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Fashion-conscious British women buck the spend trend during economic downturn
When it comes to picking up the latest fashions, it takes more than an economic downturn to knock the spending confidence of a woman, a report from research specialist Mintel has revealed…
In 2009, unfazed by the dark economic cloud that had gathered above the UK, nearly half (12.7 million) of women in the UK spent the same or more on their clothes than in 2008.
Even more evidence to suggest that it is in fact the fashion-hungry that propped up the UK economy during the gloomy times by spending big on the latest clothing trends, is the fact that over half of overall UK consumers (54 per cent) did not reduce the amount they spent on clothes during the past year. More than four in ten consumers (43 per cent) did not change their clothes shopping habits and a dedicated one in ten (11 per cent) followers of fashion say they actually spent more on clothes than they usually would over the past year.
But it’s the shoppers that crave designer clobber that deserve the biggest pat on the back, again according to Mintel’s findings, because these were the consumers most likely to have spent more on clothes last year, with nearly two in ten spending more in 2009 than previously.
Desperate for designer
In addition, over a quarter (1.7 million) of adults said they are buying more from premium ranges at the likes of Debenhams and Marks and Spencer.
Tamara Sender, senior fashion analyst at Mintel, explains that Britain’s overriding passion for fashion could never be sunk by something like a global recession. She adds: “Our love of clothes shopping in Britain seems to have overridden economic concerns and the fact that the clothes industry has continued to increase market value is testament to where clothes buying lies in our priorities.
“While consumers have cut back on leisure activities such as holidays and eating out, they have continued to spend on clothing and footwear - indicating that they are being selective about what to spend their money on and are choosing to buy clothing over a meal out. It is clear that many people consider clothing to be a ‘treat’ purchase that now forms part of their essential spend, and even during recession, people will splash out on relatively low-ticket items such as clothes to lift their mood.”
But it’s not just the designer brands giving retail the lift it needs during a downturn, because there are some prudent Brits with their hands in their pockets too.
The prudent approach
The research revealed that almost half (47 per cent)
of consumers say that they mostly buy clothes on sale or special offer, while over a third (36 per cent) said they buy more from value clothing retailers than they did pre-recession. While three in ten people shop around comparing prices before buying, significantly fewer (one in six) take the trouble to look for the cheapest price online before buying in-store, indicating that most people decide what they will pay by browsing during a shopping trip. The trend for bargain-hunting, which appears to have increased in the recession, looks like it is set to continue, with a third (34 per cent) of probable big-spenders in 2010 shopping around comparing prices before buying.
Mintel’s research also reveals mood is another influence on purchasing power for today’s consumers. Mintel’s research reveals that a quarter (24 per cent) of consumers buy clothes to cheer themselves up when they are having a bad day, and this behaviour is more common among the big spenders in 2009.
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