Western Europe

Jeans is in a volume slump in 2023, following a strong rebound after the pandemic era declines. This can partly be attributed to budgetary reasons, evidenced by the fact that economy jeans is showing the best performance, along with the fact that…

Hosiery continued on its way towards recovery in 2023, after the steep decline in retail volume and current value sales recorded in 2020. The recovery started in 2021 and continued throughout 2022 as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic gradually…

Hosiery is another category in negative volume growth, while value is better supported by inflationary factors. Both sheer hosiery and non-sheer hosiery are showing such slumps, with sheer hosiery performing slightly better by a tiny margin. That…

Footwear is projected to see healthy, if slower than in 2021 and 2022, retail current value growth and a slight, and similarly slower, retail volume increase over 2023. This is set to enable footwear to slightly exceed its 2019 pre-pandemic retail…

Footwear volume is managing to stay in very small positive growth in 2023, which is expected to pick up slightly in 2024, then slump again over the forecast period. Meanwhile, value is being better supported by inflationary pressures pushing up unit…

Childrenswear suffered a disruption, but less so compared with menswear and womenswear, in 2020, in the wake of the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19). This was partly because parents tend to prioritise goods for their children, but also because…

One would think that childrenswear would be resilient, due to the necessity of replacement needed for growing infants and children. However, both value and volume sales are in a slump in 2023. One key reason for this is the declining birth rate in…

Apparel and footwear is projected to record strong retail current value growth over 2023, albeit slower than in 2021 and 2022, when sales rebounded from a lower base following the slump caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Nonetheless, most…

Apparel and footwear in France is seeing an overall volume slump in 2023, while value is supported by inflation pushing up unit prices, thus giving an artificial perspective of positive performance. Whilst we did see a robust volume uptick in the…

Apparel accessories is projected to see slight retail volume and strong retail current value growth over 2023, with the recovery of all categories, except for “other” apparel accessories. This category continued to suffer steep declines due to the…

Apparel accessories has slumped in volume in 2023, to just under 1% growth. This is in contrast to the more promising performance seen over the past two years, as the category rebounded from the double-digit volume decline seen during the pandemic.…

Store cards account for a relatively small share of card payment transactions in Spain compared to credit, charge and particularly debit cards, as many local consumers are not well informed about the rewards and credit possibilities that store cards…

With the economy reopened post pandemic and consumers returning to store-based outlets, store cards is again enjoying positive growth. In 2023, the category’s growth is boosted by rising consumers’ expenditure levels and high inflation rates.…

Closed loop pre-paid cards remain dominant in Spain, accounting for around four-fifths of transactions by value. Indeed, closed loop pre-paid cards issued by the public transportation systems in Madrid and Bilbao (Consorcio Transporte Madrid and…

Boosted by the recovery of transportation cards, which had suffered severely during the COVID-19 pandemic, closed loop cards is seeing double-digit growth in 2023. Otlis, Lisbon’s transportation system cards, leads in terms of number of cards in…

The Spanish economy has performed better than anticipated in 2023, despite the challenges posed by high energy costs and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with consumption continuing to recover to 2019 levels, boosted by the recovery of travel…

Portuguese consumers continue to shift towards electronic payment instruments (payment cards, electronic direct or ACH transactions), with cards being the most used electronic payment instrument in everyday life. The trend of replacing cash with card…

Banks in Spain are changing their business strategy, resulting in a decline in the number of debit cards issued in 2023. Whilst customers previously had access to a free debit card if they had other banking products and services, including mortgages…

Debit cards is on the rise in 2023, boosted by growing expenditure levels. Despite downward pressure on consumer purchasing power, Portuguese people have continued to increase their expenditure levels in 2023 as a result of rising inflation rates and…

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) trend has taken hold in Spain, particularly among younger consumers, and is rapidly gaining share in Spain. Consumers choose BNPL for a variety of reasons, including the lower APR (in most cases 0%, as opposed to 18% for…