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Bridalwear Market Report 2010
Key Note Publications Ltd, March 2010, Pages: 104
This Market Report examines the UK bridalwear market, focusing on the 2005 to 2009 period, and forecasting for the 2010 to 2014 period. The author has consulted a number of spokespeople within the bridalwear industry (including designers and trade association representatives), and their expert opinions and trade statistics are presented throughout the report.
The authors estimate that the total UK bridalwear retail market was worth £105.3m in 2009 — a fall of 12.8% compared with 2005. A particularly steep decline was seen in the value of the market in 2009 — a drop of 12.3% compared with 2008 — as the UK recession took hold. Previous to this, the market suffered a decline of 3.1% in 2006, and saw slow growth rates of 2.6% and 0.2% in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Any deterioration in value over recent years has been wholly related to the large decline in the number of weddings (from 317,707 in 2005 to 272,293 in 2009), as the average cost of a bridal gown actually increased by 7.2% over the review period.
For the purposes of this report, the market is divided into two main sectors: manufacturing and retail. It is the retail side where the recession may have been more keenly felt in 2009, driving some companies out of business. However, according to many commentators, this side of the industry is oversupplied, and it will always be the less experienced businesses that fail during periods of economic difficulty.
UK designers at the high end of the market serve a well-heeled niche and are relatively recession-proof. It is in the midmarket — where brides spend between £800 and £1,200 on their dresses — where there is most competition. It is here that brides might look to save money and the industry has noted a trend for brides to shop around until they find the dress they want at the most reasonable price. However, this trend has two negative impacts: the inclination for bridal shops to undercut; and the willingness of Chinese manufacturers to sell directly to brides via the Internet, even infringing established designers’ copyright to provide the bride with the dress of her dreams.
The bridalwear industry is relatively stable. The declining number of weddings each year has prompted designers to expand their ranges into promwear (as proms begin to take over the traditional school disco for school leavers), occasion wear and mother-of-the-bride (MOB) outfits, in order to appeal to a wider market of women also interested in high-design and good-quality dressing.
The authors forecast that the UK bridalwear retail market will continue to decline in value between 2010 and 2014, with a particularly large drop of 4.7% expected in 2010 as an after-effect of the recession. Overall, the number of weddings is forecast to decrease by 3.5% between 2010 and 2014, and the value of the market is expected to decline by 3.4% over the same period.
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