Low-cost fashion retailers missing out on online sales

Consumer expectations of websites have evolved, with price no longer the clinching factor

Value fashion retailers are missing out on online sales due to poor website design and functionality

Value fashion brands are losing out on online sales as they are not meeting consumers’ expectations with their websites, according to a new report.

The 2010 UK Fashion Retail Report from GSI Commerce International reveals that value fashion retailers are leaking sales owing to a lack of extra web functions essential in converting visits into sales.

It reveals that online customers of value fashion brands are not swayed by low prices alone when buying online.

Some 40 per cent of customers said that they would not buy a product if they saw no lifestyle images on the website, and nearly half (48 per cent) would be unwilling to buy online if there was only one product image available on the website.

Meanwhile, over half of consumers claim that features such as image zoom (58 per cent) and 360-degree rotation of products (51 per cent) would increase the likelihood of online purchase.

“People can see what is available elsewhere and what retailers can do online, and they wonder why the value brands are not doing the same thing because it seems such a simple concept,” said Celene Ward, spokesperson at GSI Commerce International.

“Creating a nice site for customers to be guided through is imperative, principally because there are already websites out there that people are using.”

She added that consumers who have good experiences with websites tend to go back to the sites they have had good experiences with. She cited sites run by Marks & Spencer and John Lewis as examples of those that generate return custom.

GSI’s survey used a sample size of 1,092 adults in the UK and was carried out online.