This week, we’re previewing some of the key findings from our just-released Market Report: U.S. Dresses 2014, which digs into data from the dress category Stateside, across value, mass, premium and luxury market segments. No stone is left unturned in demystifying the market – we’ve analyzed the most successful products, colors, price points and best communicators. Today, we share with you key market trends that will make your dress category succeed.
The dress category is an incredibly turbulent one, and the report highlights the reasons behind this: the seasonality, the discounting cycles and the boom or bust in dress trends. One of the exercises we shared was to plot the new arrivals and discounting over a period of 12 months, which highlights seasonality and key points in the dress retail calendar.
May is the busiest month for dresses
Retailers use the information about seasonality, arrivals and reductions, drilling down to view their specific competitors, to plan ahead of the curve and avoid damaging discounts. Data revealed that May is the busiest month for dresses with both the highest number of new products arriving onto the US market and the highest number of reductions. That’s a characteristic distinct to dresses – in many categories, it would be normal to see new arrivals figures slope off in times of discounting. However, trend stakes are incredibly high in the dress category, with customers demanding the next and the newest constantly.
Seasonality
Dresses styles are also greatly affected by the weather – often the stock that is being reduced is vastly different to the new products arriving into store, unlike in other categories such as jeans. Also, thanks to this seasonality, dress discounting happens earlier in the season than most other categories; retailers are keen to avoid being left with dead stock, where value will rapidly deplete.
Don’t miss your free report!
What could you do with four years worth of data on the discounting rates and patterns of all of your competitors? Globally, retailers are using these exact techniques to help redefine and set their strategy. Understand what it takes to beat your competitors and outperform in retail by downloading our new Market Report: U.S. Dresses 2014 today.
Katie Smith
