Children’s Clothing Market 2017

Growing Pains

  • US children’sclothing market revenues increased 4% during 2016, to $31.6 billion. Girls’ apparel (ages 4–14) had the largest share of the market, at 38%. Boys’ apparel (ages 4–14) was second at 33%, then baby-and-toddler wear (ages 0–3) at 29%.
  • Girls’ and boys’ apparel categories increased 4%, while baby-and-toddler wear only increased 2%. By 2020, the population aged 0–3 is forecasted to represent 5% of the total US population, while the age group 4–14 is expected to decline to 13%.
  • According to the US Census Bureau, family clothing store sales (unadjusted) remained flat during the first half of 2017,at $44.993 billion, increasing a meager 0.005%, compared to the first half of 2016, or $44.989 billion.

Most-Often Shopped Brick-and-Mortar Children’s Clothing Categories, 2016

Retail Channel / All shoppers / Heavy online shoppers
Specialty apparel / 24% / 33%
Discount store / 39% / 24%
Department store / 17% / 16%
Other / 15% / 13%

Fung Global Retail & Technology (Prosper), October 2016

Brick-and-Mortar Blues

  • Some children’s and teen specialty retailers declared bankruptcy and/or closed stores during 2017, including Gymboree (350), The Children’s Place (200), rue21 (400), Abercrombie & Fitch (60) and Wet Seal (171). Carter’s plans to add 250 stores this year.
  • During 2016, households with children shopped at an average of 11.2 retailers during the previous 4 weeks, compared to 8.8 for households without children, and 9.4 overall.
  • More children’s clothing than any other category of clothing or footwear is bought online. Experts cite parents’ lack of time to shop in-store as a major factor. On the positive side for stores, though, is inconsistent sizing of kids’ clothes online.

Where Consumers Do Their Apparel Shopping 2016

Type of item / Bought nothing online / Bought less than half online / Bought majority online
Women’s clothing / 29% / 43% / 28%
Men’s clothing / 33% / 39% / 28%
Footwear / 47% / 29% / 23%
Children’s clothing / 20% / 43% / 37%

Fung Global Retail & Technology (Prosper), 2016

Back-to-School Buying

  • Children’s apparel is more seasonal than any other type of apparel. During November 2016, the index for children’s clothing was 105, compared to women’s casual clothing (86), women’s dress clothing (78) and men’s clothing (85).
  • Back-to-school shopping accounts for approximately 17% of total annual sales, with children’s apparel and accessories 34.7% of the total spent on back-to-school. The average amount spent on clothing per child during the 2017season was $238.89.
  • For the 2017 back-to-school season, fewer consumers said they planned to shop at department stores (28%, compared to 54% during 2016) and specialty clothing stores (8%, compared to 25% during 2016). Share shifted to off-price and mass merchants.

Where Consumers Plan to Shop for Back-to-School Clothes, 2017

Type of retailer / 2016 / 2017
Mass merchants / 57% / 81%
Online-only retailers / 36% / 36%
Off-price stores / 10% / 28%
Department stores / 54% / 28%
Fast-fashion apparel retailers / 24% / 24%
Retailers’ Websites / 17% / 17%
Specialty clothing stores / 25% / 8%

Deloitte, 2017

Plugged-In Parents

  • Parents spend more time shopping online than non-parents: 7 hours per week for parents versus 4 hours for non-parents. They also spend 61% more money online ($1,071) compared to non-parents ($664).
  • A larger percentage of non-parents shop online than parents, or 47% and 41%, respectively, while a larger percentage of parents shop in-store than non-parents, or 59% and 53%, respectively.
  • In a survey by KPMG, 23% of consumers said they planned to purchase children’s apparel online during the next year, an increase of only 0.8%. Stores can compete with omnichannel strategies by making shopping convenient for parents and fun for kids.

