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| Updated
- July 6, 2010 |
DESCRIPTION
Covering fashion and apparel retailing in China, including sectors: footwear; knitwear; men's wear; hosiery, underwear and nightwear; children's wear; and women's wear; sports and casual wear. |
PRICE
£1,000 |
EXTRACT FROM
INTRODUCTION
'...The total apparel retail market is estimated to have reached a value of RMB895.4bn in 2009, and the market is expected to surpass RMB1trn in 2010. Retail sales value increased by 132% between 2003 and 2009.
Per capita apparel items sales grew by 137.8% between 2003 and 2009 thanks to increased spending power across a wider section of the population, in turn thanks to strong increases in average wages. However, volume sales surpassed value sales due to retail price weakness, with average prices by almost 10% across the 2003 to 2009 period.
The weakness of retail prices, caused by intense competition, continues to put pressure on retailer¡¯s margins, forcing them to improve operational efficiency and to market more heavily in order to increase store footfall and raise purchasing rates.
The strong levels of competition in the tier-1 and -2 cities is driving retailers to up their plans for regional expansion, ranging from modest, selective targeting to some retailers outlandishly forecasting as many as 1,000 new stores over five years. As well as new stores, there is a steady stream of new foreign and domestic entrants adding to the competitive frenzy. Smaller, successful brands and chains will likely become targets for increased mergers and acquisitions activity in a market that will need to begin consolidation.
China¡¯s consumers are increasingly wealthy, but they are also very price conscious. A strong sense of value for money does not automatically mean they prefer cheap, and they tend to be willing to pay more for better quality. The rapid growth of the Chinese economy means that things change fast, including fashion trends, and this means that Chinese consumers are very fickle about fashion. Already, sportswear has peaked (from a high point in 2008/09, in the wake of the Beijing Olympics) and outdoor wear is increasingly the sector where growth is accumulating.
Women continue to be the main target market, not only being higher per capita consumers by volume, but also because they are often the main decision makers and purchasers of children¡¯s wear and have a strong influence on what their male partners buy. Thus it is that most marketing, even for men¡¯s wear, tends to be directed at women. Younger professional women are the most significant of all the consumer segments, being the ones buying the most volume, and the highest average value per item.
The future market looks set for continued steady growth, helped by continued average wage increases, as well as the emergence of significant consumption within rural communities, and the continued rapid urbanisation of the Chinese population. The latter factor is helping to increase urban population concentration, bringing more people closer to more retail outlets, raising footfall and purchasing frequency. However, retail price weakness will continue to be a problem, thanks to strong competition in all sectors.
Access Asia forecasts that the total market value will grow to approximately RMB1.4trn in 2014, up from RMB1.0trn in 2010, in constant 2009 price terms. Footwear will continue to be the strongest growth sector, but women¡¯s wear will persist as the largest sector overall. ...' |
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