Despite the drop in consumption, the Belgian consulting institute CBCommerce.eu states that online sales in the fashion sector in the EU will continue to grow in the coming years. This growth will be driven by the second-hand fashion segment.
The online fashion market in the EU had a turnover of €119 billion in 2021, representing a 25% market share of the total online fashion market. By 2025, Cross Border Commerce Europe forecasts that turnover increased by 50% and the market share will grow from 25% to 33% in 2025.
However, the fashion industry is currently under a lot of pressure. Post-Covid macroeconomic deterioration and inflationary pressures from the Ukraine war are increasingly affecting customers’ purchasing behavior. Therefore, the main trend for the coming years is C2C sales, because people will look for new ways to save.
Even so, the ranking of the main players in the online fashion sector in the EU is led by B2C brands such as Zalando, Amazon and Inditex.
The Spanish fashion distribution company, Zara, ranks third with 6.2% of sales. The first place is held by the German pure player, Zalando, with a market share of 11.7%. And second place, Amazon with a share of 7.6%.
Industry trends for the coming years
One of the first trends we see is the proliferation of C2C companies on the list. The first of these companies is eBay, which has a 5% market share. The second to appear is Vinted, a Lithuanian C2C company, which already has a GMV of 3,200 million euros. They are also on the list Etsy either Vestiaire Collective.
The Cross Border Commerce Europe study also shows the arrival of new verticals in the sector that are becoming increasingly important in the market. «Their mission is to transform the way people find the clothes they love by incorporating new technologies into the online journey.”write Carine Moitier, founder of CBCommerce.eu. Some of the brands are Allbirds, Gymshark, NA-KD, Qwertee and Stitch Fix and they are emerging as digital native vertical brands, which will play a key role in the innovation of online fashion.
Finally, we cannot ignore the weight that new technologies are having in the sector, such as the metaverse. For example, the brand of luxury Gucci released a metaverse version of their real-world Gucci Garden on Roblox. We will see an increase in technology investments by these companies in the future.