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There’s been a lot of talk about wearable tech devices in recent years. But items like smartwatches and even eyewear are just part of the wearable technology market. Some more traditional fashion companies are even getting involved in the tech market by offering smart fashion items that have high-tech features, though this is still a fairly small segment of the market compared to items like smartwatches, according to Gartner. So how many consumers are interested in this growing market? We asked 1,000 respondents on October 13-15 about their thoughts on smart fashion.
Clothing Buyers
In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 10% of respondents said that they last purchased clothing or accessories within the past day. 27% have done so in the past week. 30% said they’ve bought clothing or accessories in the past month. 18% have within the past three months. 8% have in the past year. 5% said it’s been more than a year since they last purchased any clothing or accessory items. And 3% said they aren’t clothing buyers at all. Target, Old Navy, Kohl’s, Walmart, Macy’s, Gap, Levi’s, Forever 21 and Nike were named as some of the top clothing stores and brands among respondents.
Smart Fashion
Overall, just 9% of respondents said that they currently own multiple wearable technology devices. And 22% own one. Fitbit, Apple and Samsung were the most popular brands mentioned among wearables owners. But some also mentioned brands like Sony, Garmin, Dell and Jawbone. Looking forward, 31% of respondents said they are at least somewhat likely to purchase clothing or accessories with some kind of tech features in the next year. And of those respondents, 67% said that they are most interested in wearables that offer smartphone connectivity. 65% are interested in movement tracking or fitness features. 51% are interested in heart rate or health tracking features. And 44% are interested in wearables that offer location awareness features.
Buying Decisions
When considering clothing purchases, 50% of respondents said they consider price to be the most important determining factor. 22% care most about quality. 12% care about style and aesthetics. 7% are concerned with the brand name of their clothing. 5% care about functionality. 3% care about the materials used. And just 1% are most concerned about sustainability. And when considering tech purchases, 48% said that they consider price to be the most important factor. 23% are concerned with the quality. 13% consider functionality to be most important when making tech purchases. 11% care about the brand name. Just 2% care about style and aesthetics. And 1% care most about sustainability and the materials used.
Key Takeaways
The wearable technology market is still evolving. But right now it’s mainly made up of tech brands like Apple and Samsung. So that means there could be room for clothing brands like Levi’s and Fossil to carve out their own niche of the market by providing wearables that are actually fashionable. However, consumers tend to consider some factors differently when making tech purchases as opposed to clothing purchases. So those brands will need to make sure to communicate the functionality of their products along with the style and aesthetics. Additionally, brand name seems to be a bit more important when it comes to tech purchases. So it could be beneficial for smart fashion brands to partner with tech companies to offer wearables and then use that tech brand name in marketing materials as well. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: P2490637 by Franklin Heijnen under CC BY-SA 2.0What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.
Results were collected on October 13-15 via AYTM’s online survey panel.
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