Global Consumer Apparel Shopping Trends
The Global Lifestyle Monitor survey, conducted by
Cotton Council International and Cotton Incorporated,
began studying attitudes and shopping habits
of global consumers in 1999 in order to understand
why they shop, where they shop, and what motivates
them to buy clothing. As the apparel marketplace
moves towards increasing product differentiation
and as consumers become more diverse
and segmented by demographics, lifestyles, and
cultures, several key questions emerge: How are
global consumers’ attitudes changing? How do
consumers in other countries differ from U.S. shoppers?
Is the catch phrase “think globally, act locally”
still relevant in today’s global apparel marketplace?
A True Love of Shopping
The love affair with clothes shopping continues
among Global Monitor consumers, 68% of whom
said in 2006 that they loved or liked shopping (a
percentage similar to that in previous surveys).
However, the percentage differed among countries,
from a high of 95% in India to a low of 40% in the
United States. Nearly two thirds of consumers in
Colombia, Brazil, Japan, and Italy said they loved
or liked to shop for clothes. Interestingly, consumers’
love of shopping tended to be inversely related to
their average number of apparel shopping trips per
year. Indian consumers, who like clothes shopping
the most, made the fewest shopping trips per year
(7.1), while U.S. consumers, who like shopping the
least, made the most trips (22.2). The number of
shopping trips per year declined slightly in European
countries (by 1 to 2 trips) from 2003 to 2006.
Consumers Continue to Spend on Apparel
From 2003 to 2006, global consumers increased their spending on apparel by 4%.
Increased spending was seen in all countries except Japan, where spending fell 16%, to an
average of $1,228 per year. Italian, English, and German consumers spent the most on
apparel ($1,716, $1,605, and $1,396, respectively), while Indian consumers spent $190,
the least among all countries surveyed. According to the 2006 Lifestyle Monitor, U.S.
consumers spent an average of $918 on apparel.
Not surprisingly, the countries where consumers spent the most on apparel were those with the
highest per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). However, spending as a percentage of per-capita
GDP gives a different picture. Though the United States has the highest per-capita GDP, U.S. consumers
spent only 2.2% of it on apparel. China has a relatively low per-capita GDP, but Chinese consumers
spent 10.7% of it on apparel—the most for any country surveyed in the Global Lifestyle
Monitor, up 1.6 percentage points from 2003. The percentage of per-capita GDP spent on apparel
increased from 2003 to 2006 in five of the nine countries surveyed. Among those showing declines
were Japan and the United States— the two leaders in apparel consumption—along with the Latin
American countries Brazil and Colombia.
Where do global consumers shop?
When asked where they purchased most of their
clothing, global consumers named independent
retail stores (22%), department stores (20%), specialty
stores (17%), and chain stores (13%). Department
stores continue to be popular in China (37%) and
Japan (23%). However, Japan saw a 7-point increase
in the percentage of consumers who purchased
most clothes at off-price stores. Independent retailers
are especially popular in the family-oriented cultures
of India and Italy. Italian independent stores remain
popular (favored by 45% of consumers) because of
customer loyalty, which in turn drives shopkeepers
to tailor product offerings to their customers. Among
Indian consumers, 54% favor independent retailers,
where they purchase fabrics from
which cultural garments (such as
saris) are then made to order.
Specialty stores are the preferred
retail channel in Germany (22%)
and the U.K. (29%), as consumers
in these countries are more fashion
conscious and are likely influenced
by European “quick fashion” specialty
retailers. Compared with the
global picture, trends in the U.S.
retail landscape are quite different,
as mass merchants have replaced
independent retail stores as a preferred
channel: U.S. consumers buy
most of their clothing from department
stores (27%), chain stores
(22%), mass merchants (19%), and
specialty stores (14%).
Consumers shop specific retail channels for selection
(45%), prices (36%), style (22%), quality of clothing
(22%), and ease of shopping (21%). As in past surveys,
Indian consumers were the most price conscious—
70% said that what they liked best about
the stores where they shopped most often was the
prices. However, when consumers were asked how
often they bought clothes at a discount of at least
20%, Indian consumers were the least likely to say
“all or most of the time” (15%). Possible explanations
are that fewer sale items were offered or that Indian
consumers valued the status associated with fullprice
apparel. In contrast, Italian consumers, who
spend the most on apparel, still love a good deal:
33% said they always or most of the time bought
clothes at a discount of at least 20%. U.S. consumers
also tend to count that extra penny—when asked
what information was important when purchasing
clothing, 77% said price.
Internet Savvy?
 Although some countries’ consumers are more
fashion-forward than U.S. shoppers, global consumers
still get their inspiration and clothing ideas from
traditional sources such as store displays (61%),
friends (45%), and what they already like or own
(42%). The Internet is becoming more popular as a
shopping tool in the United States, but is not as
influential globally. Although many U.S. consumers
still get clothing ideas from what they already own
(67%) and from store displays (46%), about a third
browse the Internet for clothing—a significant
increase from 12% in 1999. Globally, growth of the
Internet as a source for clothing ideas has been
slower; on-line retailers enter countries as they see
the potential for profit and as retail distribution
centers allow for product expansion. The Internet
as a source of clothing ideas showed strong growth
in Japan, the U.K., and China. Consumers also used
fashion magazines and celebrities as a source of
trendy, up-to-the minute clothing ideas—fashion
magazines inspired 28% of U.S. and 37% of global
consumers, while celebrities influenced 13% of both
U.S. and global consumers.
Cotton Countries
 In all countries surveyed, consumers prefer cotton—
a finding observed consistently since 1999. When
asked what information is important when purchasing
apparel, 77% of global consumers said fiber,
and over half (51%) said that cotton was the best
fiber for today’s fashions. Among global consumers
who stated a fiber preference, the leading reason
was comfort (48%). Furthermore, 60% of global
consumers said they wore more cotton than any
other fiber, indicating that cotton is a staple fiber in
consumers’ closets worldwide. At least two thirds
of Chinese, Indian, Japanese, German, and Italian
consumers named cotton as the fiber they wore
most often. Like U.S. consumers, global consumers
(52%) also considered natural fibers such as cotton
to be of higher quality than synthetic fibers. And
when asked if they would pay more for better
quality, 67% of global consumers agreed.
“Think Globally, Act Locally”
Since the first Global Lifestyle Monitor survey,
national patterns in love of apparel shopping, time
and money spent shopping for clothes, retail channels
at which consumers shop, and reasons for
channel preferences have varied little within the
countries studied. Despite such global commonalities
as a preference for cotton, persistent national
differences still support the wisdom of the advice
to “think globally, act locally.”
| The Global Lifestyle Monitor, a biennial consumer research
study, was conducted for the fourth time in 2006. This year’s
survey included nine countries: Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Germany,
the United Kingdom, India, China, Japan, and Thailand, which
was new to the study this year. A total of 4,544 consumers
were surveyed—approximately 500 in each country. Consumers
were male and female, aged 15 to 54, and representative of
each country’s demographic and geographic profiles. The
Global Lifestyle Monitor was conducted by Cotton Council
International and Synovate, a global research company, via
telephone and face-to-face interviews. Additional research
was provided by Cotton Incorporated’s Lifestyle Monitor™,
which in 2006 surveyed 4,000 U.S. consumers aged 16 to
70. The Lifestyle Monitor is conducted via telephone by
Bellomy Research. |
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