On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared the new crown epidemic to be a global pandemic. Since then, countries around the world have embarked on a two-year journey to fight against the new crown virus. As of March 21, 2022, there have been more than 470 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, and the virus has not been effectively contained on a global scale. It is still difficult to fully end the spread of the epidemic worldwide in the short term. During the two years of coexistence with the epidemic, the political and economic structure and development of the world have been hit unprecedentedly, and the world's major textile and apparel retail markets have also experienced ups and downs.

In order to understand the development of the world's major textile and apparel retail markets and look forward to the future development trends of major markets, the Secretariat of China Textile International Capacity Cooperation Enterprise Alliance has organized the development trajectory of textile and apparel retail in the United States, the European Union, Japan and domestic markets in the past two years. Analysis, hoping to provide information reference for the international development cooperation of industry enterprises.

US: Big ups and downs, strong recovery

Looking back on the past two years, the epidemic prevention and control measures in various countries around the world have been continuously adjusted and changed. Policies such as home isolation and social distancing have been intermittent with the changes of the epidemic. After the "ice age" at the beginning of the epidemic, the retail sales of commodities in major markets around the world have gradually slowed down. Recovery, but development is highly uneven. With the help of various parties, the U.S. retail market has experienced a strong recovery and experienced 24 months of ups and downs.

'Two-pronged' stimulus policy

Helping the United States to quickly stabilize the domestic retail market

The continued spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic has caused unprecedented pressure on the US economy. In order to stabilize development, the US government has adopted various countermeasures and multiple rounds of economic stimulus plans. Monetary policy and fiscal policy are "two-pronged", effectively stabilizing the market. In 2020, the U.S. retail market has experienced ups and downs. By the end of the year, the total sales for the whole year increased slightly by 0.6% compared with 2019, which was basically the same as before the epidemic.
The U.S. economy will continue to improve in 2021. In March of that year, the new president signed the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill, which included about $1 trillion in direct subsidies (including grants and unemployment insurance) for American individuals and families. The accelerated recovery of the retail market played a significant role in promoting. In 2021, total retail sales in the United States will be close to $7.42 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%, even far exceeding the pre-pandemic level ($6.19 trillion, 2019). The surge in US consumption against the trend has also stimulated the development of its domestic economy in the opposite direction. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. annual GDP growth rate in 2021 will be 5.7%, the best performance in recent years, and the total GDP will reach $22.99 trillion.

Pandemic leads to stable apparel retail market in the U.S.

suffered the largest drop in history

Before the epidemic, the proportion of clothing as a non-essential item in U.S. personal consumption expenditure remained between 2-2.5% all year round. After the outbreak of the epidemic, consumers were more cautious about the consumption of clothing and apparel products, and the recovery and development of the clothing consumer market also experienced a long period of time. According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the proportion of apparel products in U.S. personal consumption expenditures will drop to 1.99% in 2020, falling below 2% for the first time in the past decade.

From the monthly data, the US retail market, especially the retail sales of apparel products, has experienced a historic drop. Since March 2020, the United States has begun to implement strict epidemic prevention and control measures, and the implementation of the home quarantine policy has brought the offline retail market in the United States to a freezing point. Total U.S. retail sales in March fell by 5.9% year-on-year, and retail sales of apparel (including footwear) fell by 49%, far exceeding the decline of other consumer products. In April, U.S. retail sales fell 16.4% month-on-month and 20% year-on-year, the largest drop in history. Sales of consumer goods in the apparel category plummeted 87% year-on-year, the largest decline of any category. The U.S. retail market struggled for the next eight months of 2020. However, benefiting from the hot sales of food, home furnishing, sports, and building materials products, the overall sales are still climbing slowly. Total U.S. retail sales at the end of 2020 were basically the same as in 2019. However, the sales of apparel products are still in deep trouble and have been in a negative growth trend. The annual sales decreased by 26.4% year-on-year.
"Retaliation" consumption

Helping U.S. apparel retail sales surpass pre-pandemic levels

Entering 2021, under the multiple influences of the loosening of epidemic prevention and control, the stimulus of financial subsidies, and the rebound of consumer confidence, the total retail sales in the United States has increased month by month and stabilized at a relatively high level. Consumers' "retaliatory" consumption of clothing products has also begun to show signs. In the month when the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill took effect (March 2021), sales of apparel products in the United States recovered to $25 billion, a year-on-year increase of 115.4% and a 12% increase compared to the same period in 2019 before the epidemic. In April, such products soared by 764.6% year-on-year, and also increased by 10.8% compared with the same period before the epidemic. Since then, the retail sales of apparel (including footwear) products in the United States have been successful all the way, and the high growth has been maintained until the end of the year. In 2021, the sales of the above-mentioned products in the United States will exceed US$303.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 48.8% and an increase of 12.9% from 2019. Textile and apparel consumption has basically entered a normal development track.