Consumer Behavior Report

Apparel Trends
Overview
Report Highlights
The most important factor that motivates online consumers to purchase clothing or footwear online is discounted prices (31%), closely followed by easy return policies (27%) and free shipping offers (26%). During the current economic downturn, 66% of online respondents indicated that they sometimes purchase online when asked to describe how they shop for clothing. Similarly, 53% of shoppers also indicated purchasing online for footwear. 79% of male shoppers agree that a positive aspect of shopping for clothing online is I know my size and it saves me time and money, while only 67% of female shoppers agree. 74% of female shoppers browse for clothing online even if they do not plan to purchase, compared to 64% of male shoppers. 47% of online consumers indicate that on average, they will return one of every five clothing or footwear purchases. More than a quarter (28%) of online consumers indicate never having returned an item purchased online. 61% of online consumers indicate that they need to try on their clothes prior to purchasing. Another 29% of online consumers suggest a need for immediate gratification: I dont like waiting for my clothing purchases to ship.

What is the Consumer Behavior Report?

The Consumer Behavior Report is designed to give merchants, media and industry analysts insight into shopping trends, pricing and market share. Each month, a different topic will be the focus of the report.

What is the Apparel Trends Report?

The Apparel Trends report examines attitudes towards shopping for apparel products online. This report also captures online purchasing preferences for clothing and footwear. The data included in this report is from the Apparel Survey that was conducted from October 6 to October 20, 2008 and based on 1,850 online comparison shoppers. The report is supported with online shopping traffic data sourced from Market Reporter, a statistical database that tracks actual consumer shopping behavior on PriceGrabber.com. PriceGrabber.com is a major shopping comparison engine, with more than 26 million unique users per month and up-to-date daily pricing of products supplied by more than 13,000 sellers. PriceGrabber.com recently launched the free shipping site http://FreeShipping.PriceGrabber.com/ to provide consumers with comparison shopping tools for evaluating free shipping offers on almost 6 million products from more than 1,000 retailers.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR REPORT 2008

Apparel Trends
In October 2008, PriceGrabber.com conducted the online Apparel Survey of 1,850 respondents to examine shopping and purchasing behavior for online clothing and footwear. Within this report, PriceGrabber.com monitors trends in the online apparel market, and profiles male and female online clothing shopping and purchasing behavior. Due to all the economic uncertainty, online consumers are spending more consciously and some are turning to online retailers for relief savings, convenience and breadth of selection.

Apparel Consumer Market Trends

According to the 2008 PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey, nearly three quarters (73 percent) of online consumers indicate that they have purchased clothing and/or footwear online. More specifically, 63 percent have purchased clothing and 48 percent have purchased footwear, while 27 percent have not purchased clothing or footwear online [See Table 1].
[Table 1] Have you e ve r purchas e d clothing or footw e ar ? 63% 48% Clothing 27% Footw ear None of the above

in C lo th

ve w ear e abo F oot o f th N one

Source: PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey, 10/06//08-10/20/08; Sample size: n=1,421 US online buyers

In spite of current economic challenges facing consumers and deflating consumer confidence, shopping for clothing and footwear online continues to stay on the radar for the majority of online consumers. During the current economic downturn, 66% of online respondents indicated that they sometimes purchase online when asked to describe how they shop for clothing. Similarly, 53% of shoppers also indicated purchasing online for footwear. [See Table 2, Table 3].
[Table 2] W hich of these statements accurately describes how you are shopping for clothing?
28% 6%

I always purchas e online I s om etim es purchas e online I never purchas e online

66%

Source: PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey, 10/06//08-10/20/08 Sample size: n=1,333 US online buyers

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[Table 3] W hich of the se sta teme nts a ccurately describe s how you are shopping for footw ea r? I always 6% 42% purchas e online
I s om etim es purchas e online

53%

I never purchas e online

Source: PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey, 10/06//08-10/20/08 Sample size: n=1,301 US online buyers

It boils down to all aspects of price when it comes to motivating consumers to purchase clothing and footwear online. The most important factor that motivates online consumers to purchase clothing or footwear online is discounted prices (31 percent), closely followed by easy return policies (27 percent) and free shipping offers (26 percent) [See Table 4]. Sixteen percent of consumers indicate assurance of correct size most likely to avoid returning the item; however, size is only one aspect quality, texture and color all matter to shoppers.
[Table 4] W hich of the follow ing is the most important factor that w ould motivate you to purchase clothing or footw ear online? 31% 26% Free shipping Free, easy return policy Assurance of correct size Discounted prices

16%

27%

Source: PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey, 10/06//08-10/20/08 Sample size: Table 2 n=1,248 US online buyers

Over one third of online consumers choose to sacrifice convenience over savings. Thirty-five percent of online consumers refuse to pay shipping for online clothing purchases when they can go to a nearby store. Consumers return online orders as a last resort. Three quarters of consumers rarely, if ever, return online purchases of clothing or footwear. Forty-seven percent of online consumers indicate that on average, they will return one of every five clothing or footwear purchases. More than a quarter (28 percent) of online consumers indicate never having returned an item purchased online [See Table 5].

