• Traffic for online fashion sites increased by 27% over the past year
• The most searched brands on Google worldwide were H&M, ZARA  and Adidas, as of September 2018 – inthe UK, it was New Look, TopShop and Boohoo
• In the UK, the most heavily trafficked fashion e-commerce sites were ASOS, followed by Next and Adidas

With London Fashion Week behind us, trends data provider SEMrush crunched online fashion search data to uncover online shopping trends and the most popular e-commerce sites in terms of fashion sales, over the past year.

Overall, traffic for online fashion sites increased by 27%. Here are the findings from the study*, featuring the most recent data about the following trends in 2018:

The most heavily trafficked fashion e-commerce sites

In the UK, the busiest e-commerce sites were ASOS, followed by Next and Adidas. This follows from SEMrush’s initial study, published more than a year ago, which found that ASOS (asos.com) was the most visited fashion site, globally. But in February 2018, H&M (hm.com) stole the lead. As of September 2018, we found that globally, Macy’s (macys.com) has surged past both ASOS and H&M:

1. Macys.com
2. Asos.com
3. Supremenewyork.com
4. Uniqlo.com
5. Rei.com
6. Hm.com
7. Zara.com
8. Jcpenney.com
9. Nordstrom.com
10. Grailed.com

Leading Brands by Search Query

During the last 12 months, the most searched brand on Google worldwide was H&M, followed by ZARA, Adidas and Nike. In the UK, browsers were most interested in New Look, TopShop, Boohoo and River Island.

The Most Sought-After Fashion Combination: Item, Style & Colour

Six months’ ago, SEMrush revealed data about the most popular fashion item at the time: the white dress. After updating the data, it was uncovered that people are still searching for white dresses, especially in the U.S. However, shoppers in the U.K. decided to flip the colour scheme and embrace autumn, and are now searching for the black dress.

Meanwhile, consumers in Australia, India, New Zealand and Canada show no interest in dresses at all in their Google Searches. Australian shoppers are searching mostly for ruby shoes, while those in India and New Zealand are seeking out black caps. Meanwhile, Canadian consumers are looking for yellow shoes.

Top “Buy Online” Search Queries

“Buy online” is now a standard of shopping, and fashion e-commerce sites are increasingly employing it to appeal to consumers who are seeking to make their purchases that much easier.

SEMrush looked at the e-commerce fashion sites and brands that are most queried by shoppers who use the specific keyword, “online.” Globally, the analysis found that the fashion sites most queried with the “online” keyword  are H&M, ZARA and C&A Online Shop (c-and-a.com). Primark (primark.com) is the leader in searches using the “online” keyword in the U.K., followed by Zara (zara.com) and H&M (hm.com).

E-Commerce Fashion Search Volumes by Gender

Globally, the most popular e-commerce site searched for men is Zara and for women Ugg. “Zara man” and “Uggs for women” were the keywords used most frequently in search queries throughout the year. In the U.K., people searched mostly for “Zara man” for men’s fashion and “Vans” for women’s.

U.S. shoppers predominantly searched for “Uggs” for both women (“uggs for women”) and men (“uggs for men”).

The Top “Near Me” Fashion Outlet Searches

People often opt to search for the nearest brick-and-mortar fashion store. Both globally and in the U.S.,  the top “near me” fashion store searches were for Kohl’s, TJ Maxx and Macy’s. In the U.K., consumers show a preference for nearby Primark, Hermes and H&M outlets.

The Leading “Fake” Fashion Brands in Search: It’s All About the Shades

One of the most prominent studies of SEMrush during the past year was about “fake brands.” By looking into the most popular fake fashion items people searched for, SEMrush found that both globally and in each of the separate countries studied, shoppers were primarily shopping for imitation Supreme and Ray Bans.

Leading brands in terms of advertising

SEMrush looked at the fashion e-commerce brands that most promoted sales in their ads. For this part of the study, brands were distinguished from aggregators. In the U.K., Jacques Vert (jacques-vert.co.uk) led in sales ads spanning the year. The most popular discount rate for brands advertising sales in the U.K., U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada was 50%, during all the seasons.

*This study is based on the data analysed from the last 12 months. Besides worldwide data, we distilled data specific to the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (U.K.), Australia (AU), Canada (CA), New Zealand (NZ), and India (IN). To access the full study, please visit https://www.semrush.com/lp/fashion/en/.