Clothing Retailing - UK -
The Consumer – Where They Buy Clothing
This
section of the report examines the results of research conducted by Ipsos MORI
on behalf of Mintel into which
retailer/channel respondents had bought clothing from.
The
sample of 1,986 adults aged 16+ were asked the following question:
“From which, if any, of these shops
or mail order companies have you bought any clothing for yourself during the
last 12 months? Please choose all that apply.”
The
response data is presented in the following sub-sections and in The Consumer –
Where They Buy Clothing – Detailed Consumer Demographics, analysed by various
demographic breaks and other lifestyle characteristics.
Key points
●
M&S is the most
popular retailer of clothing in the UK retailer, with 43% of consumers shopping
there in the last 12 months.
●
Next claims second
place, a whisker ahead of price-led retailers Primark and Asda.
●
Indeed four of the
top six players – Primark, Asda, Tesco and Matalan – are all positioned at the
more price-focused end of the clothing market.
●
In terms of
progress, Primark stands out from the pack – increasing its penetration by a
massive 16 percentage points since 2004 and by as much as five percentage
points in the last year.
●
Zara has also
advanced well from a low base, particularly in the year to June 2009 when its
penetration levels doubled.
Where they buy clothing
●
Mixed
goods retailer M&S (43%) remains well ahead of its closest rival.
●
Next
(29%) is the leading clothing specialist, but Primark continues to close the
gap and is now just a whisker behind (on 28%).
●
The
supermarkets have become important players in clothing, with Asda now
attracting one in four adults and Tesco one in five.
●
However,
both have seen a loss of momentum in growth in consumer penetration in the last
year.
●
Debenhams
is well ahead of department store rivals John Lewis and House of Fraser. But it
has many more stores and a greater focus on fashion.
FIGURE 42: Where they buy
clothes, July 2009
Base:
1,986 adults aged 16+
SOURCE: Ipsos Mori/Mintel
The changing face of the UK high
street
●
There
have been a few notable changes in consumer’s shopping habits in recent years.
●
Primark
stands out from all others – increasing penetration by 16 percentage points
since 2004 and by as much as five percentage points in the last year.
●
Its
combination of ultra low prices and high fashion continues to be a winning
formula in the recession.
●
From
a low base, Zara has also made good progress, particularly in 2009.
●
Whilst
it has fast fashion in common with Primark, its pricing strategy is about
affordability and value rather than being the cheapest.
●
Elsewhere,
Tesco seems to have lost some of its gloss in 2009, which may reflect the
chain’s wider like-for-like underperformance relative to its supermarket
rivals.
FIGURE 43: Outlets used for
purchasing clothing in the last 12 months, 2004-09
Base:
c. 2,000 adults aged 16+
Jun-04
|
Apr-05
|
Jun-06
|
Jun-07
|
May-08
|
July-09
|
% point change
|
% point change
|
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
2004-09
|
2008-09
|
|
Marks
& Spencer
|
36
|
42
|
37
|
38
|
43
|
43
|
7
|
0
|
Next
(incl. Directory)
|
20
|
25
|
21
|
22
|
27
|
29*
|
9
|
2
|
Primark
|
12
|
15
|
18
|
24
|
23
|
28
|
16
|
5
|
Asda
(George)
|
23
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
26
|
26
|
3
|
0
|
Tesco
|
20
|
24
|
21
|
19
|
24
|
20
|
0
|
-4
|
Matalan
|
23
|
24
|
23
|
21
|
20
|
20
|
-3
|
0
|
Debenhams
|
18
|
21
|
20
|
19
|
19
|
19
|
1
|
0
|
Sports
shop
|
13
|
14
|
18
|
14
|
13
|
14
|
1
|
1
|
New
Look
|
11
|
13
|
12
|
14
|
14
|
13
|
2
|
-1
|
Bhs
|
12
|
15
|
13
|
12
|
13
|
12
|
0
|
-1
|
Peacocks
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
12
|
12
|
11
|
2
|
-1
|
TK
Maxx
|
na
|
10
|
9
|
11
|
11
|
11
|
na
|
nc
|
Internet
(incl. retailers listed)
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
10
|
na
|
na
|
River
Island
|
8
|
11
|
10
|
12
|
11
|
10
|
2
|
-1
|
Topshop/Topman
|
9
|
12
|
9
|
9
|
10
|
10
|
1
|
0
|
John
Lewis
|
7
|
10
|
10
|
9
|
10
|
9
|
2
|
-1
|
Mail
order (incl. Next Directory)
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
9
|
na
|
na
|
Sainsbury’s
|
na
|
6
|
4
|
8
|
10
|
9
|
na
|
-1
|
H&M
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
8
|
8
|
9
|
5
|
1
|
Dorothy
Perkins
|
9
|
10
|
8
|
9
|
9
|
8
|
-1
|
-1
|
Gap
|
5
|
8
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
4
|
-1
|
-2
|
Burton
|
9
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
-3
|
0
|
House
of Fraser
|
4
|
7
|
7
|
5
|
6
|
8
|
4
|
2
|
Market
stall
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
na
|
5
|
-1
|
na
|
Zara
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
6
|
5
|
3
|
Monsoon
|
na
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
5
|
na
|
nc
|
Other
dept store
|
5
|
6
|
9
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
nc
|
1
|
Other
specialist
|
5
|
9
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
2
|
1
|
Mail
order/internet/TV
|
11
|
11
|
18
|
13
|
21
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
Elsewhere
|
13
|
12
|
11
|
8
|
10
|
7
|
-6
|
-3
|
Have
not bought in last 12 months
|
4
|
6
|
5
|
6
|
3
|
3
|
-1
|
0
|
na
= not asked
nc = no change
* excluding Next Directory
nc = no change
* excluding Next Directory
SOURCE:
Ipsos Mori/Mintel
Who buys where
Women far more enthusiastic shoppers
than men
●
Predictably
women are far keener on clothes shopping than men.
