A rebound in the fashion market in 2021 will not make up for the loss

According to PMR estimates, the year 2020 brought a year-on-year decline of -16.3% for the clothing and footwear retail sector in Poland, offset by growth in the online channel. However, online sales were still unable to compensate for the losses caused by reduced spending on fashion categories (which were declared by 55% of respondents to PMR’s survey conducted in August 2021) and mall closures. The total number of non-trading days of fashion stores in malls in 2020, i.e. affected by Covid-19 restrictions, Sunday trade ban and public holidays, amounted to 122.

The year 2021 will bring a rebound for the sector, albeit from a low base and still hampered by the pressure of restrictions in force in the first months of the year, after the lifting of which, customers were eager to return to clothing and footwear stores (in May 2021, the highest turnover, according to PRCH, was recorded by fashion retailers). The projected growth rate for this year is 14.0% and does not allow for making up for last year’s losses, which, according to PMR forecasts, will only happen in 2022.

According to PMR survey carried out in August 2021 for the report “Clothing and footwear retail market in Poland 2021”, 42% of respondents feel the need to replenish their closet after more than a year of the pandemic. Such declarations are most often made by women (44%), the youngest respondents (52% in the group under 34 years old), people with higher education and from the highest income groups.

More information can be found in the PMR report: “Clothing and footwear retail market in Poland 2021”.