US childrenswear and footwear showed greater resilience than wider apparel and footwear facing the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and economic uncertainties in 2022. Fashion players, especially mid- to high-value players, are progressively relaunching childrenswear and introducing new collections. Catering to parents’ and children’s changing behaviour is increasingly critical as the market is more crowded than before and the US birth rate is expected to remain static and then decline from now to 2040.
This report comes in PPT.
The US childrenswear and children’s footwear industry showed greater resilience than the wider US apparel and footwear industry when facing the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and economic uncertainties in 2022. Declines were more moderate in both value and volume terms, as children grow rapidly, and most parents prioritise their children’s needs before theirs when budgets are limited.
The US childrenswear market is relatively fragmented, with the top five companies combined accounting for 27% of the market in 2022. The market share of the leader, Carter’s Inc, has been declining since 2017 due to the growth of Shein, high-quality childrenswear, and second-hand products. By contrast, children’s footwear is dominated by sportswear players, in particular Nike.
US parents’ increasing concerns for health/wellness, along with more flexible working arrangements and willingness to spend more time with children, have promoted their spending on sportswear products to support their children’s play. Body positivity has also been attracting interest, driven by increased ethnic diversity, rising obese child populations, and parents’ concerns for children’s wellness.
As parents are increasingly influenced by posts on social media, players have begun to shift their marketing efforts towards social media and are launching modern collections to meet demand for “mommy and me” and matching family outfits. Beyond this, US childrenswear players are eyeing the metaverse to enhance engagement with the next generation of consumers.
Responding to parents’ growing awareness of, and concerns about environmental and social issues, childrenswear players are increasingly blending sustainability into their business strategies. However, in the US, the sustainability and circularity implementation process within childrenswear still lags that of adult fashion, due to a lack of momentum from leading players.
Apparel is the aggregation of clothing and footwear. This dataset covers retail sales of apparel through both store-based retailers and non-store retailers. Excludes black market sales (i.e. untaxed, generated within informal retailing)and duty free sales (travel retail). Items must be new when sold to the consumer; second-hand/used items are excluded. Antique and/or vintage clothing and footwear is also excluded.
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