Online sales grow as 'reflexive consumption' takes hold

The current economic context is having a direct impact on the fashion market, as shoppers are concerned about the current situation and prefer to control their spending, make savings and take precautions. Consumers have reduced the number of shopping visits to fashion outlets and claim to buy strictly what is necessary, prioritising the search for bargains even outside the sales season. In this sense, although there is a 7.3% increase in fashion spending in the first half of 2023, the volume of products sold is only 2.1% higher. This is revealed in the report for the Catalan Fashion Cluster MODACC prepared by the Fashion Consumption Panel of Kantar Worldpanel, a company specialising in market research, based on a sample of more than 10,000 consumers from all over Spain.According to the study, during this first half of the year, there continues to be a stagnation in purchase traffic by consumers, together with an average increase in price/unit of 5.1%. These two factors mean that each visit and contact with the buyer is increasingly decisive for the purchase.After two years of stability in relation to online fashion purchases, e-commerce is once again incorporating recurrent buyers. According to the study, Spain is the country where online shopping has increased the most in 2023 (21.9%), ahead of Italy and France. Moreover, in Europe, Spain was the only country that has boosted purchases in the first half of the year (+2.1%), while in England, Italy and France, purchases have decreased.In this sense, many of the fashion brands associated with MODACC positively assess the evolution of fashion sales during the first half of the year, especially considering the context of inflation and uncertainty that has affected households. Moreover, brands are increasingly aware that the great present and future challenge is to attract the attention of their customers with a value proposition that is different in the market and highly targeted to their needs and interests.The study carried out by KANTAR at the request of MODACC monitors the consumption of fashion products on a quarterly basis, based on the continuous monitoring of the purchases of more than 10,000 people over the age of 15 throughout the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, and includes all purchasing channels. For the Catalan Fashion Cluster, having reliable consumption data and making it available to member companies is key to being able to make strategic decisions for planning the coming seasons.

Online sales grow as 'reflexive consumption' takes hold

A report by Modacc and Kantar indicates that Spain is the European country where online shopping has increased the most in 2023