Worldwide Business Information and Market Reports

www.the-list.co.uk and www.worldmarketresearch.com

Telephone +44 1404 891528 Fax +44 1404 891717 Email reportfinder @ tiscali.co.uk

Just want contact details for one of the companies in this report? Please don't ring us - try www.companieshouse.gov.uk, www.thomweb.co.uk or www.askalix.com

Join the ReportFinder mailing list and be told of new reports

Email:

MP18057

MAPS CHILDREN'S CLOTHING NOVEMBER 1997

Overview

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Back to Clothing Index and Shopping Cart

Back To REPORTFINDER home page and Search Engine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Not yet available from the publisher - due soon

Back to Top

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report looks at the key market sectors which comprise Girl’s Clothing, Boy’s Clothing and Infant’s Clothing. The Girl’s and Boy’s Clothing sectors cover ages from six to fourteen whilst the Infant’s Clothing sector covers ages from two to five.

The total market for Children’s Clothing was worth £3,200 million in 1996, an increase of 31 percent at current prices since 1992, representing a relatively modest rate of growth. The market experienced most of this growth up to 1995, with minimal growth of just 1 percent to 1996, and a similar rate of growth forecast for 1997.

The largest sector by value is that of Girl’s Clothing, which was valued at £1,696 million in 1996, representing a 53 percent share of the total market. This sector has also shown the strongest growth, at 41 percent, between 1992 and 1996. This is because the market for girl’s clothing has not been as severely affected by the growth in popularity of branded sportswear, and in particular replica football kits, as the boy’s sector. However, girls are increasingly fashion conscious and keen to wear the latest styles which they have seen in the adult market, and so retailers have had to ensure that their ranges reflect current fashions.

The second largest sector is that of Boy’s Clothing, accounting for 34 percent of the total Children’s Clothing market by value in 1996. The market grew more slowly than the girl’s market, by 20 percent, to reach £1,088 million in 1996. The market actually declined by 5 percent between 1995 and 1996 and is expected to fall again slightly in 1997. This is due mainly to the popularity of replica football kits and branded sportswear which is being bought instead of traditional boy’s clothing for the increasingly fashion conscious child of the late 1990s.

In both the Girl’s and Boy’s Clothing markets there is a clear move towards more branding and designer labels, with children becoming brand aware at an increasingly early stage. This has benefited those retailers whose own brands have a fashionable image, such as Next and The Gap, but has meant that more traditional retailers such as Marks & Spencer, British Home Stores (BhS), Adams and Mothercare have had to review their clothing ranges in order to compete with the popularity of designer labels.

The Children’s Clothing market in the UK is very fragmented in terms of suppliers and manufacturers, with very little manufacturer branding. Most manufacturers, such as Coats Vyella, Courtaulds, Dewhirst and S R Gent supply to the major high street chains for sale under the retailer’s own label. A few offer some branded products, but this is usually in niche sectors such as schoolwear. A high proportion of children’s clothing in the UK is also imported, with cheaper budget clothing generally sourced from low cost production centres in the Far East, whereas the designer ranges tend to come from Europe and the USA. There is relatively little domestic production of children’s clothing, with UK manufacturers finding it increasingly difficult to compete in a market where profit margins are quite low.

Main media advertising is a relatively insignificant feature of the Children’s Clothing market due the fact that there is very little manufacturer branding and retailer brands dominate the market. Such expenditure as there is tends to occur as part of a retailer’s advertising for the store as a whole. Main media expenditure only accounts for a fraction of a percentage of the total market, with greater emphasis put on below-the-line promotion to both the consumer and to the trade. In many cases, children respond more positively to advertising targeted at adults, and do not respond as well to campaigns aimed directly at them which may be seen to be patronising or inappropriate.

The most important channels of retail distribution for Children’s Clothing have traditionally been the variety chains and the multiple specialist children’s stores. The variety chains include retailers such as Marks & Spencer, BhS, Woolworths and C&A and in 1997 they accounted for a combined share of 23.8 percent of sales of Children’s Clothing by value, although this share has slipped by around three percentage points since 1995. The multiple children’s specialists such as Mothercare and Adams account for a further 11.2 percent of retail sales, with their share again falling slightly since 1995.

The reason for the decline in sales via traditional outlets such as those listed above, is due largely to the phenomenal growth in the last few years of the market for branded sportswear, replica kits and designer label clothing. The share of children’s clothing accounted for by sports shops has risen from 12.3 percent in 1995 to 16 percent in 1997, with fashion led retailers such as JJB Sports and JD Sports having children’s ranges featuring major sports brand names such as Nike, Adidas, Fila, Reebok and Ellesse. Other general retailers such as Debenhams also have in-store sports concessions - Champion Sports in this case - with specific children’s ranges.

There has also been growth in the purchasing of Children’s Clothing through home shopping and from supermarkets such as Asda, Safeway and Tesco. Convenience is an important factor here, allowing the consumer to either choose items from the comfort of their home or purchase at the same time as buying the weekly groceries.

Market Assessment has commissioned exclusive research for this report from the National Opinion Poll (NOP) which looks at the factors most important to consumers when purchasing clothing for children aged up to fifteen. The key findings of this research are that good quality is the single most important factor, mentioned by 91 percent of those who had children aged under 14 living at home. Other important factors, mentioned by over 80 percent of respondents, include the appeal of the clothes to children, whether they are hard-wearinglong-lasting and whether children will actually wear the clothes. Relatively low down the list of important factors for parents was that of the availability of a branded or designer label, mentioned by only 42 percent of respondents. This suggests that there is a high level of ‘pester power’ in the purchasing of designer label clothing exerted by children on reluctant parents.

The market for Children’s Clothing has, over the last five years, been influenced by a number of factors, mostly fashion related. There has been a continued move towards casual leisurewear and in particular branded sports clothing for both boys and girls, although the trend is more marked amongst boys. Another trend that has had a greater effect on the boy’s market is the huge increase in popularity of replica football kits, produced by specialist sports supplies such as Umbro. Children of all ages have become more aware of fashion and branding at an early age and so the increased popularity of designer labels such as Calvin Klein, Yves St Laurent and Moschino has been inevitable.

The future prospects for the Children’s Clothing market will depend on how the market reacts to a number of factors, including population change in particular. There will be a decline in the number of children under the age of four in the population between 1997 and 2001 and a 7 percent fall in the number of 5-9 year olds. Thus, in a declining potential target market, retailers and manufacturers will have to work harder to maintain their share of sales. Traditional retailers will continue to face challenges from more fashion based chains and the sports sector, with children ever more sophisticated in their tastes.

The market for Children’s Clothing in the UK is forecast to grow by just 7 percent to £3,490 million between 1997 and 2001. The strongest sector is likely to remain that of Girl’s Clothing with growth of 10 percent forecast to reach £1,895 million by 2001. The Boy’s Clothing sector is forecast to grow by 7 percent to £1,150 million and the Infant’s sector by just 5 percent to £445 million.

Text © 1997 MAPS

Back to Top

Back To REPORTFINDER HOME PAGE

Ariadne - working together with our customers to enhance productivity and increase knowledge

© 1999 www.the-list.co.uk Ariadne

Last updated by Duncan Nottage 5th February 1999