October 2011 to March 2012

ONLINE CLOTHING RETAIL WOMENSWEAR

INTELLIGENCE REPORT

32

WHAT’S SHAPING ONLINE WOMENSWEAR?

TOP INSIGHTS

• Multi-channel retailers dominate both search marketing and social media.

• ASOS is the only retailer that is visible in the top 10 for all the primary keyword product markets including dresses, accessories and shoes.

• House of Fraser leads the dresses keyword market with strong consistent rankings for all top volume terms including dresses, party dresses, evening dresses and maxi dresses.

• No one single operator dominates all the top womenswear generic phrases terms, therefore competition between Boohoo, ASOS, Lipsy, Dorothy Perkins and Missguided remains intense.

• New Look has developed a social strategy that has the most robust balance between engagement quality and volume.

• Topshop has the most holistic Facebook and Twitter presence in which they have the largest audience that is both consistently and positively engaged.

Mounting pressure on household budgets are generating more online retail searches as people work harder to compare prices and track down value. The result is a dramatic increase in market competition as more and more multi-channel retail-ers (those using physical/high-street stores and the internet) go head to head with the pure online retailers for customers (source: Clothing Retailing - UK - October 2011: Mintel).

• Who are the market leaders?

• Which keywords are driving market visibility?

• What are retailers doing to achieve maximum market share?

• How are retailers using social media to acquire customers?

• What will shape retail strategies in 2012?

• A who’s who in online womenswear clothing retail.

• In-depth market analysis covering October 2011 to March 2012.

• Over 100 individual pieces of key insights.

• Over 50 individual pieces of statistical interpretation.

• Analysis of 50 retailers across the top 100 online clothing retail keywords.

• An interpretation of the top retailers search and social media strategies.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE REPORTWHAT QUESTIONS DO WE ANSWER?WHAT WILL YOU GET FROM THIS REPORT?

• Onlineclothingsalescontinuetobuckthecurrenteconomicclimategrowingby20%onthepreviousyear(source:OfficeforNationalStatistics).

• 97%ofthemostvisibleretailerswithinsearcharemulti-channelhighstreetbrands(source:OfficeforNationalStatistics).

• Brandvolumecomprises54%ofallsearchvolumesandplaysasignificantroleinlastclickconversion.

• Marks&Spencer,JohnLewis,Next,NewLook,DebenhamsandASOStakethelionssharecoveringanimpressive62%ofallbrandsearchimpressionvolume.

• Dressesaccountsfor50%ofallproductvolumeandisthemostimportantnon-brandkeywordinwom-en’sonlineretail.

• HouseofFraseristheleadingretailerforthekeywordmarketdresses,pushingASOSintosecondplace.

• Competitionisfiercewithintheorganicindexforwomensweargenericphrases.BoohooleadswithASOS,DorothyPerkinsandLipsyclosebehind.

• Debenhamsdominatestheaccessoriespaidandorganickeywordsearchmarketshavingsolidcoverageforjewellery,handbagsandscarves.

• Competinghead-to-headwiththetopfashionbrandsareAmazonandeBaywhobothfeaturepromi-nentlyforalargenumberofthelongtailphrases,outpacingretailerssuchasBoohoo,Very,RepublicandDorothyPerkins.

• BothAmazonandeBayareprovidingconsumerswithacosteffectivealternativeandfeatureprominent-lyforalargenumberofthelongtailphrasesinmarketssuchasleggings,accessoriesandknitwear.

• ASOS,TopshopandNewLookarethemostinnovativeretailerswithinsocialmedia,makingthechannelakeyelementoftheironlinemarketstrategy.

• Retailersareprimarilyusingpricepromotionsandcustomerservicecontenttechniquesonsocialmediatoengagewithpotentialandexistingcustomers.

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

“SUCCESS IN FASHION RETAIL IS CENTRED ON BUILDING A BLENDED SEARCH STRATEGY ACROSS ALL KEYWORD CATEGORIES INCLUDING BRAND, GENERIC FASHION, PRODUCT AND GENDER. WITHIN THIS SECTION WE LOOK AT THE MOST DOMINANT RETAIL BRANDS AND REVEAL THE MOST VISIBLE BRANDS ACROSS BOTH PPC AND ORGANIC SEARCH.”

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Internet Retail Sales Billions (£)

2011201020092008

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201220112010

Figure1 Year on year growth trend of internet clothing retail sales

Figure2 Year on year growth for quarter 1 for internet clothing retail sale

Despite the current economic climate, online retail is on an upward growth trend with the value of internet retail sales rising by 82% since 2008 (seeFigure1). This trend has continued during 2011 with online sales of £3.7 billion, representing an increase of 20% on previous year (seeFigure2). Moreover this has continued with positive growth for the first half of 2012 (seeAppendixBReference2).

