Fashion retailers see a surge in online searches
UK CLOTHING retailers are benefitting from a jump in smartphone searches for their products.
British shoppers’ searches for apparel are up 54 per cent in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2014, according to figures released today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Google.
“The latest BRC-Google figures show that UK consumers are making greater use than ever of handheld devices to shop online, particularly where it comes to buying clothes,” said BRC director general Helen Dickinson.
British apparel retailers were also boosted by a 10 per cent year-on-year climb in searches from foreigners across all devices.
The biggest increases came from Serbia, Slovakia and Hungary at 36, 34 and 34 per cent respectively across all devices. Serbian, Slovakian and Hungarian smartphone searches were up 194, 136 and 102 per cent respectively.
“Interestingly, emerging markets still see strong growth from tablets, however smartphones supercharge growth for overseas consumers of UK brands,” said Peter Fitzgerald, retail director at Google.
As well as UK consumers putting in more searches for domestic retailers, they also increased their searches for foreign brands by nine per cent across all devices.
“The New Year saw an increase in sports and fitness apparel searches as Brits turn over a new leaf and focus on their health. Looking at the top queries we can see that wedding season is under way with engagement rings and wedding dresses trending on mobile devices,” Fitzgerald said.
Sports and fitness and women’s clothing dominated apparel category searches. Meanwhile, the most frequently searched for terms on smartphones were dresses, baby clothes, bikini, bridesmaid dresses and dress.