2019 US clothing online shopping trends: market value of 118 billion, Amazon is still the preferred platform!

Research reports show that American consumers are becoming more and more accustomed to shopping for clothing online, and it is expected that by 2019, the value of the US clothing e-commerce market will reach 118 billion US dollars.

Leading the growth of this trend is Amazon. Amazon has not only attracted many well-known clothing brands to settle in, launched more than 60 private brands, but also sold more than 5 million pieces of clothing on Prime Day. It is estimated that Amazon is expected to surpass Walmart to become the largest clothing retailer in the United States.

It is understood that the core of American e-commerce consumers are Generation Z and millennials, who will be the main driving force of the e-commerce clothing market, with a total purchasing power of more than 200 billion US dollars. And interestingly, American consumers prefer to buy branded clothing and buy such clothing more and more frequently. So in addition to these trends, what other clothing online shopping trends are involved in the report?

CPC Strategy's survey found that the frequency of respondents shopping online for clothing in 2018 increased by several percentage points compared to the results of the 2017 survey.

The percentage of respondents who shop online at least once a month jumped from 14% in 2017 to 18.3% in 2018. The percentage of respondents who shop online at least once a week also increased from 1.9% in 2017 to 5.3% in 2018. The percentage of respondents who “rarely” or “occasionally” shop online decreased by 1.5% and 6.5% respectively. These data show that American consumers find it increasingly convenient to shop online for clothing, and therefore shop online more and more frequently.

The increase in the frequency of online clothing shopping by American consumers seems to be related to the rapid growth of the e-commerce clothing industry. In 2017, the overall e-commerce sales of clothing in the United States increased by 18.4%, and it is expected that by 2019, the total amount of the overall e-commerce clothing market in the United States will reach 118 billion US dollars.

This year, companies that want to take advantage of the rapidly growing apparel market need to know what types of clothing consumers like to buy most, which websites are the main places to buy clothing, and which shopping features and devices are most likely to influence consumers to buy.

CPC Strategy's survey found that 59.2% of respondents purchased casual clothing in the past six months, far more than any other type of clothing.

The following is the data on the types of clothing that American consumers bought most online in the past six months:

The survey showed that 31.5% of respondents also bought sportswear and 26.3% bought outerwear. All of these clothes tend to be affordable, which explains why consumers like to buy basic clothing online.

The report also shows that respondents prefer Amazon when shopping for clothing online because Amazon has cooperated with more well-known brands (such as CK, Nike, etc.) and has also launched its own brand (Basics).

Clothing type preferences change with age and living conditions

It is not difficult to see from the report that clothing preferences vary with different groups of people, with the biggest difference between consumers aged 18-24 and 25-34. The specific trends are as follows:

( 1) 70% of Gen Z consumers buy casual clothing online

The survey results show that the number of consumers of Generation Z (18-24 years old) who bought casual wear in the past six months increased by 10% to 70%. In addition, the proportion of consumers who bought sportswear and outerwear increased by 4% to 35% and 30.9% respectively. With the exception of workwear and baby clothing, consumers of Generation Z have a high share in almost all clothing categories.

(2) Millennials buy slightly less casual wear, but much more babywear and workwear

As millennials (25-34 years old) enter the workforce and start families, they are turning to baby and workwear, a major shift for this age group. In the past six months, 29.5% of millennials have purchased babywear, 14% higher than other age groups. Similarly, 26.5% of millennials have purchased workwear online in the past six months, more than any other age group.

These growth figures are closely related to other major trends, such as the growth of e-commerce sales of baby clothes and the rise of local niche e-commerce brands, such as Monica+Andy, which specializes in selling children's clothing, and MM.Lafluer, which sells women's workplace clothing.

The channel for purchasing clothing is very important. In the past 6 months, most respondents (50.7%) bought clothing from Amazon, followed by Walmart (33.95%) and brand websites (24.6%). Here are the specific data:

(1) Amazon is the most popular website for clothing purchases

CPC Strategy also segmented younger respondents by age to investigate their preferred channels for buying apparel, finding that Gen Z was more likely to use Amazon and brand websites, while millennials were more likely to use Walmart and Target.

63.4% of Generation Z consumers and 57% of Millennial consumers have purchased clothing from Amazon in the past six months, which is 13% and 7% higher than the other age groups surveyed, respectively.

When these consumers shop for clothing online, they value free shipping, fast speed, low prices, and convenience, and Amazon fits their needs perfectly. Most products on Amazon have two-day delivery, lower prices, easy-to-navigate search results pages, and include customer reviews, ratings, and recommended products to help consumers find the clothing they want.

(2) Generation Z consumers prefer to buy clothing from brand websites

Survey data shows that 37% of Generation Z respondents said they would buy clothing directly from brand websites, 12% higher than respondents of all age groups. The following are the data on the websites most frequently visited by Generation Z consumers for online clothing shopping:

This illustrates how building brands around specific clothing types can attract younger consumers. Outdoor Voices is a great example of this, with a site that sells activewear specifically to cater to consumers who exercise every day, and consumers spend significantly more on branded sites than on multi-brand platforms.

In addition, there is a lot of commentary and data showing that younger consumers are more willing to spend money on authentic products and brand products that promote shared values, so building value-based assets with Generation Z and Millennials is a good idea for private labels.

Large brand retailers are still working to build that brand experience, with results showing that only 18.6% of Gen Z shoppers buy apparel from Walmart.com, a figure 15% lower than other age groups surveyed.

This isn’t to say that Walmart and Target are no longer used. In fact, research shows that older consumers still very much prefer Walmart and Target to shop online for clothing.

