Research Outline

Clothing retailer statistics

Goals

To determine the amount of unsold inventory (clothing only) for H&M and the Zara clothing line; identify available statistics on Fartech, Asos, and Boozt - such as the space inventory in square meters , number of units/SKU's , and return rates ; and obtain useful insights on how fashion is consumed in France and the UK.

Early Findings

Unsold Inventory

H&M's unsold inventory is currently worth over $4 billion. The value of unsold inventory currently stands at 18.2% of total sales, which has been fueled by years of weaker than expected sales and series of fashion mistakes.

According to an article by TraderGecko, Zara's unsold inventory accounts for less than 10% of its total sales due to its "lean" inventory management system. Zara posted annual revenue of $28.87 billion for its 2018 fiscal year.

Available Stats on Fartech, Asos, and Boozt

Fartech's itself does not own or keep any inventory. It helps connect consumers to their favorite brands and boutiques. It grossed $910 million in sales in 2018. It also doesn't disclose its rate of returns or cancellations.

Asos racked in sales worth $2.94 billion in 2018, growing 26% year-on-year. Asos does not disclose its return rates but industry experts place this figure to be between between 25% and 70%. It recently had to issue a policy reform to crack down on "wear and return" customers due to the high rate of return transactions initiated by its consumers.

Boozt in its annual report disclosed that it generated a total of $288.4 million in 2018. The rates of returns remained stable at 40%. It also disclosed that it currently holds an inventory of about 4 million items.