Benchmarking Global Fashion Retailers

A global clothing retailer partnered with Lumivo to understand how its websites and apps performed against key competitors in different markets worldwide. The client wanted to know what it did well relative to rivals, what best practice looks like, and how localisation shaped the online shopping experience. 

The benchmark focused on five markets: Germany, the US, Japan, India, and Poland, with competitors including international players such as Zara, Shein, Old Navy, and Zalando, as well as strong local brands like Myntra, Max, and Shimamura. The aim was to pinpoint which elements of the digital experience drove improved business outcomes, including conversion, brand impact, loyalty, and customer satisfaction. 

Our Approach 

Lumivo designed a large-scale competitive benchmark involving over 8,000 participants across the five markets. Each participant completed key shopping tasks on one of the target websites or apps, including: 

• Browsing for a specific item, outfit, or general inspiration 

• Adding items to the shopping basket and editing product details 

• Stepping through the checkout process 

• Exploring loyalty programmes, returns processes, and promotions 

Participants evaluated their experience across success, ease, and confidence, while also providing detailed qualitative feedback. Lumivo combined this with a feature audit and ran statistical regression modelling to identify the drivers most strongly linked to improved conversion, loyalty, and brand perception. 

Key Findings 

Global drivers of success 
The analysis revealed nine primary drivers of business outcomes: product experience, finding products, product photos, checkout process, changing the shopping bag, practical content, navigation, perceived technical performance, and design/layout. Across markets, product experience and ease of finding products were consistently among the strongest drivers of both brand impact and conversion. 

Country differences 
While global themes were clear, local differences shaped performance: 

• Germany: Zalando led for product appeal and photos, but the client was close behind. Improvements were needed in changing shopping bag functionality and technical performance. 

• India: Amazon and Myntra set the benchmark for product discovery and appeal. The client performed well on practical content but lagged in checkout options such as UPI payments. 

• Japan: UNIQLO dominated, particularly on sizing and local relevance. The client scored well for enjoyment and guest checkout but was criticised for relying heavily on overseas models. 

• Poland: Zalando again led on product appeal and content. The client performed strongly in navigation but could improve search result consistency and product photos. 

• USA: The client ranked first for overall pleasure, navigation, and checkout. However, Old Navy led on product finding, and Shein excelled in shopping bag flexibility. 

Secondary factors 
Other features such as customer reviews, loyalty programme visibility, sizing info, and returns also showed strong correlations with brand and conversion outcomes. In Germany, the client led on loyalty programme visibility and ease of returns, but reviews were rated below average in multiple markets. 

The Outcome 

Lumivo’s analysis provided the retailer with a clear global view of performance, showing both where it led the market and where improvements were needed to stay competitive. Key recommendations included: 

• Enhancing product discovery and appeal through improved search results, richer product photography, and stronger local representation in imagery 

• Optimising the checkout and shopping bag experience with clearer delivery information, more flexible bag editing, and broader payment options tailored to local markets 

• Strengthening practical content and reviews, making customer-generated content and sizing guidance more prominent to build confidence and reduce returns 

• Addressing technical and design issues, particularly on mobile in emerging markets 

By combining global benchmarking with local insights, Lumivo helped the client refine its digital strategy, ensuring its platforms delivered both globally consistent best practice and market-specific relevance. The findings directly informed future development priorities across markets, aligning the online experience with consumer expectations worldwide.