When it comes to digital maturity among apparel retailers, Macy's is at the top of the list, according to Incisiv's first annual Apparel Digital Maturing Benchmark report. The study was sponsored by Fluent Commerce and Bridge Solutions Group.

Overall the top quarter of apparel retailers saw a 25% dip in sales due to COVID-19 industry disruption compared to a 46% decline in the bottom quartile of retailers, according to the study.

Kohl's, Neiman Marcus, Target and Nordstrom rounded out the top five behind Macy's and were cited for stronger response to the coronavirus impact due to mature digital strategies, according to a press release on the report's findings.

"This year's inaugural rankings also highlighted a strong correlation between digital maturity and the percentage of sales driven by digital channels. In 2019, the top 25% of digitally mature retailers saw a 22% increase in digital sales; however, that number is set to increase by 10 times or more in 2020. The data in this year's Apparel Digital Maturity Benchmark also clearly indicates that the financial performance of current digital leaders far exceeds their peers that are less digitally mature," stated the release.

Based on performance analysis over four stages of the customer journey — product discovery, ordering, fulfilment options and customer support — the top 10 leading North American cross-format apparel retailers in the 2020 Apparel Digital Maturity Benchmark are:

1. Macy's
2. Kohl's
3. Neiman Marcus
4. Target
5. Nordstrom
6. Ann Taylor
7. Chico's
8. J.C. Penney Co.
9. Walmart
10. Ralph Lauren

"The apparel segment was one of the early adopters of digital technologies and has continued to be a leader in setting expectations for what digital experience should be for customers. However, expectations have been reset yet again and digital platforms will, in many cases, decide if some apparel retailers have a future," Amar Mokha, Incisiv COO, said in the release. "New functionalities in areas such as inventory visibility, AR/VR, fulfilment, seamless social media integration and more will make the difference with customers today."

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