The sell-through of sweaters is poor after the payday week in April. This applies to both women's and men's departments, according to Purply's analysis.
Purply continues with the analysis of the spring/summer season. Last week, we examined how buying patterns differ between women's and men's clothing and between physical stores and digital channels during the season. Click here to see the post. This week, we are taking a closer look at the largest product categories to determine when they sell the most and when sales decline. We can conclude that the sweater category is the largest, but it is also the category with the most fluctuations.
Women's department In the graphs below, we have focused on the women's department. The graph on the left shows the sell-through and turnover for the median store throughout the season until June 11th, right before the start of sale. Each ball represents a product category. The higher up, the better the turnover, and the further to the right, the better the sell-through. We can see that the largest product categories during the season are Sweater, Pants, Dress, and Shirt/blouse. Sweaters have the best sell-through overall. But what lies behind the total figures? In the graph on the right, we have divided the season to show the numbers from May 1st onwards. We can see that dresses emerge as the most effective product category. Pants and shirts/blouses remain stable, while sweaters lag far behind. The conclusion is that sweaters have a significant turnover and sell-through until the payday week in April. After that, customer interest declines significantly.
Men's department It becomes even more evident in the men's department. In the graphs below, we do the same analysis as in the women's section. The graph on the left includes the entire season. The largest product categories are Shirt, Pants, Sweater, and Jacket, with the latter having the highest sell-through overall. In the graph on the right, we have once again gathered turnover data from May 1st to June 11th, and we can see that sweaters experience a considerable decline. The sell-through is only 11 percent until the start of the sale. In fact, even jackets have a higher sell-through.
Summary This analysis provides a clear picture of when one of the largest and most important product categories, sweaters, sell well and when demand decreases. We can see that from May 1st onwards, sweaters have a significantly less sell-through. Sweaters sell very well on both the women's and men's sides until May 1st. However, many stores still have an excessive inventory of sweaters left by then.
Tips Purply's advice is that as a retailer, you should be aware of the reality and make an active decision. Whether it is to hold onto the items until the summer sale, reduce sweater purchases, or offer a smaller discount in April or May. The risk is significant that you will have too much inventory left when the season is over.
Best regards,
The team at Purply