MONEY SAVERS: Approximately 4 million U.K. shoppers stopped purchasing mass market fashion accessories in 2017, according to a report from the analytics firm GlobalData. The reason? Shoppers are making do with what they have, and scaling back discretionary spending.
The report stated that “wants-driven” purchases have become increasingly difficult, which is affecting retailers, and pointed to two high street chains, Accessorize and Claire’s, saying they were among the companies that did not see footfall growth.
The firm noted that the share of consumers buying accessories fell from 50.6 percent in 2016 to 40.9 percent in 2017. The drop amounted to 390 million pounds in lost revenue.
Honor Strachan, principal retail analyst for GlobalData, noted that replacement purchases are now the main trigger for purchasing accessories rather than consumers choosing to treat themselves.
“This puts huge pressure on retailers to encourage (consumers to start) trading up, or to diversify to make up for absent sales,” said Strachan. “While the premium and luxury segments of the U.K. fashion accessories market bask in the attention of high-spending overseas visitors, the mass market players are suffering from a major drop in domestic consumer willingness.”