(3) Gen X and Baby Boomers still trust Walmart and Target

It’s no secret that Walmart and Amazon are in a fierce battle for the retail crown. For several years now, Amazon has aggressively entered nearly every vertical in the apparel industry, both partnering with established brands and launching its own private labels, while big department stores like Sears and JCPenney have struggled and failed.

While Amazon and brand websites are the preferred apparel shopping destinations for younger generations, we see this shift starting with consumers over 35. Among consumers aged 35-44 surveyed, 43.2% said they purchased from Walmart.com, 9% higher than the overall survey result.

Walmart is a relatively well-known leader in low-priced clothing, but its clothing selection is not fashionable. However, Walmart has made changes. In 2018, it launched new fashion-forward clothing styles for men and women, including its own brands (Time and Tru, George) and brand collaborations with influential celebrities such as Elizabeth Stewart and Ellen Degeneres.

It is also worth noting that consumers in this age group also like to buy clothes on Target. In the past 6 months, 26.2% of respondents bought clothes from Target. The following is the proportion of consumers aged 35-44 who bought clothes from various platforms:

The above data chart shows that American consumers do not have just one shopping destination, they buy clothing from multiple websites. Therefore, clothing retailers must invest in multi-channel strategies to reduce risks.

In addition, clothing retailers should also use Facebook and Google to drive traffic to your e-commerce website, increase website conversion rates, and provide consumers with a unique brand experience.

In terms of shopping devices, survey data shows that 63.1% of respondents still prefer to use PC, while 42.0% of consumers prefer to use mobile. The following is a specific data chart:

After controlling for age, the survey found that 53% of consumers aged 18-24 and 25-34 chose mobile phone online shopping for clothing, which is 10% higher than the rest of the age groups combined.

Investing in mobile experience and convenient payments will lead to significant success

A report by Criteo, a French advertising performance marketing platform, pointed out that although most consumers prefer PC when purchasing clothing, it is mobile devices that drive the growth of total clothing sales.

This is closely tied to the larger trend of mobile commerce dominating all e-commerce verticals, including apparel.

Data shows that in 2019, mobile e-commerce sales are expected to account for 44.7% of total US e-commerce sales, 39.6% higher than in 2018.

Early data showed that a higher percentage of consumers shopped via smartphones on Black Friday 2018 than ever before. Adobe analysts pointed out that e-commerce sales completed on smartphones accounted for one-third of total sales and increased by 29.1% in just one year.

The growth of mobile commerce cannot be underestimated. Retailers can no longer sit still and optimize their websites for mobile devices and ensure that your online store is easy to navigate on all major devices and tablet operating systems.

It’s no secret that Amazon and Walmart are the top two online apparel sites for consumers, but what specific reasons have prompted consumers to change their minds? What features of a site are most important to them when shopping for clothing? The survey found that one feature is far more important than the others.

The vast majority of respondents (53.9%) place far more importance on free shipping than on features such as customer reviews (15.9%), easy returns (13.2%) and product screening (8.1%) when buying clothing online.

These data show that consumers do not want to pay for shipping. In the market, Amazon has more than 100 million Prime members, accounting for 1/3 of the total US population. Consumers tend to buy free shipping products, even if the shipping cost may have been hidden in the membership price or sales price.

Walmart and Target have invested heavily in improvements to cut into Amazon's advantage. In the past year, both retailers have made two-day shipping free.

What do consumers value most about Amazon?

The survey shows that in the past 6 months, respondents valued the most when buying clothing on Amazon. Here are the survey data:

Since last year, Amazon has been upgrading its free shipping, low prices, and convenience, while also adding a "fitting room" service, with the idea of ​​"try on clothes before buying." This model has been hotly debated by many, including successful subscription box clothing companies such as Stitch Fix.

When shopping online, low prices are important to consumers, especially to younger shoppers who may be on a budget. Brands and retailers looking to compete on and off the Amazon platform need to consider that two-day shipping, convenience and low prices are all important to today’s online apparel shoppers.

Amazon currently sells 76 private-label brands, more than 60 of which are in the apparel category, covering almost every possible niche, from bohemian dresses (such as Ella Moon) to men's performance clothing (such as Rugged Mile Denim) to 100% cotton children's products (such as Moon&Back).

Amazon's private labels are a threat to other niche brands. Amazon's clothing usually has lower prices, preferential shipping methods, and features "privately customized clothing brands" and runs this advertising keyword throughout the search results.

So what types of clothing would consumers prefer to buy Amazon's own brands over other brands? The survey shows that 47.4% of consumers said they would consider buying non-branded casual clothing online. As shown in the figure, casual clothing is clearly far ahead, with sportswear (27.6%) and outerwear (19.4%) ranking second and third respectively.

The investigation found that, on the one hand, Amazon's own brands pose a threat to well-known brands in the clothing category with their lower prices, free advertising by Amazon, and free two-day delivery service for members.

On the other hand, new brands in these verticals can take advantage of consumers’ willingness to purchase unknown, non-branded casual wear, sportswear, and outerwear. In short, other brands must focus on pricing, customer reviews, and advertising if they want to compete with Amazon’s private labels.

private label in the market, it will only continue to increase as Amazon collects more customer data, optimizes its product lines, and launches more apparel categories.

If other brands want to succeed, they can optimize their e-commerce marketing strategies to compete with Amazon's own brands. If you are committed to selling on Amazon, then creating high-quality content for (A+ pages, EBC, stores) is necessary.

This requires building brand equity in your target market, advertising strategically across multiple channels, driving traffic to your website, optimizing website conversion rates, and saving consumers time and effort through more convenient payment methods.

In summary, if you want to be successful in opening a store on Amazon, you must introduce your own private label products. On Amazon, you can stay away from the competitive sea, create your own advantages, and have your own ASIN while building reputation and promoting sales.

Text✎ Zhu Meiying/

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