Brazilian Clothing Consumers Now Care More About Prices

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The study “Purchasing Behavior of the Clothing Consumer”, released this week in Rio de Janeiro, by the Institute of Industrial Studies and Marketing (IEMI), addressing the purchasing behavior for clothing of 1,250 consumers of all ages, regions and purchasing power interviewed last August, found that price is the main factor of choice, and not good customer service, which was the main factor of choice in the previous study done in 2017.

According to the director of the institute, Marcelo Prado, the results were surprising. In 2017, at the height of the economic crisis, the products that were consumed were the ones with higher added value, more elaborate, more appealing, which “only sold by their charm.” Now we are seeing a return of lower-income consumers to the market, who had disappeared in the crisis.

Now, the search is for cheaper products, more focused on price, the new study shows. The sales format transforms, with emphasis on products that are more basic than innovative.

Internet shopping

The survey also shows that consumers, especially those in classes C and D, are beginning to use online stores, although brick and mortar stores are still predominant in the sale of apparel and are preferred by 79 percent of consumers. About 17 percent of consumers said their last purchase was made online, compared to 14 percent in the 2017 survey.

The study also reveals that, among consumers who opted for brick and mortar retail, 50 percent of them made their last purchase in shopping malls, compared to 49 percent from two years ago. The preference for street stores remained the same, pointed out by 32 percent of the interviewed.

According to the director of the institute, the average number of pieces purchased by consumers remained stable compared to 2017. The study identified that, at the height of the crisis, the frequency of purchases increased and the number of items purchased decreased.

“Statistics will tend to improve considerably in the coming months. The projection is to sell R$230 billion (US$58 billion) this year in apparel alone,” he said.

Economy

For the executive director of the Brazilian Textile Retail Association (ABVTEX), Edmundo Lima, the research “reflects well the economic moment that we have been living in, in which the consumer is being affected by economic issues, by unemployment, and by the need to seek the support of the family. In a scenario like this, the consumer is strongly oriented by price.”

That is why the Brazilian consumer is searching for special offers. “They are looking for products of good quality, but with a very attractive price. The study shows now this concern of the consumer in relation to the price, mainly on the consumers of the most popular classes C and D,” he informed.

Source: Agência Brasil