Beauty and apparel categories set to rebound as North American consumer behavior becomes permanent

Beauty and apparel sales to rebound

According to a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers about their shopping plans for the second half of the year and beyond, consumers have the highest demand for household goods and leisure items .

Wells Fargo predicts that e-commerce growth has moderated from an initial surge , with online penetration in retail set to be 540 basis points above pre-pandemic levels .

In the past year, 64% of respondents to a Wells Fargo survey said they had reduced their spending .

Some categories are expected to rebound more than others. Masks may have diminished the importance of beauty products for many consumers, but sales of beauty and apparel are expected to rebound in the second half of the year as the outbreak eases, the study suggests .

In their survey, 40% of respondents said they would resume buying cosmetics and other beauty items, while 37% said they would buy new clothes to go out.

There is still evidence that enthusiasm around homewares and athleisure clothing is here to stay. The data shows that the most popular categories last year were sports and leisure clothing (55% of respondents ) , loungewear ( 43%) and sneakers (35%).

A third of respondents said housing would remain their largest spending category as the pandemic eases, and 31% said they would buy sports and leisure shoes, which was the most commonly purchased category last year.

Analysts make bold predictions: "This seems to reflect a possible permanent behavioral shift among consumers , who were forced to change their lifestyles in 2020. They are focusing on their homes and realizing the importance of home furnishings and other related products to their lives. And online shopping has penetrated into every aspect of their lives."

E-commerce is booming

Online sales in the U.S. have soared during the pandemic , as many consumers choose to avoid physical stores even when they are allowed to reopen , and retailers of all sizes and types have entered or expanded online channels , making online sales the top sales channel for sellers .

That has eased somewhat in recent months as vaccines have been rolled out, but some of the shift will be permanent , according to Wells Fargo .

Apparel has changed significantly, with the category long considered resistant to the growth of online sales because it is difficult to adequately display attributes such as size , color , drape , texture and fit to consumers online .

Before the pandemic , the average consumer did less than a third of their clothing or footwear shopping online, the report said, a figure that surged to 51% last year . Wells Fargo data suggests that will drop to about 37% once life returns to normal .

According to Euromonitor data, online penetration for apparel and footwear sales was set at 25 % in 2019 , while in 2020 the category’s online penetration was set at 38% .

Consumer Behavior

cosmetic

clothing