fashion

What are fashion consumers craving?

By Rieva Lesonsky

Consumers are in an eclectic mood when it comes to fashion today. Here’s a quick look at several trends driving the fashion industry.

Eco fashion

Led by the world’s youth, last week millions around the world took to the streets in a global climate strike. This is all part of the move toward green consumerism. According to GlobalWebIndex, in general 57% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable and eco-friendly products, up from 49% in 2011.  But among fashion and jewelry buyers, 71% will spend more. GlobalWebIndex says eco fashion has gone mainstream and will be redefining the “rules” of the fashion industry going forward.

Costume jewelry

Costume jewelry will be a $52.4 billion industry by 2025. This is part of the e-commerce fashion trend, which is expected to generate sales of $713 billion by 2022. GlobalWebIndex reports 16% of the global internet population regularly buy fashion and jewelry.

The typical fashion and jewelry buyer is in their early 30s, married (55%), working full-time (64%) and has at least one child (61%). More than two-thirds (67%) like to get advice from others before making a purchase.

Luxury fashion

It seems paradoxical that the same consumers buying costume jewelry are embracing luxury goods. But the NPD Group reports millennials (as well as Gen Z) are big fans of luxury fashion. The average luxury consumer owns nine luxury fashion items, including accessories, apparel and footwear.

These buyers take a bit of a different purchase journey—they like the convenience and extensive browsing ability they get from online shopping, but also appreciate shopping in-store. However, more than half of millennial and Gen Z luxury buyers prefer to shop mostly or only online.

Luxury shoppers are looking for quality products that are distinctive and have a timeless style. The good news for SMBs is, when buying luxury goods online, they prefer to shop on pure-play websites that feature a variety of brands. So you’re not competing as much with Amazon or department store websites, though department stores are their favorite place to shop in-store.

 

Costume jewelry stock photo by Sergey Bogdanov/Shutterstock