Fashion in 2020: 25% of sales will be online

E-commerce gains traction in fashion. For 2020, 25% of fashion sales will be done online, according to the report Dressed for Digital: The Next Evolution In Fashion Marketing carried out by consultant Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Zalando Marketing Services (ZMS) after an analysis of 90 different fashion brands all around the world.

“E-commerce fashion sales are growing three times faster than sales at brick-and-mortar stores”, explains Jessica Distler, Partner at BCG. “In light of that growth, the marketing of fashion brands has migrated online as well”, continues the expert.

The report also points out that the purchases done through a marketplace are growing stronger by the day, specifically at a rate of 12% per year. However, the online platforms that are already settled in the sector grow one third less.

“While sales on fashion platforms are currently about equal to those on brands’ own e-commerce sites, they are expected to grow and eventually overtake the latter, with marketplace platforms climbing 12% a year through 2020, compared with a projected 8% rise of sales on brand-owned sites”, declares Andreas Antrup, who is at the lead of Zalando Marketing Services.

According to the research, fashion companies have reacted to the promotion of digital commerce through the implementation of new digital marketing strategies and have increased their investment in this channel. Specifically, fashion companies destine about 60% of their budget to the online channel on average, as well as to actions that attract clients.