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Online Clothing Sales Busting at the Seams

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  • Online Clothing Sales Busting at the Seams

    By Valerie S. Johnson

    Buying clothing is a very tactile experience. You need to feel the material in your hands. You have to try clothing on to see if it fits. Do those basketball shoes make your feet feel like they have wings? Will those stilettos make your arches ache? Do these pants make me look fat?

    Just a few years ago, you wouldn’t have thought that anyone would buy clothing on the Internet. You can’t touch it, see the true colors, or try it on. Yet online shopping for shoes and clothes has become tremendously popular. In fact, last year Americans spent more money online buying clothing than buying one-size-fits-all electronic equipment, according to a survey by Forrester Research for Shop.org. Specifically, sales of skirts, suits and shoes beat revenue from PCs, printers, and word-processing software by more than $1 billion.

    How to explain this phenomenon? Two explanations have been given. First, the online retailers typically offer generous return and exchange policies with free shipping. If the Air Jordans don’t fit, just throw them back in the box, send them back, try a half size larger, and it won’t cost you extra. And the ability to preview items on your screen has greatly improved. You no longer have to squint at a small picture and wonder what the item really looks like; instead you can zoom in and rotate the image to check it out from all angles.

    Yes, but will these pants make me look fat? Really, will they?

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  • #2
    I've a hard time buying apparel in the stores as it is, I really can't imagine people buying it online. What if all the items you ordered don't look good, even if it's the right size. Won't you be charge something because of all the shipping?

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    • #3
      I buy kids clothes on ebay but have never been brave enough to try grown up stuff. I can't imagine but I guess it would be alot like shopping in a catalog, only better if you can rotate it. Next they'll have a way to download your picture and dress yourself so you can see what it looks like!!!

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      • #4
        I buy 90% of our clothes online. I need everything in talls and they are usually only online or catalog. I know my sizes and the fits of the 3-4 retailers that I shop with. I search online for discount codes and free shipping. I can easily shop for my boys at Old Navy, the Gap or Lands End overstocks. I would rather spend $5 at Old Navy for my entire order to be shipped then drive 40 minutes, hunt for what I want, get frustrated that they don't have what I need/want and drive back home. With the price of gas and a car that requires Super Unleaded and the fact I live on an island it makes perfect financial sense to shop online.

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