The multiples have their work cut
out taking fashion sales away from the high street but ‘fast fashion’ is providing
a turnaround says Rod Addy
Tthe multiples have kept up the pace in clothing, with the launch of Asda’s standalone George and Asda Living outlets, and the introduction of Sainsbury’s Tu range.
But according to TNS FashionTrak, supermarkets are seeing marginal growth in an extremely competitive market. The growth in clothing market share of the major grocery retailers has slowed. However, the whole market has suffered. Only internet, mail order and direct home shopping have fared better, and only by a whisker. High street market share is down slightly.
Yet despite this, the multiples have seized on the growth of ‘fast fashion’ to drive sales says TNS FashionTrak. The term refers to catwalk trends fast-tracked to the shelves of mainstream retailers and appealing predominantly to the under-25s.
Sainsbury’s focus on a mix of quality and fashionable items at reasonable prices has boosted the success of its Tu range, says business unit director Richard Jones. “We try to stock proportions of good, better and best items, from £5 T-shirts to £35 sheepskin jackets.” He says the focus on fast fashion has led to strong interest in the fashion press. He adds: “We’ve seen levels of sales we’ve never experienced before.”
While being tight-lipped about figures (the multiple is in a closed period), Jones is willing to talk about the strengths - and weaknesses - of the range: “We have done well on ladieswear, our newborn offer and ladies accessories. But there’s room for improvement on menswear, ladies’ lingerie
and our older children’s offer.” He admits feedback on the fit of men’s trousers has been mixed, whereas on clothing for eight to 13-year-olds he says: “The range has been too small and difficult for customers to find.” But he says these are just teething problems.
One challenge has centred on maintaining a balanced message focusing on value and quality and here signage has constantly had to be improved says Jones: “Pricing has been well-received. We’ve had to ask whether we should be shouting about it more, but it’s a difficult balance.”
Signage has been tweaked to single products out by theme as well as type, says Jones: “We have gone down the route of blending product sections and themed displays. We’ve said, ‘here is a t-shirt and here are some themes it fits into’.” The learning curve has been steep, he says. But Sainsbury is ready to grow the number of Tu lines by 20%, targeting footwear, ladieswear and childrenswear for the autumn.
Tesco has been pursuing an aggressive pricing strategy on clothing, having driven down prices 30% in the last four years. Full-year results announced last month highlighted 28% growth in clothing sales.The combination of price and close observance of catwalk trends has proved a winner. Many of its clothing lines are half the price of high-street equivalents. Like Sainsbury, Tesco is now hitting the pages of fashion magazines.
Tesco’s focus for 2005 includes developing its Cherokee range, backed by a new series of TV ads starring Naomi Campbell, just launched. Campbell lightheartedly parodies herself and Tesco’s price/style dynamic on clothes by lashing out at pop-ups of Cherokee price labels she is wearing. Tesco
has launched a dedicated web site for browsing clothing ranges, with a link to Tesco.com for actual purchase. Asda has already launched a similar web site for browsing, to work in parallel with asda.co.uk. Physical sites from which to sell its clothing are, however, harder to come by. It currently has six standalone George stores and two Asda Living stores, a third of which are dedicated to the George label, sales of which have passed £1bn. It is currently exploring the possibility of buying Littlewoods Index stores in the sell-off announced earlier this month.
It is also focusing on fast fashion, aided and abetted by a team of in-house designers. Collections for the spring/summer include outfits such as tiered gypsy skirts combined with embroidered peasant
blouses and thong sandals. Kaftans also feature among its adultwear selection.
A spokeswoman says: “Childrenswear and schoolwear are still major sellers. We are also developing our G21 range, which is much stronger than last year.”
Asda has just launched an ad campaign in the national press for the George spring/summer collection.
While some analysts are speculating that room for growth is shrinking, the supermarkets have other ideas.
There’s much scope as long as they continue to follow catwalk trends and target fast fashion.
