THE fashion and accessories market of selected Asean countries, particularly Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, presents huge growth opportunities for exporters and retailers.
“As growing economic affluence continues to translate into consumption power, Asean consumers are moving from spending on basic necessities to fashion and lifestyle items,” the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) said on the results of its survey exploring the export potential in fashion and accessories consumer market in selected Asean markets, also including Singapore as a regional hub.
It cited the Euromonitor International projecting consumer expenditure on clothing and footwear to expand by an average annual growth of 7.3 percent to reach US$ 72.7 billion in 2022 from US$ 51.2 billion in 2017.
Asean secretariat’s data indicated that the region’s combined population of 642 million is the third-largest in the world, after China and India.
Consumer survey
The HKTDC Research also highlighted its Asean middle-income consumer survey that showed its middle-class consumers were inclined to allocate a substantial amount of discretionary spending to fashion.
The distribution of fashion spending was: business attire (28 percent), casual wear (26 percent), shoes (22 percent), accessories (12 percent), travel goods and handbags (8 percent), and spectacles (4 percent).
The report identified concept stores, department stores and multi-brand stores as the dominant distribution channels for fashion in Asean.
“Aside from bricks-and-mortal retailers, e-commerce has quickly become an independent force in the fashion industry as well,” it said.
The HKTDC said countries with less severe physical infrastructure constraints, such as Malaysia and Thailand, have seen faster growth in online shopping. Indonesia, on the other hand, has long-term e-commerce potential given its large and rapidly growing middle class and young consumer market, it added.
To penetrate these Asean markets, most overseas fashion suppliers distribute their products mainly in multi-brand fashion stores and mid to high-end department stores. Philexport News And Features