For those clothing retailers who are online, growth is galvanised by:

• Price:mountingpressureonhouseholdbudgetsarealsogeneratingmoreonlineretailsearchesaspeopleworkhardertocomparepricesandtrackdownvalue.

• Accessibility:women’sfashionisincreasinglymovingawayfrombeingsomethingassociatedsolelywiththeexclu-sivenessofthecatwalkstowardssomethingthatismoreaccessibleforthemasses.

• Serviceproposition:freeandnext-daydeliveriesaswellasspecifictimeslotsandeasyreturnpolicies.

• Customerbuyingexperience:improvedphotography,betteruseofvideoandeasierwebsitefunctionality.

• Wideruseofsocialmedia:improvedbrandcommunicationsandpromotionthroughsocialmediatouchpointssuchasFacebook,YouTubeandTwitter.

Although only 8% of total retail sales are online, it is important to recognise the wider attributing impact of consumers on-line engagement (seeAppendixBReference3).

The more savvy retailers are developing a multi-channel strategy by bolstering their foot traffic with a highly visible online proposition. This multi-channel strategy enables consumers to research and compare product prices and information prior to purchase.

Customers are more informed and more goal-directed in their purchasing. The internet is central to the customer experience and contributes to the decision making journey, irrespective of whether the last point of purchase is online or offline.

ONLINE SHOPPING: SIZE OF OPPORTUNITY

WHAT’S GALVANISING WOMEN’S ONLINE SHOPPING?

MULTI-CHANNEL RETAIL: WHERE ONLINE MEETS OFFLINE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Source:ClothingRetailing-UK-October2011:Mintel

Source:Women’sFashionLifestyles-UK-May2011:Mintel

Source:OfficeforNationalStatistics

Source:OfficeforNationalStatistics

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INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE WOMENSWEAR Figure3 % Split of search impression volume generic women’s clothing and fashion terms

Figure4 % Split of search impression volume womenswear product specific terms

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A BALANCED AND HOLISTIC KEYWORD PORTFOLIO ENSURES THAT A RETAILER ENGAGES THE CUSTOMER AT EVERY POINT IN THEIR JOURNEY TO PURCHASE

Womenswear is made up of a diverse set of keywords that are designed to reflect the different stages within the customer lifecycle. These include brand phrases such as Next and ASOS, generic phrases such as women’s clothing, as well as more market specific terms such as dresses, women’s jeans and wedged shoes. Generic terms are typically used to develop search exposure and help initiate the search journey, while the more specific market keyword phrases help drive the conversion process. Brand typically comes into play dur-ing the later stages of the search process when customers have selected the product.

Womenswear is defined by a broad product range and can be broken down into a multiplicity of specialist markets. We have focused our analysis on the top women’s specific product keyword markets as well as an analysis of which keywords drive generic search activity.

These include:

1. Genericwomen’sclothingandfashion2. Dresses3. Accessories4. Shoes5. Jacketsandcoats6. Leggings7. Skirts8. Knitwear9. Trousers

Generic women’s clothing and fashion terms are highly competitive and are driven by a small number of variants (seeFigure3).Product specific wom-enswear terms are dominated by dresses which comprises 50% of all search impression volume. This is followed by accessories with 20%, shoes with 9% and jackets and coats with 8% (seeFigure4).

This report analyses the leading retail brands within online womenswear between the period October 2011 to February 2012. Our findings will detail tactics and strategies as well as reveal the most visible retailers within:

• organicsearch• PPC(PayPerClick)• socialmedia

Thefollowinginsightanalysesthetop100keywordphraseswithineachoftheprimaryverticalsacrossthetop50retailoperators.WehaveremovedallnonecommerciallyrelatedwebsitesfromourStatisticalInterpretationse.g.Wikipedia.

Source:GoogleKeywordEstimationTool

Source:GoogleKeywordEstimationTool

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54% OF ALL BRAND VOLUME COMES FROM JUST SIX RETAILERS, WITH MARKS & SPENCER HAVING THE LARGEST SHARE

HOW DO WE MEASURE THE SEARCH MARKET?

