With mainstream retailers targeting plus-size and specialists ramping up their offers, how is this expanding market best exploited, asks Joanne Ellul

From the Big Bum Jumble Sale in Stratford Circus to Marks & Spencer’s plus-size school uniforms, the plus-size market is big news.

And while growth is a challenge for fashion retailers, appealing to this previously neglected group of shoppers with bigger sizes is one way to achieve it.

So what is the market opportunity, and how are retailers going about exploiting it?

Verdict senior analyst Sarah Peters says: “Retailers are looking for ways to expand in fashion, which is a difficult market as it is mature. Plus-size is a sensible area to move into in light of obesity trends.”

It is easy to see why it is such a smart move. Mintel research published last month shows the plus-size market is predicted to reach £3.8bn this year and a quarter of women in the UK wear clothes of size 18 and above. It also revealed sales of plus-sized womenswear have soared 45% over the past five years, compared with 15% growth in the overall womenswear market.

Mintel senior fashion analyst Tamara Sender says that fashion retailers need to wake up to the growth potential of the plus-size market by offering options for these consumers. She comments that “more than four in 10 women size 18 and over believe that plus-size clothes tend to be less fashionable than smaller sizes.”

Demand from younger, fashion-conscious plus-size consumers looking for the same trend-led clothes that exist for slimmer women is starting to be met by retailers.

Asos launched Asos Curve in January this year, and Retail Week revealed last month that plus-sized womenswear chain Evans is to trial a branded young fashion offer in selected stores and online.

Targeting younger consumers makes sense during this current climate. “It is the under-35 consumers who we have seen continue to spend more on clothing during the recession and drive the market along,” Sender says.

That doesn’t mean that retailers don’t have to work hard to provide the best offer to consumers. Kantar Worldpanel Fashion client manager Elaine Giles says: “While there are no fewer women in this plus-size market, they are each spending less and cutting back on the amount they spend on clothing. Consumers on lower incomes with less to spend on food tend to eat a less healthy diet and are more likely to have a larger dress size.”

So what are retailers doing to make sure they are the destination for plus-size consumers? “There is huge opportunity out there in the plus-size marketplace. It takes expertise to clothe larger women. The bigger the customer, the harder it is to get the right fit,” N Brown chief executive Alan White says.

Listening to customer feedback is crucial. N Brown’s quality assurance team makes sure the garment is right for plus-size customers. White explains how analysis of product returns forms an important part of creating products customers want. “We analyse returns coming back and use the results to feedback to buying and designer teams. It helps us know what shapes work well and designers look at trends and help adapt them for our customer.”

He adds that getting the right fit in home shopping is crucial, as managing return rates is important.

The right fit and right channel

Selling the right garments through the appropriate channel is the next step. N Brown decided to enter the $35bn (£22.7bn) plus-size fashion market in the US by launching the Simply Be brand online in July this year before launching the catalogues at the end of August. The channels work best together, White says. He adds: “Catalogues lead to a huge surge online.” White expects £90m in sales for the Simple Be brand this year.

Each channel has its own benefits, but online tends to be preferred by retailers that are starting out in a specific plus-size market. The Evans young fashion offer will have online-only products that are expected to trickle down into stores. “Online can be used as a test-bed to understand styles and cuts before you take space away from another range. When a retailer has got it right, then they roll it out,” Peters says.

Marks & Spencer has launched an online trial of a range of plus-size school uniforms for obese primary school children. It is called the Plus range and is aimed at ages three to six. M&S lingerie and childrenswear head of technology Paschal Little says:

“We find that running online trials allows us to offer these trial products to customers right across the UK, rather than running it in a few select stores where fewer customers would have access to the product.”

An ICM poll for Retail Week revealed almost half of the 2,039 adults surveyed said selling plus-size school wear is a good idea.

However, specialist plus-size retailer High & Mighty considers the store as offering what online cannot. High & Mighty retail operations director John Murphy says: “We still feel the store is integral, as it offers a personal service, where staff can help make the decision with the customer and they can try clothes on. Fitting is crucial for this target market in terms of shape and size.”

This is a challenge for retailers with the need to justify the use of space by sales per square foot. “Plus-size is here and growing at a mass-rate. The high street hasn’t woken up to it. It probably comes down to the fact you need to have a lot of space. This is one of the reasons behind our refit,” Murphy says.

