FashionLife Newsletter
Mail Order Fashion sales struggle against the World Cup
The month of June saw sales of Fashion goods through UK Mail Order Houses slip to their lowest level so far this year. A total of £75M worth of items were sold, £50M of which was generated from clothing; this lagged behind the previous low point this year when sales totalled £86M in March; £58M of that figure came from clothing. However, sales through the second quarter were up on the first three months of the year by 4.9% - £276M compared to £262M.
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New from GfK – Insight into the Performance of Homewares
Total sales of Homeware products tracked by GfK exceeded £3bn over the first half of 2010. The recently launched service revealed that furniture comprised almost half of the market, with value sales of £1.52bn, with the highest value sector within this area being kitchen furniture (£408m). In volume terms a total of 479 million homeware products were sold, ranging from individual towels to wardrobes to fitted kitchens.
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Simmering Sunglass Sales
The £18.9 Million sales of Sunglasses through Opticians in the most recent quarter are reflective of the improved weather conditions experienced in the last three months. During Q2 10 monthly Sunglass sales have hit a three-year record, as temperatures soared to a four year month on month high* and the annual rainfall measured the lowest since 1953**. May 2010 saw record sales of sunglasses through Opticians, with in excess of 87,800 sold, with a resulting value of £7.4 Million, the highest levels since May 2007 (103k sales, £9.4 Million).
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Suitcases Drive Luggage Growth as Consumers Return to Vacations
Total Luggage sales reached £44.3m between April and June 2010. This is up from the £43.8m for the same time period in 2009. Despite this value increase, volume sales decreased by 7.4% down to 1.4m units. These three months represent the key sales period each year for the luggage market, with particular emphasis at this time on suitcases. In 2010, with consumers preparing themselves for their summer vacations, suitcases accounted for 45% of total luggage sales.
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Specialist Lenses: The Key to Contact Lens Growth?
While the extreme weather conditions may have factored in the strong decline of the Frames market (-14.2%, Jan09-10), the growth of +3.0% during January for Contact Lenses indicates this Optical Sector has proven more resilient to such conditions. Could the significance of Mail Order schemes in the UK Contact Lens market have been a driving factor behind this greater stability?
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