In the U.S., sales of clothing and accessories are down 50 percent

Newly released figures from America’s Census Bureau shows sales of fashion and accessories has plummeted by 50.5 percent for the month of March. Retail sales fell 8.7 percent, the largest decline on record.

In the U.S., brick and mortar stores remain closed during lockdown, with the exception of those retailers selling essential items. Despite the many bargains to be had online, dubbed the Black Friday of April by the Wall Street Journal, “shoppers still aren’t spending on apparel and footwear. Online sales declined each week since March 9, including a 20 percent drop in the week ended April 6, compared with the same period a year earlier.”

In the FashionUnited discussion on the future of retail, big questions remain as companies reorganise their businesses in response to Covid-19. Trying to reach a customer who is forced to stay at home and who’s livelihood in all probability will be negatively impacted by the pandemic is not an ideal time for selling fashion and non-essential items.

This raises big questions about the industry’s future. As brands scramble to reorganize their businesses, we have witnessed insolvencies, bankruptcies, plummeting sales and a manufacturing sector that has all but collapsed. “It’s a true emergency,” said Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Chamber of Fashion to the Financial Times. As many brands are not likely to survive the crisis, it “could completely transform the landscape of the industry in the next few months and years,” notes the Fast Company

So what can we expect going forward?

According to Fast Company, “analysts believe that consumer spending on fashion is going to decline even further, if lockdown orders continue into May (or longer) and unemployment figures keep rising. Brands that are able to sell online will lose less revenue than their counterparts that operate largely in brick and mortar stores, but the bleeding is not likely to stop in the next few months. And even being digitally native is no guarantee of survival.”

Photo credit: Saks Fifth Avenue, source Flickr