THE INDEX · AMAZON ASOS VERY.CO.UK BOOHOO/BOOHOOMAN JD WILLIAMS PRETTY LITTLE THING MISSGUIDED...

THE

INDEXTHE

INDEXin partnership with

THE

INDEXI N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H

THE

INDEXin partnership with

Part 2

The Brands & The Buzz Scores

MAY 2020

TheIndustry.fashion The Index Report Part 2 – The Brands & The Buzz Scores | 2

The Introduction

You’ll notice a couple of changes to the line-up this time as the

crisis claimed a couple of big names from our list, Oasis and

Warehouse. The two chains were placed into administration

and closed their high street stores. Online fashion giant Boohoo

bought the assets from restructuring company Hilco and has plans

to launch them as online-only entities.

Until that happens we have replaced them with two businesses

that we feel could give a better indication of changing consumer

trends in this post-lockdown environment. The first is Atterley,

the market place for independent fashion retailers (as Part 1 of our

report demonstrates there is clear consumer shift towards both

online and shopping more locally and Atterley encapsulates both

of these) and the second is sports retailer Footasylum. We wanted

to place more emphasis on the sports category, which is growing

in influence as ready-to-wear fashion is declining in influence.

Last time we saw how the fashion public regarded our 100

retailers in light of how they had conducted themselves at the

beginning of lockdown. This time, via our unique Buzz Scores,

we can see how their reputations held up ahead of the re-opening.

If you read our study last time you will have seen Sports Direct,

which had begun to build up a net positive rating ahead of the

crisis, slump to an unprecedented -21 on The Index. We are happy

to say to the situation is much improved though still on the

negative scale.

At the higher end of the score range, it’s pleasing to see high

street stalwart Marks & Spencer make it to the top 10 of our most

highly regarded retailers. It, along with John Lewis, has seen some

of the most positive growth in terms of consumer sentiment.

While challenges remain for both, having the goodwill of the

customer, whose spending power is expected to be greatly

diminished after the furlough scheme ends, is going to be crucial

for recovery.

Welcome to part 2 of The Index, our monthly study of fashion consumer behaviour. In this section of our study, which was carried out just before non-essential retail emerged from its COVID-19 enforced lockdown, we look at the performance of our top 100 fashion and retail brands.


Amazon has dominated this category since we began our Index and

lockdown has only served to strengthen its position as the most favoured

online destination for fashion in the UK.

ASOS remains a strong second and has recently revealed that it managed

to grow sales in lockdown by 10% globally (though the UK slipped back

by -1%, which is highly creditable under the circumstances).

The young fashion giant maintained a strong +10% on the positive

sentiment rating, which is a touch down on last month but it had suffered

from some negative publicity around its warehouses under lockdown,

which may account for the dip.

However its negative press was shortlived and pales into insignificance

when compared to the wall to wall coverage we have seen lately

concerning Boohoo and allegations of mistreatment of staff at suppliers

in Leicester.

Our survey was taken before those allegations emerged and its

reputation was still a respectable +6% on the positive scale, though

down four percentage points on the prior month. We would expect a

considerable slide next month. This is also likely to extend to its subsidiary

PrettyLittleThing, which has already seen a drop this month.

Which online only brand or retailer have you purchased fashion from in the past three months?

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20%17% 19%

15% 13% 13% 14% 13% 11% 10% 9% 10% 9% 7% 7%

67%

25%14%

16%

10% 10% 7% 7% 7%5% 6% 4% 5%

4% 3%

Visited online but didn’t buy

KEY

Visited online and bought

The Online Pureplayers

BUZZ SCORES

BrandPrior

monthPositive Negative

Overall Buzz

Amazon 26% 35% 10% 25%

ASOS 12% 13% 3% 10%

Atterley N/A 1% 1% 0%

Boohoo 10% 9% 3% 6%

Isawitfirst 2% 4% 2% 2%

Jacamo 4% 4% 2% 0%

JD Williams 7% 8% 2% 6%

Karen Millen 1% 3% 2% 1%

Littlewoods 4% 5% 2% 3%

Missguided 5% 5% 2% 3%

Pretty Little Thing 7% 6% 3% 3%

Simply Be 4% 4% 1% 3%

Thread 0% 2% 1% 1%

Very 8% 11% 2% 9%

Zalando 4% 3% 1% 2%


It’s always worth a reminder when we get into talking about where people

shopped in physical stores to explain that our survey covers the prior THREE

months of behaviour so there will still be customers who have visited some of

our tracked stores and been able to buy clothes during this period.

