress conservatively for a church event; but, beyond appearance, you’ll want to highlight the other—more functional—benefits.

In this article, we’re going to cover how to turn five clothing features into benefits and showcase those benefits on your Amazon listing.

Clothing Feature #1 – Sun Protection

One feature that attracts some consumers is whether a piece of clothing has built-in UV protection (i.e. sun protection). There are many reasons people may want to protect their skin from the sun: some want to avoid sunburn, some want to prevent premature aging and skin spots, and others develop an autoimmune response to UV rays, so they want to prevent skin breakouts.

Since there are several reasons someone might seek out sun-protective clothing, you’ll want to include these scenarios—particularly, the ones most relevant to your audience—in your listing copy and images.

Here’s an example from a brand that sells a sun-protective hoodie:

Here’s the A+ Content on that listing:

This brand did a good job of turning the hoodie’s sun-protective feature into benefits. Notice in the 3-column module above that they highlight the thumbholes for extra coverage, the hoodie for protecting the back of the neck, and then the fabric’s UPF rating.

Then, under the 3-column module, they have three lifestyle images of people using the hoodie outdoors in multiple settings. These lifestyle images help the prospect better visualize themselves receiving the benefits of the product.

Clothing Feature #2 – Stretchy Material

Another common clothing feature that shoppers are interested in is the stretchiness of the material. Some people want the stretch for comfort, some want the stretch because it can be slimming, and others want the stretch for flexibility.

If you sell a piece of clothing that stretches, you’ll want to highlight the benefits of wearing stretchy clothing. One great way to do that is through lifestyle imagery.

Here’s an example of A+ Content from a brand selling leggings:

This brand didn’t leave the stretch material to the prospect’s imagination. Across the listing, they show women wearing the leggings in positions that would be hard to get into if the material wasn’t stretchy.

This brand even went further than the initial benefit of flexibility by highlighting a common objection with stretchy clothing: see-throughness.

Many people, women, in particular, hesitate to purchase stretchy material because many of them are see-through or become that way after a few washes.

Clothing Feature #3 – Lightweight

Probably the most sought-after feature for clothing, in general, is being lightweight. Many consumers want something lightweight; as the adage goes: “you can always add layers, but you can’t always remove them.”

Lightweight clothing is attractive for several reasons. Some of the most common include, softness, comfort, and breathability.

As an apparel seller, you want to ask yourself, “why would someone want the piece of clothing I sell to be lightweight?”

Maybe they want it for travel, exercising, or to better withstand heat. The answer will vary depending on the apparel you’re selling. Whatever reason best suits your audience, you’ll want to highlight those use-cases in your listing copy and images.

Here’s an example of a pair of lightweight shorts from Under Armour:

They did a good job of highlighting the comfort of these lightweight performance shorts.

Clothing Feature #4 – Moisture-Wicking

Increasingly, it seems, people are interested in clothing that wicks away moisture. This can be important for people based on the situations they’re in or based on personal comfort.

For example, some shoppers might want a moisture-wicking piece of clothing because they don’t want sweat stains. Maybe they work in an office and they don’t want to be embarrassed by pit stains.

Other shoppers might want moisture-wicking apparel because they feel more comfortable in them if they sweat. For instance, if you’re working out, the heaviness of your clothes and the moist feeling against your skin can be irritating.

If you sell a clothing item that’s great at wicking away moisture, then highlight that by talking about the fabric and including lifestyle images of people doing sweat-inducing activities.

Here’s an A+ Content example on a performance tee listing that Under Armour sells:

Clothing Feature #5 – Solid Color

Finally, one feature that shoppers look for is solid colors. Solid colors are mostly sought after for their ease when it comes to matching with other clothing.

Sure, patterns can be attractive, but solid colors give you options; and in a way, those options mean you get a better bang for your buck.

If you sell apparel that has solid colors, be sure to emphasize that. Remind the prospect that with solid colors they’re able to dress the item up or down, or they can pair it with a variety of other clothing colors.

Here’s an example of a listing selling a casual short sleeve women’s shirt:

The brand used user-generated content to highlight the versatility that their solid color t-shirts offer. The listing has thirty-six different colors in the same style.

Notice that this image collage has three photos with the white variation of the shirt and three photos with the burgundy variation? Not sure if the seller did that on purpose, but it’s a smart move. It highlights that these shifts can be worn with various styles and colored bottoms.

Wrapping Up

When you sell on Amazon, you only have so much you can do in the way of marketing your apparel. Sure, talk about the fabric blend, length, cut, and cleaning instructions, but don’t forget to turn those features into benefits.

You might think that the benefits are obvious. But when you’re selling on Amazon, and your competitors’ listings are only a scroll and a click away, it’s important to take away as much doubt as you can by delivering your benefits front and center.

Happy Selling,

The Page.One Team

The Last Word:

In this article, we mostly discussed listing images and copy, but you might also want to consider including video on your listing. In recent years, and especially months, Amazon has been pushing video. For instance, it’s one thing to display your stretchy clothing by showing a woman in a yoga pose. It’s another thing to show her getting into that pose. That’s a true demonstration.