Buying T-Shirts at a Discount

Wednesday 07th of October 2009 03:39:04 PM

Buying T-Shirts at a Discount

Sometimes it comes down to a battle between online retailers and brick-and-mortar retailers. With the tight economy, convincing consumers to spend money has been a real challenge and has also led to big discounts. The retailers giving the biggest discounts have been able to attract the most shoppers.

High Street has been offering a number of discounts and this has temporarily affected internet sales. Consumers are bargain shopping right now and are free to buy locally or online depending on where the best deals can be found. As a result, internet sales rose by a weak 1.9 percent in September compared to August as traditional stores sell at lower prices to attract buyers. According to IMRG this is the slowest retail growth numbers reported since the agency began tracking numbers in 2000. In addition, last year online sales showed an overall growth rate of 15 percent and this year it is 7.6 percent so far.

But there are tremendous bargains available online for items such as plain t-shirts and uniform clothing. It seems the weather is also affecting online sales. As the head of retail at Capgemini, Chris Webster, commented, “This is the lowest growth we have seen, for two main reasons: people weren’t buying their autumn/winter clothes because September was so warm; and because of the promotional activity on the high street.”

Don’t think this trend will continue though. Internet sales are expected to return to normal after the large discounts will have to be discontinued in traditional stores. Right now the brick and mortar stores are just trying to stay in business but they cannot do so by giving such deep discounts over an extended period of time. There is also a brand loyalty issue. Mr. Webster said, “Customers who shop online tend to shop in fewer locations than those on the high street. There is a bigger trust factor in shopping online and they are more loyal to the brands or stores than to the medium.”