However if you look back at our last study and focus on our top two chains

you can see the effect of lockdown, and in the case of Next, the temporary

suspension of e-commerce playing.

Some 34% of our high street shoppers bought something in an M&S store

in the prior three months. As mentioned some of this will cover sales pre-

lockdown but M&S, unlike its rivals, was able to sell some fashion during

lockdown in-store. While its dedicated clothing stores were closed it did make

certain essentials available for purchase in stores with large food halls attached

to them and in certain stores, customers queuing for the food halls were

diverted through the essential clothing department in order to tempt them into

purchasing something. It clearly worked.

Next, on the other hand, would normally see around 20% sales in-store and

10% online from our consumer set. This has pretty much been flipped on

its head with 11% buying in-store and 17% online. Its online would have been

compromised also due to a temporary shut-down of its e-commerce business

while it instituted social distancing measures.

Further good news for M&S, which has had a good lockdown due to its quick

action to ensure the health & safety of staff and customers and numerous CSR

initiatives, is a significant positive shift in consumer sentiment. It has jumped by

five percentage points to +19% which places it at number 6 in our overall best

top 10 of the survey (see final page; it made its first appearance in the list at

number 8 last month).

The High Street

Visited in-store but didn’t buy

Visited in-store and bought

KEY



Visited online and in-store and bought via both channels

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5% 7% 6% 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% 6% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 4% 4% 3%

18% 17% 19%15% 15% 14% 15% 14% 13%

11% 11% 11% 8% 9% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 9% 7% 5% 9% 5% 6% 8% 6% 5% 7% 5% 6% 6% 6% 5%

17%11% 10%

8%5% 7% 5% 6% 5%

6% 5% 4%6% 5% 4% 3% 4% 3% 4% 4% 5% 4%

4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 3%4% 3%

25%

17% 13%

10%11%

6% 6% 6%4%

8% 6%5% 5% 4% 5% 5% 3% 3% 3% 4% 4% 5% 3%

4% 4% 3%

4%

3%

Which high street fashion retailer have you visited and shopped online or in-store over the past three months?


The High Street continued

BUZZ SCORES

BrandPrior


Overall Buzz

Bershka 1% 3% 1% 2%

Bestseller 1% 3% 1% 2%

Burton 1% 4% 1% 3%

Clarks 7% 8% 1% 7%

Debenhams -3% 12% 13% -1%

Dorothy Perkins 1% 6% 1% 5%

Dr Martens 5% 6% 1% 5%

Dune 1% 2% 2% 0%

Evans 1% 3% 1% 2%

French Connection 2% 4% 1% 3%

Gap 3% 4% 1% 3%

H&M 8% 10% 2% 8%

House of Fraser -1% 5% 5% 0%

Jack & Jones 3% 3% 2% 1%

Mango 1% 4% 1% 3%

Marks & Spencer 14% 23% 4% 19%

Miss Selfridge 1% 3% 2% 1%

Monsoon 1% 3% 5% -2%

Moss Bros 1% 3% 1% 2%

New Look 6% 9% 1% 8%

Next 9% 15% 2% 13%

Office 2% 4% 2% 2%

Pull & Bear 2% 4% 1% 3%

QUIZ 0% 3% 2% 1%

River Island 6% 7% 2% 5%

Schuh 2% 3% 1% 2%

Select 2% 2% 1% 1%

Topshop/Topman 2% 7% 3% 4%

Uniqlo 1% 3% 1% 2%

USC 1% 2% 1% 1%

Wallis 1% 3% 1% 2%

Weekday 0% 2% 1% 1%

Yours 2% 2% 1% 1%

Zara 5% 8% 2% 6%


Here’s another big story from lockdown; Primark, which has seemed unassailable

in its number one position of the UK’s favourite value fashion brand, has now

fallen to fifth place. The reason is clear, its stores were closed and it couldn’t trade

online as it has been streadfast in its refusal to launch an e-commerce channel

(and, despite the travails of recent months, says it remains so).

Typically more than half of our respondents who visited value fashion stores in a

three month period would have bought something in a Primark store. As you will

see, we’re looking now at a quarter.

