As the apparel industry sought to regain its footing from a disastrous 2020, retailers with investments in digital technologies prior to or early in the pandemic fared far better financially, according to Incisiv’s 2021 Apparel, Footwear & Accessories Digital Maturity Index.
According to the report, the buying journey has been forever changed, and digital is now the starting point for over 90% of shoppers. Proving that the path to purchase decision is no longer linear, 70% of traffic to apparel retailers’ websites is from mobile devices. Nearly 70% of market sales now come from a digital platform.
Additional key takeaways from the report include:
- In research & discovery, personalization and product recommendations saw the highest growth in maturity. Retailers that added sections for cross-selling on product page saw the most growth at 60%.
- In online ordering, the “buy-now, pay-later” trend led the way with close to 60% of retailers now offering the option. However, one of the most critical components of retail, inventory visibility, saw almost no advancement in maturity.
- In fulfillment, contactless pick-up and self-service capabilities saw the most growth while other pick-up options such as pick-up in-store and expedited pick-up continue to lag more mature segments in this area, such as grocery.
- In customer service, communication channels such as subscribing for text alerts and virtual assistants saw the most growth (although still low at less than 35% adoption) and shopper engagement capabilities saw the least growth year-on-year.
“The apparel industry has had to endure unparalleled disruption to their business models in the last 24 months. The segment should be commended for the speed by which they have adapted,” said Amarjot Mokha, Chief Operating Officer, Incisiv. “However, shopper behavior is a moving target, and the industry must still evolve to meet their expectations. We conduct this work to help retailers understand how they compare to their peers and to help identify high-impact improvement opportunities based on the complete digital shopper journey.”
