The State of Fashion Ecommerce

The State of Fashion
Ecommerce in 2019
GLOBAL DATA, TRENDS, & INSIGHTS

2 THE STATE OF FASHION ECOMMERCE IN 2019: GLOBAL DATA, TRENDS, & INSIGHTS THE STATE OF FASHION ECOMMERCE IN 2019: GLOBAL DATA, TRENDS, & INSIGHTS 3
Contents Introduction
IN TRODUCTION 5 It’s an exciting time in the world of fashion ecommerce. While retail powerhouses like
Amazon continue to dominate non-fashion categories globally, they’ve yet to crack the
EX ECUTIVE SUMM A RY: KEY G LOBA L I N SI GH TS 6 code of how to successfully replicate the online fashion shopping experience.
At the same time, many retail markets are experiencing a direct-to-consumer renaissance
T RAFFIC SHA RE 8
across a number of categories, including fashion. Many new brands are adopting an “online
first” mentality to address increasing consumer desire for personalized experiences.
R EVENUE P ER V I SI T 10 enabled by an ever-increasing marketing technology landscape.
AVERAGE BASK ET SI Z E 14 These twin trends create a golden opportunity for fashion retailers to build long-term,
1-to-1 direct relationships with consumers. And with annual consumption in emerging
markets nearing $30 trillion by 2025, fashion brands and retailers have an even bigger
CON VERSION RAT E 16
opportunity to mark their territory in the ecommerce space within the next 3-5 years.1
AVERAGE ORDER VA LU E 20 To help fashion ecommerce companies capture this opportunity, we’ve analyzed granular
consumer behavior from 1.2 billion site visits across a wide cross-section of growth-stage
C ART ABANDON M EN T R AT E 22 online stores within the fashion industry. This set of merchants is composed of retailers
who used the Nosto platform throughout the whole of 2018, and were selected based on
their sales profile in order get an indicative sample of insights. 95% of these merchants
T I ME SP EN T P ER V I SI T 24
generate online sales between ¤500k and ¤30m.
R EFEREN CES 2 6 From this visit data, we’ve analyzed and benchmarked 7 key metrics on an annual and
monthly basis, broken out by mobile and desktop devices:
• Traffic share by device

• Revenue per visit (RPV)
• Basket size
• Conversion rate (CR)
• Average order value (AOV)
• Cart abandonment rate (CAR)
• Time spent per visit
Data is also analyzed both on a global and regional level, showcasing individual
performance mainly across the regions of North America, United Kingdom, Nordics
(includes Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), France and DACH (Germany, Austria
and Switzerland).
Executive Summary:
Key Global Insights
1. Revenue per visit for fashion ecommerce is growing everywhere - on desktop What this means: This points to an interesting opportunity broadly for fashion merchants.
and mobile. All else being equal, as mobile traffic and average order value increase, an increase in
conversion rates will have an outsize effect on revenue per visit and ultimately profitability.
Between Q1 and Q4 of 2018, average revenue per visit (RPV) increased globally by 33%
on desktop and 38% on mobile. While the biggest seasonal spike occurred in November
around Black Friday / Cyber Monday (BFCM), every region yielded a higher RPV by the 3. Fashion shoppers aren’t changing their browsing behavior much - however...
end of the year.
While revenue share and mobile traffic share continue to grow noticeably, average time per
Interestingly, conversion rates (CR) increased over time (over 2018, mobile CR increased shopping session remained flat on both mobile (an average of 165 seconds in Q1 and 163
from 1.2% to 1.5% while desktop CR increased from 2.2% to 2.7%). Global cart abandonment seconds in Q4 - a statistically insignificant difference) and desktop (242 and 239 seconds,
rates (CAR), however, remained relatively stable with only a slight spike around BFCM: this respectively). Likewise, consumers aren’t abandoning carts at a significantly lower rate
implies that higher conversion rates are not moving inversely with cart abandonment rates. (82% in Q1 and 80% in Q4).
What this means: Altogether, this suggests that fashion retailers should put a heavy focus What this means: As more fashion shoppers increase the percentage of their shopping
on improving personalization to drive upsell and cross-sell (which will increase average sessions on mobile, their average time spent shopping digitally decreases, as mobile
order values and drive even more improvements in RPV) as opposed to optimizing the sessions are shorter. Given the limitations of product visibility on mobile devices,
purchase of items already in their shopping carts. maximizing this precious amount of consumer attention for greater conversion requires
intelligent personalization of both product selection and context experiences.
2. Fashion ecommerce has hit the mobile tipping point globally - and fashion retailers
need to adjust.
Traffic share was already mobile dominant going into 2018: median traffic share averaged
55% in Q1 and increased to 62% in Q4. While converting customers on mobile devices has
had its fair share of challenges2, in 2018, we saw Q4 mobile revenue share exceed desktop
at 46% vs. 44%, compared to mobile share in Q1 of 37% and desktop of 50% (the remaining
traffic derives from tablet devices).
Meanwhile, average order values (AOV) on mobile and desktop devices are getting closer
(globally mobile AOV is 86% of desktop, and 94% in North America). Despite this, RPV
on mobile is still smaller than desktop (averaging 52% globally), with the Nordic region
topping out with RPVs on mobile at 69% of desktop.
M O NT HLY M O B I LE T RAFFI C SHARE [%]
Traffic Share UK NE US
NA DACH FR TOTAL
H OW IT’S MEASU R ED :
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
MEDIA N P ERCEN TAG E OF T R A F F IC TO A WE B STO R E
BY DEVICE TY P E (M OBI L E, D ESKTOP ) 70%
M OBI L E DE S KTO P OTH E R