However, the good news for Primark is that it was missed during lockdown. Its

UK stores are now all open and on the first opening days across the UK, which

were staggered throughout June, Primark was one of the stores with consistent

queues outside (others included global giant Zara and any credible sports

retailer that sold trainers!). Pent-up demand is clearly there and the hope would

be for Primark that it recovers more quickly than some of its high street rivals,

particularly as fashion buying budgets will be squeezed for the forseeable future.

Event though the supermarkets were able to open and customers could browse

and buy in their clothing departments, they were all down on this Index

as customers’ priorities when visiting supermarkets during lockdown

remained elsewhere.

News to emerge in this space is the fact that Morrisons is set to launch a

dedicated store for its growing Nutmeg line and it now has a dedicated

e-commerce site. We are monitoring the situation and will look to include

the brand in future editions of The Index to track its growth.

The Value Brands

Which value fashion brands/stores have you visited online or in-store in the past three months?

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14% 14% 13%9% 9% 8% 6% 6%

12% 11% 12%15% 10% 12%

10% 8%

26% 25%17%

14% 23%12%

7%4%

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6%

6%9%

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KEY




BUZZ SCORES

BrandPrior


Overall Buzz

Bonmarche -2% 3% 4% -1%

F&F at Tesco 12% 19% 3% 16%

George at Asda 18% 22% 2% 20%

Matalan 12% 13% 4% 9%

Peacocks 2% 5% 2% 3%

Primark 16% 23% 7% 16%

TK Maxx 12% 13% 4% 9%

Tu at Sainsbury's 14% 17% 2% 15%


Let’s take a look at John Lewis as their story was one of the most watched of

lockdown and it is borne out in our research.

Typically, around 12% of our premium fashion shoppers say they buy from John

Lewis in a given three-month period; this time it was more than double that

amount. Clearly though, there is migration from its closed stores with 19% having

bought from a physical store versus the usual 29%.

John Lewis said its online trading, which of course, is far more than just fashion, boomed by 80% in the early weeks of lockdown, which, while impressive, was not

enough to make up for its closed stores.

It had been anticipated, and it turned out to be the case, that John Lewis would

not reopen all of its 50 stores after lockdown. It has now confirmed that eight

stores will close permanently including a high profile store at Birmingham’s Grand

Central station which had been one of the final great works of its former managing

director Andy Street who left to pursue a career in politics becoming the Mayor for

the West Midlands.

Talk of potential closures did nothing to damage John Lewis’s reputation which

had been in decline prior to the COVID crisis and has been rising since. It doesn’t

make up for lost trade but the retailer should take some comfort that it is now the

most admired fashion business in the UK with a positive score of +31%, taking over

Amazon who seemed immovable from the top spot.

The Premium Players

Which value fashion brands/stores have you visited online or in-store in the past three months?

6% 7% 6% 4% 6% 8% 9%4%

9%3% 6% 5% 3% 5% 6% 5% 8% 5% 5% 4% 6% 5% 3% 3%

22% 19% 22%17% 13%

16% 13%14%

16%

16% 13% 13% 14% 13% 14% 14%13% 16% 14%

12% 12% 11%10% 12%

19%

9% 8%

6% 9%6% 8%

7%

4%7% 6% 9%

5%10% 6% 6%

8% 7%4% 9% 3% 6% 8% 3%

25%

17%12%

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6%13% 8%

8% 9% 6%9%

6%6% 6%

4% 5%

6% 7%7% 6% 6%

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4%

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4% 5% 4%3% 4% 4% 5% 4%

4% 3% 3%3%

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The Premium Players continued

