Photo: https://disk.360.yandex.ru/d/gV6QXLoKr-gDsQ

Consumers are increasingly moving away from the linear “See It, Want It, Buy It” path. Voice assistants, AI-powered price comparison tools, AR fitting rooms, and access to a growing number of reviews are changing the way people choose what to buy.

At the session “Smart Shopping. How Brands Can Navigate the Revolution in Consumer Behavior,” held on September 28 as part of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit, participants discussed the impact of AI and AR/VR on the consumer journey, the development of super apps, social commerce, and livestream shopping, as well as how the role of offline retail and tools for measuring the effectiveness of customer engagement are changing.

Among those taking part in the session were Huu Canh Nguyen, Head of Fashion Sector at VDAS – Vietnam Design Association; Mohsen Gorji, Head of the Fashion Department at Iran’s Ministry of Culture; Alexander Larionov, Co-Founder of Dresscode; Inna Galiakhmetova, B2C CPO at Lamoda; Alexander Smirnov, Head of New Digital Platforms at RWB; and Maria Yakimova, Director of Strategy for Social Commerce at VK.

Today’s consumers are faced with an overwhelming amount of content and recommendations, so a brand’s task is not only to showcase a product, but also to help people make a choice, noted Huu Canh Nguyen, Head of Fashion Sector at the VDAS – Vietnam Design Association. As a result, digital platforms are gradually moving from simply displaying their product range to creating ready-made consumption scenarios. According to him, TikTok and other online platforms now shape a significant part of consumer behavior in Vietnam.

Another tool shaping new consumer behavior is virtual influencers. Mohsen Gorji, Head of the Fashion Department at Iran’s Ministry of Culture, noted that their significance is primarily linked to the emotional nature of purchasing decisions. Digital characters allow brands to build more personalized communication and establish sustained contact with their audiences.

According to him, virtual influencers are becoming one of the most promising tools for the development of the digital economy. “By creating a closer connection with consumers, virtual influencers are becoming an important tool for e-commerce and online business,” Mohsen Gorji said.

Technology is changing not only brand–consumer communication, but also the moment of choice itself. Alexander Larionov, Co-Founder of Dresscode, highlighted three areas already being used in fashion retail: virtual try-ons, size selection, and digital stylists. According to Dresscode, based on more than 1 million generations for an audience of over 100,000 consumers, 40% of users added the product to their shopping cart after a virtual try-on, while the use of ready-made looks increased the average order value by 61%.

Inna Galiakhmetova, B2C CPO at Lamoda, noted that marketplaces face the challenge of helping consumers avoid so-called “search fatigue,” when an overwhelming assortment makes it harder, rather than easier, to make a decision. Platforms are therefore developing tools that take into account the items people already own and suggest ways to combine them with new purchases.

Another important trend is the shift of the shopping experience directly into content. Alexander Smirnov, Head of New Digital Platforms at RWB, spoke about the development of live commerce on Wildberries: bloggers and streamers showcase products in real time, demonstrate how they are used, and help audiences understand how they look and what they can be paired with.

According to Smirnov, a blogger’s review can have a significant impact on a product’s commercial performance: in some cases, the conversion rate to adding a product to the shopping cart doubles. At the same time, the platform’s task is not only to lead users to a specific product, but also to help them notice something they were not initially planning to search for.

A similar approach is being developed by VK, explained Maria Yakimova, Director of Strategy for Social Commerce at VK. Short videos featuring products and ready-made looks are integrated into users’ personalized feeds. At the same time, the system takes into account their interests, preferences, purchase history, and interactions with bloggers to simultaneously recommend relevant content, an influencer, and a product. In doing so, social commerce brings entertainment, recommendations, and shopping together in a single user journey.

During the discussion, the experts agreed that technologies in themselves are not a universal solution. Virtual try-ons, AI stylists, image search, live commerce, and virtual influencers work when they address a specific user need. In this case, “smart” shopping becomes not a standalone technology, but a set of tools that accompany consumers at different stages of the decision-making process. For fashion brands, this changes the very logic of working with audiences: it is important not only to attract attention to a product, but also to make the path to purchase clearer, more personalized, and more convenient.

The BRICS+ Fashion Summit is taking place alongside Moscow Fashion Week, which runs from September 26 to October 1 at the Central Exhibition Hall 'Manege.' Admission to all events is free with prior registration.

The strategic partner of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is Sber.

The general partner of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is Wildberries.

The technology partner of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is the GigaChat neural network.

More content from the BRICS+ Fashion Summit is available on the event's official Wibes account, as well as under the hashtag ##BRICSFashionSummit.

The official photo service for the event is the Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia.