The Implication of Trends and Perception Regarding Fast Fashion: A Customer Sentiment Analysis

The fast fashion market, which has become a cornerstone of the modern fashion landscape, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.13% from 2023 to 2030, largely fueled by the increasing demands of a growing youth population. This study delves into the intricate world of fast fashion, focusing on customer sentiment analysis to uncover prevailing trends, customer preferences, and the broader implications of fast fashion in today’s dynamic market landscape. 

This study scrapes and analyzes reviews of the top five fast fashion brands from Trustpilot as these brands have verified accounts there and invite both positive and negative feedback. Bright Data’s Scraping Browser was used to scrape thousands of reviews to avoid getting blocked and create a seamless scraping process.

Methodology

The fashion brands Boohoo, Wish, Shein, Fashion Nova, and Temu were selected to review. While determining the “Top Five” is inherently subjective, the research consistently indicated that these five brands are widely recognized and praised across various reputable sources.

Trustpilot has an extensive collection of verified customer reviews for each of these brands, encompassing both positive and negative feedback. Since each of these brands has thousands of reviews available on Trustpilot, gathered over time, this helped in providing a rich and diverse dataset for comprehensive insights.

For the purposes of this study, the top 500 reviews for each brand mentioned above were scraped and used as the dataset. To enhance accuracy and ensure a fair representation of each brand, an additional 2000 reviews (on average) were scraped for each brand. These reviews were then correlated with the scores from the previous analysis to identify any discrepancies. Since no discrepancies were found between the two sets of results, the strategic decision was made to proceed with the smaller dataset for the sake of efficiency. 

The Results

How Do Customers Feel About Product Quality?

For fast fashion brands, product quality has become increasingly important as it underpins their reputation, customer loyalty, and long-term success. For fast fashion brands, positive perceptions of quality can translate into repeat business and positive word-of-mouth, which are vital factors in maintaining a strong foothold in the market. 

This is where online reviews and ratings on a platform like Trustpilot are particularly helpful as they serve as a valuable barometer for gauging customer perceptions of product quality, providing real-time insights into how customers genuinely feel about the items they purchase. For the five brands, the top 500 reviews for each were scraped from Trustpilot. These reviews were then analyzed to identify words and phrases associated with product quality to understand how people generally feel about these brands. 

What Are Customers Saying?

These were the most commonly occurring phrases, encompassing both positive and negative sentiments across all brands.

💡 Note: In word clouds, weighting or font scaling is used to create visually meaningful representation. Even though overall sentiment is positive (‘recommended’ has a count of 370 in this sample size over ‘scam’ with 133), negative phrases with stronger emotional impact appear enlarged due to the larger frequency within the category (negative phrases) and are therefore weighed higher.

Following this for each brand, the dataset was checked for a list of positive and negative phrases. Then the five most common positive and negative phrases found across all brands were selected. 

Positive phrases: 

Negative phrases:

Important insights:

• The high occurrence of words such as; “recommend”,  “pleased”, or “satisfied” suggests that satisfaction with the product and recommendations can help drive brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. If customers are satisfied with their purchase, they also seem to be willing to recommend the brand to others in their reviews. 

• Quality, affordability, and value for money are important factors for customers.

• Timely and efficient delivery enhances the overall shopping experience.
  
• Trust and reliability are fundamental for customer experience. Words such as “scam” or “stole” were found to occur when either the customer didn’t receive the product or received the wrong item.
  
• Ensuring product quality and condition during delivery is vital.
  
• Accurate sizing information and fulfillment of orders are essential to prevent dissatisfaction.

• Just as customers of fast fashion brands are likely to recommend brands they positively value, negative experiences, as indicated by the phrase “never again” can result in negative word-of-mouth, customer loss, and brand damage. 

The overall average sentiment score for each brand will be examined through the positive and negative words or phrases that were identified. This will provide a more comprehensive view of how these brands are generally perceived by customers.

