Women’s Innerwear – Introduction
- Among all the apparel categories, women’s innerwear in the past decade has experienced significant improvisation.
- Innovation in fabric materials used for women’s innerwear has resulted in evolution of the industry, considering the wide variety of products available in the market
- This evolution of the industry not only in terms of product development, but also in terms of retailing has remained remarkable
- The changing perception of consumers and their behavior toward buying women’s innerwear has changed significantly, particularly during the current pandemic.
- In addition, the exponential rise in population of working women, and growth in disposable income has also significantly contributed to overall growth of the women’s innerwear industry
Increasing Digitalization & Online Distribution Channels to Drive the Demand for Women’s Innerwear in the Global Market
Technology coupled with the contributions of the new generation such as social media and e-commerce have resulted in a lot of changes in the women’s innerwear sector. Women consumers now have become increasingly assertive and are independent in almost everything. They are confident and aware about their needs which impacts the demand side of the market. This change in response has made companies/manufacturers in the market more trendy and quick in terms of updating their product offerings.
Market participants have been moving ahead with a similar approach For instance, in the year 2018, some of the newcomers in the U.S apparel market had benchmarked their growth online. Of the 13 apparel brands that got their start selling online, four (31%) were sleepwear/lingerie merchants. Three of these four were among the fastest growing retailers in 2018. Thinx Inc. and Third Love, both experienced sales growth of nearly 50% in 2018, and MeUndies Inc., increased its sales by 63.0%.
Digitization has been a major driver responsible for this change and it has also become an important aspect, synchronizing with the trends and technology.
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Impact of COVID-19 on the Market
- The pandemic did not have a massive impact on the industry; however, merchants had to face various challenges in terms of production and offline sales
- Manufacturers had to close their operations for the safety of their employees, and several business meetings and travels were hampered owing to shut down of transportation
- Besides, several major brands, with their retail presence also had to face substantial loss; however, the growth of e-commerce and digital distribution channels helped these companies to break even despite brick ‘n’ mortar losses.
Rapid Innovation & Keeping up with Trends: Key Challenge for Manufacturers
- The women’s innerwear market is highly competitive and substantially fragmented with local manufacturers offering tough competition to the brands, particularly in developing nations
- This overall has made it very challenging for market players to keep up with the trends and keep innovating. For instance, in terms of women’s under garments, boy shorts have remained a fast moving product over the years; however, since the past couple of years, this product line has been gradually replaced by high waist thongs
- In addition, technological advancement in terms of fabric manufacturing and designing of these innerwear has also made it highly challenging for players to maintain their positions in the market.
Asia Pacific to Hold Leading Share of the Global Women’s Innerwear Market
- In terms of geography, the global women’s innerwear market can be divided into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America
- Country and sub-region level analysis of North America features the U.S., Canada, and Rest of North America. Analysis and forecast of the women’s innerwear market in Europe includes markets across the U.K., Germany, France, and Rest of Europe. Similarly, Asia Pacific includes India, China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Middle East & Africa includes the market analysis and forecast of GCC, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East & Africa. The women’s innerwear market in South America is segmented into Brazil and Rest of South America.
- Asia Pacific dominated the global women’s innerwear market in 2018, attributed to the extensive presence of manufacturing industry in the region. Growth in population and increasing disposable income has been driving the women’s innerwear market in Asia Pacific, particularly in China and India.
- The women’s innerwear market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a rapid pace, followed by Europe, and North America during the forecast period
