Drop Ship, Sustainability Drummed Up Most Searches at Informa Markets Fashion’s Digital Events
With the digital trade show season over, Informa Markets Fashion, which launched fashion wholesale digital events for MAGIC, Coterie, Project, MICAM Americas, and Children’s Club, along with business-to-business e-commerce platform partner, NuOrder, has released their digital event metrics and market insights.
As the industry continues to rebuild and recalibrate, the analytics signal a resurgence in wholesale activity and globalized commerce, as well as the fashion industry’s ability to adapt to shifting industry interests and evolving consumer demand.
Interestingly, drop ship was the most searched brand attribute across all marketplaces (22.5 percent) by retailers. With the unpredictable consumer demands in 2020, this data indicates retailers and brands are increasingly looking for additional ways to mitigate risk. Retailers are accomplishing this by shifting toward a more demand-focused model, thereby increasing flexibility to capitalize on market behavior and opportunities, while brands are responding to this need by reducing complexities and increasing opportunities for full-price sell-through.
The second most researched brand attribute was sustainability (17 percent) by retailers across all marketplaces. The pandemic appears to have accelerated a demand for higher quality, longer lasting products but also the introspection and reflection of doing more with less and a more mindful approach in product manufacturing.
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Informa Market Fashion’s event analytics also pointed to several key trends, suggesting in-stock expectation for consumers in the coming months.
Blouses were the number one most searched apparel item, followed by dresses, across all five marketplaces, which appears to indicate the consumer demand for “Zoomwear” and a growing trend in waist-up styling favored by those working from home versus head-to-toe dressing worn in an in-person office setting. At the same time, activewear came in as the third most searched apparel item by retailers across all marketplaces, pointing to the continuation of consumer preference for casual and comfortwear.
In accessories, jewelry came in at number one, again indicating a consumer preference for “Zoomwear” looks.
Informa Market Fashion’s digital events, which ran Sept. 1 through Nov. 1, featured 1,100 brands and 760,000 products ranging across categories of women’s, men’s and children’s apparel, footwear and accessories, from advanced contemporary to midmarket and value.
Some 55,000 connections were made between brands and buyers, and the digital events drew an audience of more than 20,000 registered qualified buyers from more than 97 countries, of which 20 percent of total registration represented new buyers and retailers.
“By embracing a new way to connect and do business through our digital platform, the industry is now able to more quickly and easily come together on a global scale,” said Kelly Helfman, commercial president of Informa Markets Fashion. “With this rebound in globalized commerce, brands and buyers can capitalize on newer business opportunities with even greater scale through a larger variety of vendors and products.”
Over the course of eight weeks, there were 290,000 brand page views. The digital event showcased a collection of 153 editorials and 52 education sessions that featured more than 562 brands. Collectively these pieces garnered 14,000 engagements, which further increased commerce via discovery in a reimagined format of content-driven commerce.
“While the demand for digital tools and more robust technology was accelerated by COVID-19, the industry’s digital adoption also allows us to uncover extremely useful industry trends and behaviors,” said Heath Wells, cofounder and co-chief executive officer of NuOrder. “Through this data, we’re able to see retailers’ and brands’ immediate response for changing market needs, which helps inform the fashion industry.”
As reported, Informa Markets Fashion will return in January with a second edition of digital events, in partnership with NuOrder. Project Digital, a men’s wear marketplace, will launch on Jan. 19 and run through Feb. 15. MICAM Americas Digital, Informa Markets Fashion’s footwear marketplace, will open Jan. 19 and will run through March 16. MAGIC Digital, Informa’s Markets Fashion’s women’s, young contemporary and trend marketplace, will begin on Feb. 1 and will run through March 1, and Coterie Digital, an elevated women’s marketplace, will launch on Feb. 16 and run through March 16.
Sourcing at MAGIC Online, which is hosted through a separate proprietary platform, will also return with its digital event, starting March 1 and running through May 1.
In the second half the year, MAGIC Las Vegas, which includes WWDMAGIC, Project, Project Womens, MAGIC Men’s, MICAM Americas and Sourcing at MAGIC, will run from Aug. 9 to 11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Shortly after, Coterie will take place Sept. 19 to 21 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
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