Online and offline - eternal battle or cooperation?

The rapid growth of the category "Clothing and footwear" on marketplaces makes us think about the decline in consumer interest in purchasing goods in traditional fashion retail. However, according to experts from Fashion Consulting Group, the existence of alternative retail channels should not be perceived as a confrontation, but rather, as an opportunity for combination and cooperation, and, as a result, sales growth.

Anna Lebsak-Kleimans - CEO of Fashion Consulting Group.

The lion's share of sales in fashion e-commerce comes from marketplaces

The online channel's share continues to grow, and its share is expected to increase to 50% in the near future. Marketplaces, which currently account for more than 4/5 of the fashion e-commerce volume in the Russian Federation, will remain the driving force of fashion e-commerce sales in the medium term.

More than 2/3 of shoppers use both channels when buying clothes. The share of multichannel shoppers in the fashion category is growing very quickly. In 2014, it was 11%, and in 2024, it will be 63%.

Traditional retail now exists in a new reality, which means that, on the one hand, online takes away some customers, but, on the other hand, marketplaces give brands a chance to present their product, and some customers can come to stores to try on models. Therefore, today the existence of alternative channels is not a confrontation, but on the contrary, a combination and cooperation, new opportunities for retailers.

The main strategies aimed at increasing the efficiency of this cooperation include diversification of product range across sales channels and development of technologies that allow fashion brands to synchronize channel management: formation of uniform prices, discounts, showcases, as well as coordination of loyalty programs.

Lamoda Sport flagship store in Moscow on Kuznetsky Most

A third of clothing and shoe purchases are spontaneous

Shopping malls and traditional stores offer customers a pleasant way to spend their free time from work; stores strive to become an atmospheric and eventful place where you can relax and escape from your worries. This is reflected in the fact that clothing is the category where the share of spontaneous purchases is the highest: clothing and footwear - a third of purchases are spontaneous, followed by home goods, cosmetics and perfumes, in these categories a quarter of purchases are spontaneous.

Also, physical stores inspire more trust in buyers than marketplaces, both in terms of originality and authenticity of clothing, and in terms of quality. Therefore, many fashion retail players, who previously worked mainly online, have been actively taking up the development of traditional retail in the last few years.

Idol store in Moscow in the shopping mall "Aviapark"

There are very interesting solutions on the market, both in terms of correct and successful marketing and a business model that allows you to successfully scale your business, and in terms of originality, which allows you to attract attention and stand out, despite high competition.

Strong marketing is companies that have started growing rapidly over the last 3 years: the entire range of Melon Fashion Group brands — SELA, Zarina, Love Republic, Befree, IDOL — each brand has its own unique identity and its own interpretation of modern fashion. Each brand has its own marketing style, tone, type of events and choice of topics for interesting collaborations.

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LIME is developing noticeably, successfully and boldly, and even opened its own gallery of contemporary art on Kuznetsky Most, a corner with coffee and desserts on the territory of the LIME men's department in the Paveletskaya Plaza shopping center, and created a collection for the GES-2 art space.

LIME flagship store in Moscow on Kuznetsky Most

A very interesting path of development and intellectual, "personal" marketing at 12STOREEZ, continuing the style of direct communication that was formed back in the days when the brand existed only on social networks. A striking example is the launch of a series of short films, where the heroes, famous people, share their very personal and delicate stories.

EKONIKA concept store in Moscow in the Atrium shopping mall

EKONIKA is developing surprisingly successfully — both in the product, making it more and more high-quality, relevant and premium, and in “educated” marketing. Now the brand is focused on an educated and successful person: for example, at the 12th international fair of contemporary art Cosmoscow, the art installation “Blue Room” was presented.

Blue Room EKONIKA x EDxxKAT at Cosmoscow Fair

Another one of the "star" projects - bold, original and very personal - is Oskelly. Everything they do hits the mark.

Elite second-hand store Oskelly in Moscow on Stoleshnikov Lane

The shortlist of fashion retail "stars" also includes MONOCHROME, which recently opened another concept store - now in Yekaterinburg. The brand constantly attracts attention with interesting collaborations: MONOCHROME + PANTONE, MONOCHROME™ and "Kofemania", MONOCHROME™ for THE BLUEPRINT, "Yandex Plus" and MONOCHROME.

MONOCHROME concept store in Yekaterinburg

Among niche author companies there are also plenty of interesting, unusual and sharp projects. For example, one of the latest discoveries is the design of the Choux store on Patriarch's Ponds, inspired by futurism and bionic forms.

Over the past 3 years, many Russian brands have flourished brightly, so this list can be expanded and continued.