It was an uplifting turn for businesses when Black Friday sales jumped nine percent from last year, but this general change doesn’t necessarily represent the clothing and accessories industry.
According to The Post and Courier, who provided the percentage above, while overall the average dollar amount spent per person jumped from $72.84 to $75.06, the average spent on clothing and accessories went down by over a dollar.
While this may seem minuscule, I imagine it brings fashion conglomerates who handed out unbelievable discounts a great deal of frustration.This also causes problems, because the apparel and accessories world needed to make a comeback after last year’s Black Friday saw the lowest amount of shoppers in over five years, according to www.thebalance.com.
I don’t think I have the answer to the billion dollar question of how to get people to love a clothing brand and stand in line for their products.
However, as a millennial consumer myself, I’ve noticed less of an attachment to compulsively buying clothes in people all around me.
I can remember the time when nothing put my friends and me in a better mood than a day well spent at the mall collecting sundresses from H&M, jewelry from Forever21 and jeans from American Eagle. It wasn’t about what we necessarily needed, it was about whatever caught our eyes.
Not long ago, it seemed like shopping for clothes wasn’t something people did when they grew out of their sweaters but instead to pass time when they were bored on the weekend. Although it’s not usually thought of in this way, our closet is our biggest collection since we are constantly adding something shiny and new to the display.
However, this mentality has appeared to change rapidly over the last couple years.
It’s not that people have just stopped spending money. As seen in this year’s spike in Black Friday sales, clearly that’s not the issue. However, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, 75 percent of U.S. shoppers surveyed spent around $373 on Black Friday, $100 of which was spent on things related to experiences such as entertainment and dining.
To more and more people, spending Saturday afternoon at a nice brunch with friends or saving up for spring break in Mexico seems to be considered a more worthwhile investment than a clothes shopping spree.
While it’s hard for a clothing brand to match a vacation in the Bahamas, if brands focus on how clothes and accessories can in fact enhance an experience, perhaps a new perspective will surface.
Whether it’s the sneakers you wear to climb the Swiss Alps, the dress you couldn’t wait to wear while you finally saw Hamilton or the unforgettable baby bag a mother carried on her first road trip with her family, it’s possible to remind people that clothing and accessories can easily become an important part of any experience.
The appeal of adding something new to the closet is no longer driven by the desire to have what everyone else has. Moving forward, it seems like sales will only increase once consumers are shown how an item can truly be a part of making memories.
