Smaller markets such as Orlando and Washington, DC and not the largest US markets like New York and Los Angeles are the top markets driving both growth rate and dollar volume increases for the apparel industry, says global information company, The NPD Group
New York and Los Angeles are the largest US markets in terms of apparel sales. These two top markets had strong performance across in-store and online channels. Among the top 25 designated market areas (DMA) in the US, online dollar sales of apparel increased for most, but only a handful grew in-store sales in the 12 months ending February 2015.
According to chief industry analyst of The NPD Group Inc, Marshal Cohen, the big regions were no longer leading apparel industry sales growth. “When New York and Los Angeles don’t even make it into the top 10 list of DMAs driving apparel growth, we have a big opportunity gap in the market. We need to understand the cause in order for the apparel industry to regain traction moving forward.”
Cohen further added that impulse purchases were the big growth driver. The strategy of driving traffic to websites needs to exist in tandem with efforts to drive traffic to the stores.Regardless of regional market size, or method of purchase, the apparel industry needs to engage consumers with something new and different – something they can’t find everywhere, he pointed out.
Online sales of apparel tell a different regional story. Overall, this segment, which now accounts for 17 per cent of industry dollars, increased 19 per cent in the 12 months ending February 2015.
