European Union And Japanese Retail Showed A Recovery Trend In June

In June, retail sales in the European Union and Japan showed a recovery trend, with different degrees of recovery. The European Union clothing market recovery is strong, but the Japanese market is slow.

The EU market

Since June, the EU has restarted the flow of personnel and encouraged people from all over the world to travel within the EU, further promoting the catering and retail industries related to tourism. The recovery in retail sales is a sign of a V-shaped recovery in the EU economy. According to Eurostat, in June, retail sales of EU goods increased by 5.3% year-on-year and 1.2% month on month. Among them, textiles, clothing, shoes and automobile fuel perform best. In May, the retail sales of textile, clothing and footwear in EU increased by 31.7% year-on-year and 48.3% month on month. It is expected that retail sales will continue to pick up in the next few months. With the recovery of physical retail, the momentum of online shopping has weakened. The retail sales increased by 17.1% year-on-year and decreased by 2.6% month on month.

Although the data continues to improve, there are still hidden worries behind it. In the short term, with the increase of household savings and the relaxation of epidemic prevention measures, consumers will gradually release the restrained demand. However, the situation of rising unemployment rate and stagnant consumer confidence is expected to continue for a long time, and it is still difficult to determine whether consumers' subsequent consumption power is sufficient.

Japanese market

Japan's Ministry of Finance recently released a quick report on the statistics of June. The retail sales of clothing and apparel reached 718.8 billion yen, down 12% year on year and increased by 15.4% month on month for two consecutive months. Compared with the same period in 2019, it still decreased by 23%, which is still far from the pre epidemic level. Although the country as a whole shows a recovery trend, the recovery speed of Tokyo Metropolitan Area and Osaka is slow due to the prolonged state of emergency. Department store retail industry continues to cool down, difficulties will continue

Clothing store

The number of customers in clothing stores has risen significantly. UNIQLO (including online channels) retail sales increased by 0.1% year-on-year. Since July last year, UNIQLO's sales have all slightly exceeded the level of 2019. But the main sales focus on underwear, household clothing and other indoor consumer goods. Sales of some midsummer items were strong, but still down 1.2% compared with the sharp increase in sales in the same month last year.

The retail sales of United Arrows (including network channels) were flat on a year-on-year basis. Sales in Tokyo and Osaka are down about 30% compared to 2019, but sales in other regions are back 10% to 20%. About 300 stores have shortened their business hours, and the sales of all stores are slowing down, down 11.3% compared with that in 2019.

Department stores

In June, the retail sales of clothing and apparel in department stores reached 163.6 billion yen, up 61.3% month on month and 8% lower than the same period last year, of which men's clothing decreased by 17% and women's clothing by 9.4%. With more opportunities to go to work and go out than in the previous year, dresses and tops sold well, and party dresses and formal dresses also picked up.

Sales in the main stores of Isetan, Sanyue, Osaka, Osaka, Osaka, Takashima and Matsuzaka stores increased by 8%, and SOGO · Seibu increased by 5%. Compared with that in 2019, the sales volume of nisitan and Matsuzaka in Sanyue decreased by 20%, that of sakazaki and SOGO · Seibu decreased by 15%, and Takashima house by 14%.

(source: clothing branch of China Textile Import and Export Chamber of Commerce)