Unique visits to the apparel category dropped by 8% year on year in January, according to the latest ComScore figures. And Next, the top online apparel retailer by visitors, dropped 24% whilst Arcadia Group dropped 7%.

Arcadia-owned Topman, however, saw visitors increase by 28% whilst Asos was up 24% year-on-year, making it the third largest apparal retailer online in terms of unique visitors, says New Media Age, which also reports extensively on feedback it has received from the sector on the new figures:

Jamie Gavin, marketing communications analyst at ComScore, said it’s naive for fashion marketers to think they’re immune.

“Marketers have to think about online in the same way as offline and consider the importance of branding as well as direct response in order to maximise the number of site visitors.

“For fashion more than anything brands need to make sure they’re targeting and putting their brands on the right websites,” said Gavin.

Related news

• Comscore-Bango partnership offers mobile tagging to show who visits you from where
• comScore Reports $29.1 Billion in U.S. Retail E-Commerce Spending for Full November-December Holiday Season, Up 4 Percent vs. Year Ago
• Comscore veröffentlicht “The 2010 Europe Digital Year in Review”
• ComScore reports Christmas shopping stats for the UK, France and Germany
• UK mobile retail access via smartphone grew 163% in past year, finds ComScore
• Mums head to the shops when they go online