Fashion e-tail looking pretty

Online fashion retailers have seen a 31% increase in traffic over the past 12 months, compared to just a 1% increase for catalogue companies competing on the troubled high street.

Experian, the information services company, make this claim in their recent 'Engaging Online with the Empowered Customer' report.

Experian did find however that retailers were failing to capitalise on booming e-commerce sales at a difficult time in retail, as they were not encouraging repeat purchases. Just 30% of customers generated almost 70% of revenues, very similar to the 80/20 rule so often found.

"Greater emphasis needs to be placed on the exploitation and application of existing data assets," said Marie Myles, director of marketing consulting for Experian's integrated marketing division. "The enhanced insight derived from this approach and the move to a coordinated customer contact strategy will lead to more profitable and longer relationships between brands and consumers."

E-commerce sales are expected to increase 14% overall in the UK during 2009.