This is the question continuously circulating the Australian fashion market, the condundrum as it were is: Why do we as Australian like to shop online when we have so many local and overseas options right in front of us?
Reading Ragtrader this morning, it came to my attention that as an Australian potential future designer, should I set an example by ceasing my buying online experience? Ragtrader believe and as do many scared retailers, online shopping is ruining the Australian fashion industry through its accessibility and easiness.
I love shopping, like really, I have a problem. I like trawling through racks to find a surprise bargain, I love seeing new window displays take over older ones in Pitt St Mall as I'm walking to work so that I can fantastise about a certain Cue/General Pants/Witchery dress, however, when it comes to the crunch we're going to go with what's cheaper.
It's so sad even though Australians offer these amazing ideas, shapes, textures, textile prints and accessories, we're still going to go offshore and buy the cheaper version. It puts retailers/budding designers etc... in a pickle for you are left with this binary of: you need to make money and therefore, if you want Australian made you're going to have to pay for it and yet, if you want what's in trend, one season, disposable and easy you're going to go for the cheaper option and therefore retailers maybe forced to lower prices to combat such a competitive market.
Urban Outfitters, ASOS, ShopBop, Net-A-Porter have cracked a huge market in Australian, probably without really realising it and even with $30-$40 shipping people are still going to buy buy buy...I know I do almost on a monthly basis. For completing my own collection at Uni I purchased myself $150 worth of stuff from ShopBop, then this week a friend asked me to join her in the shipping fee for Urban Outfitters so i purchased something and then ASOS were on super sale and they ship for free so I jumped on that bandwagon as well. So why would I choose these over our home grown brands or brands I could access at my local Westfield?
Well first is accessibility: I can sit in my pj's late at night, feeling crappy and gross, have a spare half an hour and buy myself a few things I probably don't need but convince myself I need them right then and there. They turn up a week later, you get the excitement of recieving some mail pretending it's a secret admirer (ok the giant Urban Outfitters on the side of the box gives that away, but hey...wishful thinking) and the excitement stays with you all week long rather than that half an hour during and after a purchase in a shop.
Waiting for your goods in this way allows you to appreciate it more when it arrives, but this can also lead to utter disappointment when the garment arrives and it does not fit, the colour doesn't look anything like it was meant to or the quality is just plain shit. Luckily, this has only happened twice out of over 30 online purchases in the past year (when the addiction started).
Secondly, online shopping is fun, it's like a game. You choose your site, you can look at all the colours/sizes it comes in, look at it on the model (ASOS even has runway videos of each item), you can then read reviews regarding that piece to see if it runs large/small/crap quality/colour's not right etc... and put them all into your little online shopping bag and sit them there eternally which is something I'm very good at or finally taking the plunge and cliking pay knowing they can all be yours in a week's time!
Thirdly, it really is much cheaper. You have a wider range of stock, it's all in trend or ahead of trend because it's overseas, you usually pick up all the items you need on sale because of that season ahead thing and not many other people are going to walk around wearing it like you with your Sportsgirl/General Pants/Country Road everything. Urban Outfitters and ASOS even provide us with Australian designer items that I can get cheaper shipped back from The United States than I can here!
As much as I hate to admit it, online shopping is my vice. I hate what it's doing to my fashion industry, but I love it at the same time. What should I do????