60%
NA 53 .4 % 38. 4 % 8.2%
50%
UK 61.1% 3 0.7 % 8.2%

40%
OTHER 5 8 .5 % 31 .1 % 10.4 % 30%
Global traffic share to fashion merchants continues to be dominated by smartphones: by

the end of 2018, median mobile traffic share averaged 62% — a 5% increase from Q1. And
NE 63 .1% 2 8. 9 % 8.0%
while smartphones have ruled the traffic sector over the last few years3, revenue share has
historically lagged — until now.
By Q4, mobile revenue share clocked in at 46% (a 9% increase from Q1) while desktop
FR 4 6 .8 % 4 5.1 % 8.1% averaged 44% in Q4 – a 6% decrease from the start of 2018.
For consumers in the Nordic region (NE), smartphones play a significant role in driving the
ecommerce experience. High mobile penetration (an average of 88%) and network speeds
(95-97%) are among the possible catalysts for the highest mobile traffic percentage (63%)
DACH 4 4 .5 % 36 . 9 % 1 8. 6 %
compared to other regions.4 NE summer vacation patterns — where consumers often
abandon their desktop computers for up to 4 weeks — may also play into the summer
mobile traffic spike. However, this trend is not exclusive to the Nordic region as summer
months typically yield global spikes in site traffic.
TOTAL 5 8 .1% 31 . 5% 10.4 %
Other regions with majority mobile traffic share in fashion ecommerce are the UK (61%)
and North America (53%), while retailers across DACH and France struggle to drive traffic
NA = North America UK = United Kingdom NE = Northern Europe FR = France DACH = Germany, Austria, Switzerland to mobile devices (45% and 47%, respectively).
M O NT HLY REVENUE PER VI SI T [$] - M O B I LE
Revenue Per Visit

