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Over the last few months there seems to have been a substantial increase in the request for Childrenswear information.
It's actually quite difficult to find the right pertinent information for all you budding childrenswear entrepreneurs but we have managed to gleam some snippets of information for you....not least that Key Note estimates that in 2003 the market for childrenswear was worth £6.02 billion at retail selling prices which was over a 4% increase on the year 2002.
Having spent a day surfing the net we have found the following articles for you it's a start at least and we have other articles that will be following shortly.
Can I please credit Drapers Record for two of the articles and thanks to Lorna Hall for agreeing to let the LFF use the article on FashionCapital. The article from Lorna is regarding the increase in sales for licensed Kidswear which now has sales over £170m a year. The Article from Ase Anderson is more of a generic view of retailers generally but shows a increase in trends towards the independent retailer - certainly from our own perspective sales at the Kingly Court boutique have increased month on month with consumers demand for more exclusivity. The Key Note Summary is excellent and this article provides figures for the childrenswear market which will be worth a read for all you designers working on your business plan.
Happy reading!
Jenny Holloway
Industry Advisor
Executive Summary
This Key Note Market Report on the childrenswear market focuses on girls', boys' and infants' clothing. Key Note estimates that, in 2003, the total UK market for childrenswear was worth £6.02bn at retail selling prices (rsp), a rise of 4.2% on 2002. In 2003, clothing for girls was the largest sector, accounting for 44.7% of the market.
Since the late 1990s, childrenswear has maintained its position in the clothing market and, in 2003, accounted for 18.9% of the total UK expenditure on clothes. However, as a whole, the clothing market has experienced deflated prices as a result of the emergence of discount and value retailers, and the success of supermarkets with low-priced products. In addition, over the past decade, the decline in the UK child population because of falling birth rates, has had an adverse affect on the childrenswear market.
Overall, between 1999 and 2003, sales of children's clothing grew year-on-year as a result of higher per capita expenditure in the market. This increase in spending is due to a number of reasons, including older parents with higher levels of disposable income, smaller family sizes and guilt-induced spending from working parents. In addition, children themselves are now more vocal consumers, with `teenagers' in the 10 to 14 year-old age group particularly aware of fashion and the media.
The market for childrenswear is highly fragmented, with a large number of suppliers and retailers. Although manufacturing continues to move overseas as suppliers seek to minimise costs, over the past decade, the retail market has experienced an influx of players. These companies are attracted by the growing nature of the market, as childrenswear retails at a range of outlets from independent specialists to supermarkets, with a wide range of price points. However, consumers are taking a sophisticated approach to purchasing products and price is not the only driving factor. Other aspects, such as branding and quality, are also a priority, which allows a combination of products, such as designer label sweatshirts with supermarket jeans, to sell successfully in the market.
Between 2004 and 2008, Key Note forecasts that the UK childrenswear market will continue to rise steadily year-on-year, although the rate of growth is likely to slow. The most significant areas of the market are likely to be value products, as well as branded childrenswear items.
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Independents reclaim market share |
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By Ã…se Anderson |
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Independents have enjoyed a bumper six months, clawing back 1.6% market share from mainstream retailers, according to figures from Taylor Nelson Sofres Fashion Trak.
The other big winners were the supermarkets, as more consumers opted for value for money or high-end fashion. General retailers such as Littlewoods and Marks & Spencer, and discounters such as Matalan and Peacocks are the main losers as consumer spending on fashion and footwear has polarised between the lowest cost operators and independent fashion retailers.
According to TNS Fashion Trak, independents saw a 1.6% rise in market share to 9.3% for the 24 weeks to September 19. In the same period last year the sector lost 1.3% market share. TNS Fashion Trak business director Fiona Bell said shoppers were looking for the edited buying and emphasis on customer service offered by independents. She said: “People are looking for value or individual style. The general stores need to look at what they can offer in terms of niche departments and develop more individual ranges to attract customers.â€
At the other end of the spectrum, supermarkets have grown their share by 0.8% to 5.9%. This growth is partly accounted for by the improvements made to the supermarkets’ clothing offer but also an increase in floor space as a result of aggressive expansion.
Maureen Hinton, senior research analyst at Verdict, agreed that major mid-market players such as M&S need to look at ways of segmenting their ranges to appeal to different target groups. “Many brands are becoming more ubiquitous as they open more stores and concessions. Consumers want to be individuals, they don’t want to wear the same thing as everyone else. They look for brands such as Noa Noa and Sticky Fingers which are found in fashion-led independents.â€
The general store sector, which also includes Bhs and Woolworths, saw its market share drop by 0.5% to 13.9%. It also fell by 0.5% in the same period last year. Discount outlets, which recorded 0.7% growth last year, saw a 0.3% decline to 9.7%. TNS Fashion Trak said that this was due to supermarkets strengthening their foothold in the clothing market.
High street multiples recorded a slight slowdown in the rate of growth to 0.1% following last year’s increase of 2.3%. Next and River Island were singled out as being retailers driving growth in this sector, which is still the biggest with a market share of 25%. Agency and direct home shopping businesses in the UK are continuing to see a decline in their share of the market, according to the report.
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Article written By Ã…se Anderson DRAPERS RECORD ist November 2004
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Sales of licensed kidswear surge to £170m |
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By Lorna Hall |
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The UK’s licensed kidswear market generated £169 million worth of sales in the first half of 2004, accounting for about 9% of the sector. Clothing spend comes second only to toys in the licensed sector. The figures – the first of their kind to track consumer spending in licensed products for kids – were produced by NPD Licence Tracker Consumer Panel and were collated from interviews with 6,500 households in the UK from October 2003 to June 2004. The majority of licensed product, 68%, is bought by mothers. Grandmothers are the second-biggest spending group at around 15%.
Out of a mum’s total kids’ clothing budget, she will spend 14% on licensed product for boys but only 8% on licensed clothing for girls. Licensed footwear draws in 5% of clothing spend for boys but only 2% for girls.
Speaking at this week’s Brand Licensing Show at London’s Earls Court, Frederique Tutt, UK toys service manager for NPD Licence Tracker, told Drapers that half of the total licensed clothing sales came from underwear and nightwear. She said: “There is still a huge opportunity for more fashion-led licensed clothing to be produced because spending on licensed clothing isn’t as great as in other retail categories.
“The market is still quite unsophisticated in its approach to kidswear, but there are brands out there that are starting to see the potential for girls. Barbie is leading the way by producing very fashion-focused clothing collections rather than purely character-driven merchandise.â€
Tutt said the age windows for licensed clothing closes quicker for girls than for boys. “Girls tend to move on from characters faster than boys,†she said. “There are also a lot of older characters like The Simpsons and Lord of the Rings that are still considered acceptable for boys in their early teens but there are not similar vehicles in the market for girls, who become more fashion and trend-conscious at an earlier age.â€
NPD results for the six-month period also revealed licensed product tended to be more likely to be bought at full price rather than on Sale, with only 23% being discounted against 28% on general kidswear spend. The age group with the highest spend on kids’ licensed goods is between four and five years when the market captures 34% of total spend, that is closely followed by 0 to three years with 29%, six to seven years with 25%, and eight to 10 years with 17%. At the age of 11, spend tails off to 10%.
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Article written by Lorna Hall of Drapers Record 1st November 2004.
Designers see the potential with childrenswear by Fashion Capital Ltd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Based on a work at www.fashioncapital.co.uk.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/TermsandConditions.
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