Clothing And Footwear in Belgium
Euromonitor International's Clothing And Footwear in Belgium market report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, packaging innovations, economic/lifestyle influences, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change.
Tables: 51 | Publication date: Oct 2009
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Executive summary
2007 Spending on Clothing Stagnates While Sales Decline in 2008
According to Fedis (Belgian Federation of Distribution) and Creamoda (Belgian Association of the Clothing Industry) by the end of 2007, Belgian consumer spending on clothing remained fairly stable. The share of clothing in consumer spending remains high in Belgium despite the economic conjuncture. A survey of Fedis reveals a decline of 5% of the turnover during the summer sales of 2008. Moreover, at the end of the summer 2008 the turnover of the clothing and footwear sector registers a retrenchment of 4%. In comparison with 2007, Fedis notes a decrease of 2% in the sales of clothing and 3% for footwear.
Competition From Asia Hitting Hard Belgian Manufacturers
According to the Belgian Textile Federation, Belgian textile manufacturers can expect lacklustre performances in the years to come. Asian manufacturers, especially China, offer fabrics that are cheaper than those produced by Belgian companies. As a result, domestic production is suffering and “made in Asia” (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) label is appearing on most of the clothing available on the Belgian market. The system of production and distribution being more effective in these countries, the cost of the fabrics is decreasing and Belgian producers cannot compete with the new prices. The most important effect of this situation is the stagnation of value sales while the volume of sales is increasing.
Women’s Clothing Higgest Growth Rate of Market
Unsurprisingly, the sales of the sector are driven by women’s clothing. According to the trade press, in 2006, 48% of the clothing sold the same year was women’s clothing. This represents a steady increase of around 5% per year since 2006. Although men’s outerwear has the same growth rate during this period, sales of men’s clothing represents 30% of the market while children’s clothing only account for 22%. This trend is set to continue in the forecast period fuelled by a new type of fashion, the “BOBO style” (“bourgeois-bohême”), a style that happily mixes expensive designer clothes with cheap private brands items from outlets such as H&M, Zara, Promod or Mango.
Private Labels Dominate Market
In the sector of clothing, private labels are the high-street’s most important players. Nowadays, basic apparel coming from private labels is worn by Belgian consumers in combination with branded clothing. Brand loyalty is diminishing and private labels such as H&M or Mango provide a variety of trendy items and accessories that can be combined with branded clothes. Zara, the company of the Spanish giant Inditex is one of the leaders of this trend by using the marketing strategy called ‘fast-fashion’. By designing and manufacturing all the products in Spain, Zara is able to keep a fast pace by changing the collection every two weeks and dispatching them as quickly outside Spain. Private labels are definitely the high street players of tomorrow.
Financial Crisis Impacts Clothing Spend
The turnover of the sector is expected to stagnate and even go down by 2009 and 2010 due to the economic crisis. The decline was already noticeable by summer 2008 when the organic growth of the sector contracted by 4%. Most of Belgian’s consumers (48%) interviewed by the group City Bank, declare that in the prospect of an economic downturn, clothing would be the first sector where they would cut their spending. Accordingly, foreign manufacturers are able to offer cheap textiles leading the industry of textile to register bigger volume sales while value remains the same. According to sources quoting Unizo, the organisation of self-employed Flemish, 2009 will be lacklustre in the sector of clothing. Fedis confirms this trend by underlining the contraction of the clothing market by 2% at the end of 2008 and -3% for footwear during the same period.
