Clothing in Europe | Verdict Sector Report

With growth of just 3.1% in the five years to 2014, the recovery of the EU28 clothing market has been slow over the last two years, despite the economy starting to show signs of improvement. The market will take 10 years to 2017 to recover fully, so it is essential that retailers seize growth opportunities and seek out gaps in the market to steal their share of the limited spend available.

Key Findings

– Make informed investment decisions using clothing expenditure forecasts to 2019 for every European Union member state.

– Understand how economic pressures such as unemployment are affecting clothing expenditure, in order to shape future strategy.

– Discover the size of the European online clothing market and understand which markets to target in order to prioritize investment.

– Uncover the gaps in the European clothing market to see which customer segments are currently underserved and which to target.

– Glean how the value clothing market in Europe has changed over the past five years and learn how it differs among the Top 5 markets in the region.

Synopsis

Of all the 28 markets in the region, we expect Poland to achieve the highest growth between 2014 and 2019, with clothing expenditure growing by 26.6% – though this is only a rise of €2.0bn so its overall impact on the market remains fairly minimal.

The European online clothing market will grow 134.0% in the five years to 2014, as spend shifts online from more traditional channels such as stores and catalogues. With only 12.0% of expenditure coming from online in 2014, the channel still represents a major opportunity for retailers.

The unemployment rate across the EU28 has grown from 7.1% in 2008 to 10.9% in 2013. This has hit consumer ability and willingness to spend on clothing, with the impact felt most strongly in Greece and Spain. However value retailers have prospered from shoppers trading down in weaker markets, enabling further store rollout from the likes of Primark.

Reasons...