Online fashion to flourish in 2011

After a year plagued with online successful ventures within the fashion and retail markets, new research has forecast that the online fashion retail industry will flourish throughout 2011. According to a research study conducted by the Interactive Media

in Retail Group (IMRG), the online fashion retail sector has exponentially grown by an incredible 2,000 per cent over the decade years since 2001 and that immense expansion is expected to continue unabated throughout the New Year and into the foreseeable future.

Tina Spooner, director of information at IMRG, highlighted the fact that the online fashion retail industry is an extremely capitalized industry sector which is set on a sure route to further growth over the coming years and more and more consumers log on to make their purchases. Ms Spooner remarked that: “With the UK fashion industry worth around £20 billion to the UK economy, it is no surprise that this is one of the strongest retail sectors online.”

Ms Spooner further added that as there are a multitude of online fashion retailers including Asos, Arcadia and Aurora expanding their business internationally at a steady pace, they are heading forward into new and far grander markets and continuing to gain substantial rewards from their investment and business ventures.

According to Capgemini, the majority of British adults -51% of them-now shop online, while online grocery shopping is growing 50% faster than the rest. As 76% of Britons have Internet access and 13% of Internet users have access via mobile devices, the consultancy firm sees significant further growth potential for online shopping in the coming years.

Similar opinion regarding the technology boom In the apparel market have the analysts of JWT Intelligence, who have just published their 6th yearly trend forecast ’10 Trends for 2011’. The study soon concludes that “as devices become deeply ingrained in people’s lives, we’re seeing technology becoming a core possession (and skill to master) worldwide. And as the Web and our gadgets evolve, we’re getting to a point where the cyber and real worlds are meshing, with the digital world growing much more personalized for individual users. But as our dependency on technology rises, so too will our desire to log off or dial it down, at least temporarily”.

“2011 will also see more brands applying game mechanics to non-gaming spaces and extending time-sensitive deals beyond the Web, tactics that will help deepen engagement with consumers and nudge shoppers back to pre-recessionary spending patterns. Brands will also benefit by giving consumers ways to make less-permanent purchase commitments and by helping people exercise self-control across various facets of their lives” forecast from JWT Intelligence.