DIpil Das
US Apparel and Beauty Spending Tracker: April 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 spiked in April 2021, with a year-over-year increase of 107.8%, compared to an increase of 55.5% in March 2021. The surge in April 2021 reflects the deep decline in consumer spending in April 2020— but was also driven by the vaccine rollout, as well as more consumers increasing apparel spending as they resume normal social activities. On a two-year basis, growth totaled 4.1% in January 2021, (2.3)% in February 2021, 12.3% in March 2021 and 8.0% in April 2021. Despite the decline in February, year-to-date clothing and footwear spending is exceeding pre-crisis levels from 2019. In recent weeks, the Coresight Research US Consumer Tracker (our weekly surveys) has shown a gradual increase in the proportion of respondents buying clothing or footwear, whether in-store or online—for more, see our US Consumer Tracker Databank.Figure 1. US Consumer Spending on Clothing and Footwear (YoY % Change) [caption id="attachment_128213" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Expenditure data are seasonally adjusted at annual rates Source: BEA/Coresight Research [/caption] Clothing and Footwear Spending by Subcategory We track subcategories of clothing and footwear, including children’s and infant’s clothing, footwear, men’s and boys’ clothing, and women’s and girls’ clothing. Spending on clothing overall saw a year-over-year increase of 103.1% in April 2021, with a 107.9% spending increase in women’s and girls’ clothing, a 102.5% increase in men’s and boys’, and a 68.1% increase in children’s and infants’. Figure 2 shows spending on clothing by category type. Category sales growth followed the same growth pattern as clothing overall, with a reduction in February 2021 and sequential surges in March and April 2021.
Figure 2. US Consumer Spending on Clothing, by Category (YoY % Change) [wpdatatable id=1012 table_view=regular]
Source: BEA/Coresight Research Spending on footwear increased by 132.7% year over year in April 2021, versus a 65.1% increase in March 2021.
Figure 3. US Consumer Spending on Footwear (YoY % Change) [wpdatatable id=1013 table_view=regular]
Source: BEA/Coresight Research Beauty Spending Update For our tracker, we include bath products, cosmetics, nail preparations and implements, and perfumes within the beauty category, following the US BEA definition. Growth in consumer spending on beauty increased to 41.4% year over year in April 2021, compared to an already-strong increase of 22.9% in March 2021. Spending on beauty recovered quickly from June 2020 onward and has seen positive year-over-year growth since July 2020. Although the growth rate has moderated slightly in some months, overall growth momentum in the beauty category continues. On a two-year basis, category spending growth averaged 17.1% between January and April 2021, and stood at 18.4% in April 2021.
Figure 4. US Consumer Spending on Selected Beauty Categories (YoY % Change) [caption id="attachment_128198" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Beauty is defined as bath products, cosmetics, nail preparations and implements, and perfume Source: BEA/Coresight Research [/caption]