UK NE NA
US DACH FR
AVERAGE ORDE R VA LU E X CON V ER SION RATE
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2
Globally, desktop is still generating the highest RPV $2.76, whereas mobile lags
behind at $1.44.
1.5
Between Q1 and Q4 of 2018, fashion ecommerce merchants globally saw a 33% increase
in average revenue per visit (RPV) on desktop and a 38% increase on mobile devices. One
potential catalyst for this increase (though certainly not the sole reason) was November’s
1
Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend — one of retail’s most anticipated shopping periods of
the year — which yielded the biggest seasonal spike of 2018.
French retailers generated the lowest RPV on mobile ($0.53), falling behind the Nordic region 0.5
($1.55) DACH ($1.24) and North America ($1.15) - the result of France falling behind other
regions in both conversion rate and average order value on mobile.
0
While RPV is generally higher on desktop than on mobile in all regions, DACH saw an
exceptionally high RPV on desktop ($2.60) — indicating that DACH consumers are more
committed to shopping online via desktop. Although mobile commerce is present in this
region (1/3 of purchases are made on mobile devices5), there are still a few factors that deter
M O NT HLY REVENUE PER VI SI T [$] - D ESKTO P
consumers from turning to their smartphones: such as reluctance to share their personal data
and a suggested lack of focus on optimizing the mobile shopping experience in this region.
UK NE US
NA DACH FR
M O B I L E AS %
DESKTOP M OBI L E
D E S KTO P
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
$2 .60 4
DACH 4 8%
$1.24
$2 .27
NE 69 %
$1.5 6
3
$2 .0 8
UK 51 %
$1.05
$1.9 1
NA 60%
2
$1.15
$1.61
OTHER 46%
$0.74
$1.5 5 1
FR 34 %
$0.53
BETWEEN Q1 AND Q4 OF 2018, FASHION
ECOMMERCE MERCHANTS GLOBALLY SAW A
33% INCREASE IN AVERAGE REVENUE PER
VISIT (RPV) ON DESKTOP AND A 38% INCREASE
ON MOBILE DEVICES.
AVERAGE B ASKET SI Z E [#] - M O B I LE
Average Basket Size UK NE US

NA DACH FR
TOTAL UN ITS SOL D ÷ N U M BER OF IN VOIC E S Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
4
Unsurprisingly, the global average basket size was higher on desktop (2.45) versus mobile
(2.13). On a regional level, global average basket size across DACH was highest on desktop
(4.4) AND on mobile (3.5) relative to the world. Overall, DACH countries averaged the
highest basket size (3.8), with Germany averaging the highest share of population (53%) 3
that returns online purchases6. The correlation: German regulations protecting consumer
rights and behavior allow shoppers to buy multiple colors and sizes and easily return
unwanted items7. Shipping costs also come into play, with Germany averaging $17 - the
third highest in the EU). This suggests that these consumers may also be willing to shop
2
more products per session to cut down on this cost.
Meanwhile, in the Nordic region a contrast is revealed: while this region yielded the lowest
basket size compared to other regions, RPV on mobile was highest of all analyzed regions
and mobile share of traffic is strong. This suggests that shoppers in this region are prone 1
to buying fewer, more expensive items on multiple occasions rather than purchasing more
items per session.
D ESKTOP MOBILE AVERAGE B ASKET SI Z E [#] - D ESKTO P
DACH UK NE US
NA DACH FR
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
NA 4
FR
3
UK
OTHER 2
NE
1
0 1 2 3 4 5
CO NVERSI O N RAT E [%] - M O B I LE
Conversion Rate
UK NE NA
US DACH FR
(CON VERSIONS / TOTA L V I SI TOR S) X 10 0 %
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
3%
Globally, conversion rate on desktop was the highest at 2.44% vs. 1.32% on mobile. Fashion
retailers continue to steadily improve customer conversion rate, with a 21% increase over
2018. This can be driven by factors such as: 2%
• Improvements in the usage of personalization solutions across the shopping experience

