What do we
see when we look at our branch.. Is there a lot of competition? Is there just
one target group or is this widely segmented? How is demand created? How do
brands differentiate?
Underwear
seems something really basic, we all (in general) wear underwear day in day
out. So there must be a big market for it. According to Reportlinker the global
underwear industry is estimated to be worth over 30 billion dollars of which bra’s represent 50%. They also say that in the US Men’s underwear was the “top growing US
apparel category” with 11% (in 2009) as well as that the total underwear
market in Great Britain is worth 2.57 and still growing (2009). Another market
research firm ‘Ystats’ concludes that from
2004 till 2010 the Women’s underwear market even grew by one third! Another
interesting things is that they state that France is the country that spends
the most on their hidden treasures, followed by Germany and Great Britain. Even though
the market size of underwear shows to be huge, I cannot come up with that many underwear
brands. Does this mean that I just stick with the brands I usually buy, instead
of browsing around and see what the market has to offer? Most of my undies come
from H&M and Hunkemöller.. H&M we all know, a retail chain that sells everything a body can wear. And the other
is a Dutch specialty underwear retailer,
the most known chain for ladies underwear in the Netherlands (I think Benelux
even). Or are there just not that many shops to choose from?
For something everyone wears every day, there is not that many specialized shops, I would say. Where do we buy our underwear? It seems like every country or region has its own chains, so far (My own findings) it seems like the côte d’Azur has Undiz and Intimissimi as the specialized shops and for the expensive brands we need to go to a department store, where we can find small collections of the more exclusive brands. Probably for those brands, it is not profitable enough to keep a whole store running. What is left is the apparel retail chains that offer underwear just as a category of their assortment, take H&M and Calvin Klein.
For something everyone wears every day, there is not that many specialized shops, I would say. Where do we buy our underwear? It seems like every country or region has its own chains, so far (My own findings) it seems like the côte d’Azur has Undiz and Intimissimi as the specialized shops and for the expensive brands we need to go to a department store, where we can find small collections of the more exclusive brands. Probably for those brands, it is not profitable enough to keep a whole store running. What is left is the apparel retail chains that offer underwear just as a category of their assortment, take H&M and Calvin Klein.
Some online search brings me a top ten (mostfamous and sexiest) lingerie brands of which 7 of them
I have never heard! While checking the top 10 of fashion (apparel) brands, 8 are well known for me
and of at least 4 of them I own some clothing. Does this mean we don’t like to
spend that much time and money on the pieces of clothes we don’t show to the
world? Some Google searching brings me to two really different outcomes. First
the Daily Mail tells me that woman have around €980,- average worth of
underwear in their closets, spending €530,- a year on it while men have a pile
of knickers worth of €320,- an average. Men having 13 boxer shorts of which 3 are of high quality (how that pile of 13
shorts could be worth €320,- is a mystery to me..) and woman around 40 of which
30 are ‘special’ and the rest daily panties. On the other hand, I bump into a
forum where a lady asks others how much they spend on their underwear. Those
ladies are apparently all mommies and don’t have ‘time’ or ‘reasons’ to wear
any sexy underwear. They just get their 6-pack for €7,- at the local
Hypermarket. Granny panties is what they call it themselves (and damn proud of
it!?)
Amanda van den Hoven
