Online fashion advances 11,26% in 2025, but technological bottlenecks slow profitability

With 64% of consumers shopping on websites, marketplaces, applications and social networks, online fashion leads e-commerce and maintains a trajectory of expansion in Brazil. Despite this advance, the sector still faces relevant bottlenecks in the use of technology, which limits its ability to keep up with growth in the same proportion.In 2025, the online fashion market advanced 11,26%, but the profitability of companies did not evolve at the same pace.

A diagnosis of this scenario is presented by industry experts the Fashion Trends 2026 report, conducted by Quality Digital, which points out how digital maturity still reveals structural limitations in important industry players. “There is not so much problem in demand, but there is an efficiency crisis in” technology, says Marcio Paith, Sales Engineering Manager at Quality Digital.

Quality Digital analysis shows that brands have faced return rates close to 25%, one of the biggest bottlenecks in the segment.“The sector continues to grow, but with the smallest margin. Traffic exists, but does not convert as it could. The checkout works technically, but the volume of returns corrodes the” result, warns Paith.

Part of these problems can be explained by the new consumer, for whom fashion is entertainment, content and influence. For this user, the discovery of news is strongly linked to social networks, where it begins, and often ends, the sales funnel. “The customer first discovers in networks and purchases where the experience is more fluid”, explains the executive. The analysis of Quality Digital shows that 98% of the companies in the sector have a presence on Instagram; 64% on WhatsApp and 39% on TikTok.

This consumer is also more judicious and less patient at the time of purchase, precisely the moment when doubts and frictions arise. According to the analysis, the purchase of “roup online remains an emotional, visual and subjective decision; but now it happens in an environment saturated with” options.

You can't offer everything to everyone

Roberto Ave Faria, VP of Quality Digital, highlights that brands need to deal with their technological and efficiency bottlenecks, with the adoption of resources that enhance hyperpersonalization. “You can not offer everything to everyone”, he reinforces.

Faria emphasizes the importance of adopting tools such as intelligent search, relevant filters, categories on occasion, style or intention. “These tools have become decisive to reduce friction and organize choice.When the discovery fails, the consumer is lost in the excess of options. When it works, there is a fluidity”, he says.

Fashion has always been visual and in digital commerce, this feature takes on an operational function. “Virtual tasters, detailed measurement sheets, clear information about who wears the piece and in what size, visual comparisons between color variations and even features such as favorites and wishlist each detail of a product page is a” error reduction mechanism, he argues.

The executive explains that these elements can, in some cases, prolong the journey.On the other hand, they make the choice more assertive, and this is what sustains the margin in the medium and long term.

Faria states that, in this scenario of maturity, pressure for efficiency and increasingly complex journeys, the difference between growing and sustaining growth is evident. “Integrating strategy, data, technology and operation is no longer an ambition and has become a necessity for brands that operate in fashion e-commerce at the” scale.