Fashion e-commerce: At + 15% in 2021 – Forecasts until 2024

The e-commerce of fashion continues to grow at pandemic rates, in 2021 as well, as  it recorded a double-digit growth rate and is now a market of 1 billion euros in Greece.

2022 was a record year for online fashion shopping, according to the annual Fashion e-commerce, Year in review conducted by the fashion search platform Glami, with an increase of 15% compared to 2020, in 1,010 billion euros.

This increase confirms the introduction of electronic sales and their growing importance in the industry, since now 20% of general sales, which amounted to 3.779 billion euros.

It should be noted that in 2020, a year marked by multiple lockdowns, the turnover of the online domestic fashion market increased by 54.96% compared to 2019, when the expected growth rate was 5%.

The estimated increase of online fashion trade for 2022 is at + 10% while for the next three years a steady increase in the value of online sales is predicted.

By 2024, the Glami study shows that the share of e-commerce in the total fashion market will reach 27.7%.

The importance of Black Friday

2021 was a year of steady growth but also of balancing the value of sales created by GLAMI clicks to partner eshop (GMV).

The value of sales for almost all months of 2021 is significantly higher than 2020. At the same time, the importance of the Black Friday period for another year is recorded, with November recording a significant increase in the value of GMV. With the exception of the period until April of ’21, when physical stores do not operate normally, the evolution of sales value follows seasonality and demand, something that is confirmed by the top categories and products in sales for 2021.

Return to normalcy and for physical stores

At the same time, sales in physical stores increased significantly compared to 2020, especially after the resumption of the market in May 2021. This increase, however, was not enough to restore sales value to pre-pandemic levels.

The 5 most popular categories of 2021

Despite the difficult first quarter of 2021, the Greeks seemed ready to return dynamically to the normalcy of their professional and social life.

The product categories that had the biggest rise in Glami show a clear trend back to our old habits. The purchases now concerned not only the comfort and simplicity of the #menomespiti but also sets for events and activities that had been postponed for many months due to the pandemic.

Regarding the items that were most in demand, the research highlighted the top 5 categories: women’s overalls (+ 264% 0, women’s moccasins (+ 87%), women’s sleeveless jackets and vests (+ 80%), women’s jackets and blazers (+ 75%) and men’s handbags and backpacks (+ 73%).

In number of orders the 5 most popular categories were:

– Dresses

– Women’s sneakers

– Bikini swimsuit

– Women’s sandals

– Men sneakers

On the other hand, the categories with the largest decrease (in number of visits) were men’s soccer shoes (-75%), women’s leggings (-65%), children’s sportswear and sleeping clothes (-57%), men’s pajamas (-54%) and men’s sportswear (-48%).

The challenges of 2022

Increased advertising costs, lower profit margins due to the ongoing need for competitiveness (more discounts) and greater competition were the biggest challenges in 2021. Other issues such as data privacy and hiring or firing seem to be of less concern. industry companies.

The fiercest competition stands out as the biggest challenge of 2022 for the Greek online fashion stores. At the same time, the need to personalize websites is highlighted, while a significant challenge seems to be inflation, which occupied the Greek market less at the end of last year.

Inflation and the fashion retail industry

In 2021 the average value of orders (AOV) increased by an average of 9% compared to 2020 with the largest increase being observed from August onwards. This increase was not caused by price increases but by the fact that consumers bought more expensive products compared to the past.

At the same time, the inflation that is expected to “hit” this year, finds the market numb since only 20% of respondents said in the relevant question that they plan to increase prices for 2022 while 33% are not sure yet. Most of the stores that intend to increase prices reported that they plan to increase by only 3-5% – the lowest growth rate of all Glami markets.