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Hitwise Intelligence - Alan Long - Asia Pacific
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Shop till you drop - The Competition just got hotter!
March 31, 2010
Online trends are sometimes subtle and other times they are so obvious that they beckon further investigation. Over the past two months we have seen a strong trend appear in the Shopping and Classifieds – Apparel and Accessories industry, with the rise of the exclusive member shopping clubs.
These online clubs function differently from other member-based shopping websites as they offer limited time, members only private sales, offering up to 80% off RRP on selected items.
The first of the exclusive member shopping clubs to increase its online activity in the Experian Hitwise rankings was brandsExclusive . We also a reviewed their visitor acquisition strategy leading into Christmas in a recent blog ’Paths to Retail Success’.
Since week ending 13 February, 2010 Ozsale’s share of visits skyrocketed, propelling it to the number one position in the Apparel and Accessories (Shopping and Classifieds) category. The same week saw the rise of another exclusive members club, BuyInvite which now sits just behind brandsExclusive - making the top three websites in the Apparel and Accessories category all exclusive members shopping clubs.
The rankings within the industry have always been relatively volatile as can be seen by the rankings table above and the three new entrants have immediately challenged the traditional brands and existing online players.
The table below highlights the Mosaic Australia Lifestyle profile of the three exclusive member shopping clubs compared to the overall Apparel and Accessories industry
The over represented Mosaic Australia Groups highlight regional and country Australia’s desire to have access to leading brands at lower prices and to be receiving exclusive offerings. A short description of each of the over represented groups are;
· K - Community Disconnect - Older blue-collar workers and retirees in country and coastal locations
· H - Provincial Optimism - Anglo-Australian blue-collar families in provincial settlements
· I - Farming Stock - Rural landowners and workers in agricultural heartlands
Further analysis of the demographic profile of the websites indicates that:
- 62.7% are female (index of 105 against Apparel and Accessories – Shopping & Classifieds),
- 48.5% aged 25-44 (index 115) and 24.4% aged over 50 (index 101)
- More likely to live in Tasmania (index 144), South Australia (index 112) and Northern Territory (index 109)
One of the contributing factors to the tremendous growth of the exclusive member websites is the frequency of emails promoting new sales and offers, sometimes three or more times a week. This drives their visitation and has a corresponding impact on competitors such as EziBuy and Witchery, whose traffic hasn’t necessarily declined in real terms.
The importance of the email database development is highlighted in the dependence of the three websites upon email for their traffic. The chart below highlights the importance of email comparing the exclusive member shopping clubs and the overall Apparel and Accessories (Shopping and Classifieds) industry.
The test for the exclusive member shopping clubs will be the quality of their sale items and desirability of the brands, which promise up to 80% off retail prices, and if this enough to keep shoppers coming back time and time again.
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Posted by Alan Long at 03:58 PM
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In Categories Email Marketing | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds
