The real success story of the past five years has been ASOS; however boohoo and Missguided are working hard to catch up. Their incorporation of relevant fashion trends, extensive ranges and competitive pricing ensure they remain appealing to shoppers. Offering regular newness, engaging shoppers with editorial content and investing in SEO will help to drive visits and spend in the coming years, garnering loyalty ahead of rivals. Though growth will slow, in 2019 we expect an additional £1.6bn to come from online pureplays. Download sample pages from our Online Pureplay in UK Clothing & Footwear report to learn more.

2. Verdict sample pages
Online Pureplays in UK Clothing & Footwear page 2
Amazon dominates online, with only three pureplays featuring in the top
10 most visited sites
According to Verdict's clothing & footwear online rankings data, online pureplay Amazon
leads the troop, with the retailer receiving the highest number of visitors of all of the 109
clothing & footwear players included. It also achieved the highest number of online clothing
& footwear shoppers who bought from its website, with 43.2% of all online clothing &
footwear shoppers making a purchase at Amazon in the 12 months to October 2013.
Both Amazon and eBay (which is not included in our online pureplays market as it is an
auction site) have a significant lead over the other players in the top 10, and particularly
over the next online pureplay, ASOS, with 21.0% of shoppers visiting its website and 10.6%
purchasing from it. While its scores are impacted by its narrower target market (fashion-
conscious 20–30 year olds, predominantly females) compared to the likes of Amazon, the
strength of ASOS's proposition is highlighted by its impressive conversion rate of 50.3% –
10.6 percentage points above the average rate for online clothing & footwear retailers.
Figure 1: Top 10 most visited online clothing & footwear retailers and their conversion rates
(%), 2013
% of consumers that bought from the retailer online
% of
consumers
that visited
the retailer
online
4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
9
27
36
45
54
63 67.2
H&M
ASOS
Amazon
73.8
18
72
eBay
M&S
Debenhams
Asda
53.1
Next
48.3
Tesco
New Look
46.5
44
50.1
57.8
49.2
39.7
50.3
Source: Verdict V E R D I C T
Note: the figure inside the bubble and the size of the bubble reflect the retailer’s conversion rate.
Conversion ratio is simply buyers as a proportion of those that have visited the website. So we measure
number of buyers as a ratio of number of visitors, rather than purchases as a ratio of visits. The data are
from Verdict's November 2013 e-retail survey based on 10,000 respondents.

3. Verdict sample pages
Online Pureplays in UK Clothing & Footwear page 3
H&M, New Look and Topshop threatened by Pretty Little Thing and Daisy
Street
While Boohoo and Missguided are currently the biggest threats to not only ASOS but also
multichannel players such as New Look and H&M, there are two smaller players that will
pose a threat to these retailers in the coming five years – Pretty Little Thing and Daisy
Street. Both of these online pureplays launched in 2011, and while they may be a few years
behind Boohoo and Missguided, they have the potential to reach their current level of sales.
These players will be part of the next wave of online pureplays and are set to experience
high growth rates – though retail sales and market share will remain small.
As ASOS continues to invest in its transactional website, these two players must do the
same, introducing new features, content and products to attract new customers and drive
sales. Key aspects of their offers that need investment are the delivery and returns options,
maintaining a consistent brand personality across editorial features and engaging
consumers with regular editorial updates. By doing this, they will stand a better chance of
attracting new visitors and stealing sales from established rivals.
Figure 2: Strengths and opportunities for Pretty Little Thing and Daisy Street to grow sales,
2014
• Animation brings offer to life
• Strong basics offer
• Editorial trend-focused
content
• Easy website navigation
• Customer engagement via
social media
• Customer support service
well highlighted
• Must improve delivery offer
• Increase returns period
• Ensure blog is kept up to date
• Enhance filtering options
• Blog should better reflect
proposition
• Increase returns period
• Offer delivery via Collect+
Strengths
Opportunities
Will threaten
Source: Verdict V E R D I C T

4. Verdict sample pages
Online Pureplays in UK Clothing & Footwear page 4
A captivating website will boost visitor numbers and sales…
Consumers have high standards when it comes to online user experience, with retailers
needing to provide encouragement and calls to action to get shoppers to buy online. Most
importantly, websites must be intuitive; if a user is unable to find an item or know where to
find help on delivery times, they will become frustrated and go elsewhere. This is especially
important for mature shoppers, many of whom are not used to buying online or prefer
buying via catalogues.
Making the browsing and purchasing experience enjoyable will encourage repeat visits and
should tempt shoppers to spend more. The use of editorial content to showcase key trends
will boost conversion rates, while encouraging outfit building by emphasising
complementary items will also increase basket size, and should be adopted by all online
pureplays in the sector. Without stores to fall back on or direct shoppers to, online
pureplays must ensure their websites run smoothly and are refreshed with new content and
new features to make shoppers choose its proposition over competitors' offers.
…but online pureplays must be careful not to overload visitors, with
personalisation key
With a vast array of products online and more added daily, the choice can be
overwhelming; therefore, editing ranges for shoppers and minimising the amount of choice
is important to offering a hassle-free user experience. This will give an online pureplay a
competitive advantage over a multichannel or catalogue-based retailer, increasing page
visits and dwell time online. Initiatives such as look of the day features, curated ranges by
bloggers or fashion editors, live style advisors and catwalk videos help provide inspiration
and assist online visitors in making a choice. Continual investment is required to fine tune
functionality and website appearance, as well as creating new features to captivate the
audience. We expect to see greater personalisation on websites in the future, with opt out
buttons for different editorial features, making the site's appearance unique to each user
and more tailored to how they wish to show and discover trends and new products.

5. Verdict sample pages
Online Pureplays in UK Clothing & Footwear page 5
Figure 3: Features that make a compelling website, February 2014
Source: ASOS, Boohoo, Topshop, House of Fraser, Net-a-Porter, Daisy Street, Verdict V E R D I C T
To find out more about the online retailing opportunities in the Clothing & Footwear sector
please contact enquiries@verdictretail.com
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