The number of Spanish citizens buying apparel online increased by 12.5 percent year-on-year to 2.4 million in 2012, according to a report released by Kantar Worldpanel, a leading market and consumer research firm.
The report titled "The future of e-commerce in textiles" says, while online purchases accounted for just 1.4 percent of the total sales made by the Spanish textiles and garment sector in 2012, the figure has doubled in just two years. According to the study, online shoppers acquired an average of six garments during the year, and the amount spent on buying the same showed a rise of 3.7 percent year-on-year.
Rosa Pilar Lopez, Sector Director, Kantar Worldpanel, said the data is encouraging for the online clothing sector, as the average amount spent by each individual in the offline channel declined by nearly eight percent during the same period. People who buy clothing online have not only increased their spending in the past year, but they are also big buyers of textiles through e-commerce. Online shoppers spent €1,048 on all purchases of textiles in 2012, which is €383 more than the average amount spent by each individual on purchase of textiles offline during the year. The report also mentions the differences between men and women while buying clothing online. While women spend more time on websites, it is the men who buy more items through this channel. Men account for purchase of 4 out of 10 clothing items sold online, while they buy only 27 percent of items offline.
The clothes that are purchased over the Internet include hoodies, shirts, polo shirts and dresses. However, innerwear and accessories are still purchased more through offline channels.