Average Sentiment Score of Each Brand for Product Quality 

To find the average sentiment score regarding product quality of the top five fast fashion brands on Trustpilot, each review was analyzed from the dataset, isolating individual words that had to do with product quality, and a positive/negative/neutral sentiment score was assigned to it. Averaging every such word in a review then provided the average sentiment score for that review itself. This process was then repeated for all 500 reviews for each brand to get a measure of the brand itself on a normalized scale of 1.0 to -1.0. 

A sentiment score of >0.05 was deemed to be positive and a score of <-0.05 to be negative, with everything else in between considered neutral. This range was chosen as it demonstrated the best correlation between the sentiment score of the review, and the actual rating put down by the customer.

Average sentiment score for each brand based on Trustpilot reviews

Important insights:

• All five brands have an overall positive sentiment score regarding product quality.

• Wish has the best customer sentiment score when it comes to product quality, followed closely by Temu and Fashion Nova.

• Shein has the lowest (but still positive) sentiment score when it comes to product quality among these brands. 

Positive vs. Negative Sentiment for Each Brand

While the average sentiment scores for product quality provide a useful overview of customer sentiment, they may not capture the complete picture. To gain a more nuanced understanding of how customers perceive the top five fast fashion brands, the positive-to-negative review ratio was analyzed. This metric delves deeper into the dynamics of customer feedback, offering insights into not just the overall sentiment but the balance between positive and negative sentiments within each brand’s reviews. 

The positive-to-negative sentiment ratio for each brand is as follows:

Boohoo: 2.01

Wish: 7.9

Shein: 1.4

Fashion Nova: 10.8

Temu: 4.19

Important insights:

• While Wish had the best overall average sentiment score, Fashion Nova has the best positive-to-negative sentiment ratio, while also having more neutral reviews than the rest. 

• Following Fashion Nova, the best positive-to-negative sentiment scores belong to Wish and Temu respectively. 

• Shein has the poorest positive-to-negative sentiment ratio, close to becoming neutral. 

Which Product Categories Are Popular? 

To understand customer sentiment concerning product types, sentiment was analyzed across the five brands for the following types of products: tops, bottoms, innerwear, outerwear, swimsuits, and dresses. After calculating the positive, negative, and neutral sentiment scores for these five categories for each brand, the mean sentiment score for each category across the five brands was calculated. 

Converting the same data into tabular format:

Sentiment-based insights derived from product types: 

• Innerwear and Swimsuits Stand Out: Innerwear and swimsuits consistently receive higher sentiment scores across multiple brands, indicating that customers generally have a more positive perception of these product types. This suggests that these categories are popular and well-received in the fast fashion industry.

• Dresses and Outerwear Vary: Dresses and outerwear show more variation in sentiment scores across brands. While some brands excel in these categories, others receive lower scores. This indicates that customer satisfaction with dresses and outerwear may depend on the specific brand and its offerings.

• Tops and Bottoms Fare Moderately: Tops and bottoms generally receive moderate sentiment scores across the brands, suggesting that they are staple products in the fast fashion industry. Customers have a reasonably positive perception of these categories, but they don’t stand out as exceptionally popular or unpopular.

What this says about the brands: 

• Wish: Previously, Wish had the highest average sentiment score, especially compared to other brands. However, when the analysis is restricted specifically to these product types, the picture looks different. Wish tends to receive relatively lower sentiment scores across these product categories, indicating a more mixed customer sentiment. However, it does have moderately high sentiment scores for innerwear, swimsuits, and dresses, suggesting that customers may have a more positive perception of these product types from Wish compared to the other three.

• Temu: Temu had the second-highest average sentiment score but also lagged behind Fashion Nova and Wish when it came to positive-to-negative sentiment ratio by reviews. However, when restricted to these product types, Temu consistently receives moderate to very high sentiment scores across all product categories, especially for swimsuits, dresses, outerwear, and innerwear. This indicates a strong positive sentiment and customer satisfaction with Temu’s offerings, particularly in these categories.

