Do the same retail outlets appeal to consumers everywhere?

One of the biggest differences among shoppers is in the types of retail outlets at which they buy apparel. In the Global Monitor, shopping outlets ranged from street bazaars to department stores. In most countries, the clear majority of consumers indicated one outlet as their favorite. However, two outlet types were listed by about equal percentages of shoppers in France, Taiwan, Korea, and the U.S.

As shown in the graph below, Hong Kongers, Germans, Americans, and the French prefer to buy apparel at specialty chains, while Italians, Brazilians, Taiwanese, and the French favor small independent clothing stores. Colombians, Koreans, Taiwanese, and Americans prefer department stores, while Japanese and Britons tend to shop for clothes at chain stores. The only consumers to name street markets as their favorite outlet were Koreans (28%).

Street markets in Seoul, Korea, such as Tongdamun and Namdaemun, are sophisticated in their marketing approach and allocation of retail space. The independent designers who sell apparel at these markets can supply the latest fashions with a minimal lead time of four to seven days. Consumers and independent retailers from Korea and retailers from China, Russia, and Poland purchase much of the apparel sold at these street markets.

Korean street markets like Namdaemun are known for their visually appealing presentation of clothes.

Globally, 79% of consumers said they "cross-shop" for clothes, meaning that they shop different outlets looking for the best price, value, and fashion. Consumer loyalty to one outlet cannot be taken for granted in any country. Colombia and Italy boast the most loyal apparel consumers. Almost half (47%) of Colombians shop at just one outlet (mostly department stores), as do 37% of Italians (primarily small independent stores).

The one retail channel not on consumers’ lists of apparel outlets was the Internet. Although the Internet has made significant inroads in many hard-goods markets, its effect on apparel sales remains to be seen. Globally, only 1% of consumers said they had purchased clothes over the Internet.

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Are there universal reasons consumers choose an apparel store?

Consumers have a variety of reasons for shopping at particular retail outlets, including selection, styles, quality, price, location, and convenience. But these factors’ importance varies from country to country. Consumers in Western Europe, Japan, and America say what they like most about their favorite store is the wide selection. Colombians and Taiwanese are less concerned about selection than about availability of the latest styles. What consumers in Brazil, Hong Kong, and Korea like most about their favorite store are the prices and the sales. But although consumers do know what they like most about their favorite store, the data show that they are most impressed by a combination of all of these attributes.

Against this backdrop of differing consumer preferences, a major challenge facing manufacturers is the choice of a retail outlet for positioning their brand internationally. For example, chain stores are almost nonexistent in Colombia, Korea, and France, so traditional chain-store suppliers would have to choose a new marketing strategy based on an unfamiliar retail channel. Street markets are a primary outlet in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea, but are insignificant in other countries, such as Japan, the U.S., the U.K., and Germany.

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Globally, do consumers respond to the same advertising techniques?

Consumers from eight of the countries surveyed identified store displays as their primary source for clothing ideas. The exceptions were Brazil, Germany, and the U.S. More consumers in these markets said they got their apparel ideas from what they already own, perhaps bearing out the notion that it is easier to retain a customer than to attract a new customer. What consumers already own is an important influence in many other countries, as well.

Beyond these two sources for clothing ideas, there were major differences among the markets. For example, Asian consumers were most likely to cite external influences. More than half of the shoppers in Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan said they got apparel ideas from peers, while almost as many mentioned magazines. Four out of ten consumers in France get apparel ideas from catalogs, and the same percentage get ideas from magazines in the U.K. In Germany, more consumers (44%) get apparel ideas from their peers. In Latin America, consumers tend to rely less on outside influences — 37% of Brazilians get ideas from TV, and 31% of Colombians are influenced by peers.

What we see in general is that consumers do not consider television, magazines, or celebrities to be their primary sources of apparel ideas. These influences are strongest among younger consumers; interestingly, they are more important to consumers aged 20 to 24 than to those aged 15 to 19. Globally, younger consumers (aged 15 to 24) are more homogeneous in their attitudes toward shopping than are older consumers. The cultural differences among countries are more evident in older age groups.

Although this is the era of the Internet, the apparel industry is still waiting to see its impact at an international level — to see whether its influence will make global consumer attitudes more uniform. But for now, cultural preferences appear to be a better indicator than age or technological influences of why consumers shop, what outlets they prefer, and where they get their clothing ideas. Based on these findings, a global marketing strategy may be useful for brand development, but to succeed internationally, the strategy must be implemented locally.