European Apparel B2C Dominates Online Consumption

The latest report by international market research report and data company Research and Markets analyzes the development of European clothing B2C e-commerce and summarizes the market conditions of major European countries.

According to the report, apparel is the most purchased product category in the European B2C e-commerce market. Whether consumption is ultimately carried out online or in physical stores, the Internet has become an important tool for people to browse or study clothing products.

Throughout Europe, online apparel consumption is very popular, and the apparel B2C industry is booming. In EU countries, online consumption of clothing and sports products by individuals increased significantly in 2012, exceeding 20% of total personal consumption.

In Germany, clothing is the largest B2C e-commerce product category, with sales increasing by 1/3 in the past two years, with sales reaching several billion euros. Otto Group, the world's second largest e-commerce company, plans to release a new fashion e-commerce project in 2014. Zalando e-commerce company's B2C clothing sales more than doubled in 2012.

In the UK market, the clothing B2C e-commerce market has developed to a very mature stage, with almost half of the adult population buying clothing online. Asos and Debenhams's two biggest e-commerce companies have been named the UK's most successful online stores for fashion products this year.

In addition, France also has nearly half of Internet users buying clothing products online, La Redoute and 3 Suisses are the most popular shopping sites.

The report also shows that the online apparel business in Eastern Europe is also expanding. In 2012, B2C e-commerce sales of shoes and clothing in Russia increased by more than 40%, accounting for 1/5 of the total B2C e-commerce sales. Clothing, shoes and accessories became the most popular online product category, with half of online shoppers buying apparel products. Russian online clothing retailers saw the largest revenue growth of more than 5 times, with the most important online merchants including Wildberries, Lamoda, Quelle and KupiVip. Players represented by KupiVip and Lamoda attracted a lot of investment from local capitalists and abroad.

According to the survey, shoes and clothing products are also the leading B2C e-commerce product category in Poland, and most of the products purchased by online shoppers are mainly shoes and clothing. In countries such as Estonia, Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey, clothing accounts for the vast majority of online consumer goods.