Insee Première · September 2024 · n° 2017

Difficulties have been piling up for clothing and footwear shops since the 2010s

Between 2019 and 2023, turnover in volume terms in the clothing and footwear retail sector increased slightly (+0.7%), but significantly less than in the retail sector as a whole (+7.8%). The Covid-19 health crisis has had a major impact on this sector.

Sales began to slow down compared to the retail sector as a whole in the 2010s. Competition from online sales specialists and sporting goods shops, the success of new major players in direct sales from abroad, and interest in second-hand goods exchanged between private individuals could explain this downturn.

The recent period has been marked by a sharp fall in the number of shops (-17.9% for clothing and -26.4% for footwear between 2014 and 2021) and a recovery in economic profitability following the health crisis.

After rising sharply in the 2010s, sales concentration has stabilised since 2018.