Digital showroom: selling a collection in a video appointment, from selection to signature

At the other end of the country, a boutique buyer received the invitations but could not make it to the trade show during the selling campaign. For a long time, a brand then had only two options: take the train with its sample suitcases, or settle for a purchase order filled in blind. Selling a collection meant bringing the buyer and the pieces together in one place, on a stand, in a showroom or at the customer’s store.

The video appointment has opened a third way. It does not take the place of the trade show, where buyers compare, touch and meet several brands in a single day. It is for selling to those who will not come: a distant boutique, an export customer, a buyer who missed the show. The screen still must not take away what being there in person brings. Prepare, run, close: each step has its rules.

Why offer your buyers a digital showroom

Online meetings are no longer a crisis workaround. According to Insee, the French statistics office, 44% of French companies with 10 or more people held remote meetings in 2022, with a sharp gap by size: 38% of those with 10 to 49 people, against 92% of those with 250 or more. Between the smallest and the largest, the gap is therefore 54 points. Across the European Union, Eurostat reports that 53% of enterprises with 10 or more employees held remote meetings in 2024.

On the buyer side, McKinsey’s 2024 B2B Pulse survey of nearly 4,000 decision makers in 13 countries describes a “rule of thirds”. At every stage of the purchase, roughly a third of buyers prefer in-person contact, a third remote interaction and a third digital self-service.

These figures cover all sectors, not just fashion. The lesson still holds for a brand: some of its customers expect to be offered a video call, without giving up meeting in person. For a brand that sells mostly to small boutiques, the 38% figure is a reminder that the format is not yet a habit everywhere, especially as the survey does not even count companies with fewer than 10 people: offering a video call also means explaining it.

When a remote appointment makes sense

Video is useful wherever travel costs more than it brings in, on either side of the table. Four situations lend themselves to it particularly well:

• A loyal customer who could not come to the show or the showroom during the selling campaign.
• An export customer for whom a trip every season does not pay off.
• A prospect who has received the linesheet, the document listing styles, colourways and wholesale prices, and wants to see the collection before committing.
• A short presentation between seasons: a capsule, new colourways, never-out-of-stock pieces.

Trade show, physical showroom or video: three formats that complement each other

The brands that do best combine all three: the trade show to recruit, the showroom for customers who travel, video for everyone else. Each format has its place in the sales calendar, and video takes over where the other two stop. Which shows to attend depends on your sector: see trade shows by industry.

Prepare the selection before the call

A remote appointment is not the place to walk through every one of several hundred styles. A buyer’s attention in front of a screen is shorter than in a showroom, and preparation makes the difference. Five steps, in order:

1. Review the customer’s history: what they ordered, what sold well in their store, what they reordered.
2. Prepare a tight selection suited to their store and budget, rather than the whole collection.
3. Send this selection a few days ahead, with wholesale prices and recommended retail prices.
4. Check availability, delivery lead times and the order minimums that apply to this customer.
5. Test the connection, screen sharing, camera and lighting before the appointment.

Think about staffing too. With two people, the appointment runs more smoothly: one presents and shows the pieces on camera, the other enters quantities and answers questions on lead times or prices. For an export customer, check the time difference and the language of the meeting. Quote prices in their currency so nobody is converting in their head during the call; price lists by country and currency are built ahead of the season.

How do you show fabric on a video call?

It is the question every buyer asks: how can you judge a fabric, a knit or a finish through a screen? No image replaces the hand, but several techniques narrow the gap:

• Sharp close-ups of the fabric, seams and finishes, under neutral light.
• A short on-body video that shows drape, movement and sheerness better than a photo.
• A 360° view for pieces where the back or the volume matters.
• Fabric swatches, or a few key pieces, sent to your most important customers before the call.
• A comparison with a style the customer already knows: “the same canvas as last season’s trousers”.

During the call, a handheld camera or a phone lets you show a piece from every angle, fold it, crumple it, set it in motion. The sales rep must also say what the image does not show: fabric weight, composition, care, how it feels to the touch. On a fine knit, for example, a video shows the sheerness; only words convey the weight and the softness.

A video appointment rarely lasts more than an hour

In front of a screen, attention lasts less long than in a showroom. The appointment therefore follows a simple thread that the sales rep keeps in hand from start to finish:

1. Open with the customer: their sales this season, their needs, their budget.
2. Tell the story of the collection in a few minutes, then move on to the pieces.
3. Go through the selection, building the basket as you go, together with the customer.
4. Take stock halfway through: amount, quantities and the balance of the assortment.
5. Close with a full recap: styles, colourways, sizes, quantities, prices, delivery.

The basket built together is the format’s great strength. The buyer sees each line being added, corrects a size, removes a colourway. Nothing is re-keyed afterwards, and the order reflects exactly what was said.

Get the order approved and signed before you hang up

The aim is to close during the call, or at the latest within the following days, while the selection is still fresh. The buyer reviews the recap, checks the payment conditions, the deposit and payment deadlines and the delivery dates, then signs online.

This signature has legal value. In France, an electronic document has the same evidential value as a paper one, provided its author can be identified and its integrity is guaranteed (Article 1366 of the French Civil Code). On the value of a remote signature and the evidence to keep, see e-signing a purchase order.

If the buyer needs to consult a partner or review their budget, do not let the selection get lost. Save it, share it with them and set a follow-up date.

After the appointment: four follow-up steps

• Send the signed purchase order, or the selection awaiting approval, the same day.
• Record in the customer file what was said: pieces set aside, hesitations, specific requests.
• Follow up on unsigned selections on a fixed date, with a personal message.
• Offer another check-in mid-season for replenishment, based on in-store sales.

The limits of the digital showroom, and how to compensate for them

Remote appointments have real limits. Touch first: a buyer discovering a fabric on screen is taking a risk, and often orders more cautiously. Fit next: without a fitting, cut, drape and size consistency remain open questions. Attention last: a video call is interrupted more easily than a showroom appointment.

Compensating calls for precision rather than promises. A size guide with flat measurements, the model’s height and the size worn shown on every image, swatches sent to key accounts and clearly written return terms for defects answer the questions the screen leaves open. For a new customer, a reasonable first order is often better than a large volume that ends in a dispute.

Remote appointment checklist

• Appointment confirmed, with the meeting link and planned duration.
• Selection sent in advance, with prices and availability.
• Customer history reviewed.
• Swatches shipped to and received by key accounts.
• Images, videos and 360° views ready to share.
• Connection, camera, sound and lighting tested.
• Recap reviewed with the customer before signing.
• Follow-up scheduled for every unsigned selection.

Start with loyal customers who missed the show

Start with the loyal customers who missed the trade show: they already know the brand, and the video call simply replaces the trip. Prepare a tight selection for each of them, send it a few days ahead with prices, and ship swatches to the most important ones. During the call, build the basket in front of them and get the order signed before you hang up. Then extend the format to export customers and to prospects who have received your linesheet, and finally to mid-season replenishment check-ins.