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Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
is the number one seller of clothes in the U.S., according the latest data from Wells Fargo, as the e-commerce giant makes even further gains during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wells Fargo estimates that U.S. sales of clothing and shoes on Amazon, including third-party sellers, grew 15% in 2020 , reaching $41 billion.
“While this was only a modest increase of +15%, we believe that overall demand for apparel was stifled by the pandemic, and Amazon’s customers were more focused on ‘essential’ items and/or items that catered to the newfound work-from-home environment,” the Wells Fargo report said.
Still, that total is 20%-to-25% more than Walmart Inc.
WMT,
which came in at number two. And it accounts for 11%-to-12% share of all apparel sold in the U.S., as well as 34%-to-35% share of all apparel sold online.
Walmart announced this week that it has hired American fashion designer Brandon Maxwell as creative director of two of its private-label brands.
Only six other companies in the U.S. sell $10 billion or more in “softlines,” according to Wells Fargo: TJ Maxx parent TJX Cos.
TJX,
; Macy’s Inc.
M,
; Target Corp.
TGT,
; Kohl’s Corp.
KSS,
; Gap Inc.
GPS,
parent to the namesake brand, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta and the Intermix chain; and Ross Stores Inc.
ROST,
See: Walmart names Brandon Maxwell as creative director of two private-label fashion brands
Also: Yeezy Gap collection is coming in the first half of 2021
Wells Fargo forecasts that sales of clothing and shoes on Amazon will surpass $45 billion in 2021, a “modest” 10% gain, with customers shopping in stores again as the coronavirus vaccine continues rolling out.
Wells Fargo expects the online sales of clothing and shoes to be flat in 2021, though that would still put sales above pre-COVID levels.
“[T]raditional retailers struggled mightily in 2020 amid the pandemic, but the channel shift to e-commerce was dramatically accelerated (to Amazon’s benefit),” Wells Fargo analysts led by Ike Boruchow wrote.
Amazon’s U.S. gross merchandise volume (GMV) in all categories excluding Whole Foods Market was $290 billion last year, up $9 billion year-over-year.
“Given that Amazon’s addressable market (as we define it) grew by $180 billion, this means that Amazon accounted for ~50% of the market’s sales growth in 2020,” the report said.
Read: Target to spend $4 billion annually over the next several years to build on ‘record breaking’ 2020
The latest Adobe Digital Economy Index found that COVID-19 gave e-commerce a $183 billion bump in 2020.
“This is nearly the size of the last holiday shopping season, where $188.2 billion were spent online between November and December 2020,” the report said.
Calendar year 2021 is expected to come in between $850 billion and $930 billion.
“The pandemic produced a rare step change in online spending, equivalent to a 20% boost, and future growth is expected to build off of this gain. 2022 is expected to be the first trillion-dollar year for e-commerce,” Adobe
ADBE,
wrote.
Don’t miss: Kohl’s says it added 2 million new customers in 2020 due to the Amazon returns program
Wells Fargo notes that some brands have partnered with Amazon in order to take advantage of the company’s reach.
“Many vendors are partnering with Amazon to establish a comprehensive brand presentation on the site, with assortments that minimally compete with existing channels,” analysts said.
Examples include Calvin Klein, a PVH Corp.
PVH,
brand, and Carter’s Inc.
CRI,
which has created a brand, Simple Joys, specifically for Amazon.
Amazon stock has rallied 71% over the past year, outpacing the S&P 500 index
SPX,
which is up nearly 56% for the period.
The Amplify Online Retail ETF
IBUY,
has rocketed 246.7% over the last 12 months.
