1)Brick & Mortar stores (which include discount, specialty, and department stores) remain the main channel at which surveyed men most often purchase menswear items, for a total share of 78.3% as of June 2016, up 3.8 percentage points compared to June of 2011. However, those who have no preference dropped from 15.3% in June 2011 to 8% in June of 2016, indicating a shift in male consumer preferences. More men are beginning to evaluate and weigh their channel options.
2)Department stores remained the top store format, with its mind share increasing from 32.6% in June 2011, to 35.6% in June 2016. Specialty stores also saw an increase in mind share from 13.5% to 16.5% in the same amount of time. In contrast, discount stores saw a drop in mind share from 27.7% in June 2011, to 25.2% in June 2016. The most niche segment, those who primarily purchased menswear pieces online, also saw a rise in mind share up from 1% in June 2011 to 2.6% in June 2016. Catalogs and Membership Warehouses remained stagnant at 1% over the five year period.
3)The majority of surveyed men have purchased menswear online, with 67% having done so in June 2016. However, those who do over half of their menswear shopping online remained a small minority, representing only 14.8% of surveyed men, whereas those buying most often online was a niche segment, at 2.6%. Those who buy no more than half of their menswear online form the majority of male consumers at 52.2%. This affirms that a large segment of menswear consumers are on the fence about shopping physically and shopping online. While the item in particular being shopped may have a lot to due with the decision, this suggests that there is potential for males doing at least half or most of their shopping online to rise in coming years as e-commerce and omni-channel continue to innovate and drive convenience.
4)The number of Amazon menswear customers has doubled over the past five years. 23.4% of those surveyed bought menswear at the online retailer in the 3 months prior to June 2016, up from 9.4% in June 2011. However, those buying menswear most often at Amazon remained a niche segment, with a share of 2.1% in June 2016.
5)Amazon, Kohl's, and Walmart appeal to price-sensitive customers. Over 85% of their customers cite price as the reason they shop there. Macy's positioning differs slightly, in that it has an edge on selection and style compared to the other top retailers.
6)This information suggests that while men do use online channels to shop for menswear pieces, it's most often their go-to method of shopping for clothes. Online channels act more as a tool for the occasional menswear purchase for most, while only some rely on it for half of their purchases, and very few mostly rely on it for the majority of their purchases. Male customers purchase menswear pieces most often at brick & mortar locations.
According to the report, the top-five retailers surveyed men shopped most often for menswear were either discount stores or department stores, including Walmart (14.9%), Kohl's (12.5%), Macy's (8.8%), and JC Penny (7.7%) and Target (3.7%). The combined share of the top-five retailer brands was 43.9% indicating a fragmented market.
Walmart has remained at the top and has been the most consistent with menswear sales despite its share decreasing from 18% in June 2011, to 14.9% in June 2016. However this may foreshadow a drop in future customer loyalty.
online menswear shopping is actually projected to grow faster than other ecommerce verticals, beating out even computers for the top spot. A large part of this shift can be attributed to men’s fashion blogs, but it’s also driven by the way retailers design their user shopping experience online.
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