Online clothing sees highest increase in 14 years

Online clothing sales were up 32 percent in November, the largest increase in 14 years on the month-on-month IMRG Capgemini e-retail sales index.

Clothing sales were up 21 percent against the same month in 2013, according to the index, which tracks online sales data from more than 100 retailers in various industries including Asos, Debenhams, JD Williams, John Lewis and Schuh.

Black Friday was a major contributor to online sales

During the week that included Black Friday, which began on November 23, clothing sales increased 38 percent on the previous week.

Notable changes were the drop in basket sizes for clothing, which saw sales in the average basket fall 7 percent to 61 pounds. This is under the average basket size for overall retail sales, which was 78 pounds.

Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, said the growth was due to consumers becoming more confident in online shopping, combined with the focus retailers are increasingly placing on their online and multichannel offers.

“The greater decline for the clothing sector suggests that the level of discounting on days such as Black Friday had an impact on overall spend and that there was more discounting going on in the clothing sector than other sectors,” said Spooner.

She added: “By product category, accessories continued to be the strongest performer in November, continuing a trend set earlier in the year. In the last week in November, sales of accessories soared by 95 percent week-on-week, while footwear increased by 62 percent and lingerie by 59 percent.”