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Fashion trade suffers from economical customers and high costs
Consumers only buy cautiously, even with clothing. This year, the fashion companies could therefore come under even more pressure, predicted the industry association.
SPIRE customers, rising costs, bankruptcies and growing competition from Asia: The fashion retailers in Germany are concerned about the future. The industry is dissatisfied, said the President of the Federal Association of German Textile, Shoe and Leather Wares Industry (BTE). Because of the difficult economic situation, it can be expected that even more dealers came under pressure this year.
Problems cause the industry that are significantly increasing. According to BTE, the companies pay about 20 percent more for energy, rent and salaries than in 2019. As a result, well -known companies came in need last year. Among other things, the Galeria department store chain as well as the fashion retailers Esprit and Sinn insolvency reported.
The retailers make it possible for customers to continue to consume cautiously. As can be seen from a representative survey of the Idealo price comparison portal, this was particularly pronounced in clothing. Every second one saved here.
Many companies expect sales of sales in 2025
Inpatient clothing transactions, department stores, food discounters and online retailers recorded sales of 67.5 billion euros in 2024 with textiles in Germany. Despite slightly increased prices, that was just as much as in the previous year.
The situation is particularly difficult in the inpatient textile and fashion trade, which suffered high losses during the pandemic. Then the business picked up speed again, but so far you have not been able to build on the previous level.
According to an association survey of 150 companies, only a third of the dealers expect a significant sales plus this year, three out of ten fears a decrease of one percent or more.
Asian providers increased market share
The BTE President criticizes the high bureaucratic burden on companies. The requirements are intolerable if “cheap goods” are at the same time imported via platforms such as Shein and Temu. Rauschen welcomes the EU plans to check them more in the future.
The Asian providers have recently significantly increased their market share. E-commerce expert Gerrit Heinemann from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences estimates that Shein alone implemented around 3 billion euros in this country last year. The company is likely to be the largest fashion provider in Germany, provided that individual companies and not group sales such as the Otto Group are considered, according to Heinemann.
dpa
Source: Stern