BUZZ SCORES

BrandPrior


Overall Buzz

COS 0% 5% 5% 0%

& Other Stories 2% 3% 5% -2%

Boden 2% 4% 3% 1%

Crew Clothing Co 5% 8% 4% 4%

Edinburgh Woollen Mill

3% 8% 5% 3%

Fat Face 8% 12% 5% 7%

Fenwick/Bentalls 1% 6% 4% 2%

Hackett 3% 5% 3% 2%

Hobbs 2% 7% 5% 2%

Hollister 6% 9% 4% 5%

Jack Wills 6% 8% 6% 2%

Jigsaw 0% 6% 5% 1%

John Lewis 21% 35% 4% 31%

Joules 6% 8% 4% 4%

Kurt Geiger 5% 6% 3% 3%

LK Bennett 4% 6% 4% 1%

Maje 1% 4% 4% 0%

Massimo Dutti 3% 6% 5% 1%

Mint Velvet 3% 8% 3% 5%

Reiss 4% 7% 5% 2%

Sandro 2% 4% 3% 1%

Superdry 3% 12% 4% 8%

Ted Baker 13% 16% 5% 11%

Whistles 3% 4% 3% 1%


Sports has been one of the success stories of lockdown, following on from a

strong growth trajectory in recent years as a largely youth-driven movement

turned its back on traditional ready-to-wear in favour of leisurewear and, of

course, sneakers.

During lockdown, after the nation first bought loungewear to cocoon at home in,

the nation then turned its attention to sportswear as the need to be more active,

having been locked at home, became more important.

In light of the importance of sports, we’ve added another retailer to track in this

sector, Footasylum, which is the subject of a disputed buyout by larger rival JD

Sports. The competitions watchdog has ordered JD Sports to sell the business,

a decision it is resisting.

Nonetheless, it is a popular retailer among young sports buyers and attracts an

overall buzz of +4%, a score that has probably been dragged down by the

JD saga.

JD, however, remains strongly placed with its reputation intact, while global

brands Nike and Adidas remain strong.

Sports Direct, which last month slumped to a stunning (and not in a good

way) -21% on the Buzz Score scale, having resisted the closure of its stores, has

recovered its position somewhat to -5% but still has some reputation building to

do. Its special discounts for NHS staff will no doubt help rehabilitate the retailer

in the eyes of the public, and it is always worth noting that event when it’s in the

negative territory, its pure positive rating (before the negative is subtracted)

is often much higher than its rivals. Its fans love it and that is good news for its

post-lockdown recovery prospects.

The Sports Players

Which Sports/active retailer have you visited in-store or online in the past three months?



KEY




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8% 7% 6% 5% 7% 5% 5% 5%

23% 24% 26% 24% 20%19% 17%

14%

19% 15%10%

9%6%

6%5%

5%

24%

19%

20%

18%

9%9%

6%5%

4%

5%4%

4%

3%3%

5%

BUZZ SCORES

BrandPrior


Overall Buzz

Adidas 17% 25% 7% 18%

Footasylum N/A 9% 5% 4%

Footlocker 6% 11% 6% 5%

JD Sports 17% 25% 8% 17%

Nike 22% 30% 7% 23%

North Face 9% 14% 4% 10%

Sports Direct -21% 20% 25% -5%

Sweaty Betty 1% 6% 4% 2%


This is the category that has seen the least movement in terms of consumer

behaviour in light of lockdown. Our shoppers clearly did not flock online in a

meaningful way to buy luxury while confined to their homes, and clearly that

makes sense. What use is a designer bag or shoe when you are only allowed to

leave your house for 30 minutes a day?

Extensive discounting and the reopening of some social activities post lockdown

should, in theory, stimulate demand among those consumers still in employment

and still in the mood treat themselves after a period of abstention. It’s a trend to

watch next month when things become clearer.

In terms of reputation, Harvey Nichols has found itself top of the tree this time.

Possibly it has its slightly lower profile to thank for that. While its positive score

in isolation is similar to that of Selfridges and Harrods, its negative sentiment

is lower. It managed to escape any controversy over closing its stores with

Selfridges and Harrods both facing negative stories in the media urging them to

close their stores before lockdown was officially announced.

Net-A-Porter has seen its reputation greatly enhanced by COVID-19, which

seems likely to do with the fact that it suspended online operations temporarily

to institute health & safety measures and while it did so lent its delivery fleet to

charity to enable the distribution of PPE to those most in need of it across the

capital.

Post lockdown we will be keeping a close eye on store sales for the big London

department store as a lack of tourist and a lack of office workers in the centre of

the capital has led to an enormous 72% year-on-year slump in footfall in the West

End alone, which is likely to prove challenging, if not disastrous, for many.

The Luxury Experts

Which Luxury retailer have you visited in-store or online in the past three months?

