Consumer Behaviours on U.K Clothes and Footwear
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Marketing
Introduction
Consumer behavior audit involves consideration of both the external and internal factors that influence marketing and planning. Consumer behavior audits assist companies in assessing features that are required to be used in the decision-making processes, understanding ways in which to carry out marketing, and giving companies a better understanding of the market segmentation. The consumer behavior audit aims to discover the new perceptions of consumers and their attitudes regarding specific products. The UK clothing market changes over time due to changes in consumer behavior. The essay aims to discuss the consumer behaviors that ought to Influence the UK clothing and footwear industry.
The Women’s Wear
The U.K. The consumer market of footwear and clothes wear been influenced by various factors, but currently, one of the significant factors influencing women was Covid 19 pandemic. The lockdown has led to the limitation of in-store shopping, which makes fewer women shop since women tend to prefer in-store shopping, leading to a decline in spending on women wear clothing. Due to the Covid 19 effects, women now consider the price of clothes before buying the outfits, unlike before. The Covid 19 pandemic has had the effects of making only high-income earners remain the only customers on the market. The high-income earners also have a significant consideration of the prices of products (Kapusy & Lógó, 2020). 43% percent of women agree that, have agreed that the increased income contributed by the Covid 19 pandemic has led them to shift their shopping on clothes to thriftier shopping. The Covid 19 pandemic has led to an increase in people considering selling second-hand clothes. The demand for new clothes has reduced; hence the only people enjoying increased demand for clothes are those selling second-hand clothes. The new clothes demand has increased only for the most fashionable clothes hence the need for a clothesline to consider fashions to cater for the reduced demand. The high-income earners seem to have considered unique products and personalized shopping as this appears more attractive.
In the year2021, there is an increased demand for in-store clothes, making it easy to shop compared to 2020 when there were very many Covid 19 restrictions. The retail stores require more effort in product differentiation, giving customers unique customer experiences to work towards updating their wardrobes.
The Menswear
When there was the shutting down of all businesses that involved the non-essential goods, there was a 29% decline in purchases from the men’s wear. The market sic e the closure due to Covid 19 has taken longer than expected to recover; hence, the sales in men’s wear are still few. Men do not have high levels of preferences in store shopping; hence, most men have shifted to online shopping. 70% of men tend to be buying clothes from online stores for the last one month. Men are in a position to use the phones in the facilitation of their online shops. Due to the increased chances of working from home, men prefer to buy casual wear than suits, which means that many specialists who deal with formal wear might be required to shift the production to easy wear (Soyer & Dittrich, 2021). Many men’s offices are currently embracing casual wear in their offices, making it more attractive for people to have a positive perception of casual wear. Even though the menswear market is moving slowly, the market was hit very hard by the Covid 19 pandemic, reducing the number of people likely purchasing new clothes. There were speculations that the men’s wear market would recover by the end of the second quarter of the 2021 financial year. Men’s purchases would also increase by the end of the year as people prepare for the Holiday. By the end of 2021, the economies will be opening up, and there will be increased spending fueled by the Holidays as people are willing to socialize.
The Footwear
Recently, online shopping is what most of the Covid 19 people work on, and 63% of people get comfortable buying footwear online in instances when they get advice. Most shoe buyers prefer in-store shopping, and the closure of many shops caused by Covid 19 led to a decline in sales, and the market declined by 30% of the retail market (Niinimäki et.al, 2020). In the opening of the stores in the 2021 second quarter of the financial year, there was no increase in the sales of the official footwear. In sales for slippers and sneakers increased over the Covid 19 pandemic since most shoppers opted for comfortable shoes indoors and shoes during walks (Mróz, 2020). Many companies have facilitated websites and platforms for online shoppers that ensure that online shoppers can access the commodities online without struggle. Initially, footwear was a very seasonal item, and people preferred in-person shopping. Many portfolios ensure that footwear accessibility online has increased; hence customers are forced only to access the items through the platforms. Even when more people bought sneaker and slippers, they were still huge losses experienced in the footwear industry since official wear have higher profit margins.
The Changes
In the past two years, the Covid 19 pandemic has led to a huge decrease in menswear, womenswear, and footwear sales in many industries. The decrease in sales was majorly caused by the lockdowns, which meant that operational costs like rent, taxes, and employees’ salaries remained fixed. The change from the average business days to lockdowns means that in-store shopping would be a challenge, which meant that business owners would count more losses as the pandemic continues to hit (Sharma & Jhamb, 2020). The Covid 19 pandemic led to the closing of many stores, hence loss of employment. The governments did not provide any incentives like tax reduction on fashion products which meant that people would encounter more challenges trying to sustain the businesses. It is unethical that so many people lost jobs during the Covid 19, and businesses closed. Still, the governments did not work on policies that would ensure that such businesses remain stables. In most instances, the business owners experienced more cargo charges when importing or exporting their products during the Covid 19 pandemic. One of the changes during the Covid 19 pandemic that can create long-term sustainability in the cloth wear industry and footwear in the U.K is the development of websites and online platforms for sustainability in sales (Wilfling et.al., 2021). Even though many shops opened the online platforms because there were lockdowns and in-store shopping was impossible, the steps to engage consumers in online shopping could bring long-term benefits to the retailers and the consumers. Some of the changes that the clothes wear industry has incorporated to ensure the sustainability of the business include selling cloths masks to ensure that the companies can cater for operational costs. The change to selling masks and production of protective clothes for the Covid 19 pandemic is a change that cannot sustain the business for long.
Conclusion
The cloth wear and footwear Industry have incurred massive changes, mainly due to Covid 19. In-store shopping has become difficult, and purchases decline to lead to the closure of many stores. There were no government incentives to support cloth wear retailers; hence the only hope for retailers to resume business is on the second quarter of 2021 due to holidays. The change that can lead to sustainability in businesses is focusing on online sales that can help retailers and consumers transact efficiently, mainly to avoid costs associated with in-store shopping. The need for change from in store shopping to online shopping led to many retailers to create website and online stores, which is a very reliable way to ensure sales even in future.
References
Mróz, B. (2020). Consumer behaviours on the luxury goods market in Poland. International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, 13(3), 273-285.
Sharma, A., & Jhamb, D. (2020). Changing Consumer Behaviours Towards Online Shopping-An Impact of Covid 19. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 24(3), 1-10.
Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H., Perry, P., Rissanen, T., & Gwilt, A. (2020). The environmental price of fast fashion. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1(4), 189-200.
Kapusy, K., & Lógó, E. (2020). The Extended Shopping Experience of Used Clothes in Hungary. Periodica Polytechnica Social and Management Sciences, 28(2), 140-145.
Soyer, M., & Dittrich, K. (2021). Sustainable Consumer Behavior in Purchasing, Using and Disposing of Clothes. Sustainability, 13(15), 8333.
Wilfling, J., Havenith, G., Raccuglia, M., & Hodder, S. (2021). Consumer expectations and perception of clothing comfort in sports and exercise garments. Research Journal of Textile and Apparel.
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