Retailers predict an 18-20% rise in prices for clothing and footwear

New season clothing collections will add 10-15% in price, told RBC President of the Baon retail chain Ilya Yaroshenko. This will lead to the fact that at the beginning of 2022 retail prices may rise by 18-20%, warns the owner of Gloria Jeans, Vladimir Melnikov. A similar forecast is given by Andrey Pavlov, founder of Zenden Group (the chain of shoe stores Zenden, Thomas Munz and Mascotte).

The rise in prices for clothing and footwear is being driven by rising costs for logistics and raw materials, retailers explain. They remind that the cost of sea freight from Asia to Europe has increased several times compared to last year due to the pandemic and disruptions in the work of Chinese ports. Pavlov estimates the rise in transportation costs five to six times. The cost of shipping a container from Asia last year was 3 thousand dollars, now it reaches 10 thousand dollars.

Cotton has risen in price by 35% since the beginning of the year. The cost of all materials related to “chemistry”, that is, those using petroleum products, has also grown “significantly”. In particular, according to Vladimir Melnikov, the price for synthetic fiber – elastane – has risen. The American manufacturer of sportswear of the upper price segment Lululemon bought the best elastane on the market, and following the shortage that arose led to an increase in world prices for this raw material.

Clothing prices are also affected by the weakening of the ruble, as well as the rise in the cost of building materials (wood and metal) that are used to create new trading floors.

Not all retailers plan to raise prices: in Melon Fashion Group (brands Zarina, BeFree, Love Republic, Sela) they remain at the level of 2019. The group, according to its general director Mikhail Urzhumtsev, manages to balance in the regulation of the margin and the expenditure side.

The increased cost of transportation and raw materials began to affect retail prices as early as the fourth quarter of 2020. On average, according to Pavlov, they grew by 5-10%. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, for most product categories, the growth of retail prices in January-June this year was at the level of 4-5%. Most of all – by 8% – went up in price for children’s panties.

The government does not see the rise in clothing prices as a big problem. “The increase in the cost of clothing and footwear during the season is an annual process in retail, and, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this year it will remain within the boundaries of the average annual corridor. At the same time, the increase in prices, which occurs in the first month of the season, in the future is significantly offset by discounts and sales ”. – said “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” in the press service of the ministry.