Fashion Marketing in France: Online sales of apparel booming, top selling products and retailers

Fashion Marketing news: Just like in the US, sales of apparel are booming online. A study published by the famous Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) gives numerous data on the current boom, on the best-selling categories, as well as most successful apparel online retailers. 

Data show current boom

The study compared data from the 1st semester of 2006 with the same period in 2007, on the French market. These figures are fo apparel only and exclude accessories. Here are some key findings:

• +59% growth of apparel sales conducted online
• Online sales now make up 3.7% of overall apparel sales (up from 2.3% in 2006)
• 48% of French internet users bought at least once apparel item in the first semester of 2007 (up from 41% in 2006 and 28% in 2005

Online prices different from offline and difference vary according to gender

The IFM study found that prices were different online and offline:

• Women's apparel are 15% cheaper online.
  There are several explanations used by IFM: female buyers to be around 35, want to change clothes often, and are bargain hunters. The boom of private sales and virtual trunk show websites has led more women to go online, while allowing them to purchase fashion items at a much lower price. For instance, vente-privée.com, the leading privale sales site is already the number 8 French e-commerce site (ranked by sales).
  This bargain hunting extends to ebay.fr, where 1/3 of exchanged items belong to the fashion and accessories category.
• Prices for men's apparel are about the same as offline
  I have for example noticed that 90% of the offering on private sales sites are women's fashion. There is not as much bargaining opportunities online for men.
• Children's apparel are 15% more expensive online
  According to IFM, the explanation would be that this category can be related to gifts. Buyers are willing to pay more for the ease of sending a gift to a newborn via a website. Furthermore, the study notes that brands are much more important in children's apparel than in either men's or women's. Online buyers of children's apparel would be more into brands than offline buyers, which would drive up the price of the average online purchase.

Best selling apparel categories online

According to the Institut Français de la Mode IFM, the best selling apparel categories on the internet are:

1. Layette
2. Sous-vêtements enfants (Kids' underwear)
3. Petites pièces femmes (Women's low priced items)
4. Prêt-à-porter enfant (Kids' pret-a-porter)
5. Prêt-à-porter pour femme  (Women's pret-a-porter)
6. Lingerie
7. Petites pièces pour enfant (Kids' low priced items)
8. Petites pièces pour homme (Men's low priced items)
9. Prêt-à-porter pour homme (Men's pret-a-porter)
10. Sous-vêtements pour homme (Men's underwear)

Top online retailers of apparel in France

1. La Redoute (originally a catalog)
2. Les 3 Suisses (originally a catalog)
3. Vente-privée.com (private sales)
4. Vertbaudet (originally a catalog)
5. eBay (ebay.fr)

Source: Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) study, via Metro