A new report from Admitad (a Mitgo company) has revealed that fashion e-commerce sales in the Middle East and Africa region grew by 19% during the first quarter of 2023. While this growth rate is lower than the previous year, where global online fashion purchases grew by more than 30% and gross merchandise value (GMV) by 35% YoY, the Mena region continues to outpace the global average.
The report also revealed that the amount Mena consumers were willing to pay for fashion purchases increased by 15%, indicating that the region has a strong appetite for fashion e-commerce. Despite the global slowdown, Admitad estimates that clothing, footwear and fashion accessories make up more than 20% of all global e-commerce sales, and this market share is expected to grow.
One of the key drivers of this growth is the rise of e-commerce as a whole. The Covid-19 pandemic played a significant role in popularizing online shopping, and as a result, the fashion e-commerce segment has seen significant growth. The success of online fashion retail can be attributed to its convenience, online sizing and fitting tools, simple delivery and return methods, and access to a large number of special offers and discounts. The second-hand fashion market has also seen dramatic growth during this period, with resale sales in the fashion segment jumping by 24% globally in 2022. The trend is expected to continue to grow at a rate of around three times faster than regular sales, with the second-hand fashion market value expected to reach $228 billion in 2026.
Inflation has also made a significant impact on fashion e-commerce’s average order value (AOV), with Admitad reporting that average basket prices increased from $45 to $74 as the year progressed. However, in Mena, the average order value held steady at $101 throughout the period.
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