Menswear retailers' performance will become increasingly threadbare unless they reassess their target market and attract men more effectively, according to research by Verdict.
While the womenswear sector grew by 6.8 per cent last year, the men's category managed just 1.7 per cent and represented 26 per cent of the total clothing market - its lowest in a decade. Verdict on Menswear Retailers 2003 reveals that stores persist in targeting 25- to 45-year-old men, but that age group will decline by 9.3 per cent over the next decade. The under-25 group will grow by 4.8 per cent and the 45- to 64-year-old group by 17 per cent.
The switch of demand to older men will result in a potential spend increase of£406 million at today's prices, said Verdict.
Marks & Spencer's Blue Harbour offer was singled out as a lesson for other retailers. According to Verdict: 'By applying the same principles to menswear that it applied to womenswear, segmenting and editing ranges to target narrower customer groups, it has made it easy for men to identify and relate to its ranges.
'Blue Harbour helped M&S gain 0.9 per cent of the menswear market in 2002, its first increase since 1997.'
Matalan and George at Asda have become important players, and lay claim to a combined 6.4 per cent of the market - up from 3.5 per cent in 2001.
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