The fashion industry has seen many innovations over time. The increasing globalization and changes in consumer habits continue to direct various shifts in the fashion industry. However, the fashion industry is famous for changing with the seasons and effortlessly adapting to marketing conditions, changes in consumer behavior, and technological advancement. Some of the top brands in the world are present in the fashion and apparel industry, and this is because of fashion brands’ entry into the ecommerce space. The global ecommerce industry is estimated to be worth $16 trillion by 2027, and fashion ecommerce makes up a large chunk of the ecommerce space.
Fashion ecommerce is famous for always rising to the challenge in times of challenges. The fashion ecommerce space has grown due to convenient delivery methods, virtual fitting rooms, varying payment methods, and many more. Additionally, the evolving ecommerce space has paved the way for many new trends in the ecommerce industry. This article will explore some of the marketing trends, strategies, and stats for fashion ecommerce brands. It seeks to give readers a clear view of where the fashion ecommerce market currently is and where the market is heading. On that note, let’s dive in.
Fashion Ecommerce – Statistics
In this section, we’ll look at different statistics about the Fashion ecommerce market’s growth and what the future looks like for the market.
Fashion Ecommerce Industry-Wide Data
A forecast by Statista shows that the ecommerce fashion industry’s growth rate will reach 14.2 by 2025. Statista also reports that the industry would hit a $672.71 valuation by 2023. In 2021, there was a tremendous increase in footwear, apparel, and accessories sales. This led to over $180.5 billion in sales from the US alone. This sale would grow by over 13% by the end of 2022, as analysts expect customers will spend $204.9 billion on online fashion items. There are crucial opportunities that fashion ecommerce brands need to note to foster growth, and some of them include:
- Expanding global markets beyond the West
- Increasing the use of smartphones and online access
- Emerging worldwide middle classes with available incomes
- Utilizing the power of influencers and celebrities
However, just like there are opportunities to explore the fashion ecommerce market, there are also some biggest threats to established brands, and some of them are:
- The death of brand loyalty due to the saturation of the ecommerce market
- Pressure from customers to utilize ethically sourced and sustainable materials
- Technological advancements in the virtual world, like the metaverse
Fashion Ecommerce Market – Impact of the Pandemic
The pandemic harmed the fashion ecommerce industry. When lockdown began in 2020, 27% of US consumers said they would spend a lot less on luxury and fashion items different from their previous budget. This marked a perfect storm for fashion marketplaces. However, fast fashion brands like Shein’s valuation increased to $30 billion, making it the world’s largest online fashion retailer.
A fashion sector that took off during the lockdown is athleisure; its market size was valued at $155.2 million in 2018. Casualwear was one of the dominant sales on Amazon, and we expect it to reach a value of $257.1 billion in 2026. The sleepwear and loungewear market also showed similar growth during the lockdown, and forecasts showed it will increase by $19.5 billion from 2020 to 2024. This showed that fashion brands with an ecommerce store reported impressive growth during the pandemic.
Fashion Ecommerce Market – Clothing and Apparel
With lower digital barriers to entry for online fashion retailers, there was more opportunity to sell, market and fulfill demands on a global scale. Due to this, worldwide revenue will grow. In the US alone, the apparel industry will make up 29.5% of all ecommerce sales in 2021. By 2025, we expect each consumer to spend $999 on fashion-related items throughout the year.
Fashion Ecommerce Market – Shoe Segment
In the shoe segment of the fashion ecommerce industry, there were similar peaks in the market value. Forecasts show that on a global market scale, there will be an increase from $365 billion in 2022 to $530 billion in 2027. Asia seems to be dominating the shoe segment as it controls 54% of the global footwear market. Athletic footwear also seems to be a growing segment that will generate $63.5 billion in 2023. This is a 23% increase from its $51.4 billion valuation in 2020.
Fashion Ecommerce Market – Accessories and Bags
Unsurprisingly, the accessories and bag sector continues to grow at a stronger rate. However, there’s a chance this segment will dee double-digit growth in the coming years. For the accessories segment in the fashion ecommerce industry, forecasts show a CAGR of 12.3% from 2016 to 2026. The Asia Pacific remains the fastest-growing market. With these projections, the bag and accessories remain one of the healthiest segments in the fashion ecommerce industry. This is despite its numbers being the smallest in the statistics.
