On this weblog sequence, Mintel opinions the newest retailer advertising and improvements, together with new retailer openings, on-line developments, new idea or class launches. For this month’s spotlight, our retail specialists weigh in on three thrilling developments within the European style retailer market.
Europe: Inditex sees earnings and gross sales soar as a result of autumn and winter collections
The multinational clothes firm Inditex has continued to see rising gross sales and revenue throughout 2023, highlighting its principal style model Zara as one of many successful retailers of 2023. Zara’s deal with improved digital shops with a handy self-checkout, in addition to a cell app that seamlessly hyperlinks the in-store and on-line, permitting buyers to test for inventory, pre-book a becoming room and click on and accumulate inside two hours, has been one of many key cornerstones of its success. Mintel’s just lately printed Clothes Retailing – UK – 2023 reveals that Zara has seen a surge in its buyer base within the final yr, with a giant rise in Millennials and Gen Zs procuring there, with these younger shoppers exhibiting a choice for hopping between on-line and in-store channels when shopping for style.
Nonetheless, it’s price noting that Inditex has reported a slowdown in progress within the three months to the top of October 2023, with gross sales solely rising by 6.6%, in contrast with double-digit progress throughout the identical interval within the final two years. Whereas the style sector has benefited from shoppers persevering with to deal with themselves to new outfits for socialising and holidays within the first half of the yr, the unsure financial outlook could also be beginning to dampen spending and result in a diminished urge for food for brand new style purchases.”
France: Measurement? reopens its Parisian boutique
Measurement?, the sports activities and way of life model owned by JD Sports activities, continues the rollout of its new idea shops throughout the UK and Europe, with the newest retailer open in Paris. The brand new retailer is a reopening of Rue Berger in Les Halles, and follows the idea that was unveiled in a few of the Measurement? shops within the UK originally of the yr. The brand new design contains a number of digital installations, together with transactional kiosks permitting prospects to buy the in depth Measurement? on-line, in addition to a digital display screen on each flooring.
Spanning over 160 sq m, the shop affords a variety of males’s clothes and sneakers “from a few of the most coveted manufacturers in streetwear” together with Nike, Salomon, Adidas Originals and The North Face.
Our 2021 report, Footwear Retailing – France discovered that sports activities retailers have been the preferred place to purchase footwear in France and our forthcoming report Clothes Retailing – France discovered the channel was the second hottest place to purchase clothes (34% of French shoppers had shopped for clothes at sports activities retailer within the final 12 months, surpassed solely by the grocery channel at 38%). Decathlon, Go Sport and Intersport are the main retailers on this channel in France, they usually have benefited from the elevated demand for casualwear throughout the pandemic, and the extra basic pattern over the previous couple of years in direction of a extra casualization of society and the office.
Mintel analysis discovered that Gen Z are the most probably to buy at a sports activities items retailer (39%) for clothes, highlighting the significance of focusing on this demographic. This Measurement? retailer does this, with quite a lot of digital instruments to boost omnichannel procuring, additionally delivering a variety of providers and the all vital “experiences” to tempt buyers into shops.
UK: Bershka launches digital becoming rooms to chop returns and increase on-line gross sales
Bershka has partnered with AI-powered digital becoming room platform 3DLOOK because it appears to be like to scale back return charges and provide a extra “seamless on-line procuring expertise”. The rollout of the digital try-on service is hoped to “eradicate the match and sizing guesswork” and increase ecommerce gross sales.
Accessible on all cell gadgets and laptops, the service asks prospects to take two pictures – entrance and facet views. Powered by synthetic intelligence, a voice assistant guides prospects by means of the method, making certain optimum posing for correct outcomes. The 3D mapping know-how of 3DLOOK – YourFit, mixed with its superior dimension suggestion system, delivered speedy recommendation on essentially the most appropriate dimension whereas creating a sensible and correct digital becoming expertise.
With each sizing and the speed of returns being two main points inside the style sector, AI instruments equivalent to this one launched by Bershka ought to show profitable and encourage funding by different retailers in comparable instruments to assist shoppers when procuring on-line. One of many principal limitations to purchasing style gadgets on-line is the problem with judging an merchandise’s match, significantly for girls, with greater than 6 out of ten feminine web shoppers citing this as a problem, as outlined in Mintel’s Trend & Expertise market report. Mintel analysis additionally reveals that just about half of web shoppers agree that it could be useful for retailers to make use of dimension suggestions instruments, with the likes of Bershka’s newest digital becoming room catering to that demand. Points with match and sizing lead shoppers to return their gadgets, so discovering the right dimension the primary time round can profit each retailers and shoppers, and scale back prices. The ‘see the way it suits me’ widget must also show standard with Bershka’s core buyer – Gen Zs are most probably to battle to visualise whether or not an merchandise will swimsuit them when shopping for on-line.
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