Time to Talk Swimwear - Last Part

An AW swimwear offering should be more focused towards cruise swimwear & swimsuits, accessories and larger cup fitting collections, relating to those customers who holiday hard in the winter months! Experienced all year round retailers report they carry a 60- 40 ratio of plains to prints and that black always works best, being a staple to the collection al year round. The summer season should cover a more extensive offering of bikini's especially bikini's at a lower price point.

Are you offering swimwear with built in shapewear?  The shapewear category in Lingerie has experienced a real boom for last 7 years which has translated very successfully into swimwear. Never will a women be seen in public wearing so little, it is so important that swimsuit does as much as humanly possible to improve and enhance her body.  And with the importance of larger cup sizes in the UK, more & more in store fitters work with the swimwear in the same way they do the lingerie; fitting swimwear to the customer’s size and body shape. Cup sized swimwear sales accounted for 46% of one retailers total swimwear sales last season. Depending on the type of lingerie business you have, I would recommend at least 40% to 60%of your collection should be dedicated to DD+ swimwear with some specialist retailers stocking 80% or even 100%!


Next week we will begin the August subject; 
How to make your time at Trade shows more effective! 

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks

Time to Talk Swimwear - Part 3

With many retailers reporting 20% of their total swimwear sales come from the months between October to January and over 50% of their annual business coming from the AW swimwear season as a whole. It has never been more important to provide an all year round swimwear offering.

Generally speaking the multiples have a greatly reduced swimwear offering in Autumn/Winter, with some smaller high streets not able to offer the winter swimwear customer any choice what so ever. If this is the pattern on your high street, maybe its time to re-consider. When looking at an all year round collection it is so important to offer newness and variety to your customers, with regular new collections dropping into the store throughout the year. Ensure your selection and stock levels peak in preparation for the high summer, best selling swimwear months which are May through to July. June and July alone account for approx 30% of the year’s swimwear turnover.

There’s a misconception that darker colour palettes should be used for AW but we mustn’t forget that although it’s cold at home, people are still jetting off to sunny resorts, requiring bright and vibrant colours and prints for those tropical destinations!

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks

Time to Talk Swimwear - Part 2

Thinking of adding the swimwear accessories category to your shop now? Sun hats, sunglasses, beach shoes, jewellery & clothing


Start up a Checklist;

• Allocate 10% of your overall swimwear budget to start this category 
• Ensure everything accessorises and compliments in price, design & taste with your swimwear range
• Do not underestimate how important it is to offer the matching printed pareos with your premium brands.  

And most importantly...


Think about it... If your customer is happy to buy a £130 swimsuit, does she really want to be seen in a cheap wrap costing £15? I don’t think so! 

My advice to all of you lingerie shop owners is that this part of the market is growing! so why not try some new, exciting things and don't be afraid experiment. This is what makes the independent sector so much more interesting and unique. Have fun with it and enjoy. If you love it your customers should too!

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks

Time to Talk Swimwear - Part 1

With great thanks to the fabulous weather we have been enjoying... swimwear sales are BOOMING!


May proved to be a real success with one online retailer reporting their “best week EVER on swim”

Sales are on the up for the second year in a row with established brands like Miraclesuit announcing +49% year on year growth!

So how can we maintain this momentum year on year even when the weather is not on our side?

The answers could be simple; expand and offer an entire lifestyle collection by adding accessories to your swimwear department


such as; 

• Sun hats
• Beach bags
• Sandals & Beach shoes, 
• Wraps & Pareos  
• Beach/Holiday jewellery. 

All of these lines should offer you higher profit margins, boosting the lower profitability traditionally offered in the Branded swimwear sector. These increased margins can help businesses to offer in seasonal promotions and discount periods when trade needs that additional sale boost.


Thankyou for reading, remember to look out for part 2 which will be appearing next week.

IA Consultancy   Intimate Apparel Consultancy 

 Claire Franks