Americans Cheer Up, Buy New Shoes

According to a recent consumer spending study, released by market information company The NPD Group, many US consumers are now planning to spend more on apparel and footwear, despite disappointing retail sales of late. According to NPD, the apparel and footwear industries saw dollar volume decreases of two and five percent respectively in 2002 over 2001; however, consumers surveyed said they are willing to spend more on apparel and footwear post-war, compared to an identical study conducted prior to the war in Iraq.

NPD reports 14 percent of consumers planning to spend more than usual on apparel during the months of May, June and July (vs. 11 percent of consumers in the pre-war survey). The same holds true for shoes and athletic footwear. Ten percent of consumers are planning to spend more than usual on footwear in the next three months (vs. eight percent of consumers in the pre-war survey).

'Consumers are beginning to show signs of wanting to get back into the stores and shop for their spring/summer wardrobes' said Marshal Cohen, senior industry analyst, The NPD Group. 'The stores are ready for them with lots of new colors and fashionable products. Between the war, cold weather lingering around many parts of the country and the horrible storms in the South, it was not a good start for the spring season. We don't expect consumers to go out and replenish their entire wardrobes, buy they will be looking to add onto them and find some fun fashions this season.'

According to the study, the biggest shift for apparel spending came from consumers aged 18-34 with no children. This group plans to spend 24 percent more than usual on apparel over the next three months vs. 19 percent who planned to spend more on apparel before the war. For footwear purchases, consumers aged 35-54 with children said they would spend 15 percent more than usual on footwear over the next three months vs. 10 percent before the war.

Consumers at income level ($45K to $75K) displayed the most substantial increase in growth and confidence in post-war spending vs. spending before the war. Fifteen percent of consumers at income level ($45K to $75K) said they plan to spend more on apparel in the next three months (vs. 10 percent of consumers in the pre-war survey). Ten percent of consumers at income level ($45K to $75K) said they plan to spend more on footwear in the next three months (vs. 7 percent of consumers in the pre-war survey).

'There are major shifts in who is spending on apparel and footwear right now. It was all about the teens and young adults last year. This year with the way the economy is, you will start to see very slow signs of recovery and the younger consumers will no longer be the only ones to target,' added Cohen.

Wave 2 of the NPD Consumer Spending Survey was fielded April 29 to May 6, 2003. It was e-mailed to 5,000 members of the NPD online consumer panel. The findings presented are based on information from 2823 completed surveys. The margin of error at the 90 percent confidence level is 1.6 percent.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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