Your business: open a lingerie store
An underwear shop is perhaps not the most original business idea, but it is unlikely to ever lose its relevance. From the point of view of marketers, underwear is an ideal product, on which the beautiful half of humanity will save the very last.
Lingerie, like other toilet articles, tends to wear out, go out of fashion, lose its relevance or just annoy its owner. Modern Russian women with an income level of medium and higher prefer high-quality, beautiful and expensive models. Thus, the demand for underwear every year only increases, and even the unfavorable economic situation in our country does not have such a pronounced effect on him.
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There are several price segments on the lingerie market: underwear, medium, high, luxury underwear. In the lower price segment, there are mainly “non-brand” products of Chinese and Korean production. It accounts for about 95% of all products in the lower price segment. The middle segment represents, mainly, products that are manufactured in China by order of Russian and European companies. Underwear in the high price segment and luxury underwear is produced mainly by Western companies (among which Italian ones prevail), including limited collections.
It should be noted that the culture of consumption in our country is still at a very low level. This also applies to underwear. More than half of customers are mistaken with the choice of the size they need, but at the same time they are willing to spend much more money on laundry than they objectively can afford. In addition, the stereotype about the dangers of linen from fabrics with the addition of synthetic fibers is still common.
The profitability of opening a lingerie store
If you are only taking the first steps in this business, experts recommend starting it with studying the market (Russian and regional), as well as the range of your direct competitors. On the one hand, in underwear, as in clothes, it is important to follow the trends in this area of fashion, regularly update the model range and take into account the demand of buyers. On the other hand, thanks to certain Russian specifics, not all global trends “take root” among domestic consumers. Therefore, it is not worth risking and buying extravagant models at the very beginning of your work just because they are not represented at other points. It is possible that there are certain reasons for this.
Although the business itself for the sale of underwear is estimated as promising, but the market itself is already close to a glut. This is due to the history of its formation and development in our country. In Soviet times, beautiful underwear was considered a huge deficit. After the fall of the iron curtain, the domestic market was flooded with foreign-made underwear, which was bought up by Russian women in huge quantities and at any prices, regardless of its quality.
Not surprisingly, after more than twenty years, the market was on the verge of satiety. Many representatives of the largest manufacturers note a significant noticeable decline in sales of their products. However, this applies not only to the Russian market, but to the industry as a whole. Russian consumers, unlike Westerners, buy new clothes after the old is torn down, which is not happening so quickly. This also has a significant effect on sales.
There is a directly opposite point of view on the degree of saturation of the linen market. The main argument in this case is the inability of domestic producers to meet existing demand. But even an increase in production does not guarantee big sales. For the time being, it is difficult for Russian linen manufacturers to compete with Western companies. To do this, you need to invest a lot of time and effort in training, develop domestic production of materials and pay attention not only to quality and design, but also educate consumers.
In the Russian market of underwear can be noted another trend, which affects the middle price segment, where the products of famous Italian factories are represented. Stamps of average cost (in the range of 1000-1500 rubles per set) are very popular among our compatriots, so the number of outlets selling such clothes increases every year. The problem is that the laundry of the same brands is sold both in stalls in the markets and in specialized salons. In the face of fierce competition, both have to constantly reduce prices for products.