Fashion Ecommerce Market – Jewelry and Luxury
In 2020, the jewelry segment of the global market was valued at $228 billion. It is estimated to reach $307 billion by 2025, with the fashion ecommerce market expected to make up 20.8% of the sales in the luxury goods segment. Luxury watches will take up a significant part of that sales because statistics show that customers will spends $9.3 billion on luxury watches in 2025. The growth mirrors other financial crises. McKinsey predicts that consumers will return relatively quickly to paying the full price for quality goods as they did before the 2008 financial crisis.
There’s increasing wealth in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific, which drove up the average sales per luxury good consumer to $313. Despite the slow growth of the market, McKinsey forecasts that sales in the jewelry segment of the fashion ecommerce market will triple by 2025, reaching $79.5 billion.
Fashion Ecommerce Industry – Trends and Strategies
Now that you understand the opportunities available in the fashion ecommerce industry, below are some trends that you can implement in your long-term strategy to improve sales.
Personalization is a Balancing Act
Personalization is the secret ingredient to moving your ecommerce business to the next level. When you show items a shopper showed interest in or retarget them based on their activity on your ecommerce site, you can ensure a tailored shopping experience that will convince them to buy. Research shows that 44% of customers are fine with fashion brands utilizing their personal information to personalize messages and improve customer experience.
Online shoppers are always concerned about their privacy. Therefore you shouldn’t over-personalize the shopping experience. It increases the likelihood of shoppers abandoning your ecommerce website.
Dive Into the Metaverse
The metaverse definition is open to interpretation. However, the idea behind the metaverse is a virtual society where people can carry out their daily activities like playing games, connecting with friends, purchasing products, and many more. An item that functions inside and out of the metaverse is non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These are unique tokens that a person can own, and you can purchase them with virtual currencies like crypto. On January 1, 2033, over $87 million was spent on NFTs.
Fitness brands like Under Armour continually experiment with NFTs in the retail space. Its collaboration with Stephen Curry allowed the brand to reproduce the basketball star’s shoes when he broke records as an all-time three-point shooter. Under Armour released digital NFTS alongside the product launch. Owners of the NFT could also wear these shoes in the Sandbox, Decentraland, and Gala games. Additionally, Forever 21 is another brand that partnered with Roblox to develop a virtual metaverse store. It named the metaverse store Forever 21 Shop City. Players in the metaverse could own and purchase merchandise from the game using their avatar.
Build Your Brand Over Paid Ads
The fashion ecommerce market is saturated. Therefore, customers have more options than they ever did. Due to this, there’s less customer loyalty as customers can switch to a new online store. However, a saturated market means more competition. Thousands of fashion ecommerce brands are advertising their products to the target market. Through paid search, most brands increase their investment. However, technology giants like Google plan to restrict brands from actively collecting cookies by 2023.
An alternative to expensive advertising and limited data is brand building. Investing in your brand rather than paid search will generate organic acquisition and customer retention. Fashion companies who focus on building their brand also make it easier to increase profits since customers are far more receptive to price hikes.
Focus on Sustainability
The fashion industry has received constant criticism over the years. This is even more common with fast fashion, whose manufacturing and production methods are questionable. Due to these criticisms and customers’ shifting focus to eliminating climate change, most shoppers are more likely to shop from a fashion brand that shares their value. This means that fashion brands also need to make a shift to sustainability.
Most customers would instead purchase from an eco-friendly and sustainable brand. However, only a few countries are leading the sustainability trend. Purchasing habits are shifting, and customers are only looking to purchase durable items that they can keep for long. An example of a brand with sustainability rooted in its values is Patagonia. The brand consistently campaigns for environmental causes and shows its commitment to various environmental causes.
Social Commerce
This is integral to the advancement of most ecommerce fashion brands. Social media users spend over 15% of their time on a networking app each day. By 2025, forecasts show that social commerce sales will almost triple. You can take advantage of this by optimizing your social media pages, especially on Instagram. First, find out the type of content that works for your brand and the product you’re selling. Then, for platforms like TikTok and Instagram, shoppers can easily visualize your product in a person, ensuring you optimize the content on these platforms.
Final Thoughts
The fashion industry has seen dramatic changes over the years, and the fashion ecommerce market is developing faster than ever. What formerly worked is now outdated because of customer preferences and values changes. All these are important to determine the purchasing decision of consumers and the future of the fashion ecommerce market. This article provides insight into the stats of various e-commerce segments and trends you could implement in your next strategy.
