FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cheryl Krauss
Bain & Company
Telephone: +1 646-562-7863
cheryl.krauss@bain.com
Contact: Stephanie Horton
VOGUE
Telephone: +1 212-286-6577
E-mail: stephanie_horton@condenast.com
"STYLE-CONSCIOUS" WOMEN
ACTIVELY SPENDING IN 2010, ACCOUNTING FOR NEARLY 70% OF TOTAL U.S.
SPENDING IN APPAREL, ACCESSORIES AND BEAUTY; ACCORDING TO NEW
FAR-REACHING STUDY ON U.S. FEMALE SHOPPERS
Nearly
Two-Thirds of Purchases by Style-Conscious Consumers Favor Durable,
Timeless, Classic Styles Over Trendy, Contemporary Styles
New York-September 14, 2010-Women who consider themselves
"stylish" and follow the latest fashions spend three times the
average on all apparel, accessory and beauty purchases by female
shoppers in the U.S.; this according to a study conducted by Bain
& Company in cooperation with Vogue magazine. The
study, entitled "Why She Shops: The 2010 Fashion and Beauty Study,"
surveyed more than 5,000 female shoppers in June 2010 and evaluated
134 apparel, accessory and beauty brands to identify the
preferences and purchase behaviors of female consumers and the
winning characteristics of the brands that they buy.
Counter to last year's relentless focus on price, "Why She
Shops" shows that women are focusing on quality and value in 2010.
Although the style-conscious are still skeptical about paying full
price (11% of those surveyed agreed with the statement, "I usually
pay full price."), they are explicitly seeking durability (80%
agreed with the statement, "I am willing to pay more for clothing
and accessories that will last more than one season."). As a
result, the style-conscious woman is disproportionately investing
in "classic" styles-65% of brands purchased in 2010 versus 35%
spent on contemporary brands.
"Style conscious women are telling us that they are looking for
more classic products than they can find, and that the marketplace
has been a bit too slow to let go of younger, trendier looks," said
Erika Serow, a Bain Retail Practice partner and lead author of the
study. "But brands can win in a variety of ways, as long as they
listen deeply to and deliver on the needs of their target
audiences."
The "Why She Shops" study reveals, through its 2010 Fashion and
Beauty Brand Index, that top brands among the 134 studied succeeded
in capturing the interest, spending and loyalty of style-conscious
women. The index-based on a combination of purchase incidence,
share of wallet and brand loyalty-lists Express, Victoria's Secret
and Banana Republic as tops in the apparel category; Coach, Express
and Louis Vuitton in accessories; and Bare Escentuals, Clinique and
MAC as the top beauty brands. [[See Editor's Note for how to
request a copy of the study and the full list of the top 15 brands
in each category]
Winning brands score three times higher than average on
dimensions such as "fits me well" (for apparel), "matches my
style," and "trusted / high quality." Notably, the study finds that
women in 2010 did not rate "price" as a differentiator. The study
also finds that winning brands had substantially higher customer
loyalty and advocacy scores. "Big or small, mass or luxury, older
or younger, the consistent thread for winning brands is loyalty,"
added Serow.
The study also found that when it comes to luxury, 15% of
style-conscious women account for 70% of luxury spending in
apparel, accessories and beauty.
"Understanding the dynamics of how these style-conscious women
spend is paramount for brands in the current environment," said
Susan Plagemann, VP and Publisher, Vogue. "These women
gravitate towards brands that deliver on heritage, sustainability
and provenance, which has been a big focus of our clients over the
past year," she added.
Style-conscious women can be found both in stores and online.
When shopping in stores, they prefer specialty or vertical
retailers to typical department stores, spending 55% of their
apparel spend and 40% of their accessories spend with specialty
retailers. They purchase beauty products at a mix of vertical
retailers, mass merchants, and drugstore or grocery retailers.
Online, the style-conscious spend nearly twice as much on
apparel, accessories and beauty products as the average woman.
Despite being much heavier users of mobile and social media than
the average population, they are only beginning to use text
messages to help them shop (5%), to rely on social networks for
shopping ideas (10%), or make purchases from their mobile phones
(12%).
"There's a tremendous opportunity for brands to win with the
style-conscious woman by fine-tuning their products and messaging
to her needs. Reaching this audience can have tangible impact both
on sales and long-term loyalty. We're especially thrilled to have
not only our clients, but the industry as a whole, benefit from
these insights," concluded Plagemann.
Editor's Note: To request a copy of "Why She Shops: The 2010
Fashion and Beauty Study" or to request an interview, please
contact: Cheryl Krauss, e-mail: cheryl.krauss@bain.com or
ph.: 646-562-7863, Frank Pinto, e-mail: frank.pinto@bain.com, or
ph.: 917-309-1065, or Stephanie Horton, email: stephanie_horton@condenast.com,
or ph.: 212-286-6577.
# # #
Why She Shops Study Methodology
The research was conducted by Bain & Company with the
cooperation of Vogue magazine. It evaluated 134 brands in
retail, accessories, apparel, and beauty, using an online survey of
5,000 women in the U.S., between ages 18 and 60. The survey took
place in June 2010. "Style-conscious" women met two criteria.
First, they had the highest responses to questions about whether
they follow the latest fashions and consider themselves stylish.
Second, they had to spend at least $1000 per year on apparel, or
$250 per year on accessories or $100 per year on beauty.
The 2010 Fashion and Beauty Brand Index is based on two factors:
spending on the brand and loyalty to the brand. The spending metric
includes the percentage of women who purchase the brand and the
share of wallet held by the brand among style-conscious women
relative to other brands in the category. The loyalty metric is
based on Net Promoter Score® (NPS), which measures the
percentage of brand promoters, who would recommend a brand to a
friend against the percentage of brand detractors, who would not do
so.
About Bain & Company,
Inc.
Bain & Company, a leading global business consulting firm,
serves clients on issues of strategy, operations, technology,
organization and mergers and acquisitions. The firm was founded in
1973 on the principle that Bain consultants must measure their
success by their clients' financial results. Bain clients have
outperformed the stock market 4 to 1. With 42 offices in 27
countries, Bain has worked with over 4,150 major multinational,
private equity and other corporations across every economic sector.
For more information visit: www.bain.com.
NPS, and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems,
Inc., Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld.
About Conde Nast and
Vogue
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, operates
in 24 countries and is the world leader in exceptional content
creation. In the United States, Condé Nast publishes
eighteen consumer magazines, two trade publications and
twenty-seven websites that garner international acclaim and
unparalleled consumer engagement.
For 118 years, Vogue has been America's cultural
barometer, putting fashion in the context of the larger world we
live in- how we dress, live, socialize; what we eat, listen to,
watch; who leads and inspires us. For millions of women each month,
Vogue is the eye of the culture, inspiring and challenging
them to see things differently, in both themselves and the
world.