• Improvements in customer segmentation and targeting of offers to inspire a purchase
1%
Fashion retailers in the UK yielded an average range RPV and a relatively low basket size
compared to other regions, but they do lead the fashion ecommerce scene in terms of
customer conversion: conversion rates were highest on both desktop (2.9%) and mobile
(1.6%) when compared the rest of Europe and North America. In turn, North America
yielded the lowest conversion rates on desktop (2.2%) while consumers in France yielded 0%
the lowest conversion rates on mobile (0.9%). Retailers across the UK are leading the
way in terms of mobile conversion — specifically around the holiday season. UK mobile
conversion rates jumped to 2.2% between November and December (a 57% increase from a
January-October’s average of 1.4%).
ALL MARKETS
D ESKTOP MO B I L E
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2%
UK 2.9% 1.6%
DACH 2.9% 1.2% 1.5%
FR 2.4% 0. 9%
1%
NE 2.4% 1 . 5%
0.5%
OTHER 2.3 % 1 .1 %
0%
NA 2.2% 1 .0 %
GLOBALLY, FASHION RETAILERS CONTINUE TO
STEADILY IMPROVE CUSTOMER CONVERSION
RATE, WITH A 21% INCREASE OVER 2018
AVERAGE O RD ER VALUE [$] - D ESKTO P
Average Order Value

UK NE NA
US DACH FR
Globally, average order value (AOV) was dominant on desktop at $120 with mobile AOV Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
averaging $103. North America led all other regions on both mobile ($102) and desktop 130
($96). An interesting phenomenon is the shrinking gap between desktop and mobile AOV
in the North American market: mobile AOV is at 94% of desktop AOV, and is smallest
percentage-wise relative to all other regions.
110
We saw previously that the gap between desktop and mobile revenue per visit is still
noticeable, which implies that this is predominantly a function of the lower conversion rates
between device types in this region. If fashion merchants in North America can improve 90
mobile conversion rates, it will have a significant effect on revenue per visit with such high
mobile average order values.
70
Notably, DACH has high desktop AOVs but low mobile AOVs, and as expected DACH RPV
was highest on desktop as well. When looking broadly at the regions on a monthly basis, it’s
apparent that AOV is relatively flat on desktop, slightly increasing over time on mobile, and
50
both device types see a seasonal spike around Black Friday / Cyber Monday.
D ESKTOP MO B I L E AVERAGE O RD ER VALUE [$] - M O B I LE
NA $103 UK NE US
NA DACH FR
$96
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
NE $9 9 $ 89 110
DACH $9 8 $70
95
UK $8 2 $75
80
FR $75 $ 67
65
OTHER $6 8 $60
50
CART AB AND O NM ENT RAT E [%] - D ESKTO P
Cart Abandonment Rate

UK NE NA
US DACH FR
Overall, cart abandonment rates (CAR) were relatively stable throughout 2018, and most Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
regions are relatively clustered together. Globally, we saw a 80% cart abandonment rate on 100%
mobile and 74% on desktop.
90%
However, DACH is the one outlier — it yielded the lowest CAR on both desktop and mobile.
These consumers appear to be “committed shoppers” — if they add something to cart, they
are most likely to end up making a purchase. As mentioned in section 3 (Average Basket 80%
Size), German consumers are prone to returning products — and with the highest basket
size of all regions, evidence of a prevalent “buy many sizes, return the ones that don’t fit”
70%
phenomenon becomes noticeable. These same consumers are also known to be very brand
focused and loyal to the brands they love and trust: two-thirds of them are prone to sticking
with a brand they favor above all others.8 60%
50%
D ESKTOP MO B I L E
NA 78 % 86 %
CART AB AND O NM ENT RAT E [%] - M O B I LE
NE 77% 80 % UK NE NA
US DACH FR
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
100%
FR 74 % 86 %
90%
UK 74 % 79 %
80%
OTHER 72% 80 %
70%
DACH 6 6% 73 %
60%
T I M E SPENT PER VI SI T [SECO NDS] - D ESKTO P
Time Spent Per Visit

