Fashion Marketing: Fashion largest online category, with fantastic growth potential

Fashion Marketing news: In 2007, fashion will be the biggest online retail category, but the potential for additional growth is amazing: only 8% of apparel sales are made online, against 41% of computer sales, which shows a maturing market.

I got these data from an article in the Globe and Mail.

Some snippets from the article:

    - "Online sales of clothing, footwear and accessories in the United States are expected to hit $22.1-billion (U.S.) this year, a 21-per-cent jump from 2006, replacing computers as the largest online retail category, according to studies compiled in an eMarketer report". (Read my recent article about this study)

    - "Internet sales accounted for only 8 per cent of all U.S. apparel sales last year while 41 per cent of computer equipment sales were completed online."

    - "And with the three largest online apparel retailers - Victoria's Secret, L.L. Bean Inc. and Gap Inc. - accounting for only 27 per cent of sales in 2006, the market is wide open for smaller retailers that use innovative marketing techniques to overcome consumer resistance."

A growing marketing, where the 3 leaders represent less than a third of the sales: go for it, smaller fashion brands and new online retailers! Just brush up your online fashion marketing skills and go! For inspiration, read the story of a small entrepreneur in Australia who built FrockShop, a successful online fashion retailing site in just a year.

The article also touched on MyShape and Zafu. The two companies promise to take a consumer's measurements, store it online, and then offer the consumer a selection of apparel that fit. Obviously, these companies are among those that help lower the barrier preventing people from purchasing more fashion goods online.

Fashion Marketing gets more interesting every day, doesn't it?