Fashion ‘is an online model’

The internet is presenting the fashion industry with a whole new kind of model, it has been claimed.

However, in this case it is not the latest waif-like figure to appear on the London catwalks, but an emerging marketing model for webmasters to take advantage of.

Such is the assertion of e-commerce analyst Zendor GSI Commerce in its latest analysis of the market.

According to the firm, online fashion sales have now outsold land-based transactions for the first time in five years.

Meanwhile, online operators big and small are told there is likely to be a business model available to allow them to capitalise on the growth of the sector.

Chief executive Nick Allen says: “We first saw increased activity in the fashion and footwear market in late 2006.”

He adds: “We are pleased to see this behaviour has continued because we believe this online sector is one to watch and one to be part of.”

Previous research conducted by internet analyst comScore revealed a pattern between heavy users of social networking sites and a tendency to visit fashion-based e-commerce websites.