Affordable Short A-Line Dresses Dominate Online Sales Trends for Homecoming 2018

    NEW YORK, NY, September 25, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As the homecoming dress buying season picks up, Occasion Brands, LLC, releases Pulse of Homecoming to highlight the current 2018 online dress sales trends for homecoming by region within the United States. With 90% of the homecoming dress purchases across the US falling under $200, it's clear that affordability is key for consumers. The top ten styles sold nationwide for homecoming reveal a strong preference for short a-line dresses with v-necklines. These styles are sold predominantly in mauve (an earthy-pink hue), navy blue, burgundy red, or black. The majority of purchases for homecoming at this point in the season come from the Midwest region. At 51% of the total homecoming sales, the Midwest region represents a little over half of all homecoming purchases. The South region follows at 27% of the total sales, and the Northeast and West regions both represent 11% each. With only a handful of total sales thus far, the Pacific region (Alaska and Hawaii) is less than a percent of the homecoming purchases.

Affordable Homecoming Dress Styles Reign
Nationwide online sales trends reveal a strong consumer preference for affordably priced homecoming dresses. Dresses in the price range of $50-$99 represents 44% of the total online orders placed for homecoming. This is the price range with the highest percentage of orders for each individual region as well. Ten percent of sales are for dresses under $50. Purchases for dresses under $100 represents 54% of the total sales -- that's over half of all online homecoming dress sales nationwide. This shows that the typical consumer, regardless of region, will spend $100 or less on a homecoming dress. www.promgirl.com

Short A-Line Dresses Made in Satin or Chiffon Dominate
While there are some variations among the popular colors, fabrics, and accent features across the regions, consumers nationwide are showing a clear preference for minimally-adorned satin or chiffon short a-line homecoming dresses. The top ten styles in the Midwest predominantly feature satin and tulle, but chiffon, jersey and dupioni fabrics also make an appearance. In the West, the fabrics of choice among popular styles are chiffon, satin, and tulle. Half of the top ten styles for the West feature criss-crossing back straps. While most of the styles sold for the Northeast region are short a-line dresses, there is one fitted sheath-style dress among the top ten sold in the region. Chiffon, jersey, and scuba fabrics are featured on top styles sold in the Northeast; however, half of the popular styles are made of satin. In the Northeast, lace accents adorn three of the top styles, and waist cut outs grace two (one with illusion mesh over the cut outs). Among the top-selling styles for the South, satin and chiffon are top picks, but tulle and metallic lurex fabrics also make an appearance.

Mauve, Burgundy Red, Navy Blue, or Black Dresses Color Homecoming
Shades of mauve, burgundy red, navy blue, and black will color homecoming 2018 since 74% of all homecoming dress sales are in one of these colors. These colors represent 76% of the total homecoming sales in the Midwest, with burgundy red slightly in the lead over navy blue at 24% to 21% respectively. In the West, the top four colors (mauve, burgundy red, navy blue, and black) represent 72% of total homecoming purchases, and the color mauve, at 22%, edges out navy blue at 20% for the top color sold. The same top four colors are 71% of the total homecoming sales for both the Northeast and South regions. In the Northeast, navy blue (20%) just slightly edges out burgundy red (19%) as the top-selling color for the region. In the South region, burgundy red, at 22%, is the favorite color of choice, and navy blue and black tie for second place at 17% each.

The Data
The data for homecoming sales trends represents online sales between August 15th and September 15th, 2018 across the United States by Occasion Brands, LLC, a leading national online dress retailer. Customers self-report their online purchases as homecoming dresses upon placing their orders.

For more information about Pulse of Homecoming, please contact: Ashley Binda at Occasion Brands, LLC, [email protected], 917-746-8323.

About Occasion Brands, LLC

PromGirl, founded in 1998, has sold over 2 million dresses online and is the largest online retailer of prom, homecoming, and other special-occasion dresses. It offers an unparalleled selection of high-quality, in-stock dresses at all price points. Through the website, mobile and social platforms, PromGirl's reach is global, delivering "dream dresses" to more than 140 international destinations. As part of the Occasion Brands portfolio, PromGirl supports the Occasion Brands mission to be the premier retailer in the special-occasion dress market by providing a world-class shopping experience and maintaining customer trust through an understanding of their needs as they experience some of the most important moments in their lives. Occasion Brands' staff is based in New York City and Middletown, Delaware, and its state-of-the-art facility in New Jersey houses hundreds of thousands of dresses for PromGirl and its sister brands, Simply Dresses and Kleinfeld Bridal Party. In 2018, Occasion Brands expanded its reach by opening a PromGirl pop-up store in New Jersey, a Simply Dresses pop-up store in New York City, and a Kleinfeld Bridal Party Showroom located on the upper level of the Kleinfeld Bridal store.

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