UK NE NA
US DACH FR
Globally on average fashion shoppers browse for 164 seconds when they visit a site on Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
mobile - and 239 seconds on desktop. 300
2018 yielded no massive or unexpected changes in average visit times. However, one
interesting note is that North American fashion consumers generated the lowest visit time
across all devices — yet they had the highest AOV. So while they may have the shortest 250
online shopping attention span, they’re actually the most efficient online shoppers.
Consumer behavior on mobile in France is also worth noting: it produced the lowest
conversion rates (0.9%), the lowest revenue per visitor ($0.53), and the lowest average
order value ($68).
200
The catch: these consumers had the longest visit times (186 seconds), which is 25% higher
than their North American peers. These signs indicate that French consumers prefer “digital
window shopping” more than consumers in other regions. 150
D ESKTOP MO B I L E
T I M E SPENT PER VI SI T [SECO NDS] - M O B I LE
FR 2 53 1 86
UK NE NA
US DACH FR
OTHER 268 1 83 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
200
DACH 24 3 1 72
175
UK 235 1 61 150
125
NE 23 0 1 54
100
NA 200 1 49
References
1 . REVECKA JA L L A D. FO U R WAYS FASH IO N

E-COMMERCE BRA NDS C A N CO M PE T E W IT H AM AZO N .
FORBES.COM
2. JEN KING. FO R M A NY M E RC H A NT S, M OB I L E
COMMERC E IS A C H A L L E NG E . R ETA I L . EM AR K E TE R .CO M
3. MOBIL E IS DR IV ING R E TA IL E CO M M E RC E SAL E S

WORL DWIDE.
R ETAIL.EMARK ET ER .COM
4. E-COMMERCE IN T H E NO R D I C S. SI X- M O N T H
R EP ORT 2018.
POSTNORD
5 . NIKLAS LEWA N C Z I K. D E R E INFLU SS VON M O B I L E

AU F ONL INE SH O PPING : D E R KAU F G E H T ME I ST VO M
D ESKTOP AUS. ON L I N EM A R KET I N G . D E
6 . RAY N OR DE BEST. T H E R E T U R N O F T H E PAC KAG E

STATISTA .COM
7. 12% OF ONL INE PU RC H ASE S IN G E R M A N Y G E T

R ETURNED
ECOMMERCEN EWS. EU
8 . STATISTIKEN ZU M T H E M A M O D E .
DE.STATISTA.COM
Nosto enables online retailers to deliver their customers personalized
shopping experiences at every touch point, across every device. A
powerful personalization platform designed for ease of use, Nosto
empowers retailers to build, launch and optimize 1:1 multichannel
marketing campaigns without the need for dedicated IT resources.
Leading retail brands in over 100 countries use Nosto to grow their
business and delight their customers. Nosto supports its retailers from
its offices in Helsinki, Berlin, Stockholm, London, New York,
Los Angeles and Paris.
To learn more visit www.nosto.com

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The State of Fashion

GLOBAL DATA, TRENDS, & INSIGHTS

• Traffic share by device

M OBI L E DE S KTO P OTH E R

UK 61.1% 3 0.7 % 8.2%

OTHER 5 8 .5 % 31 .1 % 10.4 % 30%

Global traffic share to fashion merchants continues to be dominated by smartphones: by

Revenue Per Visit

Average Basket Size UK NE US

D ESKTOP MOBILE AVERAGE B ASKET SI Z E [#] - D ESKTO P

• Improvements in the usage of personalization solutions across the shopping experience

DACH 2.9% 1.2% 1.5%

Average Order Value

D ESKTOP MO B I L E AVERAGE O RD ER VALUE [$] - M O B I LE

Cart Abandonment Rate

Time Spent Per Visit

T I M E SPENT PER VI SI T [SECO NDS] - M O B I LE

1 . REVECKA JA L L A D. FO U R WAYS FASH IO N

3. MOBIL E IS DR IV ING R E TA IL E CO M M E RC E SAL E S

5 . NIKLAS LEWA N C Z I K. D E R E INFLU SS VON M O B I L E

6 . RAY N OR DE BEST. T H E R E T U R N O F T H E PAC KAG E

7. 12% OF ONL INE PU RC H ASE S IN G E R M A N Y G E T

To learn more visit www.nosto.com

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