Essay: France'S Clothing Market Is In Trouble.

After more than 10 years of the most difficult start, the French clothing market has been tardy.

Sales of clothing products have been sluggish since the beginning of the year due to the capricious weather and declining real purchasing power of residents.

The industry is pessimistic that the weakness of the clothing market is likely to continue in two years.

According to the latest data from the French Fashion Institute, sales of French clothing and textiles fell 3.5% in the first 4 months of this year compared with the same period last year, the worst result since 1994.

All kinds of clothing marketing methods are not ideal, and whether it is clothing or underwear, sales are showing a shrinking trend.

At the beginning of this year, the main reason for the weakness of the French clothing market was the capricious weather.

Rainy weather makes the temperature relatively low. Compared with previous years, summer comes late, and T-shirts, short skirts and swimsuits and other seasonal clothing have no market.

Slow-moving sales increase the stock of shopping malls, and there are plenty of commodities to choose from.

A mother's words reflected the difficulties of the merchant from the opposite side: "I have just bought a pair of light sandals for my daughter, and there are many varieties and styles to choose from. In the past year, sandals in the shopping malls were sold out in this season."

However, the deeper and more persistent reason for the clothing industry to worry most is the slowdown in economic growth in France and the decline in the actual purchasing power of the residents.

France's economic growth rate has been in the middle and lower reaches of the European Union in recent years. The French central bank estimates that the economic growth rate of France will not exceed 1.5% this year.

The result of slower economic growth is the slow growth of residents' income. In the era of rapid price rise, consumers' real purchasing power will decrease.

From 3 to May this year, prices in France rose by more than 3% compared with the same period last year, and the inflation rate in May also hit a new high since 1991.

The rapid rise of fuel and food prices has forced French families to sacrifice some clothing and textile consumption. After all, new clothes are not necessities like fuel and food.

The personage in the industry has figuratively created a metaphor that French families increase their fuel costs by 50 euros per month, which means that the clothing industry has sold less a shirt.

In the face of the slump in the market, many French clothing sellers, such as less than 25 months starting this month, have already started the summer sales promotion in advance.

Buy two gifts one, buy second pieces of clothing eighty percent off, others simply cut 30% to 60%.

The clothing traders hope to attract customers, stimulate consumption and withdraw money through early promotion, so as to lighten the operating pressure caused by the weak market.