Online-Only Fashion Retailers
As Jane Norman fell into administration last June, observers speculated which high street fashion brand would be next. In recent years, we have been inundated with news stories reflecting the dire state of the high street. New research from the British Retail Consortium reveals that a tenth of shops stand empty, where high streets across the UK are experiencing significant reductions in footfall. The decline has been attributed to falling consumer confidence, high inflation coupled with minimal pay increases and the general, all-round climate of uncertainty.
Yet, during the very same period some online-only fashion retailers (OOFRs) have posted incredible results. ASOS, for example, saw its international sales jump by 160% in the first quarter, while sales at Net-A-Porter in 2010 were up 60% on the previous year. Could it be that consumers have just changed the way that they shop?
In a recent report, we analysed seven OOFRs in particular: Net-A-Porter.com, ASOS, ShopStyle, Arcadia’s Style 369, FarFetch.com, eBay and Etsy. We looked at each retailer’s strengths, recent innovations, (purchasing through Google enabled TVs come to mind), as well as potential challenges on the horizon.
We can confidently say that the future of fashion retail is by no means dead – it’s perhaps just not how you envisioned it.
Exciting times ahead for the OOFR landscape… Take a look at our work here.
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