Author(s): Chiedza E. Nhuvira, Nirmala Dorasamy
Digital marketing is considered a dominant tool to entice customers to buy products online using internet-enabled means, thus ensuring business success and survival, especially with small and medium enterprises businesses in this digital age. This study on digital marketing among Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises SMMEs in the fashion inustry is an area of interest because fashion studies, even though they are thorough, have not focused on the African context, and there are unique challenges faced by the fashion SMMEs in a developing economy. Previous studies on digital marketing showed businesses which adopted digital marketing in their business grew, from fashion luxury brands like Gucci, to local retailers like Mr Price. However, there is limited research on South African SMMEs in the fashion industry. The study is unique because fashion SMMEs in developing economies are survivalist businesses, such that their challenges and the advantages that they face differ from established and multi-corporation businesses. Pandemics, natural disasters and acceleration of internet use has shifted buying patterns, and this study seeks to identify the digital marketing strategies being used by fashion SMMEs in South Africa to reach their customers.
The data was collected from 58 fashion SMMEs through a survey that was conducted both online and through hand distribution of the printed questionnaires. The data was analyzed with the use of descriptive analysis and t-test analysis. The results suggest that the most used digital marketing tools by fashion SMMEs are mobile applications, WhatsApp and social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Most fashion SMMEs do not own websites and if they do, these are dynamic or are static. The fashion SMMEs acknowledge the benefits begotten by the adoption of digital marketing strategies.
It was concluded that websites are a vital tool for businesses and it was recommended that fashion SMMEs should adopt websites for their businesses. Influencers are another way that businesses can market because customers connect and are influenced to buy products by individuals or celebrities that they admire.