Developing countries strong at apparel spend & brand appeal

10 Oct '05

4 min read

Columbus based global management consulting and market research firm specializing in retail intelligence and strategies, Retail Formward says there is some good news for global apparel brands and apparel specialty stores, which face a threat from a growing wave of no-name store brands sourced in China and other low-cost countries and sold at hypermarkets and supercenters.

Consumers in developing countries-particularly China, India, Russia, Mexico and Brazil- are buying and paying more for well-known or familiar apparel brands, a recently released study by Retail Forward reports.

The Global Softgoods Shopper Update also finds that the beneficiary of the robust apparel spending in developing markets is clothing specialty stores more so than department stores, hypermarkets and supercenters. The study was based on surveys conducted for Retail Forward by Global Market Insite Inc. (GMI).

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The impact of new shopping alternatives-notably hypermarkets and supercenters from Carrefour, Wal-Mart and Tesco for example - is being felt primarily in certain countries and categories.

The impact of online and non-store retailers in the apparel sector appears to be strongest in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. Despite the new alternatives, however, the study finds that shopping frequency at clothing specialty stores and traditional department stores appears to be holding up in most countries.

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