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11% 9% 10% 11% 12% 10% 11%

23% 27% 21% 20%24%

18%24%

27%22%

21% 14%

21% 18%21%

16% 16% 16%12%

14% 20% 13%15%

17%13% 15%

15% 17% 15%16%

10% 12% 18%14%

13%13% 11%

9% 9% 7%12% 9% 5%

10%

BUZZ SCORES

BrandPrior


Overall Buzz

Brownsfashion.com -2% 12% 5% 7%

Farfetch 10% 13% 10% 3%

Flannels 7% 16% 12% 4%

Harrods 12% 30% 16% 14%

Harvey Nichols 10% 27% 6% 21%

Liberty 3% 16% 9% 7%

Matchesfashion.com 0% 14% 12% 2%

Mr Porter 6% 16% 6% 10%

MyTheresa.com 5% 9% 6% 3%

Net-A-Porter.com 2% 22% 12% 10%

Selfridges 20% 27% 11% 16%

Visited in-store but didn’t buy Visited in-store and boughtKEY

Visited online but didn’t buy Visited online and bought



Having made its debut in our top 10 best scores list last month, at number

8 and with a score of +14%, Marks & Spencer has climbed two places in

the chart and added an impressive five percentage points to its overall

positive position.

But the most impressive performance has to be John Lewis which has

built on last month’s +21% to come in top of the tree with 31%. Someone,

finally, has toppled Amazon off top spot but it may be a case of enjoy it

while it lasts, as since our survey was taken John Lewis has announced

eight permanent store closures. This should not, however, detract from its

exemplary CSR, HR and H&S performance during the crisis.

Sports players such as JD, Adidas and Nike continue to perform well

buoyed by a strong sports market overall.

The same cannot be said of the number one sports retailer, Sports

Direct, which remains in negative territory from a consumer sentiment

perspective at -5%. That being said, though, it’s an enormous improvement

on last month and it would be good to see the turnaround continue

next time.

Others in the negative territory are to be expected due to trading woes

and negative headlines in the nationals, with the exception of & Other

Stories. There’s no obvious explanation as to why the premium H&M

should find itself here but it could just as easily move out of this chart

next month.

The Buzz Scores – the highs and the lows

THE OVERALL BUZZ SCORES

BrandPrior

monthBrand

This month

Amazon 26% John Lewis 31%

Nike 22% Amazon 25%

John Lewis 21% Nike 23%

Selfridges 20% Harvey Nichols 21%

George at Asda 18% George at Asda 20%

Adidas 17% Marks & Spencer 19%

JD Sports 17% Adidas 18%

Primark 16% JD Sports 17%

Marks & Spencer 14% Primark 16%

Tu at Sainsbury's 14% F&F at Tesco 16%

Ted Baker 13% Selfridges 16%

NEGATIVE TERRITORY

BrandPrior

monthBrand

This month

Sports Direct -21% Sports Direct -5%

Debenhams -3% & Other Stories -2%

Brownsfashion -2% Monsoon -2%

Bonmarche -2% Bonmarche -1%

House of Fraser -1% Debenhams -1%


The Information

On behalf of TheIndustry.fashion, Savanta surveyed 2,000 UK consumers at the end of

May/early June 2020, all of whom had shopped for fashion in the previous three months.

49% of respondents were male, 51% female. 18-24 year olds – 11%; 25-34 year olds – 19%;

35-44 year-olds – 17%; 45-54 year-olds – 17%; 55-64 year-olds – 13%, 65+ – 23%.

Respondents were equally drawn from key regions and professional backgrounds.

In Part 2 of The Index we will look at our 100 tracked brands and find out who’s shopping

them and how, plus we reveal our all-important Buzz Scores to reflect consumer sentiment.

If you would like to interrogate our data further (we have detailed breakdowns on each

answer and more information on categories of clothing shoppers buy for instance) or to

discuss bespoke research opportunities, please contact:

Antony Hawman

Chief Partnerships Officer

TheIndustry.fashion

[email protected]

020 3912 0002

For more information on Klarna, please visit:

www.klarna.com

THE INDEX · AMAZON ASOS VERY.CO.UK BOOHOO/BOOHOOMAN JD WILLIAMS PRETTY LITTLE THING MISSGUIDED...

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Transcript of THE INDEX · AMAZON ASOS VERY.CO.UK BOOHOO/BOOHOOMAN JD WILLIAMS PRETTY LITTLE THING MISSGUIDED...