Many young men find shopping an intimidating activity. The media bombards us with images of women being shopping obsessed and men hating everything to do with it. But this is quite far from the truth.
The men’s clothing market is in a boom. Take the UK men’s clothing market, for instance, it is now worth £15bn a year, according to market researchers Mintel, and is expected to grow by 11 percent over the next three years.
Globally the market is predicted to grow by even more, 14 percent, over roughly the same period. Around the world, we already spend well over £300bn on menswear every year.
There are many influences on the change in views on men’s fashion. One of the most significant factors is the recent exposure to Japanese and Korean street fashion.
In these fashion worlds, it is important for the men to dress as well as, if not better than the women around them.
So, why is the men’s fashion market growing so quickly? Well, men have simply started investing in their clothing more in the last 5 years.
70 percent of men say that quality is important in their clothing, against 64 percent of women. They have also begun spending more.
Almost a fifth of men will have spent over £100 on their last shopping trip – only 12 percent of women will have done so.
Do all men shop? Who is the average male shopper? Whilst we are seeing a rise in all age groups, younger men are where we are seeing the biggest change.
It is these young men in particular, who are more interested in seeing themselves represented in physical shops.
Looking for ‘Mr. Average’, 27% of male shoppers aged 16-24 want the clothing retailers they shop at to use models that represent the average person, this compares to 16% of men on average.
Do men shop differently than women? The answer to this one is both yes and no. Women tend to prefer to shop online, whilst men prefer the tactile experience of shopping in-store.
In the past women have been more interested in reading reviews than men, but that is changing too.
Over a third (34%) of male shoppers agree that positive product reviews would encourage them to shop with a specific retailer. This rises to almost half (49%) of men aged 25-34.
We collected the most interesting facts about men’s fashion market in this infographic. Feel free to place it on your website using the embedded code below.