These brands that take advantage of the sales to sell their new collections at high prices
In its article "These brands that take advantage of the sales to sell their new collections at high prices”, Le Figaro analyses the strategies of the big ready-to-wear shops during the winter sales. The aim of these strategies is to dispose of unsold stock while getting customers excited about the new collections.
With the emergence of new promotional periods in recent years, such as private sales, and the development of second-hand sales channels, the sale period is no longer the only time when consumers can shop in shops at reduced prices.
Nevertheless, this period is still crucial for many retailers. Sales are critical to the overall ready-to-wear market, which is exacerbated by the decline in traffic and sales observed at sixty retailers in the trade alliance in December. This pressure on sales is due to a number of factors: competition from ultra-low-cost retailers, the emergence of second-hand and all this against a backdrop of strong pressure on household purchasing power.
For retailers, the challenge of the clearance sale will therefore not only be to sell the current collections, but also to increase sales by reversing the particularly stubborn trend of 2023. We can therefore expect to see heavily discounted prices, but also some very well-prepared pre-collections, at least for the retailers who had the means to prepare them as well as possible. Xavier Bailly, Partner at Eight Advisory, points out that “the retailers that benefit most from the sales are those that focus on both heavy discounting and pre-season collections. Everyone is trying to do this, but you need the resources and the ability to anticipate trends.”
Read the full version of the article by Mathilde Visseyrias published in “Le Figaro”, click here.
