Zalando leads to the use of his app, before H&M and Otto; The Shein app is mainly used by top earners, and AI-supported tools such as the virtual fitting, recommendations and live shopping usually remain unused. These were the (surprising) results of a study by the global consulting company Simon-Kucher, who devoted itself to the use of fashion apps.
In March 2025, Simon-Kucher, in cooperation with the independent market research institute Appinio, asked 1,000 consumers: inside in Germany about fashion apps and their functions.
Majority is ready for fashion apps
According to the study, five out of six people in Germany have already used mobile apps to buy fashion and sporting goods; 84 percent at least one or three quarters (75 percent) at least two and more than half (53 percent) more than three apps.
“Fashion apps conquer Germany and are now part of the shopping experience. We expect that the number and use of the fashion apps will continue to increase in the near future. Especially because many fashion brands do not yet have their own app despite the trend,” commented Martin Mattes, partners and fashion experts at Simon-Kucher, in a press release.
But it is also important to persist: to keep inside, because “more than a third of the Germans have already uninstalled a fashion app,” said Markus Kröll, senior director and trading expert at Simon-Kucher. The reasons were called defects in the check-out (23 percent) or a confusing design (29 percent). “So that it does not already fail to fail, strategic expenses also have to concentrate on user experience,” advises Kröll.
What are the most popular fashion apps?
The Zalando app is particularly popular with customers: at 41 percent it is still ahead of H&M (39 percent) and Otto (37 percent). “This is due to the immense selection of products but also due to the app concept,” explains Mattes. The sporting goods manufacturers Adidas and Nike each follow with 32 percent.
The apps of fashion houses such as Peek & Cloppenburg and Galeria are in the bottom; They are only used by 15 or 11 percent of those surveyed. But you can still catch up: “While Zalando rules the digital fashion world, traditional houses get stuck in the digital province. There is still time to catch up if fashion houses react immediately,” says Markus Goller, partner and trading expert at Simon-Kucher.
Temu and Shein score with top earners
While the app of the Chinese online marketplace TEMU is used equally by low and top earners (40 or 38 percent), the Ulta-Fast-Fashion-provider Shein is used primarily by top earners: almost a third (31 percent) of households with net income of 6,001 to 7,000 euros, almost a further third (30 percent) from 5,001 to 6,000 euros Quarter (25 percent) with more than 7,000 euros.
“It is definitely a surprise that the top-earning Germany use the cheapest app of Shein,” says Markus Goller, partner and trading expert at Simon-Kucher. “Especially the use of the cheap fashion apps shows that fashion apps also fight for market shares beyond classic target groups”.
Standard app function in front of AI
There are also surprises when using functions, because consumers are primarily used by standard app functions such as personalized premiums (37 percent), product information (32 percent) and price comparisons (31 percent).
AI-supported tools such as the virtual fitting, AI recommendations or live shopping uses over half of the users: Never inside fashion apps. “The AI age has not yet arrived at fashion apps. Nevertheless, it is worth investing here and marketing the functions in a targeted manner,” advises Kröll.
The first of three parts of the Simon-Kucher Fashion app study will soon be available for download on the website of the consulting company. The second part is expected to be published in April.