The biggest problem threatening to slow them down may in fact turn out to be identifying the retail sites rather than finding the right products or the right prices.
out taking fashion sales away from the high street but ‘fast fashion’ is providing
a turnaround says Rod Addy
Tthe multiples have kept up the pace in clothing, with the launch of Asda’s standalone George and Asda Living outlets, and the introduction of Sainsbury’s Tu range.
But according to TNS FashionTrak, supermarkets are seeing marginal growth in an extremely competitive market. The growth in clothing market share of the major grocery retailers has slowed. However, the whole market has suffered. Only internet, mail order and direct home shopping have fared better, and only by a whisker. High street market share is down slightly.
Yet despite this, the multiples have seized on the growth of ‘fast fashion’ to drive sales says TNS FashionTrak. The term refers to catwalk trends fast-tracked to the shelves of mainstream retailers and appealing predominantly to the under-25s.
Sainsbury’s focus on a mix of quality and fashionable items at reasonable prices has boosted the success of its Tu range, says business unit director Richard Jones. “We try to stock proportions of good, better and best items, from £5 T-shirts to £35 sheepskin jackets.” He says the focus on fast fashion has led to strong interest in the fashion press. He adds: “We’ve seen levels of sales we’ve never experienced before.”
While being tight-lipped about figures (the multiple is in a closed period), Jones is willing to talk about the strengths - and weaknesses - of the range: “We have done well on ladieswear, our newborn offer and ladies accessories. But there’s room for improvement on menswear, ladies’ lingerie
and our older children’s offer.” He admits feedback on the fit of men’s trousers has been mixed, whereas on clothing for eight to 13-year-olds he says: “The range has been too small and difficult for customers to find.” But he says these are just teething problems.
One challenge has centred on maintaining a balanced message focusing on value and quality and here signage has constantly had to be improved says Jones: “Pricing has been well-received. We’ve had to ask whether we should be shouting about it more, but it’s a difficult balance.”
Signage has been tweaked to single products out by theme as well as type, says Jones: “We have gone down the route of blending product sections and themed displays. We’ve said, ‘here is a t-shirt and here are some themes it fits into’.” The learning curve has been steep, he says. But Sainsbury is ready to grow the number of Tu lines by 20%, targeting footwear, ladieswear and childrenswear for the autumn.
Tesco has been pursuing an aggressive pricing strategy on clothing, having driven down prices 30% in the last four years. Full-year results announced last month highlighted 28% growth in clothing sales.The combination of price and close observance of catwalk trends has proved a winner. Many of its clothing lines are half the price of high-street equivalents. Like Sainsbury, Tesco is now hitting the pages of fashion magazines.
Tesco’s focus for 2005 includes developing its Cherokee range, backed by a new series of TV ads starring Naomi Campbell, just launched. Campbell lightheartedly parodies herself and Tesco’s price/style dynamic on clothes by lashing out at pop-ups of Cherokee price labels she is wearing. Tesco
has launched a dedicated web site for browsing clothing ranges, with a link to Tesco.com for actual purchase. Asda has already launched a similar web site for browsing, to work in parallel with asda.co.uk. Physical sites from which to sell its clothing are, however, harder to come by. It currently has six standalone George stores and two Asda Living stores, a third of which are dedicated to the George label, sales of which have passed £1bn. It is currently exploring the possibility of buying Littlewoods Index stores in the sell-off announced earlier this month.
It is also focusing on fast fashion, aided and abetted by a team of in-house designers. Collections for the spring/summer include outfits such as tiered gypsy skirts combined with embroidered peasant
blouses and thong sandals. Kaftans also feature among its adultwear selection.
A spokeswoman says: “Childrenswear and schoolwear are still major sellers. We are also developing our G21 range, which is much stronger than last year.”
Asda has just launched an ad campaign in the national press for the George spring/summer collection.
While some analysts are speculating that room for growth is shrinking, the supermarkets have other ideas.
There’s much scope as long as they continue to follow catwalk trends and target fast fashion.
The biggest problem threatening to slow them down may in fact turn out to be identifying the retail sites rather than finding the right products or the right prices.
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