High & Mighty has created a new store format that makes more space in stores. “The fitting rooms are bigger and the rails are bigger. Consumers feel much more relaxed in the new environment and its more modern and upmarket appeal fits with the brand. This elevates the brand image,” Murphy says.

Three stores have been refitted this year in Brighton, Glasgow and Leeds and its flagship in Edgware Road is next on the list, due to reopen in the autumn.

The £1m refurbishment of High & Mighty stores will continue with the new format to be rolled out to three more stores by the end of 2010 and four more in 2011.

Double-digit sales increases have been realised in refitted stores. The first store refitted in Brighton has seen a 20% sales increase since the reformat. Expansion is also on the agenda for the retailer, with three new stores due to open this year and eight new stores planned for 2011.

No big deal

Plus-size fashion does suffer from a downmarket image. But the designer brands that High & Mighty stocks and its new store format suggests this is unfair. Autumn plus-size ranges of Henri Lloyd and Tommy Hilfiger have launched exclusively with High & Mighty. “We are the second biggest account for Ralph Lauren in the UK. Consumers want these brands that everyone else is wearing. Own-products don’t have that panache and desirability factor that designer brands do,” Murphy says.

Getting away from being seen purely as a plus-size specialist is another trend, with retailers accommodating slimmer sizes as well. High & Mighty has widened the sizes it stocks in response to customer research and Mintel data on demographics. “We normally stocked 48-inch chest for 6ft4 to 6ft5 inch men, but identified the need to scale down to 44-inch for 6ft2. So we brought this smaller size into the operation,” Murphy says.

So how do retailers market plus-size clothing to consumers that may already feel singled out by their body shape and size? Consistency is key to M&S. “The marketing of these new items is completely consistent with our marketing of existing schoolwear products on sale on the M&S website,” Little says.

Other fashion retailers believe consumers’ identification with models showcasing clothing is key. “We use real women in terms of our models in the catalogue and on the website. They are around our target group,” White says.

Murphy adds: “We convey the message that it’s OK to be big in the promotional material. Models are plus-size and look good. “

The pressure is still on for more retailers to provide clothing options for these plus-size consumers. More than half of women who are size 18 find that not enough shops offer a range of choices to cater for different sizes, according to the research from Mintel.

So retailers providing a fashionable fit for plus-size consumers should be able to unlock the potential in this market.

Size matters: Giving consumers options

It’s not just fashion retailers with an interest in the UK’s growing waistlines.

Supermarkets see that helping consumers to eat healthier is their responsibility and consumers agree. Four in 10 of all respondents to the Retail Week ICM poll agreed that supermarkets have a responsibility to help consumers avoid getting fatter.

Sainsbury’s launched a diet site in June this year to “strengthen a commitment to be the best for food and health”, Sainsbury’s business development manager Adam Zeiderman says. The site offers personalised meal plans, food diaries, fitness programmes and customers can ask a nutritionist questions to help them achieve their weight goals.

It’s not just sticking to values that is behind Sainsbury’s action to help consumers be healthier. “We have set up the site to compete with WeightWatchers and Tesco,” Zeiderman says. Tesco offers healthy meal plans and a healthy living tracker tool that allows members to tally their daily food intake and activity.

Generating loyalty from customers is another benefit of the site. If members lose 7 pounds, they get a silver rosette and 200 nectar points. Pushing Sainsbury’s products is not what it’s about, Zeiderman says.

The database isn’t a Sainsbury’s one, but a general food database.

However, product awareness is built through the website. “The meal plans can raise consumer awareness of what products we have on offer, like higher fibre and reduced fat products. It does raise loyalty to our brand,” Zeiderman says.

Tesco is also helping its consumers to eat more healthily. It is introducing new labelling across 700 of its own-label products in August to signpost healthier options to its customers. On more than 200 lines a new healthy eating ‘wave’ symbol across the top of Tesco packs will highlight healthier products. Another circular label will indicate to consumers products that have one key nutritional benefit, like ‘a good source of fibre’ or ‘low salt’.

Customers can recognise at a glance which products are healthier and what ones to buy to get key nutritional benefits. Why not just focus on healthier ranges then?

A spokesperson for Tesco says: “Rather than a healthy brand we want to help customers understand the benefits of a wider range of foods to help them make a healthier choice more easily.”