Epidemics are happening around the world, and the textile and apparel industry is also moving forward amid economic recovery. The new situation has accelerated the technological transformation of the industry, spawned new business formats and new models, and also triggered changes in consumer demand.
From the perspective of consumption patterns, retail is moving online
The trend of retail moving online is obvious, and in a certain period of time The guilt will continue to rise. In the United States, it was predicted in 2019 that the penetration rate of e-commerce would reach 24% in 2024, but by July 2020, the share of online sales had reached 33%. In 2021, although concerns about the epidemic continue, U.S. apparel spending rebounded rapidly and has a new growth trend. The growth of global clothing spending is expected to be promising. The impact of the epidemic on people’s lifestyles will continue, and the general trend of online sales will be accelerated and continued. Although the epidemic has caused fundamental changes in consumer shopping patterns and online sales have grown rapidly, even if the epidemic is completely over, the integrated online and offline shopping model will become fixed and become the new normal. According to statistics, 17% of consumers will purchase all or most items online, and the number of people who only shop in physical stores has also dropped from the previous 71% to 51%. Of course, for clothing buyers, physical stores still have the advantages of being able to try on clothes and making consultation easier.
From the perspective of consumer products, sportswear and functional clothing will become new hot spots in the market
The epidemic has further aroused consumers’ attention to health, and the sportswear market There will be great development. According to statistics, sales of sportswear in China were US$19.4 billion last year (mainly including sportswear, outdoor clothing and clothing with sports elements), and are expected to grow by another 92% in five years; while US sportswear sales have reached US$70 billion , and is forecast to grow at an annual growth rate of 9% in the next five years. From the perspective of consumer expectations, more comfortable clothing with functions such as moisture wicking, temperature control, odor removal, wear resistance, and water repellency is more likely to attract consumers. The report shows that 42% of respondents believe that wearing comfortable clothing can improve their mental health and make them feel happy, calm, relaxed and even safe. Compared with man-made fibers, 84% of respondents believe that cotton clothing is the most comfortable. The consumer market for cotton textile products still has a lot of room for development, and cotton’s functional technology should receive more attention.
From a consumer perspective, sustainable development has received more attention
Judging from current trends, consumers have a high regard for clothing sustainability. Looking forward to reducing environmental pollution from clothing production to recycling in a more environmentally friendly way. The survey results show that 35% of the respondents are aware of plastic particle pollution, and 68% of them claim that this will affect their clothing purchasing decisions. This requires the textile industry to start from raw materials, pay attention to the degradability of materials, and guide consumers’ purchasing decisions through the popularization of sustainable concepts. In addition to degradability, from a consumer’s perspective, improving durability and reducing resource waste are also one of the means of sustainable development. Ordinary consumers are accustomed to judging the durability of clothing based on its resistance to washing and fiber content. Influenced by their long-standing dressing habits, cotton products are more emotionally favored. Based on consumers’ demand for cotton quality and durability, it is necessary to further enhance the durability of cotton fabrics in terms of improving textile functions</p
