Global Content Lead - Tech & Consulting
Subscribe to the newsletter
The apparel and footwear industry continues to experience significant shifts driven by changing consumer behavior, digital innovation, and a focus on sustainability. As the global market expands, businesses must adapt to stay competitive. Statista predicts the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the eCommerce fashion (apparel and footwear) industry to reach 14.2% by 2025, with global valuations reaching new heights. To thrive in this dynamic landscape, fashion businesses need to embrace innovative ecommerce strategies that align with evolving market trends and consumer expectations.
In the last years, the sales of the footwear and apparel industry have catapulted, hitting the $180.5 billion mark in the US alone. Now, Statista predicts this number to grow the fashion market worldwide, which is projected to grow by 7.65% (2025-2029), resulting in a market volume of US$1183.00bn in 2029.
Interestingly there are four notable opportunities for businesses here.
- Businesses can expand into the global markets outside the West
- Retailers can increase online sales due to increased online access of consumers through smartphones
- Businesses can rely on the emerging worldwide middle classes who have ample disposable income
- The power of influencer and celebrity culture is more than ever, and it could be harnessed to increase sales.
While the above points offer commendable growth opportunities for fashion and apparel businesses, here are some retail eCommerce trends that retail industry can work into their long-term fashion and apparel sales strategy.
- Personalization
- Data-driven decision making
- Mobile first shopping experience
- Metaverse
- Omnichannel integration
- Paid ads building brands
- Sustainability
- Social commerce
Personalization
Personalization in retail is one of the best sales-boosting strategies businesses can adopt in 2025. It revolves around convincing customers to buy by providing them with a customized online shopping experience. It is done by showing products a customer was previously interested in and retargeting them based on their latest activity on your eCommerce website. Powered by Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, it could also mean addressing each website or application visitor by name and giving them a discount on their frequently visited product. Opportunities to personalize the buying experience are endless.
Keep reading: What is personalization in digital marketing for eCommerce retailers?
Data-driven decision making
Data-driven decision-making is a foundational eCommerce trend that retailers can leverage for sustained long-term success. 62% of retailers have stated that information and data analytics give them a competitive advantage. By using advanced data analytics and AI, businesses can gain deep insights into customer behavior, enabling them to anticipate needs, forecast trends, and personalized shopping experiences. This approach helps retailers optimize inventory management, ensuring the right products are available at the right time to meet demand.
Additionally, implementing dynamic pricing models allows retailers to stay competitive by adjusting prices based on real-time market conditions, demand, and competitor activity. This strategy not only maximizes profit margins but also enhances customer satisfaction by offering relevant and timely pricing. By embedding data-driven strategies into their operations, retailers can make informed decisions that drive efficiency, improve customer loyalty, and fuel sustained growth in an evolving market landscape.
Read more: Future-proof your retail business: Embrace data analytics & AI for success.
Mobile-first shopping experience
With the majority of online shopping now happening on mobile devices, providing a mobile-first shopping experience has become essential. This means optimizing websites and apps to ensure fast loading times, intuitive interfaces, and seamless navigation tailored to smaller screens. Mobile payment options, such as digital wallets and one-click checkouts, streamline the purchase process, reducing friction and boosting conversions.
Additionally, offering app-exclusive discounts and personalized notifications incentivizes customers to engage with your brand through mobile platforms. By prioritizing mobile-first strategies, businesses can cater to the growing number of mobile shoppers, enhance user satisfaction, and secure a competitive edge in the digital marketplace.
Metaverse
Metaverse is the social media of the future. While the promise of virtual societies remains in development, it is something people will be readily using to conduct online business in the future.
Metaverse will offer new ways to conduct business with the customers. While the selling of fashion items will be at the forefront, there will also be the opportunity of selling non-fungible tokens commonly referred to as NFT. These are unique digital tokens on the blockchain that can only be owned by one person. Users will be able to purchase these through cryptocurrencies. The NFT market size is forecast to increase by USD 84.13 billion at a CAGR of 30.3% between 2024 and 2029.
There are some players benefiting from this in the market already. A fitness apparel brand, Under Armour, is experimenting with NFTs as you read this article. The company conducted the Steph Curry collaboration to reproduce shoes worn by the basketball star wore when the NBA record of the all-time top three-point shooter was broken. That made some history, and it is something that could be made into an NFT and sold online for millions.
Omnichannel integration
Seamless omnichannel integration is a critical eCommerce trend for retailers aiming for long-term success. It ensures that customers enjoy a unified shopping experience across online and offline channels, strengthening brand loyalty and convenience. 73% of retail shoppers now interact with multiple channels. This means they might browse online, check out reviews on social media, and visit physical stores—all before making a purchase. Features like click-and-collect, in-store returns for online purchases, and real-time inventory updates bridge the gap between digital and physical storefronts, allowing shoppers to choose how they interact with the brand.
Retailers can further enhance the experience by leveraging geolocation to provide hyper-local offers and display nearby inventory availability, catering to immediate customer needs. By adopting omnichannel strategies, retailers can meet customer expectations for flexibility and convenience, driving higher engagement, repeat business, and long-term growth.
Quick read: The power of omnichannel analytics in 2025: Strategies for retailers to drive success.
Paid ads building brands
The apparel and footwear industry is highly saturated, and the customers have more choices than they had in previous years. This means that brands compete against hundreds of competitors online when they advertise their products digitally. According to reports, 74% of brands acknowledge that paid ads are a major driver for their business and $190 billion is projected to be spent on paid advertising in 2024.
Sustainability
In 2025, buyers will be making purchases from businesses with shared values. Since people have already ramped up their efforts to eradicate climate change, businesses in the apparel and footwear industry will be making some changes to their manufacturing methods to gain an edge over the competition. This is the prime reason sustainability will be an important value for fashion consumers in the years ahead. We also have numbers to back this up. Research shows that 42% of global customers prefer buying sustainable and eco-friendly products.
That is not all, the purchasing habits of people are also changing in the post-pandemic world. According to McKinsey, 65% of customers prefer purchasing durable fashion items, and 71% of the people interviewed said they will keep the fashion items they already have for a longer time duration. This is also why the fashion resale market is experiencing bullish trends. Forbes estimates it to be growing 11 times faster as compared to traditional retail and says that it will reach a mammoth $77 billion valuation in the coming years.
Social commerce
Statista predicts that social commerce sales will triple by 2025 and according to emarketer, more than one-third of Facebook users are planning to make purchases directly through the social media platform this year. It is a fact that social media enjoys a prominent position in the online marketing strategy of many fashion brands. Data shows that common social media users spend approximately 15% of their waking life using online networking apps.
Social commerce brings shopping directly to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, letting users discover and purchase products without leaving the app. This convenience boosts conversions, shortens the path to purchase, and grows brand engagement. By leveraging features like shoppable posts, influencer collaborations, and live shopping events, businesses can showcase products in a familiar setting while building trust through user-generated content and data-driven personalization. The result is a streamlined shopping experience that meets customers where they naturally spend their time.
Conclusion
Businesses operating in the apparel and footwear industry always need to be on their toes when it comes to customer expectations and getting an edge over the competition. Software solutions offering reliable forecasts in various niches will prove to be instrumental in preparing for the next big thing in the industry. Personalization will be the name of the game in 2025 and businesses branching into omnichannel customer experiences will experience success this year. Fashion businesses will need to utilize social commerce to stay ahead of the competition in 2025. The best way to do that is through videos. Here is a hint, think Livestream shopping.
Curious to know how Confiz can help you achieve remarkable success for your retail business? Contact us at marketing@confiz.com today for more information.
