Online U.S. consumer purchases of apparel and accessories have certainly picked up in recent years. And this is expected to continue. From $45 billion in sales for 2013, online apparel and accessories revenues are expected to grow to more than $86 billion in 2018.

According to eMarketer:

“As a general rule, apparel-specific retailers tend to have a higher percentage of revenues coming from E-commerce than do discounters or department stores, according to a new eMarketer report, ‘Apparel Retailers and Digital Commerce: Trends and Benchmarks.’ Nearly all of the leading E-commerce retailers (as measured by E-commerce as a percentage of revenues) in this product segment are known for having translated mail-order businesses to the Internet.”

“A background in catalog retailing doesn’t guarantee success, but multichannel retailers with strong direct-mail roots, such as a J. Crew or an Urban Outfitters brand, 
can command as much as 30% of sales digitally.
 For mid-tier retailers like Ann Taylor Loft, New York & Company, and Gap, 10% to 15% is more common. Shoes, accessories, and teen-focused retailers generally win smaller proportions of sales via Ecommerce. For example, none of the shoe retailers tracked by eMarketer had E-commerce penetration higher than 14.1% for the January 2014 to January 2015 period.”

Click the chart to read more.