While prospects for the high street poses uncertainty, online retail is thriving. Over the past 12 months, online fashion sales rose by an impressive 16.8% — the highest since 2013. Looking further back, online fashion sales have risen by 2,000% in the past 10 years and forecasts predict the growth to continue.
The fashion scene is competitive to say the least, but which brands are dominating digitally? As part of their Fashion Retailers Digital Marketing Review 2019, digital marketing agency, Mediaworks, found out. Available to download in full on the Mediaworks website, we’ve compiled the top findings from each category.
Women’s fashion
Research has revealed that women are the biggest spender when it comes to shopping for clothes online, with weekly expenditure peaking at £124 million in 2018. The market is predicted to be worth £33.5 billion by 2022 and digital is set to play a huge part.
Topshop has the highest SEO visibility score in this category but is closely followed by Dorothy Perkins. Those at the bottom of the table for this metric include Long Tall Sally and Marisota where there is room for improvement in increasing their rankings.
Leader: Topshop. The brand not only has the highest SEO visibility but also shares the highest domain authority (87) with Anthropologie.
Men’s fashion
Although women’s fashion is thriving, it’s predicted that menswear will outperform womenswear by 2020 — and it’s a competitive industry. In fact, the men’s clothing market is expected to grow by 11% in the next three years to become worth £17.1 billion by 2022. Which retailers are dominating the digital market?
The retailer with the strongest search visibility score is Topman (26,296), with a score more than three times the category average (7,940). At the bottom of this table is Fallen Hero with a score of only 131 and great room for improvements. It was Jacamo that has seen the most significant growth over the past six months, with a digital presence up by 89%. Likely due to a reduction in rankings, Woodhouse Clothing and The Idle Man experienced losses over 30% in terms of their visibility.
Leader: Topman. The brand has the strongest digital profile over all with highest search visibility and second highest growth over six months. There is still room for improvement however, and backlinks from high-quality root domains could improve their domain authority.
Unisex fashion
As attitudes towards gender shift, the fashion industry is adapting too. Retailers such as ASOS, Zara and H&M have all released unisex lines that are meeting the new attitudes of fashion consumers. It’s high-end retailers that dominated the UK unisex market in 2018, with a 53% market share but who is leading the way in digital presence?
Leader: Debenhams. Leading the way in terms of search visibility scoring (405,762) and six-month growth (+26%), Debenhams was only beaten when it came to their domain authority, with ASOS taking the title at DA 91.
Fashion accessories
From stylish watches to designer sunglasses, the average UK consumer spends £98 per year on fashion accessories. Projections revealed that the fashion accessories market is expected to grow to £3.5 billion by 2020, but who is in the best position for capturing the digital market?
Looking at the online performance of the category as a whole, only four out of the 10 brands have an SEO visibility score higher than the category average. Taking the lead is H.Samuel, followed by Goldsmiths. At the other end of the spectrum is My Bag who has the smallest SEO score and experienced the most dramatic search visibility hit over the past six months at -42%.
Leader: H.Samuel. The brand has the highest SEO visibility (52,952) and has experienced the most growth over six months with a 16% increase in visibility.
Footwear
One step ahead of the UK clothing market is the footwear category, experiencing a further 5% growth in 2018. Brits are spending more on their shoes as well, measured to be £10 million more per week on footwear online than they were three years ago.
Office scored more than three times the category average for SEO visibility, while a total of seven brands scored below the average and Allsole sitting at the bottom of the table for this metric. When it comes to growth however, it was Footlocker who took the lead with an increase of 24% in search visibility compared to Allsole who dropped by 85%.
Leader: Office. The brand has the highest SEO visibility score out of the retailers analysed and the highest domain authority at 67 however consistency is key, and they have experienced a 2% drop in search visibility over the past six months.
Outdoor
As a market that is expected to stand at £9.4bn in 2019 and experience a sector increase by 6.2%, the outdoor fashion industry is fueled by a growing demand for adventure. It’s a competitive space with lots of room for growth but to appeal to these new visitors, online presence is important — so, who’s ruling the roost?
When it comes to SEO visibility, Decathlon dominates with a score of 72,534. Compare this to the category average of 19, 687 and it’s clear to see who is performing well. At the other end of the scale is Hawkshead who has a visibility score of only 761. Over the period of six months, Tiso experienced the greatest SEO visibility increase at 32% and Outdoor and Country suffered the worst over the period with -22%.