Table of contents
CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR IN BELGIUM : MARKET INSIGHT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2007 Spending on Clothing Stagnates While Sales Decline in 2008
Competition From Asia Hitting Hard Belgian Manufacturers
Women’s Clothing Higgest Growth Rate of Market
Private Labels Dominate Market
Financial Crisis Impacts Clothing Spend
KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
Recession Hits Hard the Clothing Market
Ageing Population Brings About a New Consumer Group
Belgian Men Follow Fashion Trends
Flemish and Walloons, Two Different Fashions
Consumers Buying Apparel in Chain Stores
MARKET DATA
Table 1 Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: Volume 2003-2008
Table 2 Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: Value 2003-2008
Table 3 Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: % Volume Growth 2003-2008
Table 4 Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: % Value Growth 2003-2008
Table 5 Clothing and Footwear Company Shares 2004-2008
Table 6 Clothing and Footwear Brand Shares 2005-2008
Table 7 Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Distribution Format: % Analysis 2003-2008
Table 8 Forecast Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: Volume 2008-2013
Table 9 Forecast Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: Value 2008-2013
Table 10 Forecast Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: % Volume Growth 2008-2013
Table 11 Forecast Sales of Clothing and Footwear by Sector: % Value Growth 2008-2013
DEFINITIONS
Summary 1 Research Sources
LOCAL COMPANY PROFILES - BELGIUM
BRANTANO NV - CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR - BELGIUM
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
KEY FACTS
Summary 2 Brantano NV : Key Facts
Summary 3 Brantano NV: Operational Indicators
COMPANY BACKGROUND
PRODUCTION
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
Summary 4 Brantano NV: Competitive Position 2008
C&A BELGIQUE SA - CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR - BELGIUM
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
KEY FACTS
Summary 5 C&A Belgique SA: Key Facts
COMPANY BACKGROUND
PRODUCTION
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
Summary 6 C&A Belgique SA: Competitive Position 2008
EURO SHOE GROUP - CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR - BELGIUM
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
KEY FACTS
Summary 7 Euro Shoe Group Key Facts
COMPANY BACKGROUND
PRODUCTION
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
Summary 8 Euro Shoe Group: Competitive Position 2008
HENNES & MAURITZ (H&M) BELGIUM SA - CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR - BELGIUM
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
KEY FACTS
Summary 9 Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) Belgium NV: Key Facts
COMPANY BACKGROUND
PRODUCTION
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
Summary 10 Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) Belgium NV: Competitive Position 2008
JBC - CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR - BELGIUM
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
KEY FACTS
Summary 11 JBC SA/NV: Key Facts
COMPANY BACKGROUND
PRODUCTION
COMPETITIVE POSITIONING
Summary 12 JBC SA: Competitive Position 2008
CLOTHING IN BELGIUM
HEADLINES
TRENDS
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
PROSPECTS
New Product Developments
Summary 13 New Product Launches 2007- 2008
SECTOR DATA
Table 12 Sales of Clothing by Subsector: Volume 2003-2008
Table 13 Sales of Clothing by Subsector: Value 2003-2008
Table 14 Sales of Clothing by Subsector: % Volume Growth 2003-2008
Table 15 Sales of Clothing by Subsector: % Value Growth 2003-2008
Table 16 Sales of Men’s Outerwear by Type 2003-2008
Table 17 Sales of Women’s Outerwear by Type 2003-2008
Table 18 Sales of Childrenswear by Type 2003-2008
Table 19 Clothing Company Shares 2004-2008
Table 20 Clothing Brand Shares 2005-2008
Table 21 Sales of Clothing by Distribution Format: % Analysis 2003-2008
Table 22 Forecast Sales of Clothing by Subsector: Volume 2008-2013
Table 23 Forecast Sales of Clothing by Subsector: Value 2008-2013
Table 24 Forecast Sales of Clothing by Subsector: % Volume Growth 2008-2013
Table 25 Forecast Sales of Clothing by Subsector: % Value Growth 2008-2013
FOOTWEAR IN BELGIUM
HEADLINES
TRENDS
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
PROSPECTS
New Product Developments
Summary 14 New Product Launches 2007- 2008
SECTOR DATA
Table 26 Sales of Footwear by Subsector: Volume 2003-2008
Table 27 Sales of Footwear by Subsector: Value 2003-2008
Table 28 Sales of Footwear by Subsector: % Volume Growth 2003-2008
Table 29 Sales of Footwear by Subsector: % Value Growth 2003-2008
Table 30 Sales of Footwear by Type 2003-2008
Table 31 Footwear Company Shares 2004-2008
Table 32 Footwear Brand Shares 2005-2008
Table 33 Sales of Footwear by Distribution Format: % Analysis 2003-2008
Table 34 Forecast Sales of Footwear by Subsector: Volume 2008-2013
Table 35 Forecast Sales of Footwear by Subsector: Value 2008-2013
Table 36 Forecast Sales of Footwear by Subsector: % Volume Growth 2008-2013
Table 37 Forecast Sales of Footwear by Subsector: % Value Growth 2008-2013