Need to know: The plus-size market

Why are we talking about this now?

Research house Mintel said last week that a fifth of Brits – 20% of men and 17% of women – are plus-size but the clothing selection offered is thin on the ground and retailers should be taking advantage of this niche market. 80% of plus-size women feel there are too few stores offering enough choice for non-mainstream sizes.

Just how big is the market?

Mintel estimates that the plus-size womenswear market has increased in value by 47% over the past five years, from £2.7bn to £4bn this year. It also said the plus-size market has outperformed the rest of the womenswear market over the past five years. The research house also predicts that the plus-size womenswear market will increase by 43% between 2011 and 2016 to reach £5.7bn.

The menswear plus-size market has grown by 7% over the past five years to reach £1.9bn. Over the next five years, Mintel forecasts it will expand by 13% to £2.2bn.

Which retailers cater for plus-sizes?

Supermarkets are the top destination for plus-size consumers, according to Mintel, with over half of size 18 and above women (56%) and six in 10 men (61%) wearing bigger clothing buying from grocers.

Limited choice on the high street means over four in 10 plus-size women turn to specialist retailers and this increases to over half (53%) of women wearing size 20 and above clothing. 70% of women and 47% of men say they feel clothes sizes lack consistency. Overall, six in 10 (59%) consumers are dissatisfied by the lack of uniformity in clothes sizes between different retailers and brands.

Which specialists do plus-size well?

Home shopping giant N Brown caters well for plus-sizes. It has High & Mighty for menswear and Simply Be for womenswear. Catalogue group Freemans Grattan Holding also got in on the act earlier this year with the launch of its Curvissa brand.

In terms of traditional high street brands, Arcadia Group’s Evans caters for the fuller figure.

So should more retailers cater for plus-sizes?

Mintel Inspire principal trends analyst Richard Cope says the UK is becoming more obese as a nation.

He says it is no longer acceptable to marginalise and ignore this growing customer base, and “brands can opt to accommodate larger-sized consumers”.