Amazon is crushing Macy's, Nordstrom, and Kohl's

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Amazon is now the top seller of clothes online, and it's crushing traditional clothing retailers like Macy's, Nordstrom, and Kohl's.

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Over the last 12 months, sales growth for clothing stores was flat compared to the previous year, while growth for online-only retailers - which was driven by Amazon - jumped 10%, according to RBC Capital Markets analysts.

Amazon only recently started ramping up its clothing and accessories marketing and inventory. But it has quickly become a dominant force in the market.

The retailer's apparel sales last year totalled $16.3 billion, which is more than the combined online sales of Macy's, Nordstrom, Kohl's, Gap, and Victoria's Secret parent L Brands in the same period, according to Bloomberg.

Department stores

RBC Capital Markets

Amazon is now second only to Walmart in terms of overall apparel market share, according to Morgan Stanley analysts

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The growth of online shopping - along with an overall trend toward spending more money on experiences and vacations over apparel - has led many department store chains to reduce their retail footprints.

RBC analysts estimate that about 700 department stores have closed since 2013, and expect that next year another 100 Macy's stores to close along with another 50 to 60 Kmart store closures.

Here are all the major closures since 2013, according to RBC's tally.

Department stores

RBC Capital Markets

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.

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