KEY POINTS:
Sales of clothing over the internet have passed £1bn a year despite customers not being able to try things on before they buy.
Consumer researchers Mintel reported a five-fold rise in sales of clothing and footwear online since 2001 and a 44 per cent surge to £1.4 billion
last year.
In a poll for its research, adults said the biggest motivation for buying online was not having to hunt for the right size, followed by the ability to avoid high street shopping and convenience.
The biggest disadvantage was that people liked to try on clothes.
They also complained that they could not judge the feel of clothes.
Some 42 per cent of adults said they would like to see video clips of models wearing the clothes.
Online fashion sales - worth just £253m in 2001 - now accounts for 3 per cent of total sales of clothes and footwear.
Mintel believes the strong growth will continue and expected more physical shops to set up websites.
Some retailers currently offer only a fraction of their range online while others, such as Zara, Selfridges, Matalan, Bhs and Primark, have no sartorial online shopping at all.
A marketing director for a home shopping group interviewed for the report, Fashion Online, said: "We are seeing a sharp growth in our online demand and sales. Roughly speaking they are going up 50 per cent every year and that shows no signs of slowing down."
Mintel said the "fundamental" reason for the surge was the increasing number of homes with broadband, up from 13 per cent in October 2003 to 48 per cent in October 2006.
Consumers were also overcoming their fears about internet security.
But there was "still some way" for online retail to go before it challenged the high street, where customers can feel and test the clothes.
The report said: "Its performance has been held back by consumers' natural reluctance to buy items without trying them on as well as concerns over things like deliveries and returns."
Next Directory was the biggest single online clothes player, followed by the major home shopping groups.
Niche mail companies such as the upmarket retailer Boden had the same share of the business as high street retailers such as Top Shop, Marks & Spencers and Debenhams.
- INDEPENDENT