Apparel Sale :: Online Shopping Full Speed Ahead

For some, purchasing apparel online is second nature, but surprisingly, for a large number of people, it's not.  I happen to think it's one of the easiest things in the world and to be completely honest, I buy whatever I can online.

But some recently released statistics from the Nielsen Global Online Survey show that only 36% of the people they surveyed have purchased clothing and accessories online.  To me, that doesn't seem like much, but it's a huge increase over the last survey numbers of two years ago when just 20% reported making the same purchases! 

Online apparel sale has shown the fastest growth in any e-commerce category.

And it seems that the number of shoppers is spread out across the globe.  Of those that were surveyed, Britain, Germany, and the US had particularly high showings, coming in at around 40%. 

Angela Rumsey, business editor of the fashion news and research service WGSN, attributes this to the comfort level that Europeans have with the idea of mail-order. "Within Europe, there is a much higher take-up in the U.K. and Germany for buying fashion online. People in those countries are used to having clothing delivered to their houses - they have a strong history of mail order catalogues."

Big name designers have been reluctant to hop on the e-commerce train because they've been worried about sullying their reputations.  That's changing. With companies like Yoox, who's located in Milan, sells big names Armani and Dolce & Gabbana through it's site, and has committed to creating 12 online stores for designer and luxury brands in the next 18 months. 

Net-a-Porter took it one step further by pairing up with Halston. Immediately after the New York fashion show, Net-a-Porter was offering two of the designs featured in the fall/winter 2008 Marco Zanini collection.  Saavy shoppers in New York and London got a test of the celebrity life when they were able to order the dresses and have them delivered to their door, all in 24 hours!  Why? Because Net-a-Porter offers same-day delivery in these two major cities.  Even better, these two dresses won't be available in stores for another 5 months!

With the possibilities that fashion collection sites offer, it seems the sky is the limit when it comes to online fashion shopping.  And it's not stopping with sites like Yoox and Net-a-Porter.  London based newbie, My-Wardrobe, is right on the horizon.  And their founder, Sarah Curran, firmly believes that this segment of the market is just going to continue expanding.  "There has been a dramatic transformation even in how brands view online distribution in the last six months - everyone is firmly convinced that it works……to get hold of the customer you have to have really strong service. You don't have a sales assistant to charm and persuade the customer."

So, hold on to your hats and jump on the online train!  It's leaving the station and this is one trip you don't want to miss!