Price remains paramount for fashion retailers amidst economic uncertainty

One major clothing retail chain is thinking carefully about its prices, in the face of global economic uncertainty and increased competition from online retailers.

Spending on apparel at local retailers has stabilised since the volatile Covid period, but Stats NZ figures show it’s been trending downwards during the economic downturn of the past two years.

Apparel spending in 2025 was 3.3% lower than in 2024 and 8.4% lower than in 2023, according to data on electronic transactions, but it has picked up slightly at the start of this year.

Meanwhile, recent data on low-value imports suggest there has been a surge in purchases from overseas shopping websites like Shein and Temu.

Hallensteins Glassons has been continuing to report revenue and profit growth during the period, driven particularly by its Glassons Australia arm.

Glassons Australia chief executive James Glasson said the company was starting to see green shoots in its New Zealand stores, although some regions were recovering faster than others.

“The South Island – Christchurch, Queenstown – we’re seeing great results there. You can see those local economies where the tourism and dairy and that kind of thing is flowing through and they’re very positive.”

Glasson said price remained as important as ever, and the chain worked hard to deliver a product that was good quality, on-trend and affordable for everyone.

“If we have to lift the retail price, we really challenge ourselves on it and even test it to see if it actually will affect demand. We look at whether we can do anything internally first to improve the margin ourselves rather than pass it on to the customers.”

Glasson said with the relaunch of premium sub-brand EDT. last month, design teams were able to let loose, push fashion boundaries and try different fabrics, but they still needed to keep products affordable.

“Our customer – she’s very smart. She knows when we start to take the piss from a price point of view. We have to make sure we make it very accessible.”

Retail NZ’s most recent quarterly survey shows more than half of retailers are meeting sales targets.

But chief executive Carolyn Young said a distinct gap was emerging between retailers who have stabilised and those who are still struggling, with some downgrading sales targets and taking on less stock.

Glasson said while the year ahead remained uncertain in the wider economy, the chain remained focused on the factors it could control.

Michael Sergel is Newstalk ZB’s business reporter. He’s been covering business, politics, local government and consumer affairs for more than a decade.