T-Shirt Sales Not Only Item Down During Recession

Wednesday 19th of August 2009 05:17:19 PM

T-Shirt Sales Not Only Item Down During Recession

The recession continues to linger impacting retail sales of everything from school supplies to t-shirts. One of the more recent surveys published was by Martec International which focused on IT in Retail. The sad news is that the rate of business liquidations has hit a 7 year high in the UK and includes such well-known names as MFI, Woolworths and Zavvi.

The interesting fact that emerged from a survey of 100 companies is that industry survivors have shifted to multi-channel retailing strategies. Retailers are taking advantage of technology including mobile internet access and m-commerce to push their sales.

Mr. Brian Hume is the Managing Director of Martec. He told FashionUnited.com, “Many retailers have cut their IT budgets, with 15 per cent making large changes to bring their costs down, some by as much as 50 per cent. There’s also a clear trend to bring things back in-house to minimise redundancies.”

Technology has enabled many of the remaining retailers to cut costs in order to remain competitive during difficult economic conditions. Over half of the companies surveyed use mobile technology to manage inventories. Most businesses have cut staff as low as possible which means future cost cutting methods will have to come from the top. Mobile technology can be used to do things like delivery scanning and price checking.

E-commerce is a growing segment of the retailing industry. Non-store retailing has actually continued to grow even during the recession as people shop for the best prices they can find. E-commerce currently accounts for 4.8 percent of all retail sales. In addition, 74 percent of the retailers operate a transactional website.

The trend towards e-retailing is only expected to continue with phenomenal growth a possibility as the recession ends. Those companies that survive the recession are sure to exit with stronger marketing strategies and leaner budgets. They will be well positioned to take advantage of the next period of economic growth.

(c ) Image by Ilker, www.sxc.hu/