"Quality Over Quantity" Even Buying One Set Properly... Clothing Purchase Volume Decreases While Spending Increases

Survey on Clothing Consumption Patterns Among Ages 20-50
32% Purchased Only One Item in Q1
41% Spent Over 100,000 KRW at Once

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] "Even if the price range is a bit high, I think it's better to buy from a good brand to avoid trends and wear it for a long time." A in his 30s, an office worker, has recently been focusing on quality rather than quantity when shopping for clothes. He said, "Buying a lot is not always the answer," adding, "There have been times when I regretted buying something just because of the price, so even if I buy one piece, I try to buy a proper product."

This year, domestic consumers' clothing purchase volume has decreased, while the amount spent per purchase has increased. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI) on the clothing consumption behavior of domestic consumers aged 20 to 50, 31.8% of respondents said they purchased only one clothing item in the first quarter of this year. This is an increase of 9.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year (22.7%). On the other hand, the proportion of respondents who purchased 2 to 4 clothing items was 56.7%, slightly down from 58.3% in the same period last year, indicating that the overall purchase volume of domestic clothing buyers has somewhat decreased compared to last year.

Looking at buyers by group, men generally purchased fewer clothing items than women. The proportion of those who said they bought 5 or more items was higher among women (14.4%) than men (8.5%), and especially by age group, women in their 20s accounted for a high proportion (22.9%). Among respondents who purchased only one item in the past three months, there was little difference between women (30.8%) and men (32.8%), while men in their 50s stood out with 42.7%.

Although clothing purchase volume has decreased this year, the amount paid for clothing purchases has rather increased. The proportion of respondents who said they spend more than 100,000 won on average per purchase was 40.9%, an increase of 15.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year (25.0%). Conversely, the proportion of those who said they spend less than 50,000 won was 26.4%, down 9 percentage points from 35.4% in the same period last year. Despite the decrease in the number of products purchased compared to last year, the amount spent per product has increased, which is interpreted as reflecting the recent high interest among consumers in premium or luxury brands with somewhat higher price ranges.

The group with the highest average spending per product was men in their 50s, who purchased the fewest items. In this group, 28.1% responded that they spend more than 150,000 won per purchase, showing a significant difference compared to the male average (21.3%) and female average (17.5%).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.