French Clothing Sales Decline For 11 Consecutive Years Gap, H&M Shut Down In The Store

According to statistics, by 2019, the sales volume of the French clothing market has declined for 11 consecutive years, and sales have dropped by 15% in the past ten years (2007-2018). In the face of such an industry crisis, many brands such as Gap, H&M, C&A and so on have been shutting down in the store, looking for other marketing channels.

At the end of January, Gap announced the permanent closure of the store on Champs Elysees street, which has been open since 1999. Since last September, Gap has closed 8 stores in the French island. Meanwhile, following the closure of 4 stores in France last April, Holland's fast fashion brand C&A has announced that it will shut down its 30~150 stores in France in 2020.

Gildas Minvielle, director of the economic observation Institute of Paris Fashion Institute (IFM), France, said that the energy consumption of the French clothing market has been much worse than before, and clothing stores have been flooded in every corner of the city, leading to a situation of oversupply. Eric Mertz, President of the French clothing association, pointed out that another reason for the French clothing industry crisis is that French consumers are "away from over consumption", and such a consumption concept leads to a straight decline in purchasing power. (see "ornate ambition" report: Kantar's latest report says: Frenchmen are staying away from "excessive consumption").

A previous survey by Kantar, a market analysis consultancy, showed that in 2019, the highest sales in the French clothing market were Kiabi (3.9%), followed by H&M (3.4%), INTERSPORT ranked third (3.3%), and fourth was Lafayette department store (3%), while sales ranked top four: Kiabi (6.3%), E.Leclerc (6.3%), H&M (4.1%) and Ochamps (3.9%).

Therefore, in this crisis, the biggest impact is some mid-range clothing brands, such as: Cama EU, Pimkie, Promod, C&A, these brands compete in price, but the French local clothing chain supermarket Kiabi, the clothing style also does not have Zara and H&M novel.

"H l l ne Janicaud analysis of Kayu staff said:" for these brands, online marketing transformation may be a crucial choice. According to our statistics, in 2019, the amount of clothing purchased by French consumers on the electronic business platform accounted for 15% of the total. Take H&M as an example. A large part of their sales growth comes from online platforms.

In addition, French consumers are increasingly paying attention to green and environmental protection. The latest report of Holland international group shows that 61% of consumers have no desire to buy environmentally friendly brands. If the clothing brand wants to develop steadily in the French market for a long time, it needs to cater to the needs of consumers and provide more clothing products that meet the needs of sustainable development.

A French Fashion Institute in Paris (IFM) analysis shows that the estimated value of the second-hand clothing market in France is about 1 billion euros, which will increase to 9 billion euros in 10 years. Brand grab the secondary market will also become the main trend of development.