Apparel & Accessories Retail Industry Overview

Companies that retail men's, women's, and/or children's clothing and accessories.

Summary

In the global retail apparel industry, profits can rise and fall faster than a trendy hemline. The downturn in the economy in 2008 and in the early 2000s forced some consumers and businesses to tighten their belts and move in new directions. For shoppers, that meant heading to discount chains; for designers and department stores, it's reworking strategy to go where shoppers are spending money; and for manufacturers, it means moving production overseas where labor is cheaper.Rising costs in China -- where so many retail chains source their goods -- puts added pressure on retailers to better control their internal costs to avoid having to pass along price increases to price-sensitive shoppers.While many mid-market apparel chains have struggled in recent years, purveyors of low-priced fast fashion -- as exemplified by Spain's Inditex, the owner of Zara stores and Sweden's H&M Hennes & Mauritz -- and upscale chains, including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, have generally prospered.

Full Apparel & Accessories Retail Industry Description

POS Computer Systems

Demographic Trends

Many retailers now use bar coded sales tags to enter information into central computers at cash registers. These point-of-sale (POS) systems allow retailers to track sales of specific items daily, identify popular and unpopular items, track inventory, and automatically order more product.

From 2000 to 2010, the population of the US will grow 10 percent. Those five to 19 won't grow at all, nor will those 20 to 44. The strongest growth will be in the large and affluent 45 to 64 age group, which will grow 30 percent. Clothing stores that target this older age group may have the best opportunities for growth.

Full Apparel & Accessories Retail Industry Trends

• LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA
• A & E Stores, Inc.
• Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

View more Apparel & Accessories Retail Competitors

Hoover's has developed its own industry classifications to better serve its customers. These classifications are mapped to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the older U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The Apparel & Accessories Retail maps to a number of NAICS codes including:

Full Apparel & Accessories Retail Industry Codes