●
Retailers
attract anywhere between a third more women (eg Next) to more than double the
number (eg H&M).
●
Only
one retailer – TK Maxx – attracts similar numbers of male and female shoppers –
perhaps the no frills/warehouse style merchandising appeals to more men?
●
Only
one channel – sports shops – are more popular with men.
●
Nevertheless,
the top 10 retailers feature many of the same names for either gender.
●
Arguably
the more significant difference is the internet, which claims joint ninth
position for male shoppers, but comes in five places below that for women.
Key analysis: The UK’s virtual high
street is populated by more men than women and far more are joining the ranks
of the online shoppers. Although their online spending on clothing falls well
short of that on technology and gadgets, the best designed and most efficient
fashion sites have the capability to succeed, even where the brand may have
failed on the high street.
Next corners the 25-44-year-old
market
●
The
number of 25-34-year-olds is forecast to grow by over 0.9 million over the next
five years but the number of 35-44-year-olds will fall by over 0.8 million.
●
Where
Next gains from a growing younger group it will lose out from the contraction
in the older group.
●
But
M&S stand to lose out more as it has greater appeal with consumers in their
mid-30s and upwards.
●
The
convenience of picking up clothing along with the family food shop clearly
appeals to the 25-44s. But grocers can’t afford to take their eye off the ball
as all have experienced lower usage since their recent peak levels.
And e-commerce grabs the attention
of the young
●
Despite
its convenience, the internet has yet to feature among the top 10 destinations
for either of the above age groups.
●
It
is however the fourth most popular choice for 15-24-year-olds after
Topshop/Topman, New Look and River Island.
Key analysis: young people are
growing up shopping for fashion online. As they migrate to family or premium
clothing retailers at a later stage they will expect to shop in the same way.
So the supermarkets, department stores etc are doing just the right thing by
upping their
e-commerce game now.
e-commerce game now.
M&S dominates the older end of
the market
●
The
45-54-year-olds and the 65+ age bands will include an additional 0.8 million
and 1.2 million people respectively over the next five years and so present
potential opportunities for growth.
●
M&S’
has an unassailable lead in both these growing age groups.
●
Indeed
it has become the destination clothes store for people over 45.
●
One
in four shoppers aged 45-54 also shop from the two big supermarket chains and
perhaps more surprisingly Primark.
●
But
once people reach retirement age their usage of any of the listed retailers
falls away sharply with the exception of M&S.
Key analysis: M&S has largely
left the market for under 25s to other retailers, but its appeal strengthens
quickly thereafter. However capturing and retaining the interest of its 35-45-year-old
audience is clearly critical to secure customer loyalty thereafter.
Achieving the right mix of
sub-brands to appeal across the age spectrum needs to be reviewed regularly.
The company has recently launched a new casualwear brand, Indigo, for the over
30s. The range is small but features some quality fabrics and interesting
colours to enliven the neutral core, all at affordable prices. But the visual
merchandising is too low key to create standout within the store and may
struggle to reel in shoppers from key competitors.
M&S and department stores well
placed to benefit from socio-economic shift
●
In
the next five years, the number of people in the ABC1 socio-economic group will
grow by over 1.6 million while the C2DE group will rise by just 0.3 million
heads.
●
The
chart below highlights those retailers that could potentially benefit from that
demographic shift.
●
The
department stores and M&S are fairly predictable. H&M less so.
●
But
the internet also has a strong bias to the higher socio-economic groups and at
the moment John Lewis is ahead of department store rivals House of Fraser,
Selfridges and Harvey Nichols in terms of its online fashion development.
Cross category shopping
The
last table looks at penetration levels for clothing crossed against where
people shop for groceries.
●
In
all five cases, people who shop for clothes at the retailers charted below are
most likely to have also used that shop (or sister shop in the case of John
Lewis/Waitrose) to buy groceries.
●
However
that relationship is much stronger for John Lewis and Sainsbury’s than it is
for the other three.
●
The
correlation at Tesco is the weakest of all with its clothes shoppers almost as
likely to have grocery shopped at the Co-op and any discounter as Tesco.
Key analysis: Waitrose recently
started to sell John Lewis kitchen and homeware products in its top-performing
stores and on its website. Online customers can either have purchases delivered
to their home or collect them from their local Waitrose store. Our data
suggests there may be scope to offer something similar in fashion. Clearly
there would be space constraints in-store but seasonal lines like school
uniforms or swimsuits could work well, and the new value ranges that John Lewis
plans to introduce in fashion.
FIGURE 50:
Where they bought clothes in last 12 months, by grocery stores used, July 2009
Base: 1,986 adults aged 16+
Marks & Spencer
|
Asda (eg George)
|
Tesco
|
Sainsbury's (ie Tu)
|
John Lewis
|
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
|
All
|
43
|
26
|
20
|
9
|
9
|
Grocery stores used:
|
|||||
Asda
|
37
|
41
|
19
|
7
|
7
|
Co-op
|
49
|
31
|
23
|
10
|
12
|
Iceland
|
30
|
26
|
18
|
8
|
8
|
Marks
& Spencer
|
74
|
18
|
15
|
10
|
18
|
Morrisons
|
42
|
30
|
20
|
9
|
8
|
Sainsbury's
|
52
|
18
|
15
|
18
|
13
|
Somerfield
|
43
|
23
|
15
|
9
|
13
|
Tesco
|
44
|
26
|
27
|
10
|
9
|
Waitrose
|
64
|
11
|
16
|
12
|
30
|
Any
discounter
|
43
|
35
|
22
|
11
|
5
|
SOURCE:
Ipsos Mori/Mintel
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