Holiday Online Shopping Surges, Plus, a Site for Sore Eyes

As was the case last year, eBay was the busiest shopping portal this past holiday season, with Amazon.com running a close second, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Jupiter estimated that 51.7 million unique visitors clicked to e-commerce sites during the week ending Dec. 2, 2001, representing growth of 45 percent over the equivalent period from the previous year. Yahoo.com’s shopping portal surged up 86 percent during the period running from just after Thanksgiving through Dec. 26, representing $10.3 billion in sales.

For the first time, the number of women who used the Internet for holiday shopping outpaced the number of men, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Of the 29 million users who made purchases online during the holiday season, approximately 58 percent were women, up from 50 percent during the 2000 season, and they racked up an average purchase total of $392.

Comparison shopping at BizRate.com, DealTime.com and MySimon.com all saw sizable increases in traffic. Also, a clear distinction between the buying patterns of men and women was evidenced, with men favoring various computer sites, while women favored apparel sites, including OldNavy.com, Spiegel.com and JCPenney.com.

Affluent shoppers—defined as those with annual household incomes over $100,000—also favored apparel sites. Gap.com topped a long list of sites in terms of the percentage of its visitors who were affluent shoppers, with 36 percent of them falling into that category. LLBean.com saw 33 percent of its visitors come from the affluent category.

Finally, multi-channel efforts—an innovation that took hold only last year—appear to be paying off for retailers with both bricks-and-mortar and Internet presences. Those who prefer to skip the malls buy online, while those who prefer to shop the traditional way are armed with the information (products, store locations, etc.) to drive them into the stores.

SoWear Is So There

Perhaps the most creative, content-rich, fun-to-navigate-and-explore site we’ve seen recently is one that caters to the fashion-design community. It’s called SoWear.com [www.sowear.com] and anyone with a passion for fashion as art and creative expression will enjoy the experience this unique online haven has to offer. (SoWear.com has a physical site as well. It’s a bicoastal showroom featured in the Dec. 7–13, 2001 issue of California Apparel News.)

Taking full advantage of the latest multimedia technology for enlivening Web sites (Flash, JavaScript, etc.), the SoWear site presents a great collection of designers’ work, motivations and inspirations in its “Magazine” area. The site is very much open to the newest, not-so-well-known cutting-edge designers, and freely invites this talent to participate by stating in its “Artists” area: “SoWear...offer[s] a unique space for artists to experiment with new and innovative ideas, and a place for media and buyers to come and learn what’s happening in the forward-thinking fashion community.” Work must be submitted and reviewed before inclusion, but the site seems wide open to everything new, exciting and over-the-edge.

Still, it’s not entirely Internet/ art/fashion nirvana, because there are some restrictions. Areas for “Buyers” and other B2B seekers require registration and subscription, noting, “If you are looking for an artist’s contact, fashion calendar or the fashion resources directory, you must have a SoWear Membership.”

But, all things considered (not the least of which is the need to cover costs for an innovative Web site), there is nothing to compare to this most original, beautifully conceived and executed virtual space—a great and noteworthy gift to all who make, market and wear clothing and have feelings about its broadest social and artistic contexts.

ApparelNews.net Web Site Note:

The 2002 Domestic and International Trade Show Calendar is online. Just click on “Trade Shows” on the California Apparel News home page. Orders for the full-color printed wall calendar edition—which includes detailed contact info—are being accepted (there is a charge of $5 for shipping/handling).