Global online fashion sales up 12% in December: True Fit

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jan 19, 2023

​​Global digital fashion sales recorded double-digit growth for the month of December, as retailers closed out 2022 with strong performances despite economic headwinds and rising price-sensitivity among shoppers, according to True Fit.

The data-driven platform that decodes fit and size for leading apparel and footwear retailers said order volumes for online fashion in December globally rose 12% compared to 2021, according to True Fit data, helped by holiday discounting and extended sales periods increasing demand among price-sensitive shoppers.

True Fit took data from its Fashion Genome, the world's largest connected data set for fashion, which analyzes insights from 17,000 retail brands and data from 80 million active members. The data showed that while traffic to online retailers sites during the Holiday season dipped, 9% down on 2021 levels as shoppers returned to stores, online checkouts in December rallied. 

And, as order volumes surged, the demand for fit guidance also increased, with True Fit registrations up 30% year-on-year in December.

 "We saw most retailers in the Fashion Genome stabilize in 2022 from the Covid-related swings of 2020-2021," ​William Adler, CEO of True Fit.

"In 2023 we expect leaders that prioritize building long term customer relationships will navigate the macro and be well positioned to capture growth as the fashion accelerates toward $1Tr online by 2025."

Separate data from BDO showed that retailers saw omnichannel sales across both brick-and-mortar and ecommerce rise by 9.8% in December compared to last year, despite pre-Christmas warnings and downbeat forecasts for festive trading amid the rising cost-of-living crisis.

The BDO said fashion continued to be one of the highest performing sectors for discretionary spend, with omnichannel apparel sales up 16% last month versus 2021.

Meanwhile, insights from Wunderkind pointed to a post-Christmas online surge, reporting online sales in the last week of December rose 26% year-on-year.