Sports brands: More aggressive promotions in Europe than in the US
While consumers are making adjustments to their apparel spending in the face of inflation, retailers in the sector are using promotions to attract customers and clear their inventories. Analyst Retviews by Lectra examined the discounting practices of major brands and retailers on both sides of the Atlantic. In the sportswear sector, it shows that players have seriously pushed discount strategies: in one year, the average discount rate applied to promotional items has increased by 27% in Europe and by 11% in the United States.
At the same time, the amount of products placed on promotion has also increased, by around 8% in Europe and 13% in the US. In both markets, the category with the lowest discounts is sneakers, with an average of around a 30% decrease applied to the base price. A star product that remains popular.
On the other hand, sweatshirts and outerwear, such as parkas and jackets, were the most discounted items at the end of the summer season, both in the US and in Europe. With one difference: the European market placed many more items on special offer (over 50% of sweatshirts) than on the other side of the Atlantic (about 40% of sweatshirts).
Retviews also observed that in the US, most brands follow similar discounting strategies, with the exception of Under Armour. The American label chose to make very aggressive discounts on a small selection of items: "The average discount rate of the brand was 45% higher than the average rate of the market, with 28% fewer items placed on promotion," said the study.
In Europe, it is Puma that stands out with its discount offer compared to its competitors, "with an average discount rate and a share of promotional items that are respectively 6% and 27% higher than the market average", measured the analyst: perhaps a sign that the collections have not met with enough interest.
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