Path to purchase
Buying Behaviour
How value pressure, AI discovery, resale, channel migration and generational change are reshaping the fashion purchase journey.
Signals changing the purchase journey
Observed and reported consumer evidence currently strong enough to use.
Reported
70%
Fashion consumers planning to spend less
Value pressure should be assumed in pricing, promotion and assortment decisions.
Reported
80%
Fashion consumers showing value-seeking behaviour
Includes waiting for sales and shopping across retailers for the same item.
Reported
+14%
Fashion inventory days vs pre-2020 average
A signal to prioritize demand planning, allocation and inventory churn.
Reported
50%
Luxury shoppers consulting secondhand before buying new
Resale is now part of discovery and value validation, not only a post-purchase channel.
Reported
50%
Luxury shoppers using AI in the purchase journey
Product data, comparison content and brand narratives increasingly need to be machine-readable.
Reported
19%
US consumers using AI to discover or decide purchases
Among US consumers who reported using AI tools.
Reported
74%
EU-5 recent AI use — Italy
Share reporting AI use in the prior three months; UK 67%, Germany 66%, France 63%, Spain 59%.
Reported
70%+
Gen Z + Millennials share of resale growth through 2030
A strong cohort signal for circular fashion, acquisition and lifecycle strategies.
Reported
~25%
Consumers using generative AI for shopping
Across McKinsey’s 2026 five-country consumer sample, about one quarter reported using generative AI for shopping.
Reported
28%
Gen Z using generative AI for shopping
Versus 16% among boomers in the same study—an important discovery-channel difference by cohort.
Reported
34%
Gen Z citing social media in purchase decisions
Social remains a material conversion influence, not only a top-of-funnel awareness channel.
Reported
−8%
Open-web traffic since 2023
Discovery is fragmenting across AI, social, marketplaces and owned channels, increasing the value of structured product and brand data.
Reported
64%
Luxury buyers using AI — China
Share who used AI during their most recent luxury purchase in Bain’s April 2026 consumer research; US was 54% and France 27%.
Reported
82%
Top-tier luxury clients using AI
AI use rises sharply with spending level: 82% among top-tier clients versus 28% among the lowest-spending segment.
Reported
47%
In-store luxury buyers using AI before the boutique
Physical retail increasingly inherits a digital research journey; store teams, product information and inventory visibility should assume pre-visit AI discovery.
Consumer base
The original behavioural register remains available beside the newer decision signals.
79%
Apparel bought in store rather than online
Online accounts for the remaining 21 per cent of apparel sales.
Reported Multiple public compilations, 2025
USD 162 / month
US household apparel spend
About USD 1,945 a year per household.
Reported Multiple public compilations, 2025
68%
Mass share of apparel revenue
Luxury is the smaller share and the faster-growing one.
Reported Multiple public compilations, 2025
USD 930–940 bn
Women's apparel
Publishers expect the segment to pass USD 1tn around 2027.
Reported Multiple public compilations, 2025
USD 367 bn
Secondhand apparel, 2029 outlook
Published as growing faster than the primary market.
Forecast Multiple public compilations, 2025
70%+
Luxury consumers who stopped buying and intend to return
Stated intent to return, not necessarily to the same brands.
Reported Bain & Company / Altagamma, 2026
Luxury discovery by market
AI is not diffusing evenly across countries or client value tiers.
Designer · Reported
−0.1% MoM
Brazil fabric, apparel & footwear — Apr 2026
Near-flat monthly category volume while total retail declined 1.5%; a useful directional read for Brazil that still requires brand or retailer sell-through data for assortment decisions.
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), 2026
Brand · Reported
64 / 54 / 27%
Luxury AI adoption — China / US / France
Bain’s luxury survey shows materially different AI adoption by market; product data, discovery strategy and AI visibility should be localized rather than globally uniform.
Designer · Reported
−0.7% MoM
Australia clothing & footwear spend — Jun 2026
National household spending on clothing and footwear softened month over month, while Q2 volume was 0.5% higher quarter over quarter—useful evidence for distinguishing monthly noise from quarterly direction.