• Shein: Shein, which had the lowest average sentiment score and lowest positive-to-negative sentiment ratio by reviews, generally receives moderate sentiment scores across the board for these product types. Innerwear and bottoms appear to be more popular product categories, with relatively higher sentiment scores when compared to the other categories.

• Fashion Nova: Fashion Nova had a relatively high average sentiment score and performed the best in the positive-to-negative sentiment ratio by reviews. When it comes to these specific product types, it performs well in the tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, and innerwear categories, garnering higher sentiment scores. However, swimsuits seem to have a lower sentiment score, suggesting potential areas for improvement in this product category.

• Boohoo: Boohoo had a relatively low average sentiment score and did not fare too well in terms of positive-to-negative sentiment ratio by reviews. It receives relatively lower sentiment scores, especially for dresses, bottoms, and dresses. No category has a score >0.5. However, innerwear and swimsuits fare moderately better, indicating that customers may have a more positive perception of these product types from Boohoo. 

Quality Vs. Price: Evaluating Sentiment Surrounding “Value for Money” in Fast Fashion

One critical aspect of fast fashion brands is the customer’s perception of value for money. Fast fashion brands have long been celebrated for delivering affordability and style in one trendy package. Does customer sentiment reflect the value for money theory once they have received their products?

Good value was a repeated sentiment by customers used in earlier metrics.

This corroborates the theory that value for money is indeed a crucial factor for positive customer sentiment surrounding fast fashion, but to what extent?

To measure the general sentiment regarding value for money across the five selected fast fashion brands phrases related to value for money were analyzed. Those positive and negative phrases included “value for money,” “cost-effective,” “worth the money,” “overpriced,” “not worth the money,” and “cheap quality” among others. Subsequently, the sentiment distribution was calculated comprising positive, negative, and neutral sentiments for each brand. 

These are the insights:

• Shein and Wish received the highest positive sentiment at 80.8% and 76.8%, respectively. This suggests that customers generally perceive these two brands as offering good value for money, aligning with their reputation for affordability.

• In contrast, Temu and Boohoo have a substantial percentage of negative sentiment, with Temu at 40.87% and Boohoo at 25.6%. This indicates that a significant portion of customers express dissatisfaction with the perceived value for money these brands offer.

• Fashion Nova strikes a balance between positive and neutral sentiments, with a positive sentiment of 69.20% and a substantial neutral sentiment of 25.4%. While it receives praise for value for money from a majority, a notable portion of customers remains neutral, suggesting a degree of variability in customer perceptions.

• For brands like Temu and Boohoo, where a significant proportion of customers express negative sentiment, addressing issues related to perceived value for money could be pivotal in enhancing their customer satisfaction and loyalty.

These sentiment statistics provide valuable insights into how customers perceive the value for money offered by these fast fashion brands. While Shein and Wish appear to excel in this aspect, Temu and Boohoo face challenges and may benefit from addressing customer concerns related to value for money. 

Brand Popularity By Country

Trustpilot has an international community but not all brands received reviews from every country and some countries had a very low number of reviews. Therefore, the five countries with the most English reviews were analyzed for sentiment. The mean sentiment score was calculated for each brand for each of those five countries. 

Here are the insights:

• The U.S. market consistently shows relatively high sentiment scores for all five fast fashion brands in the analysis. This suggests that these brands enjoy a generally positive perception among U.S. customers.
  
• While Temu receives the highest sentiment score in Australia, it also consistently ranks highest or competitively across all other countries. This indicates a generally positive perception of Temu across these countries, with an especially positive image in Australia.

• Boohoo, while performing competitively across all five countries, has its highest scores in Australia and the US. This suggests that Boohoo has a strong positive perception in the Australian and the US market compared to others.
  