Where Parents and Non-Parents Shop, 2017

Preference / Parents / Non-Parents
Marketplace / 53% / 54%
Larger retailers / 78% / 72%
Web store / 53% / 39%
Category-specific / 34% / 37%

Big Commerce, 2017

Luxe for Little Ones

  • Designer clothing is an increasing segment of the children’s apparel market. During 2016, the average pair of luxury children’s shoes cost $166, compared to $48 for the whole market, while a luxury children’s T-shirt cost $74, compared to $19 overall.
  • Older parents who have more money to spend on their children and the ubiquity of photos of celebrity children on social media and in magazines, such asNorth West andBlue Ivy, and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt dressed in designer clothing, are the drivers of this trend.
  • The mini-me trend, with adults and children wearing matching or similar clothing, is also increasing. The three biggest trends are bomber jackets (263% increase from 2015), cold shoulder tops and dresses (+120%) and activewear (+27%), as of July 2016.

5 Luxury Brands with the Largest Children’s Offerings, 2016

Clothing Brand / Number of children’s items
Burberry / 1,000+
Gucci / 800+
Ralph Lauren / 600+
Stella McCartney / 600+
Moncler / 200+

Edited, August 2016

Kid-Sized Market Trends

  • Another trend in children’sclothing is gender-neutral clothing. During 2016, there were 212,000 children’s clothing products. Of those, 109,000, or 51.4%, were for girls; 82,000, or 38.7%, were for boys; and the remaining 21,000, or 9.9%, were unisex.
  • Many clothing brands are expanding their selections to include plus sizes for children, including The Children’s Place, Justice and Old Navy.
  • Just like in the adult clothing market, comfort is a primary preference, with athleisure items selling well. Denim is trending, including ripped, oversize jackets and jeggings. Graphic print T-shirts and sweatshirts with slogans are also popular.

Teens’ Preferred 5 Clothing Brands and Clothing Websites, 2017

Preferred Clothing Brands / Percent / Preferred Clothing Websites / Percent
Nike / 31% / Amazon / 43%
American Eagle / 10% / Nike / 5%
Forever 21 / 5% / American Eagle / 5%
lululemon / 3% / Forever 21 / 3%
Tie: Adidas and H&M / 3% / eBay / 2%

Piper Jaffrey, Taking Stock with Teens Survey, Spring 2017

Additional Analysis

With the recent release of The Media Audit’s 45-Market National Report, you can obtain a much broader picture of consumer data, including the purchasing of children’s clothing during the past 4 weeks. An interesting comparison is men and women 18+ by household income brackets.

Comparison of Men and Women 18+ Who Purchased Children’s Clothing

During the Past 4 Weeks, by Household Incomes, September 2017

Men 18+ / Women 18+
Household Income Brackets / Percent / Index / Percent / Index
$15,000–$24,999 / 4.4% / 68 / 7.6% / 84
$25,000–$34,999 / 5.7% / 67 / 10.9% / 93
$35,000–$49,999 / 12.6% / 100 / 15.5% / 106
$50,000–$74,999 / 19.6% / 102 / 21.0% / 101
$75,000–$99,999 / 21.3% / 125 / 15.4% / 109
$100,000–$149,999 / 17.7% / 104 / 14.7% / 116
$150,000–$199,999 / 6.7% / 112 / 3.8% / 94
$200,000–$299,999 / 3.8% / 122 / 2.7% / 123

Based on The Media Audit’s 45-Market Report survey, September 2017

Notice that women in the lower household income brackets had higher percentages and indices than men. Women were slightly higher than men in the middle-income brackets ($35,000–$49,999 and $50,000–$74,999); however, men scored higher in both percentages and indices for the top 4 brackets.

It is also interesting that men had the second-highest index, and women the highest in the very top bracket ($200,000–$299,999). The percentages may be small, but if stores can identify and focus some advertising on adults in this income bracket, then retailers may be able to maximize “shopping basket” totals from those with the largest incomes.

Sources:Euromonitor International Website, 8/17; Deloitte Website, 8/17; Fox Business Website, 8/17; Business of Fashion Website, 8/17; Kantar Retail IQ Website, 8/17; Slideshare Website, 8/17; Fung Global Retail & Technology Website, 8/17;Forbes Website, 8/17; Big Commerce Website, 8/17;Criteo Site, 8/17; Edited Website, 8/17; Piper Jaffray Website, 8/17; The NPD Group Website, 8/17; The Media Group, 8/17.

Updated: August 2017

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