Clothing retailers' sales decline again, Kantar criticises discounting

UK clothing retailers have seen sales fall for four months in a row, according to a survey published on Monday that criticised the industry's habit of over-buying and deep discounting.

Since June saw the first fall in the value of the UK fashion market, data from Kantar Worldpanel for the 52 weeks to 25 September said four months of consecutive sales decline has knocked nearly £700m from the value of the market compared to last year.

“Fashion retailers are still following the same patterns of over-buying and deep discounting and consumers are increasingly reluctant to pay full price," said Kantar consumer insight director Glen Tooke.

"Retailers have responded to falling sales by investing less in their lines, when what they need to be doing instead is addressing these problems more proactively. Rather than chasing after the same ‘micro trends’ as every one of their competitors, they need to work on understanding what their customers really want and to fulfil their needs."

He said the recent decline has been driven by a fall in the frequency of buying by consumers, which has given retailers fewer opportunities to encourage shoppers to part with their cash.

"As such, they need to ensure that stock availability is as high as it can be – online and offline – and that the shopping experience is based on what the customer actually wants, not what the retailer thinks they should experience."