Female shoppers are the default target for most apparel retailers, and that’s just as true online. Increasingly, though, online fashion retailers are targeting men — and generating surprisingly positive results.

In his analysis of male online shopping behavior, Ray Smith writes in the Wall Street Journal that “recent research by analysts and retailers has turned up significant gender differences when it comes to online shopping.”

Among the findings:

• Most striking is men’s need for speed. It takes them only a third of the time it takes women to make a purchase, according to internal research conducted by Yoox. “Men tend to value their time more,” says Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research Inc. analyst.
• Men also spend more money online — and they spend big on luxury. When researcher Unity Marketing of Stevens, Pa., surveyed 1,300 luxury shoppers last fall, it found that men reported spending an average of $2,401 on “fashion” — including clothing and accessories — online in the previous three months, compared with $1,527 for women. Unity noted that women may be more apt to bargain-hunt when it comes to fashion.
• Men send back fewer than 10% of their apparel purchases, while women return more than 20% of the apparel they purchase (according to Forrester’s Mulpuru)

Smith cites a number of leading fashion retailers who are targeting the male shopper online, including Bergdorf Goodman, Nieman Marcus, Saks, and Brooks Brothers.

In particular, Brooks Brothers is using better visual merchandising to appeal to on-the-run male shoppers:

Brooks Brothers has tweaked its Web site to allow both men and women to view entire outfits featured in newspaper and magazine ads, instead of having to hunt for a particular blazer, shirt and pants. While the feature is available to both sexes, company officials believe men are more likely to use it. “Men are more tactical; they want to get in and out the door fast,” explains Jarid Lukin, Brooks Brothers’ e-commerce manager.

Filed under: ecommerce, luxury, marketing, online retail, retail