We all know the feeling. A coat sits in the cart for days. You open the tab, close it, open it again. It isn’t that you don’t want it. You just want to be sure it’s worth it. That hesitation now has numbers behind it.
Decoding Growth in Uncertain Times, a new report from Boston Consulting Group and WWD, finds that American shoppers have stopped buying on impulse and started buying with intent. It draws on a survey of 4,000 US consumers, 9 million social media posts and conversations with industry leaders. The people it describes still love fashion. They just want it to earn its place.
The return of the hand-feel
Ask shoppers why they bought the last thing they bought, and “it was on sale” is no longer the answer. Style and quality now come first, ahead of price and promotions. More than half (53%) say “quality for the price” is what makes something worth having.
What counts as quality turns out to be refreshingly tactile. Materials, and how a piece looks and feels in the hand, matter more than the name on the label or the number on the tag. It’s the same instinct that makes you run your thumb along a seam in the fitting room.
“Consumers look beyond the price tag for value. They’re weighing fit, style, materials, and craftsmanship, plus intangibles like a brand’s cultural relevance. Brands have to deliver on the fundamentals while connecting with the lifestyle and cultural moments their customers care about so their products feel worth the investment.”
— Mrin Nayak, Managing Director and Partner, BCG
Culture is the new currency
This is where the report gets genuinely interesting. Nearly half of shoppers (46%) say cultural relevance shapes which brands they buy, and 60% will pay more for a label they see as original and innovative. A brand that means something, it turns out, is a brand people will stretch for.
Younger shoppers feel this most. They’re 10 percentage points more likely than average to call cultural relevance an important factor. Anyone who has watched a drop sell out on the strength of the story around it won’t be surprised.
Then there’s sport. 77% of respondents say sports and sport culture shape how they dress. Think of the jersey layered under tailoring, or the trainer worn with everything. The stands and the street have been in conversation for a while now, and the numbers simply confirm it.
Let the machines help, let the humans create
Today’s shopper does their homework. 91% research fashion purchases before buying, and many are happy to bring AI along for the hunt: 73% would use tools that narrow down their options or tell them whether something is good value.
But there’s a line, and shoppers know exactly where it sits. Nearly half (47%) say they’d be more likely to buy from brands whose creative work is made only by people. In other words, let the algorithm sort the racks, but keep a human behind the camera, the campaign and the clothes.
“The way consumers discover and shop for fashion is evolving, and their expectations are far from uniform. Consumers are welcoming AI technology that makes shopping easier but still value human creativity and cultural relevance from brands. To meet these diverse preferences, innovation and brand distinctiveness will need to go hand in hand.”
— Amanda Smith, CEO, Fairchild Media Group
Fewer things, better loved
There’s something quietly hopeful in all of this. Strip away the percentages and you’re left with a shopper who wants clothes to last, to feel good and to mean something. Which is really what getting dressed was always supposed to be about.
For brands, the message is plain and simple: a discount can start a conversation, but it can’t finish one. For the rest of us, it’s permission to take our time. The coat can wait in the cart a little longer. If it’s right, it’ll still be right there when you’re ready.
Read the full report, Decoding Growth in Uncertain Times, on BCG’s website.
