Some of the best articles from the world of retail and its supporting industries.
Monthly Retail Round-Up - July 2019
Dressipi brings you a round-up of the top retail news this July to keep you up to date.
1) UK Customers Searching for Fast Fashion
Research released this July from data agency Pi Datametrics, showed the online fashion retail brands most in demand on Google in the UK. After analyzing 972 retailers, the key findings over the last 3 ½ years were as follows:
- Next came out on top with their brand name being searched 82m times between May 2018-April 2019
- John Lewis (one of our retail clients) followed in second place with 60.4m searches, and ASOS closely behind with 50m searches
- Pretty Little Thing and Boohoo (both part of Boohoo PLC) have a combined search volume of 53m, which would bump them up to position 3
- Pretty Little Thing has grown by 238% when comparing searches between May 2015-April 2016 and May 2018-April 2019. This could be due to shrewd influencer collaborations, prime time promotions during reality TV show ‘Love Island’ and a well-informed pricing strategy
- JD Sports also displays positive search volume growth over the last four years, rising by 17%.
To conclude, fast fashion was the most searched category and “despite the constant news surrounding the economic decline of the high street, the big high street players are still attracting huge brand searches each month.”
Download the full report here.
2) The Sales Day Overtaking Black Friday
Amazon Prime Day just keeps on growing, this year breaking records yet again. The length of time the sale was on was extended from 36 hours to 48 hours and sales exceeded last year’s $3.9 billion, growing to an estimate of $5.8 billion this year, as reported in Internet Retailing.
With an average discount of 42.5%, Amazon offered up to 55% off footwear, clothing and fashion accessories on brands such as Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Adidas and Nike (Drapers). Reported in eMarketer, the best facts from the retail giant’s largest shopping event included:
- Amazon selling 175 million items and surpassing its combined sales total from Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2018
- The average hourly spend of US Amazon customers this year going up 35% compared with Prime Day 2018 and 55% higher than in 2017.
In its 5th year, Prime Day has made a worldwide name for itself alongside other discounting holidays Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but with this comes the risk of knocking profits with too much discounting.
3) Have You Spotted this Dress?
You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t spotted Zara’s polka-dot maxi dress at least 3 times by lunchtime. The top choice for British high street customers this summer, the dress has reached such popularity that it now has its own Instagram account.
Reported in Drapers, the floaty dress has been so successful for 2 main reasons:
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“It was a very smartly designed product” With little email or social media promotion, the flowy, mid-length dress sold itself by being flattering on women of all different ages, shapes and sizes.
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“It was backed by the logistical capabilities that have fuelled Zara’s high street dominance” The retailer is famous for its fast supply chain with clothes going from design to shop floor in a matter of weeks. The dress was able to be re-stocked in-store, online and in all sizes.
Is there a danger that people will be put off by everyone having the same dress as them? Apparently not. Reported in BBC News people are starting to think creatively and customise their dresses to be more unique.
We hope you enjoyed the round-up. Please feel free to get in touch with any stories you feel would be of interest.
Banner Photo by Mica Asato on Pexels