British women keen to bag underwear bargains

UK: British women keen to bag underwear bargains

By just-style.com | 29 May 2008

British women still take a functional and practical approach when it comes to buying underwear, new research has shown, with nearly two-thirds only splashing out on bras and pants when they need replacing.

The latest figures from market intelligence company Mintel has found Britain's women are also not investing in the underwear that they do buy.

63% of women spend less than GBP10 (US$19.7) a month on their undies, compared to just 7% who spend between GBP21 and GBP40 a month.

What is more, swarms of women are now also buying their smalls from value retailers and supermarkets.

In fact, although M&S still leads the way, with 51% of women buying underwear there, almost half (48%) went to Tesco, Matalan, Primark or Asda for their bras and pants last year.

"The underwear industry needs to encourage women to go out there and spend their hard earned cash on beautiful lingerie that makes them feel really special," comments Katrin Magnussen, senior fashion analyst at Mintel.

"We need to see more advertising that is fun but also seductive."

Mintel's research also shows that only a third (34%) of women buy matching bras and knickers and a similar proportion (36%) still mainly buy multi-packs.

With women increasingly looking to bag a bargain, the market for bras and pants has seen only around 3% growth year on year since 2004, with spending last year reaching GBP1.2bn.

Sectors: Apparel, Manufacturing, Retail

Companies: M&S, Tesco, Matalan, Primark, Asda