MOST VISIBLE WOMENSWEAR RETAIL BRANDS IN SEARCH: KEY HIGHLIGHTS

BRAND SEARCH IMPRESSION VOLUME

• SearchImpressionrepresentsthenumberoftimesawebsitepageisdisplayedwithinthesearchresults.ItisonlyaftertheresultsaredisplayedthatvisitorsareabletoclickoneitheraPPCadvertoranorganiclink.Therefore,“clickshare”representstheactofavisitorclickingonaPPCadvertoranorganiclinkandiscalculatedasfollows:

• organicclickshareisthenumberofclicksthatanindividualoperatorhasachievedagainstakeyword,asameasureofwheretheyrankforthatkeyword.

• PPCclickshareisthenumberofclicksthatanindividualoperatorhasachievedagainstakeywordasapercent-ageoftheirShareofVoice(SOV).SOVisameasureofhowoftenaretailersPPCadsappearandtheirposition.

SeeAppendixAReference1forafullbreakdownofourmethodology.

• 62% of all brand related search impression volume comes from just 6 retailers: Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Next, New Look, Debenhams and ASOS.

• ASOS is the only “pure play online retailer” within the top 10.

• Overall click share of generic women’s clothing and fashion terms is closely contested between Boohoo and ASOS. A small improvement in ranking for ASOS particularly for the keyword women’s clothing, could see them take the lead and dominate this keyword market.

• 80% of all women’s product specific search impression volume comes from just 3 keyword markets including dresses, accessories and shoes.

• Of this group, dresses is the most dominant product category with 50% of all search impression volume. High rankings within this market are critical for maximising visibility within womenswear.

• The leading brand within the dresses keyword market is House of Fraser. This position is a result of strong consistent top positions across all the top volume phrases including dresses, party dresses, evening dresses and maxi dresses.

• Competing head-to-head with the top fashion brands are Amazon and eBay who both feature prominently for a large number of the long tail phrases in markets such as leggings, accessories and knitwear.

• Debenhams aggregated click share of 18.21% is indicative of an aggressive paid and organic search strategy making them a leading brand within the accessories sub-vertical.

• Competition within the shoes keyword market between the general clothing retailers and the footwear specialist is in-tense. While New Look leads our aggregate click share index with 17.41%, this position is under threat from both Viva la Diva and Barratts.

• The sub-vertical trousers, jackets and coats are heavily driven by fluctuations in seasonality. The real winners are those retailers who are able to maintain high consistent organic ranking as well as being able to deploy a cost-effective PPC campaign during peak periods.

Keyfindingsofouranalysis

• Brand volume comprises 54% of all search volumes(AppendixBReference4) and plays a significant role in last click conversion. However, 46% of the search market is non-brand related and a strong presence within this area allows smaller or niche retailers to compete directly with the larger brands.

• Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Next, New Look, Debenhams and ASOS take the lions share covering an impressive 62% of all brand search impression volume (seeAppendixBReference5).

• In terms of clothing sales Marks & Spencer remains the undisputed leader with £3,746m for the period 2010/2011. This is followed by Next with £3,158m and the Arcadia Group with £2,777m (source:ClothingRetailing-UK-October2011:Mintel).

• Traditional high street retailers dominate our brand index with ASOS the only “pure play online retailer”.

• The skirts sub-vertical is dominated wholesale by ASOS with 20.91% click share. Not only do they post top rankings for the keyword skirts, they occupy the top two positions for pencil skirts, as well as top spots for maxi skirts, maxi skirt and skirt.

• New Look has developed a social strategy that has a robust balance between engagement quality and volume.

• ASOS’ social media content strategy is primarily focus toward engaging its audience in high quality customer support.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

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WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Philip McGuinHead of Insight0113 391 2929

phil.mcguin@stickyeyes.com

Lisa WisniowskiBrand Communications Director

0113 391 2929lisa.wisniowski@stickyeyes.com

If you have any questions on the findings or would like to speak to one of the team about maximising the ROI of your search and social strategies please contact:

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able for any subsequent business decisions implemented.

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ABOUT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT STICKYEYES

Philip McGuin, Head of Insight and Market Research at Stickyeyes has 15 years’ experience in the areas of online mar-keting, performance based lead generation as well as, data analysis techniques including web metrics, portfolio score carding, attribution, econometrics and statistical modelling.

He has worked both client and agency side for a range of sectors including public bodies such as European Parliament, European Commission promoting the EU’s policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT ) as well as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), marketing policy on e-Government. He also has extensive experience in the private sector as Head of Marketing for an enterprise software provider as well as the Head of Online Marketing for one of the UK’s first private online higher education training providers. Prior to his career in the private sector Philip worked as a doctoral research fellow in Economics, Politics, Public Policy and Administration

Stickyeyes is an international digital marketing agency with a pedigree in SEO, PPC and display, social, PR and content provision, consulting and insight and design and development.

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