Over-55s embrace online clothes shopping

Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - 10:46 by Simon Crisp

Over a third of people who are 55 or older currently shop online for clothing products on a regular basis, according to a survey conducted by Fits.me.

In addition, 34 per cent of those in this age group who were questioned in the study said that they take to the web to search for clothing items to buy from time to time, meaning that the majority have made e-commerce purchases from this category.

Analysts believe that this could become an increasingly powerful trend in 2016, with clothing retailers making efforts to court the so-called 'grey pound' in the digital arena.

The report also looked at how older people use the internet and their experiences of shopping online, with almost a quarter of respondents complaining of the difficulties they encounter when attempting to find a specific garment. This complaint is also regularly made about the high street, so retailers will need to work harder to address this.

The over-55s were also found to be easily vexed by the entire retail experience, with 40 per cent stating that they often get annoyed when they are having to seek out clothing. This suggests that fashion is less relevant for people of this age and that they are more interested in the buying process being more streamlined.

At this point, the people in the UK who are now in their mid-50s were in their 30s when the rise of e-commerce began back in the 1990s. So it should be unsurprising that older generations are now far more familiar with online shopping than they were 10 years ago.

The needs of younger shoppers are, of course, quite different from those of their older counterparts, which is why retailers must take action to make sure sites are appropriate for all visitors.