How Do People Nowadays Spend Their Fashions?

With the rapid development of China's economy, China has become a major producer of textiles and clothing in the world.

Therefore, as the other end of the cotton supply chain, Chinese consumers naturally become the focus of attention.

The number of Chinese middle class families (between $8300 and $68800 a year) has increased by 22% over the past two years to 80 million.

It is estimated that this figure will increase by nearly 10 times by 2020 (Euromonitor information consultation July 2007 monitoring data).

The growing popularity of Chinese consumers' disposable income and the continued popularity of the clothing consumer market provide new opportunities for retailers both at home and abroad.

Because domestic retailers have an inherent home advantage in consumer and market recognition, the challenges faced by international retailers will be even more severe.

In the face of the rapidly changing Chinese market, retailers need to understand some key issues: the basic state of the Chinese clothing market, the types of Chinese consumers usually buy, and the buying habits of Chinese consumers.

The launch of an investigation report on the clothing buying habits of Chinese consumers may give a satisfactory answer.

- Ann Mahal, International Herald Tribune (2007)

92% of respondents said they bought clothes in 2006.

However, Chinese consumers still spend far less than $369 billion on clothing purchases by American consumers (according to the US economic analysis Bureau).

But the clothing items (such as tops, underwear and so on) are very similar.

Clothing and underwear consumption occupy the largest proportion of clothing procurement projects in China, while the share of skirts, dresses and casual wear is roughly the same as that of the United States.

However, there is a significant difference between purchasing preferences and American consumers for trousers: casual pants for Chinese consumers account for 15% of total clothing purchases, while only 7% are used to buy Jeans, while Americans are evenly distributed on these two trousers.

But there is no doubt that jeans are becoming more and more popular in China, especially among young consumers.

Although compared to the United States, jeans occupy a small proportion of consumption in China's clothing market, but the trend of young consumers has more jeans than their elders is basically the same.

In China, consumers aged 15 to 29 account for 8% of the total consumption of jeans. Compared to those aged between 30 and 54, consumers who buy stronger strength account for only 6% of total purchases.

Half buying from department stores

However, the structure of China's retail industry is quite different from that of the United States, which reflects the difference between cultural differences and product supply.

First of all, there are a large number of clothing stores in the Chinese market, such as the clothing market and independent franchises, which occupy 22% of the clothing consumers' clothing purchase share.

Second, department stores are widely welcomed in the Chinese market, and more than half of the clothing trade is done here.

By comparison, only 9% of clothing purchases in the United States occur in shopping malls.

In the United States, parity supermarkets are the most popular retail channels, accounting for 31% of their purchase share.

The US Cotton Corp research shows that 38% of Chinese consumers tend to be domestic brands when choosing clothes, while 22% prefer foreign brands.

According to the McKinsey Quarterly (November 2007) article, only about 25% of Chinese consumers believe that foreign brands can provide higher value than domestic brands. Chinese consumers buy more than 600 brands of clothing monthly, and these brands come from different countries and regions such as China, Hongkong, Japan, Europe and the United States.

Chinese consumers like to buy and collect luxury goods and occupy 10% of the total global luxury consumption.

As Ann Maha pointed out in the International Herald Tribune, "in today's China, dressing represents your taste."

Chinese consumers will buy luxury clothing and clothing as investment behavior, with a view to highlighting their honorable status, publicizing their personalities and differences.

According to the consumer attitudes survey conducted by the US Cotton Corp, nearly 70% of Chinese consumers believe that it is important for their clothing to be made from natural fabrics such as cotton.

This attitude is also reflected in the trend of clothing purchase in 2007. Nearly 2/3 of all clothing items sold were mainly cotton.

Men in China have a stronger desire to buy cotton clothes than women; in 2007, 70% of men bought clothing.