Holiday season: Impact on the World Textile Industry

As the holiday season rolls in, speculations about its success or failure are at their peak.  Most experts suspect a sluggish state of affairs in the textile industry, one of the worst in the last four to five years.

Based on an extensive statistical evaluation of more than 60,000 locations, it is estimated that retail sales for December, 2013 will increase marginally as compared to a 3% increase in December, 2012. There was a 4% increase in retail sales in the years 2010 and 2011. 

Some challenges to the textile industry: Currently, people are feeling a bit shaky about shopping this holiday season. Rising interest rates, infighting over the national budget by Congressional bodies, the lack of certainty over US involvement in Syria and various other macroeconomic factors affect consumer behavior. People are spending more of their income on cars, homes and insurance, and are curtailing other expenses, including apparel, textiles and footwear. The holiday season impact on world textile industry is being speculated upon a lot.

Consumers are fast realizing that interest rates have been showing a steady upward trend in the recent past. As a result, they are focusing on larger purchases that may require a loan, in order to gain better interest rates at present. They believe that financial products will cost more in the future with rising interest rates. Until the interest rates stabilize, even the holiday season impact on world textile industry will continue to be subdued.

A ray of hope: In spite of all the speculated downtrend, ShopperTrak suggests that this holiday season, days from December 20^th to December 24^th could be the busiest shopping days across the USA. They advise that retailers should look forward to a narrower time-window for spending by consumers. They also suggest that although store visits will be fewer, the spending will not be reduced. ShopperTrak hopes to see a rise in retail sales by about 2.4%, as compared to the year 2012.

Market research experts predict that “Super Saturday”, the Saturday before Christmas will be this holiday season’s strongest revenue grosser for shoppers in terms of sales.

Holidays are associated with a great focus on celebrations and gifting traditions. Across the world, apparel and textile manufacturers, buyers and retailers plan their Christmas shipments well in advance to meet the growing demand by consumers. The consumers, on their part, may wait till weekends to hit the stores. They will definitely plan their purchases, well in advance. It is for the store owners to foresee the trend and offer stocks accordingly.