• Shein’s sentiment scores vary significantly, with a notably low score in Canada and a higher score in the US. This suggests that Shein’s perception varies widely among different customer bases.

• Fashion Nova has a negative sentiment score in the Netherlands, though it fares differently in other countries. This negative sentiment in the Netherlands may indicate a specific challenge in that market.

• While Wish receives a relatively low sentiment score in the U.K., it performs significantly better in Australia, the U.S., and Canada. This suggests that Wish’s perception may be more favorable in other markets besides the U.K., which presents a specific challenge. 

The analysis reveals a mixed sentiment landscape for these five fast fashion brands across different countries. While some brands perform well in all countries, others face challenges and variations based on the location. However, when it comes to the U.S. market, all brands show consistently high sentiment scores. This indicates that these brands tend to enjoy a generally positive perception among U.S. customers. 

Does Eco-Friendliness Make a Difference?

In today’s environmentally-conscious era, the fast fashion industry faces increased scrutiny for its negative ecological footprint. The industry ranks as the second-largest consumer of water, contributing to 10% of global carbon emissions exceeding even the combined emissions of all airplanes and ships worldwide, as noted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). This heightened awareness has brought concerns about excessive waste and overproduction to the forefront.

As per a 2021 LendingTree survey, 55% of U.S. customers would be ready to spend more on sustainable and eco-friendly items. In light of this survey, Trustpilot reviews were analyzed for similar or adverse eco-consciousness among U.S. and global fast fashion consumers.

💡 Note: There is no indication the U.S. consumers surveyed by Lending Tree are fast fashion consumers. Furthermore, Trustpilot’s reviewer base spans multiple countries and is not limited to the U.S. The objective is to determine whether eco-friendliness is an important factor for fast fashion customers on Trustpilot.

This process involved scrutinizing the reviews of each brand for specific eco-conscious terms, including “sustainable,” “recycled,” “eco-friendly,” “environment,” and others. Subsequently, the percentage of reviews for each brand that alluded to eco-friendliness as a noteworthy factor in the customer’s evaluation was computed. 

• Across all five brands, the majority of customers appear to be indifferent to sustainability, with percentages ranging from 85.9% to 97.5%. This suggests that for a substantial portion of customers, environmental sustainability is not at all a primary consideration when evaluating these fast fashion brands.

• Boohoo, Shein, and Wish have a relatively lower percentage of reviews that express concern for sustainability (ranging from 4.7% to 8.4%), while Temu has the highest percentage at 14.1%. Fashion Nova falls at the lower end with only 2.5% of reviews showing concern for sustainability.

Trustpilot reviews offer a different perspective from a wider range of U.S. consumers surveyed by LendingTree’s survey. While there is a segment of customers expressing concern for sustainability on the survey, those are unlikely to be fast fashion consumers. On the other hand, the majority of fast fashion consumers whose reviews were analyzed do not appear to be concerned at all with eco-friendliness but with other aspects, such as affordability, quality, and the overall shopping experience.

Given the growing scrutiny on fast fashion brands for their environmental impact and the majority of U.S. consumers’ desire to shop eco-friendly, there may be an opportunity for these brands to grow their customer base through sustainability initiatives.

Quality of Customer Service for Each Brand

In an industry known for its rapid trends and affordability, the quality of customer service can sometimes be the differentiator that sets one brand apart from another. This section takes a look at how positive the sentiment expressed toward customer service was for these five brands.

To analyze customer service sentiment, a list of positive phrases for customer service was selected, such as “professional,” “fantastic service,” “great service,” “speedy delivery,” “quick response,” “amazing experience,” and more, then analyzed by brand. The percentage of positive experiences with customer service was calculated for each brand. 

• Despite Boohoo’s initially low average sentiment score, it surprisingly excels in customer service with the highest positive sentiment percentage, indicating that customers frequently express satisfaction with their customer service. In the initial brand sentiment, phrases such as “stole” or “scam” were associated with Boohoo, indicative of poor customer service. This was balanced by a larger number of positive phrases such as “recommend” and “fast delivery.” This suggests that while some customers may have had negative experiences, the overall positive perception of Boohoo’s customer service prevails.
  
