the senken

NEWS

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    Yuru-
    Chara?

NEWS

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TOKYO BRANDS

  • The Truth About
    the Japanese
    Menswear
    Market

ISPO

  • A Winter Sports Market Carved
    Out By Japanese Sportswear
    Manufacturers

JAPANESE YARN

  • Bananas,
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MAISON&OBJET

  • Natural Crystals
    Strike a Note of
    Unimaginable
    Beauty
    Interview of
    Tokujin Yoshioka

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Why ZARA and UNIQLO
are Market Favourites
Survey of 1,200 F1 Consumers

In the Japanese fashion world, the most important consumer group is the F1 market - a term unique to Japan. The F1 (means "Female 1") market refers to women aged 20-34, who have a strong motivation to spend and respond well to retail stimulus.

As we start this year, THE SENKEN has decided to highlight the issues facing the fashion industry and look further into the spending trends of this influential demo-graphic. We targeted 1,200 consumers in the F1 group from various parts of Japan and asked them to complete our Fashion Consumption Survey.

The results provide insight into how strong a motivator fashion really is and revealed a serious approach to shopping that exceeded our prior expectations. It also shed light on how the criteria and values of "being fashionable" have shifted from those of previous generations.

Almost a year since the Great East Japan Earthquake, as private consumption seems to be bottoming out, our research offers up options for revitalising the fashion sector in 2012.

Our survey looked at the personal fashion sense of respondents. In answer to the question "What does fashion mean to you?" a total of 67.6% selected either "I am obsessed by it" or "I am interested in it". This means that two out of three respondents showed a strong interest in being fashionable.

Of the factors that influence clothing purchases, "going well with my other clothing" came first, followed by "affordability", "quality", "size" and "trends" respectively. The fact that "going well with my other clothing" and "affordability" ranked above "trends" is reflective of the wisdom of consumers today. Rather than basing their choices on current trends, the selection criteria for purchasing fashion items is shifting towards whether or not an item of clothing matches what they already own, or whether or not it suits them.

It is interesting to note that the proportion of respondents that selected "brand name" did not exceed 2.1%. Consumers no longer seem to be using brands for status, and it is fair to say that this is a significant departure.

Respondents were allowed to select multiple answers (a maximum of three) for the shops or brands that they often purchase from. The brand that ranked top was UNIQLO, followed by ZARA and UNITED ARROWS respectively. A characteristic common to the three brands is convenience, which is a result of the number of stores owned by each brand and their location in urban areas. However, they also share a consumer purchasing intent that underscores a focus on going well with other clothing and affordability, as well as the basics.

The brand that ranked as the second-most frequently purchased brand for the F1 group as a whole was ZARA. Since the top-ranking UNIQLO brand is perceived as a basic commodity product, ZARA could be seen as the top fashion brand selected by respondents. When respondents were asked to give their honest opinions on clothing, ZARA somehow became a topic of interest.

We can conclude that consumers visit ZARA for its good balance of design, quality and price, and that currently they have not found a brand to rival it. For many brands, quality often does not correlate with price; many consumers believe there are no markets offering affordable clothing that match their personal tastes, and this survey has shown that these consumers compromise in their selection of clothing.

If the motivation to purchase is seen to be in decline in contrast with the high level of interest consumers have in being fashionable, it would mean that the fashion industry is still not fully successful in meeting the needs of its consumers. Although UNIQLO and ZARA are rated highly, if we look at the survey results and the contents of the consumer interviews, we find there is a need for brand-building that encourages greater spending motivation among these women.

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