Fashion and apparel are Europe's most popular categories for online shopping

In most European countries, fashion and apparel was the main product segment for online shopping in 2020, according to the annual Europe Clothing B2C E-Commerce Market 2021 by Research and Markets.

When it came to online shopping in most European countries, consumer choices focused on the fashion and apparel sector. In the United Kingdom, according to an October 2020 survey, clothing ranked second in future online shopping preferences, as it did in Germany. In Spain, the clothing product segment led others. In Russia clothing and shoes were the dominant choice for cross-border online shopping, while domestic B2C e-commerce sales clothing and shoes were the second most important category in 2020.

Amazon, ASOS and eBay are the most commonly visited fashion websites in the UK, where B2C textile, apparel and footwear e-commerce growth is expected to reach nearly a quarter in 2021, due to the country’s lockdowns.

In Germany, B2C e-commerce sales in the apparel category showed the highest year-over-year growth in the first quarter of 2021, leading other categories. Ukraine is also projected to see a gradual acceleration in online apparel purchases over the next few years, with B2C e-commerce sales reaching more than half a billion U.S. dollars by 2023.

Online-only retailers are the leading choice for purchasing apparel online in European countries in 2021

Online-only retailers were commonly used across Europe to shop online for clothing items, as of 2020 and 2021. For instance, in Germany and the UK, as per a February 2021 survey, online-only retailers, such as Zalando, led the choice of shopping websites. In Ukraine, the leading fashion retail website was the local one, SHAFA, followed by domestic merchants Klubok and Kloomba. The full report provides insights into possible future developments of the industry, based on the forecasted market values, consumers’ preferences and intentions, as well technological trends.