1A Service

ONLINE APPAREL - USA

ISABEL CAVILLSenior Retail AnalystJune 2013

E-commerce Shopper Insights

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1. Introduction & key findings

2. Setting the scene

3. Inhibitors and drivers of online apparel shopping

4. Charts & data tables

5. Methodology

ContentsContents

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E-commerce and Apparel

1. Introduction & key findings1. Introduction & key findings

Ten years ago, buying apparel (clothing & footwear) online was in an early stage of growth. The need to touch and feel before buying was seen as a key barrier to this category. A decade later and apparel is now one of the most bought categories online with some pure play apparel retailers producing double digit growth year-on-year.

As part of Planet Retail’s shopper research, we surveyed almost 15,000 shoppers in 10 key e-commerce markets to not only find out about levels of spend on apparel online but to get a clear understanding of what the barriers to buying apparel online are, how these barriers can be overcome and what influences purchasing decisions and encourages spend online.

In the US, we surveyed 1,457 shoppers who shopped online over six months in 2012. Out of these, 1,105 had shopped apparel at least once online over this period.

How do shoppers buy apparel and where

will they shop in the future?

What are consumer views on buying

apparel online and what are they buying?

How are retailers responding to key

influencers on apparel shopping behaviour?

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Key Findings: Online Apparel Shopping in the US

2. Key Findings2. Key Findings

1.51Items purchased monthly on average by online**

$29.95 Average monthly spend on apparel online**

1. Introduction & key findings1. Introduction & key findings

Discouraging online apparel shopping

72%Concerned

that products won’t fit

61%Concerned

website is not true reflection

of the product

58%Prefer to touch and feel before

buying

Encouraging online apparel shopping

58%Easy filtering

by size, colour and

style

52%Seeing

availability of product

55%Comprehensive

size guide

Top 3 categories bought online*

52% 50% 40%

* Base: 603 apparel shoppers who had purchased the category online over six months.** Base: 1,105 apparel shoppers who had purchased the category online over six months. Base: 1,457 shoppers who had purchased online over six months.

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Key Findings: Online Apparel Shopping in the US

2. Key Findings2. Key Findings

Women spend more on apparel as a proportion of their total online spend compared to men, however, because men shop more online overall than women, their average spend on apparel is higher.

Men are currently the most valuable online apparel shoppers, although there is an opportunity for retailers to grow by overcoming barriers to females spending online.

Fit, quality of product and postage costs represent key barriers to online apparel shopping , particularly among women.

Women tend to be more concerned about postage and return costs than men because more men cut out the need for mail services as they like to try on instore and then buy online.

1. Introduction & key findings1. Introduction & key findings