Report: integration of online and offline crucial to success of online retailers

A report published by digital marketing agency I Spy Marketing includes research into consumer attitudes to buying high street and luxury fashion online, as well as a review of how effectively brands are embracing digital marketing.

While many fashion retailers have developed a forward-thinking approach to technology, there’s still scope for fashion retailers to improve their digital strategy. It is also becoming more and more vital for businesses to integrate bricks-and-mortar stores with digital assets to offer a seamless shopping experience.The report is based on two pieces of research: a survey of 400 consumers conducted by OnePoll, which looked at the importance of difference factors in the online buying decision-making process, and I Spy Marketing’s own research, which covered paid search, natural search and social media. Some key findings from the research report include:

• 77% of fashion consumers use Amazon and Ebay to buy a branded product at a cheaper price
• Early adopters of mobile are using their device to make payments but 54% state they will never use their mobile for shopping
• Luxury brands have embraced Facebook and Twitter but take-up is slow on Google+
• Etailers are using paid search to help with their keyword visibility
• Luxury brands were less likely to rank highly in paid search when using generic search terms
• Accessories sites dominate the menswear paid search findings
• ASOS was the highest ranked retailer across the search for generic fashion terms, with the etailer ranking in the top ten a total of 66 times, followed by Amazon and Debenhams.
• Sales of the tablet are predicted to surpass the desktop

For further insights, the full report is available to download for free below.