Data just in from IMRG show that online sales in March 09 grew by 19% compared with March 08 and the first quarter of the year saw sales up by 17%. So, the ecommerce sector is still resilient in the face of the economic downturn.
The detail of this latest data shows the growing importance of the clothing, footwear and accessories sector - with sales up 26% in March 09 compared with 08. In the early days of internet retailing, online fashion was slower to take off versus other online sectors such as books & electricals (influenced by a few high profile failures during the dot com boom). But how things are now changing!
The pioneering, pure play website shops Asos (sales will push through the £100m level this year) and Net-a-Porter (sales at £85million in the financial year just ended) have driven much of the growth by pursuing the brand aggregator route - Asos has 19,400 products in its shop. But the High Street brands are also establishing their positions online and Department stores such as Debenhams and John Lewis are reporting strong online fashion sales. Tesco has announced that it will lauch a website shop to sell its own brand clothes later this year.
'Asos has 19,400 products in its shop'
With competition hotting up in the sector, Asos and Net-a-Porter have both been busy working on protecting their position by improving the online experience and adding new features to their ecommerce websites. Asos recently launched a (beta) social networking site ‘ASOS Life’ where customers can set up profiles, blogs, groups and make friends. There is talk that they plan to launch an Amazon-style marketplace for members to sell their own goods online later this year.
ASOS - Life
Net-a-Porter have also been busy. They’ve just launched their new discount designer label site www.TheOutNet.com where they’ve got some clever ideas under their ‘Flash Sales’ feature. They will offer ‘Pop Up Sales’ - themed designer sales only available for a limited time, usually up to 72 hours and ”Going, Going, Gone Sales’ - where the price of a chosen product will drop continously against throughout a limited sales period until the stock sells out.
Going, Going, Gone Sales
The strong outlook for online clothing sales make this an exciting sector to watch.
