Fashion INDEX Drapers / FEBRUARY 16 2013 _ 14 Total fashion D espite the challenging economic climate, the total spend by Visa cardholders in the UK actually increased 6.1% to £407bn last year. Ecommerce transactions, in particular, leapt 11.5% to £96bn and now represent almost a quarter of consumers’ total spend. Because of figures like these, online retailing has become an increasingly attractive alternative for retailers who are getting fed up with bricks-and-mortar stores that require maintenance and staffing along with rent payments. As such, these businesses could be forgiven for examining their store portfolio, identifying the weakest performers and marking them for closure. This narrow view has a fatal flaw, however: it overlooks the effect of the UK’s ageing population. Even though online spending among people over 50 has risen by a quarter since 2010, consumers in this age group still prefer to buy clothes the traditional way, according to research commissioned by over-50s firm Saga. Even though more than 25% of respondents reported that they own a smartphone, iPad or other tablet computer, only 6% of their credit card transactions for clothes were actually made online. These figures support the findings of a report from consultancy firm AT Kearney, which shows that the mature consumer shops very differently from the younger generation. While larger stores outside city centres, lots of parking, and short queues have all been designed to improve efficiency for shoppers, mature consumers – who now represent up to 30% of consumer spending power – prefer to spend more time in stores. While analysts have typically frowned on those who invest in a business based solely on the financial data contained on a spreadsheet, it is equally wrong to decide to restructure an entire business based on this same information. Instead, retailers should be thinking about how to best serve the needs of their customer base. Of course, I’m not saying store closures can be avoided altogether. However, when deciding the best way forward, retailers will need to recognise what impact store closures could have on their customers and consider how to protect these revenues, rather than simply handing them to a competitor. ‘Don’t overlook the in-store spend of the over-50s’ _ Dan Coen / Talking Trade / Director, corporate advisory firm Zolfo Cooper This week saw a fractional decline week on week of 0.4% of the National Index. This can still be viewed as a positive outcome, as the previous week showed an unusual 8.5% increase week on week. However, there was still a decline year on year of 2.9%. Industry commentators are reporting an uplift in sales in January, with an outlook of an erratic increase in sales over the coming months, which would appear to be borne out in this week’s figures. Fashion did well this week with spring lines high in demand. Clothing outperformed footwear with demand across mainstream fashion greater than the specialist retailers. For more information, email BDO’s Don Williams at [email protected] Like-for-like sales figures across the high street Week ending February 10, 2013 National UK footfall figures Week 6 – February 4 to February 10, 2013 Highest growth location (defined by % increase in traffic to DrapersJobs week on week) LEICESTER 10.3% The most applied for jobs WEEKLY FOOTFALL RETAIL INDEX HIGH STREET SALES TRACKER DRAPERSJOBS.COM The UK’s employment hot spot and the most popular roles WEEK-ON-WEEK CHANGE -0.4% YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE -2.9% Footwear Clothing + 11.6% + 3.2% ILLUSTRATIONS BY NATHALIE LEES 1. Design 8.3% 2. Merchandising 6% 3. Production 5.8% 4. Sales 5.2% 5. Retail management 4% As a percentage of total applications on DrapersJobs last week + 7.87% £