A new study from Nosto has found that people who buy the latest clothes via safe shopping online in the UK still predominantly make purchases from traditional computers rather than via smartphones or tablets. This sets them apart from the crowd, since just over half of all e-commerce sales are generated on mobile platforms today.

Hundreds of retailers from across Europe were analysed as part of the study, with British fashion fans spending an average of £116 for each order originating from a desktop PC. Conversely, on smartphones this was dramatically reduced to £89, while tablet spending is a little higher at £107.

Twenty nine per cent of all traffic generated by fashion sites so far this year has come from mobiles, showing that there is still room for growth in this market and that trends are continuing to shift towards portable platforms.

Furthermore, only Scandinavian consumers spend more on fashion online than Brits, meaning that even fairly style-conscious nations like France and Germany are being outpaced in terms of raw investment in clothing.

Europeans collectively spent £314 billion on fashion items last year, with this figure accounting both for e-commerce and high street sales. And in spite of mobile still making up a small percentage of the whole market, report spokesperson, Juha Valvanne, said that this was gradually changing as people became more comfortable with mobile shopping.

The report also argues that one of the obstacles to higher mobile engagement was the design of the fashion sites themselves, which may not be as well optimised for smartphone and tablet users as retailers believe. This not only relates to the interface layout, but also the level of customisation that is on offer so that a personal shopping experience is available.