5 Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes and Shoes

Retail has been constantly reinventing itself, and participants race to keep up with what feels like a series of epic shifts in consumer preferences. To get a clearer, more-complete picture, we studied the actual decisions made by 1,500 apparel and footwear shoppers in the United States. Our five most surprising findings: shopping is not yet truly omnichannel; when consumers buy online, they purchase more; online journeys take longer than in-store; brand stores and website generate higher spend than multibrand stores; and, very often, consumers just want to buy new versions of an item they already own.