Plus-Size Market: What Retailers Need To Know!

Plus- size market relates to the clothing industry and fashion market. And, apparel industry in the United Stated is compromising about 28% of global total and currently has a market value of about 331 billion U.S. Dollar. (Source – Statista)

The global apparel market is ever-changing, and more and more retailers are attempting to adapt customer trends using new technology, all in an effort to make customers shopping experience even more enjoyable and ergonomic.

The interest in the plus-size market has been around since quite long, however it started gaining popularity due to the increase level of obesity issues, which reports a large mass of people from across the globe. Today, the shape and size of an average person is increasing due to eating disorders, that automatically demanded the need for a plus-size market.

Plus-size market – No more a stigma

In the recent years, the average size of a man and especially woman, has seen a drastic change. Rewinding 20 years back, the average size of a women measured size 8, but today the average size is seen somewhere around size 14 and above. A study by ModCloth (http://goo.gl/sckSPj) that was conducted on women to determine how women feel with the current state of plus-size market, over 50% of them stated that they look for apparel in size 16+ . From those, 81% said that they would spend more on clothing if they had come with more option in sizes, while 88% of them said they would purchase more, if trendy options were available in sizes. It was clearly visible that there was a need for fashion brands to focus more on plus size clothing to perfectly fit an average shopper’s size.

No later, Plus-size market had seen an increasing growth that generated $17.5 billion from May’13 – April’14, compared to $16.7 billion generated over the same time period during the previous years. Most sales channels experienced growth between April 2013 and April 2014, namely e-commerce, department stores, specialty stores, and national chains. E-commerce and department stores in particular have been growing consistently in terms of plus-size sales over the past two years, by 31 % and 7 % respectively.(Source – NPD Group: http://goo.gl/rSNj73)

Plus-size marketing strategy

Lane Bryant, a United States retail women’s clothing store chain focusing on plus-size clothing, had come up with a marketing campaign  for it’s “Cacique lingerie line”. This ad depicted last year’s Victoria Secret ad with the not-so-subtle anti-Victoria’s Secret tag, #ImNoAngel, in an effort to prove that ‘all women are sexy’ regardless of society’s traditional or stereotypical views on beauty.

Plus-size market : The future of retailers

Allowing a chance to experiment with fashion and wear the same fashion as their slimmer friends, plus-size market has offered fashion beyond imagination. In 2013 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that 27.6% of American citizens were obese. The organization estimates that 3/4 of the American population will likely be overweight or obese by 2020 (Source – Wikipedia: http://goo.gl/lnX4h). This means, there will be huge desire by above average-sized people to be able to wear clothing that are fashionable and similar to the ones that fits an average-size customer. Retailers who allow them to do so (offering correct styling and specifications for plus-size customers) can tap into the cash cow, which sums $17.5 billion in plus-size market.