1. UAE Fashion E-tail market poised to near 20% penetration by 2025 on the back of soaring purchase frequency rates

An instrumental change to the UAE fashion scene in the coming years is that increase in frequency and average order value which will drive higher wallet share for online channel, will drive a lot more growth than addition of new users. We expect online penetration in the sector to increase to >20% on the back of this.

2. This rapidly increasing share of wallet boils down to a strong consumer preference for Fast Fashion brands for online purchases

The evolution of fast-fashion platforms catering to instantaneous trends and style-hungry shoppers is at the very core of the increasing share of wallet among online fashion shoppers. This preference among online shoppers for fast fashion culminates in unprecedented high frequency rates for online fashion shopping. This is also reflected in the relatively higher awareness & conversion for fast fashion brands.

3. Omni-channels lead the online fashion market owing to brand trust, consumer loyalty & exclusivity, but will need to constantly innovate to stay ahead

Omni-channels represent the largest channel within UAE online fashion. This is fueled by the brand trust established with a loyal consumer base over several years on the offline channel and the significant investments made by the omnichannel players to improve their digital capabilities. UAE shoppers instinctively resort to these retailers first when shopping online because of the high brand recall. Retailers will have to continue to innovate as a new set of consumers (Gen Z) enter the market while the competition online is expected to intensify.