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR REPORT 2008

[Table 5] If you purchase clothing or footw ear online, how often do you return purchases?
Never Rarely (1 of 5 item s ) Som etim es (2 of 5 item s ) Often (3 of 5 item s ) Alm os t always (4 of 5 item s )

28% 47% 17% 5% 3%

Source: PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey, 10/06//08-10/20/08 Sample size: Table 2 n=1,203 US online buyers

Apparel Market Trends

The consumers final decision to purchase is largely contingent on their overall comfort with the online browsing and purchase process. A consumers personal comfort level includes, but is not limited to, online navigation confidence, price points, sizing familiarity and retailer familiarity. According to PriceGrabber.coms Apparel Survey, the majority of online consumers (65 percent) feel comfortable purchasing clothing from online retailers. Although consumers indicate feeling less comfortable purchasing footwear than clothing online, the majority (51 percent) feels comfortable purchasing footwear from online retailers [See Table 6].
[Table 6] Overall, are you comfortable or uncomfortable with purchasing clothing or footw ear online?
65% 35% 51% 49%

Comf ort level purchasing Comf ort level purchasing clothing online f ootw ear online Comf ortable Uncomf ortable

Source: PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey, 10/06//08-10/20/08; Sample size: n=1,398 US online clothing buyers; n=1,396 US online footwear buyers

Consumers visit clothing and footwear categories that are easiest to shop. PriceGrabber.coms internal data warehouse, Market Reporter, shows that in the last year, the most popular mens and womens sub-categories within the Clothing Channel are: womens boots, handbags, dresses, sandals, coats, jackets and mens athletic shoes, jackets and casual shoes. The following online sub-categories show that the most attractive average price points to mainstream consumers are under $350 [See Table 7].

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR REPORT 2008

[Table 7] Popular Clothing Categories on PriceGrabber.com Top 10 Categories in the Clothing Channel September 2007- 08* Women's Boots Women's Handbags Women's Dresses Women's Sandals Men's Athletic Shoes Women's Coats Men's Jackets Men's Casual Shoes Sunglasses Women's Jackets Average Price September 2007- 08** $125 $316 $116 $69 $73 $167 $144 $79 $135 $120

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Source: 2008 PriceGrabber.com Market Reporter *Ranking for Clothing Channel Sub-categories based on clickthrus to merchants from 10/21/2007 to 10/21/08 *Average price based on sub-category average from 9/2007 to 9/2008

The data suggests that the categories most shopped in the Clothing Channel are those that require general or familiar sizing measurements. Sixty-one percent of online consumers indicate that they need to try on their clothes prior to purchasing. Another 29 percent of online consumers suggest a need for immediate gratification: I dont like waiting for my clothing purchases to ship.

Male versus Female: Online Clothing Shopping Profile

Everyone shops differently. One might expect men and women to have significant differences in online shopping behavior, but in fact, they show similarities.

[Table 10] Clothing Shopper Profile by Gender

Overall Female Male

Do you spend time shopping/browsing online for CLOTHING even if you dont plan to purchase? Yes No

68% 32% 87% 13%

74% 26% 88% 12%

64% 36% 87% 13%

Overall, are you comfortable or uncomfortable with purchasing CLOTHING online? Comfortable Uncomfortable

Do you agree with any of the following positive aspects of shopping and purchasing CLOTHING online? Select all that apply I know my size and it saves me time and money I feel more relaxed when purchasing clothing online versus in-store It provides anonymity and the chance to try clothing on at home

73% 31% 17%

67% 36% 22%

79% 26% 13%

Source: PriceGrabber.com Apparel Survey live from 10/06/2007 to 10/20/08 Sample (n) = 896, US online buyers who indicate having purchased clothing online

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR REPORT 2008

Key gender differences in shopping and purchasing clothing online [See Table 10]: 74 percent of female shoppers browse for clothing online even if they do not plan to purchase, compared to 64 percent of male shoppers. 79 percent of male shoppers agree that a positive aspect of shopping for clothing online is I know my size and it saves me time and money, while only 67 percent of female shoppers agree. 36 percent of female shoppers feel more relaxed when purchasing clothing online versus in-store compared to 26 percent of male shoppers. 22 percent of female shoppers say shopping online for clothes provides anonymity and the chance to try clothing on at home compared to only 13 percent of male shoppers.

Disclaimer
The data, market trends and analysis in this report were prepared by PriceGrabber.com. The data included in this report is sourced from the consumer behavior Apparel Survey fielded between October 6, 2008 and October 20, 2008 and the 2008 Market Reporter database. The maximum sampling error for the Apparel Survey results based on the sample of 1,850 respondents is +/ 3.36 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. This report may not be reproduced, distributed or published by any person for any purpose without PriceGrabber.coms prior written consent. Please cite source when quoting. Source: PriceGrabber.com For media inquiries, to schedule phone interviews, or for journalists who would like to request additional data and/or a custom survey for their needs, please contact Carolyn Chiang by phone at (415) 365-0397 or by email at Carolyn.Chiang@bitepr.com.