FG Photo Studio Service

Creating a Fashion E-commerce Photography Service in B2B Market

  • Year of Project: 2018

  • Project Duration: 10 months

  • Roles of Project: Project Owner

  • #ServiceDesign
    #DesignStrategy
    #ContentDesign
    #UXDesign
    #DesignResearch
    #SystemDesign
    #ProjectManagement
    #MarketResearch

Summary

FashionGo, Fashion B2B e-commerce platform, was acquired by NHN, a major IT company in Korea. During the initial phases of the transition, several efforts were made to revamp the platform and its brand recognition. First, we wanted to control the platform’s look and feel by leading the sellers’ product images to high-quality, trendy images. To meet their photography needs and our raised image standards, we developed a unique fashion photography service at an affordable price.

In what ways can FashionGo influence the overall images of vendors' products to be trendy?

Vision

1. WHAT TO PLAY?

Goal

How can we offer sellers a unique photo service and lead trendy images on FashionGo platform?

Outcomes

  1. Controlling look & feel on FashionGo E-commerce platform

  2. Increasing the acquisition rate of new buyers as the brand's image improves

  3. Creating an ecosystem service for the E-commerce platform and enhance the relationship with sellers

Strategy

2. WHERE TO PLAY?

Mid & Small Vendors Who Cannot Supply Their Own Photography Needs

Target Customer

In our study, we found that photo studios cost around $30,000 per month to operate including photo equipment, props, hiring models, and catching up on trend images. More than 80 percent of FashionGo sellers outsource their product images to photo studios. These are our target customers who cannot afford to supply their own photography needs.

Assessing the Value Components of Our Service in the Customer's Journey

Persona Scenario

  • * Persona Set Up (1/14)

  • * First Touchpoint with the Service (2/14)

  • * Service Explanation & Marketing (3/14)

  • * Promotion to reduce the Service Entry Barriers (4/14)

  • * Landed on First Page of Ordering Process (5/14)

  • * Choosing an Item Shooting Option (6/14)

  • * Choosing a Shooting Package (7/14)

  • * Inputting Quantity of Shooting Items (8/14)

  • * Selecting Shooting Available Days (9/14)

  • * Checking Models & Their Style (10/14)

  • * Reviewing the Order & Quotation (11/14)

  • * Agreeing with Service disclosure

    * Agreeing with Service Disclosure (12/14)

  • * Asked For an Order for Different Package (13/14)

  • * Identifying Items with Labels for Additional Shootings

Our biggest concern was trying to attract sellers who had been using another photo service for many years. Based on research and interviews, we identified their pain points and unmet needs in using their current photo services, and developed different personas and their journeys of using photo service.

Beginning with how a seller gets to know about our service, we laid out the story from placing an order, receiving the service deliveries, and returning to our service. Through the story, we were able to visualize where we can make touch points with sellers and how our service can support their product image needs.

Solution

3. HOW TO WIN ?

Photography Service Tailored to Fashion E-Commerce at Affordable Price

Value Proposition

In creating the service, our focus was to provide a high-quality image at an affordable price. There are two types of photography services in the market - ‘Lookbook’ images for brochures and product images for E-commerce. Having narrowed our focus to "Photo image services tailored to E-commerce", we optimized the operating system - creating designated shooting stations for each package, designing UX ordering process for sellers and UX order managing process for operators - and tied our actions into it.

Easy Access to the Service & an Instant Quotation of The Order

Online Ordering Process

Many photo studios keep details of their services (service package, style, pricing) confidential. To access the service on the website, vendors must create an account and get permission from the studio. This makes it difficult for vendors to know the services they offer and estimate a quotation.

To resolve the accessibility issue, we developed an online ordering process in the vendor admin site, a their sale managing site on FashionGo. FashionGo members can bypass the approval process to have easier access to the photo service and receive service estimates instantly.

Three Photography Packages for Different Uses of Product Images

Full Photography Package Service

  • * Package 01 (1/5)

  • * Package 02 (2/5)

  • * Package 03 (3/5)

  • * Each Station with Different Light & Background Setting (4/5)

  • * Shooting Station Layout (5/5)

To keep the service at a competitive price, we limited the shooting/style options to three different packages - Basic package, Luxury package, and Lifestyle package for various E-commerce image needs. Each package has its own theme & light/style setting for sellers to choose for their image uses. Three shooting stations are laid out in the photo studio, and each shooting station is designated to streamline its shooting operation.

Tactics

4. BUILDING CAPABILITIES

Building a Set of Key Activities for Photo Studio Services using FashionGo's Core Capabilities

Activity System of the “HOW TO WIN”

  1. Make the online ordering process easier for sellers to use

  2. Increase the operation capacity to process more orders per day

  3. Develop the relationships with model agencies in order to source a variety of models

  4. Utilize FashionGo's marketing channels to promote our photo service and its values in the market

  5. Expand the service area to national by partnering with shipping companies - Fashion photography services are only available in two major cities, New York and Los Angeles.

5. MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Validating Assumptions Using the Agile Method of ‘Build, Measure, & Learn’

Data Analysis

  • * Analyzing Dropout Rates on Each Page (1/2)

  • * Making Assumptions (2/2)

Making the online ordering process easy was the main challenge of this project - ordering photography services online is new in the market. To review users’ behaviors, we have embedded a "N-click" function which enables us to measure dropout rates on each page and the number of clicks on each button. Based on the data, we could evaluate the users’ understanding level of the service - terminologies, the sequence of the ordering process, and the information hierarchy - and improve the service.

Next Steps

Future Foresight

Planning Phase to Increase Market Expansion

Expanding Market Size to National by Leveraging Fashion Resources in LA

After three years of launching our photo studio service, we will expand our photo service beyond walkable distances to anyone in the U.S. Except for cities where fashion resources are readily available, like LA or New York, it is hard to access photo studios tailored to E-commerce and its resources like fashion models. As a result of offering the service to the area, we are expecting to lead trendy images on FashionGo platform and strengthen our relationship with sellers.