DIpil Das
US Apparel and Beauty Spending Tracker: June 2021
The Coresight Research US Apparel and Beauty Spending Tracker provides a monthly update on the trajectory of consumer spending on beauty, clothing and footwear. The data presented in this report refer to consumer spending through any channels and so differ from retail sales data, which include product category sales by type of retailer. The data are sourced from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Clothing and Footwear Spending Update Consumer spending on clothing and footwear continued to grow in June 2021. Year-over-year growth was strong at 31.0%, albeit lower than April’s 125% surge and 63.7% growth in May 2021 (which reflected the deep decline in consumer spending in April and May 2020). Continued growth in apparel spending is being driven by consumers renewing their wardrobes to resume pre-pandemic social activities as restrictions are eased. Compared to pre-pandemic June 2019, clothing and footwear spending was up by 18.6% in June 2021, versus an increase of 16.0% in May 2021. Apparel spending appears to have recovered, exceeding pre-crisis levels from 2019 in every month so far in 2021. On a two-year basis, apparel spending growth averaged 13.3% between January and June 2021. Should that growth rate continue, we will see a 26.0% year-over-year increase in apparel spending in July and a 23.8% year-over-year increase in August 2021. Our weekly US consumer surveys track consumer purchasing behaviors. Our findings have shown an average increase in the proportion of respondents buying clothing or footwear in June, both in-store and online, echoing the rising consumer spending in June. For more details, see our US Consumer Tracker Databank.Figure 1. US Consumer Spending on Clothing and Footwear (YoY % Change) [caption id="attachment_130746" align="aligncenter" width="726"]
Note: Expenditure data are seasonally adjusted at annual rates Source: BEA/Coresight Research [/caption] Clothing and Footwear Spending by Subcategory We track four subcategories of clothing and footwear: footwear, children’s and infants’ clothing, men’s and boys’ clothing, and women’s and girls’ clothing. Spending on clothing overall saw a year-over-year increase of 34.0% in June 2021. Figure 2 shows spending on clothing by category type. Category sales growth followed the same growth pattern as clothing overall, with a slight fall in February 2021 followed by strong growth in March, April, May and June.
Figure 2. US Consumer Spending on Clothing, by Category (YoY% Change) [wpdatatable id=1155 table_view=regular]
Source: BEA/Coresight Research Spending on footwear increased by 22.9% year over year in June 2021, down from a 62.9% increase in May 2021, but still strong.
Figure 3. US Consumer Spending on Footwear (YoY % Change) [wpdatatable id=1156 table_view=regular]
Source: BEA/Coresight Research Beauty Spending Update Our tracker follows the US BEA definition of the beauty category, which specifies cosmetics, perfumes, bath products and nail products and tools. Growth in consumer spending on beauty came in at 14.8% year over year in June 2021, down from a surge of 38.5% in April and strong growth of 19.6% in May. Spending on beauty recovered quickly last year and has seen positive year-over-year growth since July 2020. Compared to pre-pandemic June 2019, beauty spending was up 13.3% in June 2021, versus an increase of 11.6% in May 2021. On a two-year basis, category spending growth averaged 13.2% between January and June 2021. Should that growth rate continue, we will see a moderated 9.2% year-over-year increase in beauty spending in July and a 6.7% year-over-year increase in August.
Figure 4. US Consumer Spending on Selected Beauty Categories (YoY % Change) [caption id="attachment_130747" align="aligncenter" width="724"]
The beauty category is defined as nail products and tools, bath products, cosmetics and perfume Source: BEA/Coresight Research [/caption]