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Opportunities Abound for Suppliers of Apparel and Homegoods in Developing Retail Markets, New Retail Forward Studies Report

COLUMBUS, Jan. 19, 2007—Consumers in less-developed countries represent a growing opportunity for retailers that sell apparel, accessories and footwear as well as homegoods, according to two studies recently published by Retail Forward.

Shoppers in Brazil, China, India and Russia—and Mexico in the case of apparel—are spending more on furnishing their homes and buying higher-quality clothing than in the past (Figures 1 and 2).

“Our research offers good news for suppliers of both apparel and homegoods categories,” states Mary Brett Whitfield, director of the Retail Forward Intelligence System™, which recently published the Global Softgoods Shopper Update and Global Homegoods Shopper Update reports.

These findings are based on research recently conducted by Retail Forward with 1,000 consumers in 13 countries and powered by GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) using the GMIPoll online platform.  Retail Forward’s reports analyze the responses of those consumers to questions about their shopping frequency, behavior and attitudes related to shopping for apparel and homegoods categories.

Report findings indicate that department stores and specialty stores remain the preferred choice for purchases of apparel, accessories and footwear in most countries.  In terms of shopping frequency, however, mass retailers including supercenters, hypermarkets, discount department stores and e-commerce sites are joining the battle for primacy, particularly in mature retail markets such as France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

In the homegoods channel, general merchandise store formats such as hypermarkets and supercenters are gaining ground, but mostly in places where specialty homegoods competition is less entrenched and in categories not requiring high levels of customer service.  Although interest in online shopping is increasing in less-developed markets, Internet shopping for homegoods remains slow to develop.

Among the findings from the Global Softgoods Shopper Update report:

• Globalizing shopping enjoyment.  Consumers in less-developed countries are more likely to enjoy shopping than those in mature retail markets.  As some Asian retail markets open up and economies stabilize in Latin America, consumers are taking advantage of increased shopping options and better access to high-quality clothing.  Still, shoppers in these markets are about as likely as those in other regions to purchase clothing only when they need to replace something.

• Shopping location.  In many countries, about half of shoppers consider clothing at mass retailers just as fashionable as clothing at traditional department stores and specialty apparel stores; however, mass retailers generally are not among the top two store types where clothing, shoes and accessories are most often purchased.  Instead, shoppers tend to favor department stores and specialty stores.

• Shopping frequency.  Although a distant third among store types for many softgoods purchases, mass retailers still have either the largest or second-largest share of monthly shoppers in each country.  Traditional department stores are among the top two formats shopped monthly in nine countries, including five in which they have an equal or larger share of monthly shoppers than mass retailers.  In France and the United Kingdom, Internet sites have the largest share of monthly shoppers; in Japan and the United States, the second-largest share.  Still, a smaller share of shoppers in those countries says that they are purchasing more clothing via the Internet, compared with 2005.

Highlights from the Global Homegoods Shopper Update include:

• Shopping frequencies in many homegoods lines of trade higher in less-developed markets.  Aspirational shoppers in developing retail markets are shopping homegoods lines of trade more often than shoppers in developed markets.  One possible cause may be the necessity of shopping around in less-developed retail markets to complete the shopping process.  An exception is the home improvement/hardware channel, which is frequented more often by consumers in developed countries.

• Growth in online shopping slow to affect homegoods.  Online shopping is catching on in less-developed markets, but its rapid growth may be slowing in developed markets.  In both cases, online shopping for homegoods is limited, especially for home improvement projects.  Interest in online shopping for consumer electronics products is higher than for home improvement projects, but stores remain fully entrenched as the leading source of consumer electronics.

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About Retail Forward
Retail Forward (www.retailforward.com ») is a global management consulting and market research firm specializing in retail intelligence and strategies.  The company’s syndicated research and executive development program known as the Retail Forward Intelligence System™ provides members with an authoritative perspective on the retail and consumer products industries.

The Global Softgoods Shopper Update and Global Homegoods Shopper Update are published as part of the Global Retailing Program of the Retail Forward Intelligence System™.  These reports include consumer data collected in monthly online surveys powered by GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.)  The company surveys 1,000 consumers in 13 countries each month.  Survey respondents are nationally representative of age and gender. 

About GMI
GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only provider of comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies.  Solutions include Net-MR, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24/7 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries.  In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs.  Founded in 1999 with world headquarters in Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents.  In 2006, the company ranked #93 in Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 500, #4 in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 for WashingtonState and #105 in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 for North America.  More information is available at www.gmi-mr.com » or email us at info@gmi-mr.com ».