The Irish clothing retail market has turned the corner in 2014, seeing a slight growth in sales. However, consumers remain focused on saving money, with the majority of growth in the market coming from sales made in value-oriented retailers.
Moving forward as the economic conditions in Ireland improve, Mintel expects to see slow growth as consumers remain cautious. To encourage more consumers in-store, shops need to examine how they can improve the overall shopping experience – from including more variety and sizes of clothing to improving displays.
Key themes of the report
What factors would help to enhance a consumer’s experience when shopping both in-store and offline? – What factors can help clothing retailers to generate more traffic to their websites and more footfall in-store?
Who are the key retailers operating in the NI and RoI clothing market? – Who are the key competitors on high streets and online? Which types of outlets do consumers prefer to shop with?
What impact have changes in the cost of clothing had on the Irish clothing retail market? – Have purchasing patterns changed because of the economic downturn? Are consumers still driven by value for money? Has this seen any particular sector of the clothing retail market benefit?
Will increasing consumer confidence help to boost how often and how much consumers spend when shopping for clothes? – Are consumers more likely to opt for premium-priced clothing or will they still prefer to buy in sales?
What impact will growing demand for seasonal outfits such as Christmas jumpers have on the market? – With consumers shown to be increasingly willing to wear themed outfits for special occasions, what opportunities will this provide for the clothing industry in Ireland?
Other Mintel reports of relevance include:
Online and Mobile Retailing – Ireland, March 2014
Grocery Retailing – Ireland, December 2014
Clothing Retailing – UK, October 2014
Clothing Retailing – Europe, October 2014
Definition
This report will examine the clothing retailing industry in Ireland through exploring the issues that are driving or inhibiting growth. For the purpose of this report, Mintel looks at the following clothing retailer types:
Department stores (eg Arnotts, Debenhams)
Value retailers (eg Primark)
Specialist clothing retailers (eg Next)
Supermarket own-labels – This includes supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda, which sell a range of generally low-priced clothing using their own-label alongside more traditional sales of foodstuffs and textiles (eg the F&F range at Tesco)
Independent retailers/boutiques – This includes small chains and independent stores that carry a range of brands that may vary from designer to value brands, depending on the retailer’s position in the market (eg ASOS)
Due to the nature of the clothing market this report contains no Competitive Context section.
The Market Size and Forecast section of this report gives an estimated measurement of the NI and RoI clothing retailing market, excluding the sales of footwear and accessories. In compiling the information for this section, a number of trade bodies and industry sources were consulted.
In some instances, sales data for NI has been worked out per capita based on sales information for the entire UK.
Data sources
For the purpose of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive online research into the retailers that Irish consumers purchase clothing from and their attitudes towards clothing retailing. The research was carried out by Toluna on behalf of Mintel in October 2014.
A total of 750 internet users aged 16+ in NI and 1,250 internet users aged 16+ in RoI were asked the following questions:
“From which, if any, of these retailers have you bought any clothing for yourself during the last 12 months, either in-store or online?”
“Still thinking about shopping for clothes for yourself either in-store and/or online, which of the following factors do you feel would improve your shopping experience?”
The results from this survey are discussed in The Consumer sections of this report.
Mintel also draws consumer insight from other sources:
Mintel’s Inspire database and previous Mintel reports from the UK and Ireland.
In compiling this report, Mintel has gathered data from separate NI and RoI sources (eg NISRA – Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and CSO – Central Statistics Office). In some cases, therefore, it has not been possible to provide comparable data for each region.
For the purpose of this report:
IoI refers to the island of Ireland.
NI refers to Northern Ireland.
RoI refers to the Republic of Ireland.
Therefore, ‘Irish consumers’ refers to both NI and RoI consumers.
