The fashion e-commerce landscape is constantly evolving at a rapid pace: new marketplaces and established aggregators, innovation in supply chains, marketing and communications strategies. Different elements create a huge impact on the market, which grows and evolves differently depending on the country.
Last Thursday, 28th of April, Stylight took part, as a sponsor and speaker, in the Ecommfashion 2016 in Madrid, organized by Fashionbiz2.0. An event dedicated to unveiling the future of fashion e-commerce in the local market, attended by big online fashion players such as Showroomprive.com, Intropia, Pretty Ballerinas, Wolfnoir, Uno de 50 and more.
What learnings did we take away from the meet-up? Is Spain a leading market in fashion e-commerce? Which challenges and opportunities will it face in the upcoming months? Find out below.
1. Spain is a key market for the online fashion industry
Spanish fashion labels’ and retailers’ prestige has made Spain an important player in the fashion e-commerce landscape. Proof of this is its continuous growth, having overtaken 6 million buyers with a 16% share of market sales made online in February 2016, as stated by Kantar Worldpanel and Deloitte. Not only that, but 3% of total fashion sales in Spain in 2015 were made online, resulting in an expected continued growth in 2016, according to the same source.
As a third reason for its relevance, Spanish brands are developing accomplished international strategies. As Camille Maciet, Business Development Manager Spain and France at Stylight states, in this regard, retailers have the opportunity through fashion and lifestyle aggregators, such as Stylight, to penetrate successfully into new markets. The markets included in their expansion strategies? France, Germany, Italy and the USA rank at the top as seen in our internal data.
Camille Maciet de Stylight en Ecommfashion 2016
2. Content and shopping are a match!
But how will the future look? What are fashion users expecting from major aggregators and marketplaces? In this regard, the answer is internationally aligned: content and shopping, or inspiration and transactions, are the perfect match. With so many people bored of looking for inspiration in magazines and blogs, to finally purchase the product in e-shops or aggregators, consumers demand a new model where both can be found in just one site. How to make it happen? Discover in one click!
3. The prominence of mobile commerce
Since last year it has been clear that Spain is the European leading market in smartphone usage (91%) followed by Italy (89%), Sweden (88%) and France (86%), as stated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) from the UK.
David Bell, creator at celebs’ beloved shoes brand, Pretty Ballerinas, confirmed the trend when it comes to online purchases. As the last few years have seen, m-commerce and especially purchases though iOS devices, have drastically increased and it’s expected to continue in 2016 with a huge decrease of purchases made through laptops. The three key factors which contribute to their success are inquiries, concurrence and urgence according to the Spanish fashion label, Intropia.
4. Opinion leaders and makers are key in communication strategies
In a world dominated by content and smartphones, how will e-commerce companies communicate effectively with their core and potential target groups? Being established in a local market where users expect a very emotional and close relationship with their brands, companies are trying to boost the number of loyal consumers and their business results thanks to influencer marketing. As stated by Gina Gulberti, Global COMMS and Content Manager at Augure (Launchmetrics), during Ecommfashion 2016: “Influencer marketing is one of the fundamental pillars to build up and establish brand awareness in Spain. Spanish experts in communications confirm the trend in our II Influencers Report, where 93% of the respondents stated they get better results thanks to the cooperations with opinion leaders and opinion makers.”
Not only that but influencers and digital trendsetters’ influence goes beyond borders, enabling brands to incorporate efficient communication strategies into their international growth. At Stylight, we consider their vision and inspiring projects as part of our core business, celebrating influencers annually at the Stylight Awards, where we give praise to leading trendsetters in fashion, beauty and lifestyle–want to know more about 2016’s edition? Check it out here!
5. Content is still king
No only onsite but also offsite, Spanish users tend to establish longer and more loyal relationships with brands that provide them with inspirational and emotional content. When it comes to the format, most brands tend to lean towards editorial or visual content campaigns, having seen an increase in cooperations with YouTubers through product placement campaigns in the beauty, lifestyle and fashion industries. The biggest names in the Spanish market? YouTubers Patry Jordan, HappySunnyFlowers and Nightnonstop are leading the video platform.
From left to right: Pablo Martín de Instagramers, Gina Gulberti de Launchmetrics y Verónica Cobos de Stylight en Ecommfashion 2016
Innovation and being proactive are key to succeed in the increasingly competitive online fashion market. Innovation in formats, channels and topics, as well as being proactive, always on top of the news, and anticipating lifestyle events which will have a relevant impact on users will all help.
How will fashion aggregators respond to users’ demands? Will smartphones and tablets completely drive laptop purchases out of the window? Will content keep its leading place in Spain? Stay tuned to the Stylight blog to find out!
Do you also want to know how will fashion eCommerce shape the future in Italy? Read the 2016 trends and forecasts for the Italian Ecommerce market in our blogpost.
|By Verónica Cobos Sánchez – PR & Communications Manager Spain|
Image Source: Jesús Varillas
