Marketing

30% of fashion brands will close this year, claims survey

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February 15, 2021

More than a third of fashion brands (37%) will close stores this year, 56% of retailers will shutter physical stores and 66% of shoppers won't be hitting a mall in the next year.

In addition, nearly one in five retailers are likely to move stores from major city centers and into local neighborhoods within the next 12 months.

Those findings are from a Brightpearl survey and illustrate how customers have gone the e-commerce route in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and are also looking to shop local, according to a press release on the survey's findings.

"Customers have relocated online of course — but they've also relocated to the suburbs and the rural towns, and that's reflected in our emerging shopping habits. Retailers need to respond to these changes and our data suggests many are already making plans to move stores to high street locations with increasingly strong foot traffic," Brightpearl CEO Derek O'Carroll said in the release.

In one bright spot, 58% of retailers expect e-commerce to fare much better than the rest of their business over the next 12 months, according to the release.

"Over the next year, retailers are also going to have to up their digital game to meet growing online demand, and the expectations shaped by our new buying patterns. Some savvy companies are already looking into adding local collection points to their online delivery, offering to capitalize on customers' increased preference for local shopping. It's a fulfillment strategy that makes a lot of sense, but requires slick operations to pull off successfully," said O'Carroll.

"To that end, it's clear it'll be those brands that are prepared to adapt to this once in a generation retail transformation that will see the most success long-term."