Study shows influence of online on apparel sales

Changing consumer needs and an evolving retail marketplace contributed the U.S. apparel industry’s overall sales performance in 2016.



Specifically, apparel dollar sales across women, men, and children grew by 3% last year, reaching $218.7 billion, according to the NPD Group.



The industry had positive overall performance with growth in most cate-gories — a boon for apparel, since it has struggled to exceed 3% sales growth since 2013, as significant gains in select consumer and retail seg-ments were offset by declines in others.



The growth of online shopping, which was underscored during and im-mediately following the holiday season, was one of the most highlighted retail shifts of 2016. In 2011, online represented only 11% of total U.S. men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel sales, but in 2016 that number rose to 19%, data revealed.



Pure-play e-commerce sites have been an important piece of online’s growth, outpacing the overall channel performance. Online’s continued growth has come at the expense of in-store sales, affecting the more tradi-tional apparel department, national chain, and specialty channels. The growth that occurred in the online, off-price, and mass channels came from a consumer focus on convenience, value and price.



“The apparel industry is being pushed and pulled in different directions by consumers who are demanding something different, and looking to less traditional buying channels to find it,” said Marshal Cohen, chief in-dustry analyst, The NPD Group. “Maturing millennials have a stronger shopping voice than ever before, but teens are showing a lack of passion for fashion, and Baby Boomers are feeling forgotten. The who, what, where, when, and how of shopping are shifting as apparel consumers ex-press their different desires and needs at retail.”



The apparel consumer’s desire for a combination of comfort and style has sustained the growth of the athleisure movement for the last few years. Athleisure, which is heavily driven by millennials but appeals to all age groups, continued to be a top growing apparel segment through 2016 with an 11% increase that made it a $45.9 billion market.



The emphasis on casual comfort attempted to take deeper roots in the women’s intimates space last year, with increased emphasis on athletic-inspired products and newer bralette styles, but results fluctuated and ended in a slight uptick in year-over-year results. Despite the strength of active, sales of tailored clothing increased 5%, and dresses retained their rank as one of the top performing categories in overall sales and growth with a 5% jump to reach $15.6 billion.



Last year was also positive for jeans, another critical category for apparel, which finally rebounded in 2016 to align with the industry’s 3% growth rate, reaching $15.3 billion in sales, the study said.



“Amidst all the change there is one constant in apparel sales performance – the apparel industry isn’t delivering a product experience that will compel consumers to increase their spend,” said Cohen. “Consumers may be driving the recent trends in apparel, but retail needs to respond and take ownership of the business back in order capture the greater growth opportunities that exist.