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The Online Apparel Market Continues to Shift in a COVID-19 World, But Last Year Saw Healthy Growth

Published

4 years ago

August 10, 2020

The U.S. online apparel market grew 15.8% in 2019, but with many apparel retailers deemed “non-essential,” several merchants have already filed for bankruptcy in 2020, a symptom of slow sales due to the coronavirus.

COVID-19 has also caused several merchants to adjust their omnichannel services, particularly curbside pickup. Prior to the pandemic, only 1.6% of Top 1000 apparel retailers offered curbside pickup. After lockdowns were put into place and physical locations temporarily closed to consumers, this surged to 34.1%.

But last year’s web sales show many apparel retailers with healthy growth ready to take on temporary setbacks, such as Birdies Inc., which grew 400% last year, and bridal retailer Azazie, which grew web sales 110% and extended its return window to 45-days after COVID-19 started cancelling weddings.

The just-released 2020 Online Apparel Report includes a look at last year’s trends in online apparel, as well as the ways apparel retailers are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report includes hundreds of metrics as well as a full list of the top 250 apparel retailers in the Top 1000.

Breakout Facts:

•   Amazon represents an estimated 28.8% of the North American online apparel market.
•   Consumer brand manufacturers are growing the fastest online both by median web sales and collective web sales at 17.9% and 23.3%, respectively.
•   Ecommerce penetration of total U.S. retail sales was 38.6% in 2019, up from 34.0% in 2018.
Included in the Report:
•   An overview of the online apparel market including total sales and growth
•   Detailed analysis of the leading online apparel retailers including market share
•   Breakout sections on trending apparel topics such as athleisure and curbside pickup
•   In-depth analysis on Amazon’s apparel market
•   A look at the impact of COVID-19 on online apparel so far

Purchase the 2020 Online Apparel Report.

For more commentary, or for a copy of the report, reporters can reach April Berthene at April@DigitalCommerce360.com.

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