Mobile-centric approach paying off for fashion retailers, Nosto

Consumers are growing more comfortable buying fashion items on their phones, according to Black Friday and Cyber Monday research from Nosto.

Its analysis of 25 million online visits spanning 350 online fashion stores globally suggests mobile accounted for 71% of traffic and 56% of sales revenue (up from 64% and 50% in 2017) on the two days. Conversion rates were also up on mobile phones from 1.98% last year to 2.28% in 2018.

“For a few years now, most e-commerce businesses have been heavily focused on improving the mobile experience. And our early holiday season data suggests that in fashion it’s paying off: the proportion of consumers who are now willing to both research and buy fashion on their phones is on the rise - and the revenue gap between mobile and desktop is widening,” says Jim Lofgren CEO at Nosto, which counts the likes of Gymshark, Agent Provocateur, Aquascutum, and Woodhouse clothing as customers.

There’s still work to do, however, particularly in relations to conversion rates.

“There’s still a lingering suggestion that some consumers are more likely to make their fashion purchases on a bigger screen than on a mobile. That’s going to change as new innovations including the increasing use of AI and the greater availability of personalisation on native mobile apps helps to make the mobile user journey even better and easier – and as people naturally become more accustomed to buying clothes on their phones.”