• Temu had the second-highest average sentiment score and a decent positive-to-negative sentiment ratio. This aligns with the findings here as Temu closely follows Boohoo in positive sentiment, demonstrating a significant level of customer satisfaction with their customer service. 

• Wish, Shein and Fashion Nova perform relatively with greater than 50% positive sentiment. This indicates that while a substantial portion of its customers appreciate customer service efforts, there may still be room for improvement for these three brands.

Customer Sentiment Surrounding One-Time Wear

One-time wear consists of garments and accessories not designed for the long haul but for those fleeting moments of trend and style. For fast fashion brands, excelling in this category means not just keeping up with the latest styles but setting the pace.

In this section, customer sentiment is analyzed around the concept of one-time wear items to gain a deeper understanding of how these brands navigate this essential aspect of their market. 

To perform this analysis reviews about items specifically bought for events and special occasions like weddings, birthdays, concerts, etc were identified. Each brand was analyzed for the positive/neutral/negative sentiment associated with one-time wear purchases. 

From the sentiment statistics surrounding one-time wear items for these five fast fashion brands, several insights emerge:

• Positive sentiment dominates for all five brands in the context of one-time wear items. Customers generally express satisfaction and positivity when it comes to these brands’ offerings in this category. 

• Shein stands out with the highest positive sentiment at 77.68%. This suggests that customers particularly appreciate the one-time wear items offered by Shein, possibly because of the brand’s reputation for offering a wide range of stylish and budget-friendly options.

• Neutral sentiment is relatively low across the board, ranging from 2.38% to 9%. This suggests that customers have clear opinions and feelings regarding one-time wear items from these brands, with only a small portion remaining indifferent.

• Negative sentiment, while generally lower than positive sentiment, exhibits some variability. Boohoo has the highest negative sentiment at 30.2%, while the other brands have negative sentiment percentages ranging from 15.6% to 23.27%.

For one-time wear across the five brands, these were the most commonly occurring positive sentiments: 

Based on this, here are some important insights: 

• The high occurrence of phrases like “pleased” and “satisfied” indicates that customers have positive experiences with one-time wear items from these brands. High levels of customer satisfaction are a key driver of popularity.

• The high occurrence of “recommend” suggests that customers are not only satisfied with one-time wear items but are also willing to endorse them to others. Positive word-of-mouth can play a significant role in the popularity of these products for fast fashion brands.

• The presence of phrases such as “fast delivery” and “fast shipping” emphasize the importance of quick and efficient order fulfillment when it comes to a positive experience with one-time wear. 

• Phrases like “great customer service” and “good customer service” indicate that customers value responsive and helpful support when shopping for one-time wear items. 

• Positive mentions of “good quality” and “good value” suggest that customers associate one-time wear items with quality and affordability. Striking the right balance between quality and price is crucial for these items’ popularity.
  
• Terms like “professional” and “outstanding” indicate customers’ positive experiences with the brand’s professionalism, outstanding service, and products. When customers use such words in their reviews, it signifies that the brand is meeting their expectations for quality, service, and overall satisfaction, contributing to a positive brand image.

The analysis shows speedy delivery, excellent customer service, affordability, perceived quality, and overall are significant contributors to the popularity of one-time wear items within the fast fashion industry. These factors collectively drive customer loyalty and help fast fashion brands thrive in a competitive market.

Implications Of Trends

From the extensive customer sentiment analysis across various facets of the fast fashion industry and five prominent brands, several general insights and trends emerge:

• Positive Overall Sentiment: There is a generally positive sentiment surrounding these fast fashion brands, on both a structured review platform and on social media. This suggests generally, customers have a favorable perception of these brands.

