Bags and Luggage in Western Europe

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Muted recovery seen in 2021

Bags and luggage sales did return to positive growth in 2021 at a regional level, but it was a relatively muted recovery from the slump seen a year earlier. The measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 had an adverse impact on bags and luggage sales in Western Europe in 2020, with this still ongoing, to an extent, in 2021, with the virus still very much present in the region.

Missing inbound tourists put a dent in luxury spending

The strict travel restrictions were hitting bags and luggage sales in a number of ways. One was the obvious fact that, if people were unable (or unwilling) to travel, they were less likely to need new luggage items. Another was that, in a number of countries in the region, foreign visitors account for a major share of local spending on personal accessories when they visit, particularly luxury products – so that, with travel difficult, or even impossible, the absence of such tourists meant such spending was also missing, with this happening in both 2020 and 2021.

E-commerce makes hay during the pandemic

In terms of retail distribution, the e-commerce channel was the definite “winner” during the pandemic, adding more than seven percentage points of new share in 2020, with further, albeit much more modest, gains made in 2021. What had been, prior to the arrival of COVID-19 in the region, the two biggest channels, namely bags and luggage specialist retailers and department stores, had to close for extended periods during lockdowns as “non-essential stores”, costing the latter its second spot, but with the former still very much the leading channel.

Slow recovery over the forecast period

The sales recovery in 2021 was only limited, after the slump experienced in 2020, and, although 2022 and 2023 are expected to see more dynamic growth rates, bags and luggage is not currently expected to reach its pre-pandemic sales levels before the end of the forecast period.