During the coronavirus pandemic, consumers have begun to pay much more attention to the comfort of underwear than its sexuality.
The $73 billion global women's underwear market has proven somewhat more resilient to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic than the market fashion clothes. However, this area also suffered. Thus, sales for 2020 are expected to be 13% lower compared to 2019 (in the case of fashion, a decline of 16% is expected). And at the same time, there is also a tendency to change the tastes of consumers. Pandemic-era shoppers are much more concerned about the comfort of the underwear they buy than how sexy does it look.
Interestingly, at the beginning of the pandemic, on the contrary, there was a surge in purchases of sexy underwear. According to representatives of the analytical company Euromonitor, this was because the consumers locked at home wanted to escape from what was happening and pamper themselves. Moreover, many of them began to save on transport costs by working from home. However, this trend quickly waned. And today, many large manufacturers note that customers pay attention to only one criterion - convenience.
At the same time, as in all other industries, there is an unprecedented increase in online sales of underwear. Yes, according to the company M&S, the leading seller of women's underwear in the UK with a market share of 27%, online sales of sports bras increased by 15% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year. When stores closed, sales moved online.