• Product Quality and Affordability Matter: Customers value product quality and affordability. Brands that can strike the right balance between offering reasonably priced items without compromising quality tend to have better customer sentiment. This alignment of quality and affordability contributes to positive brand perception.

• Recommendations Drive Loyalty: Phrases like “recommend” and “pleased/satisfied” are prevalent in customer reviews. This indicates that satisfied customers are more likely to recommend these brands to others, which can lead to brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth.

• Timely Delivery and Response are Important: Timely and efficient delivery and responsive customer service enhance the overall shopping experience. Brands that excel in these areas tend to receive positive customer sentiment.

• Innerwear and Swimsuits are Favorites: Among product categories, across these brands, innerwear and swimsuits consistently stand out as top performers, suggesting a widespread positive perception. Dresses and outerwear exhibit more variation in sentiment, with brand-specific differences. Tops and bottoms receive moderate sentiment scores, indicating their status as staple fast fashion products.

• Value for Money is Significant: “Value for money” is critical in customer sentiment. Brands that consumers believe offer good value for money receive higher positive sentiment percentages, whereas those with negative sentiment related to value for money may face challenges.

• General Positive Perception Among US Customers: The sentiment landscape varies across countries. However, the U.S. consistently shows relatively high sentiment scores for all five fast fashion brands in the analysis. Understanding regional differences to tailor marketing and customer service strategies is crucial for brand success. 

• Customer Indifference to Eco-Friendliness: Sustainability and eco-friendliness are not factors in customer reviews. Most customers appear indifferent to sustainability, emphasizing the importance of addressing other aspects, such as affordability and quality. However, there is an opportunity for brands to enhance their sustainability initiatives.

• One-Time Wears are Popular: A notable trend common to the industry and these brands is the positive perception of one-time wear items meant for special occasions and events, with customers expressing high satisfaction and positivity in this category. Quick delivery, affordability, perceived quality, and responsive customer service are key factors contributing to the popularity of these items.

The fast fashion industry projects growth at a CAGR of 10.13% from 2023 to 2030. This aligns with the overall positive sentiment and trends observed in customer perceptions. 

Brands that balance quality and affordability (value for money), excel in timely delivery and customer service, and remain responsive to regional variations are likely to thrive in this competitive market. There is scope for brands to improve when it comes to specific products, but both innerwear and swimsuits categories proved popular across all brands. One-time wear items meant for events are also popularly perceived across the industry. In theory, brands could gain customers through sustainability efforts, allowing brands to position themselves for future success.

Researcher’s Notes

This study explored the world of fast fashion by delving into customer sentiments across structured review platforms like Trustpilot and the dynamic landscape of social media. This exploration unearthed fascinating insights that shed light on fast fashion brands and their customer base. While this study was restricted to two platforms, it’s worth noting that such operations can be scaled up to explore a wider scope of insights. These insights can offer a wealth of applications in the fast fashion industry, ranging from product development and marketing strategies to customer service and brand positioning.

Nevertheless, amid this treasure trove of insights, a fundamental truth emerges: the quality and quantity of data play a paramount role in unlocking these valuable perspectives. The ability to access a substantial volume of clean, dependable data stands as the linchpin of precise, actionable, and high-quality customer sentiment analysis.

However, websites often impose restrictions to control data collection frequency and volume. The question then arises: how do you navigate the intricate process of data acquisition efficiently? This study harnessed the capabilities of Bright Data’s Scraping Browser, a tool specifically designed to overcome the hurdles encountered when collecting extensive amounts of data.

Alternatively, if you’re seeking a hassle-free solution, Bright Data offers an array of readily available datasets. These datasets provide high-quality, clean, and accurate data in substantial volumes, spanning various industries. Access to such data is pivotal for any data analysis endeavor, ensuring accuracy and reliability throughout the process. With Bright Data’s tools, the challenges of data acquisition are alleviated, offering a streamlined path to uncovering essential insights.