5 tips for writing product descriptions for your clothing store

Clothing stores have a lot of competition. But writing compelling descriptions of your clothing products will help you stand out.

According to eMarketer, ecommerce will make up almost 45% of all retail sales by 2026.

An essential tactic to improve your ecommerce sales in this growing market is to write compelling product descriptions for clothing. These details help search engines connect you with your target audience.

Short clothing descriptions need to give customers the information they would normally get from physically handling the item in a brick-and-mortar store.

But writing an effective description for clothing is easy when you know what words to use to describe clothing.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Why writing clothing descriptions is important for your ecommerce clothing store
• How to write effective descriptions for clothing
• Great clothing description examples
• Final thoughts: 5 tips for writing product descriptions for a clothing store

Why writing clothing descriptions is important for your ecommerce clothing store

A strong clothing description is vital because your customers can’t touch or try on the piece of clothing in your online store.

A well-written description both informs and appeals to the needs and desires of a potential customer.

Fashion product descriptions expand a product’s visual presentation. Your descriptions of clothing can also have an emotional and psychological influence on potential and current customers.

You can appeal to their imagination or memory by describing experiences related to a product through copywriting. If a customer can imagine themselves wearing and sensing a shirt from reading its description, it increases the chance they’ll buy it.

A product description is also important for your ecommerce business because it can build brand authority, connect with your customers, and influence their intentions.

Your clothing descriptions are also important for adding text to your image-heavy website and increasing the chance of better search rankings through search engine optimization (SEO).

The more precise, unique, and customer-oriented your descriptions are, the easier it will be for your target audience to discover your website among thousands of competitors in the fashion industry.

How to write effective descriptions for clothing

Writing effective descriptions for clothing is more than just listing the product features. There are three main areas to target when planning your product descriptions for them to be effective:

1. Base your descriptions on your target market and audience

• Ask yourself, who is your ideal customer? What fashion brands do they follow? What’s more valuable to them — the quality of your product or how trendy it is? What would excite them about your brand and the clothing you sell? Keep that ideal person in mind while writing a description and selecting the best words to describe clothes.
• Explore how your larger competitors describe their products. This helps you use your competitors’ market research and targeting to reach your customers by using words and phrases with a similar feel. For example, if you’re a streetwear brand, you might describe clothing with terms like baggy, oversized, and trendy.

2. Build a description for clothing template

A template will save you time and help structure your descriptions for clothing consistently.

• Create a format for your product descriptions, including the essential product characteristics and details. Consider adding a catchy beginning and a call-to-action ending — a basic outline you can use for most of your products.
• Add a list of adjectives to describe your products to the template. Collect all descriptive words that fit your brand and clothing the best so you have a quick reference when writing descriptions.
• Keep your description short and well-organized because over 80% of fashion items are purchased via mobile devices. It also makes it simpler for customers to skim for information relevant to them.

3. Test multiple description types

A/B testing lets you test different approaches.

• Write a short description for a product and track sales and product page visits for a set amount of time.
• Then, change the description or format and see if it has better or worse results than the first test.

Tips on what to include in your descriptions for clothing

The words you choose to represent your online clothing store are crucial. Use these tips to make strong word choices and structure.

1. Use attention-capturing words to describe clothes

Your product page visitor will read the entire description if it engages them from the first sentence. Use words that catch and keep their attention from the beginning and throughout your clothing description.

Attention-capturing words are also helpful when mentioning your brand mission or explaining the product’s value to a potential buyer.

Some attention-capturing adjectives to describe clothes include:

• Eye-catching.
• Unique.
• Luxurious.
• Versatile.
• Fabulous.

2. Place opinions about the product above product facts

The opinion + fact + noun structure is a practical way to write a compelling description of clothing. An opinion is a subjective feeling about your product, and facts are its actual characteristics.

Opinion-first descriptions provoke an emotional response, while factual information adds to the logical reasoning to buy an item. This mental combination makes people feel justified in their buying decision.

For example, “comfortable (opinion) cashmere (fact) cardigan (noun)” is more descriptive and compelling than simply “cashmere cardigan” or “comfortable cardigan.”

3. Avoid unneeded slang or jargon

Many brands use slang or industry jargon to appeal to exclusivity and give more details about product features. However, if a term is confusing to a reader, it might be received poorly.

Use slang and industry jargon carefully and only when needed.

If your clothing brand is exclusive or specialized, use appropriate vocabulary or describe related experiences. For example:

• Boho chic leggings: Fashion slang to appeal to a specific target audience.
• A wetsuit with UPF protection: Use of industry jargon to provide necessary details.

4. Use storytelling in your product descriptions

Storytelling integrates information about product origins and the people behind it to add value and build trustworthiness. Storytelling is especially compelling for product descriptions of brands with a unique origin or defined social mission.

For example, stores selling TOMS brand footwear may mention that TOMS gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold or that the company helps sponsor mental health care.

Your descriptions for clothing may also appeal to your customers’ imagination and memories to evoke their emotions via storytelling.

Describing a linen shirt through a pleasurable experience, like “picture yourself on a yacht wearing this exclusive linen shirt,” can evoke a desire to buy.

Here are some sample phrases and words to describe clothes using storytelling:

• Proudly crafted by…
• Eco-friendly/Ethical.
• Imagine…
• Picture yourself…
• Remember when…
• While working on this product, we aimed to…

5. Follow current trends and include fashion terms

Whether your clothing represents the latest fashion or a classic style, using trendy vocabulary helps your descriptions stand out. Additionally, your target audience may use popular words to describe clothes in their search request.

Including fashion terms to characterize your products’ features and benefits can help connect with the target audiences for those trends.

Here are some words to describe clothes using fashion terms:

• Capsule wardrobe.
• Casual.
• Classy.
• Fitted.
• Oversized.

Great clothing description examples

Bombas is a clothing brand that creates and sells high-quality everyday clothing for men, women, and children.

The company’s description example below demonstrates how storytelling can catch a potential buyer’s attention. The text is concise and informative — it addresses brand values and connects with customers by relating to their everyday experiences.

Disruptive Youth is a clothing brand for young women. The example of their little black dress description demonstrates an understanding of the target audience and appeals to their desires, such as having a little back dress as a go-to outfit. It also mentions freedom of movement, addressing the active lifestyle of young customers.

Final thoughts: 5 tips for writing product descriptions for a clothing store

Strong clothing descriptions help online clothing stores stay competitive and be discovered by their target audience. You can improve how you describe clothing in writing by treating your word choice and structuring seriously and creating templates to optimize the process.

Still, your product descriptions only help close the deal when readers decide to trust your website and click on a product.

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