 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/article.php/3715346
By Michelle Megna December 7, 2007 Apparel e-tailers are clearly in style these days among shoppers, with sales beating out computer hardware and software for the first time last year, according to a study by Forrester Research, Inc. The report, "Fashion and Online Shopping: It's A Match," goes on to study the clothing buyers driving this growth by profiling shoppers in three categories: apparel, footwear and clothing accessories. It also traces sales growth in these areas for the past six years and offers strategies for both retaining and luring new customers. "Earlier this year, we reported that U.S. online sales of apparel reached $18.3 billion for year-end 2006," says the report by analysts Sucharita Mulpuru, Peter Hult and Carrie Johnson. Here is some insight from the analysts into who's clicking for clothes. Who's Holding the Virtual Purse Strings? First, a look at the online fashionista profile. The majority are educated, early-adopter females. Furthermore, they are more liberal with how much they spend. "While online fashion buyers have nearly the same e-commerce tenure as a typical Web buyer, their spending habits resemble those of a shopaholic," says the study. "On average, online purchasers of apparel, footwear, and clothing accessories have spent $720, $790, and $860, respectively, online during the past three months, distancing themselves from the more conservative spend of $550 for a typical Web buyer." Social Shoppers Sharing This demographic is also more active in using social computing. The report says: "More than one-third of online shoppers in all three categories read customer reviews at least monthly, and more than one in 10 actively post ratings or reviews. Additionally, online fashion shoppers disseminate their taste and style, more than half of online shoppers in all three fashion categories tell their friends about products that interest them." Finally, apparel buyers are more than twice as likely as the typical Web buyer to spend across related categories, such as footwear and clothing accessories. "Interestingly, more than two-thirds of online footwear and clothing accessory buyers have also purchased apparel online, a far higher level of cross-category penetration than we see among apparel buyers," according to the data. "This phenomenon suggests that apparel is a gateway online fashion purchase, whereas the other three categories are likely to be comprised of cross-category online shoppers who are already comfortable navigating the online fashion block." More Web Time for Fashionistas Online shoppers were asked in Q1 2007 which channels they used to purchase in a variety of categories during the past three months, 32 percent and 15 percent bought apparel and footwear, respectively, online. In fact, 20 percent of online shoppers purchased apparel exclusively online, while 12 percent used both the online and offline channels, according to the study. In contrast, clothing accessories have yet to become a common online purchase for the typical Web buyer, as just 11 percent said they made an online purchase in this category during the same time period. Footwear Hitting Its Stride By midyear 2007, approximately 17 million US households had purchased apparel online during the past three months — roughly twice the number of online apparel-buying households in 2001, the study says. Furthermore, footwear is also gaining, with 9.2 million US households buying footwear online during the past three months - a 197 percent increase from just 3.1 million households in 2001. Triplets: Apparel Sales Still Surging In the past five years, online apparel (general apparel, footwear, and clothing accessories) sales grew from a mere $4.4 billion in 2001 to slightly more than $18 billion in 2006, or a 33 percent gain. While such rapid growth in online fashion sales is projected to taper off by year-end 2007, category sales are projected to reach $22.1 billion, yet again surpassing online sales of computer hardware and software. ( Continue to Page 2 for Suggested Strategies on Snaring Apparel Shoppers ) |
| Go to page: 1 2 Next |
|
|
Legal Notices, Licensing, Permissions, Privacy Policy.
Advertise | Newsletters | Shopping | E-mail Offers | Freelance Jobs 
