53.7B
Total fashion
retail visits 2025
+24.3%
Sector Traffic
Growth
-7pp
Organic + Direct
lost
172x
ChatGPT growth
in 13 months
2.8% → 8.2%
Paid search tripled
397 retailers • 7 markets • 84 matched financials • Jan 2024–Feb 2026
Access the Full ReportPaid search nearly tripled its share, filling the gap left by contracting organic and direct at 4–6× the cost.
Brands below 4% paid improved operating margin by an average of +0.5pp. Brands above 8% lost an average of 1.4pp. Most don't know which side of that line they're on.
Paid share surged to 12% while conversion fell to 0.94% – the sector's lowest.
57 of 397 brands are capturing it by accident. AI visibility compounds in your favour.
Pinterest is the most undervalue social channel, Pinterest: +6.3M vs Instagram: +0.9M.
Behind the headline growth, paid search nearly tripled its share, from 2.8% to 8.2%. Direct and organic contracted by 7 percentage points. The sector isn't growing its way to health. It's substituting earned traffic with bought traffic.
Channel Share 2024 vs 2025
~$1.8B
additional annual PPC spend across 339 retailers
53.7B
Total visits 2025
+24.3%
Sector growth
Across 84 matched retailers, the consequences are now visible in operating margins. Among brands running above 8% paid, the gap between those using paid as an amplifier and those using it as a crutch is 9 percentage points of operating margin change (+4.2pp versus −4.8pp). The difference isn't how much they spend. It's whether paid is working with their brand or instead of it.
+0.5pp
Avg OM change for brands
below 4% paid share
63% improving margins
−1.0pp
Avg OM change in the
danger zone (4–8%)
Only 48% improving
−1.4pp
Avg OM change for brands
above 8% paid share
9pp gap in outcomes within tier
9 sections, 84 matched financials, 25+ months of data. The full interactive dashboard includes:
Channel Shift Analysis
Full channel mix breakdown by segment and market
Amplifier vs Crutch Framework
Full scatter with 84 named retailers and their financials
Discovery Pressure Index
339 retailers scored with your personalised DPI breakdown
AI Assistant Traffic Deep Dive
ChatGPT, Perplexity & Gemini referral analysis by brand
Social Dark Matter & Platform Intelligence
Pinterest opportunity, dark social estimation, exit rate analysis
Strategic Playbook & 4 Priority Actions
Sequenced by commercial impact: what to do this quarter vs this year
Featured insight
Luxury is the sector's most dependent paid buyer – and its least effective converter
397 retailers
7 segments tracked
172× AI growth
57 brands capturing it
Get the complete report with all 9 sections, 84 matched financial analyses, and your personalised Discovery Pressure Index score.