All Things Money
We apparel consumers are a tough lot to please. We don’t have brand loyalty, we are happy to bypass knowledgeable sales assistants and, if Amazon has read us right, we are even prepared to buy intimate apparel online, if the price is low enough.
The future of apparel retailing has been on my mind recently as several established retail chains have closed their doors.
Under the headline “The retail rot spreads to Australia”, one analyst noted the closure announcements of Marcs, David Lawrence, Herringbone and Rhodes & Beckett stores “following closely in the footsteps of Pumpkin Patch and Payless Shoes”.
He suggested fashion retail was officially dead; the industry’s demise due largely to the growing popularity of online shopping and categorykilling behemoths like Asos and Amazon.
Shopping is a pastime for me and I’ve previously refused to believe online shopping would overtake physical stores so comprehensively.
My thinking was that, when buying clothes, you need to feel the fabric and check the sizing. For some women — not me, admittedly — getting advice and a second opinion from a sales assistant is important.
I’m yet to be convinced that Amazon can conquer the final frontier: lingerie.
But online shopping has become the thing.
Return policies have improved, removing the friction of buying apparel. If a pair of jeans doesn’t quite fit as expected or a dress isn’t the same colour blue as it appeared on the website, they can be returned with little hassle and often at no cost.
Instead of helpful sales assistants, shoppers rely on reviews from other customers who give honest opinions of a garment’s fit, the feel of the fabric and whether you should go up or down a size.
One retail analyst suggests it’s not just the convenience of buying at a place and time to suit and having your shopping delivered to your door that gives online shops an advantage. It’s the fact that malls have made apparel shopping boring.
“The majority of chain stores,