With retailers like Primark selling sustainable jeans for under $20 and Y/Project’s denim panties (a.k.a janties) retailing for more than $300, it isn’t any question why retailers may struggle with pricing their denim assortments.
A new report by Edited examines how retailers can fetch their share of the global denim jeans market predicted to reach $57.6 billion by 2023 through the retail analytics firm’s AI- and data-power pricing and discounting tools. With consumers having more options than ever for where they shop for jeans, Edited says “understanding price evolution is essential to stay in line with the market and ensure sales aren’t being cannibalized due to pricing competition.”
And from mom jeans to flares, the flood of new fits and fabrications in women’s denim is allowing retailers to diversify their pricing strategies. However, identifying pricing trends for fashion-driven items takes time.
“Good retailers will have a different strategy for the pricing of their never-say-die skinny jeans compared to the impossibly chic high-rise culottes,” Edited said. “Tracking the price consistency of jean styles will help you drive margin for core items as well as justify when a trend is starting to boom or die out.”
The seasonality of a garment plays an important part in the pricing of denim fashion. “White or neutral denim sits at a higher price point within warmer months of the year and starts to trend down when the temperature drops,” Edited said. “Now that it’s getting hotter, prices are rising once again.”
Likewise, the price of cozier corduroy bottoms is on the decline as retailers swap in lightweight options for summer. However, the denim boilersuit is proving to be a key transitional item. Edited data shows that prices for the utility garment the past two years tend to increase during the months of April and October.
And don’t count skinny jeans out yet. In the U.S., mass market prices for the jean remained steady around $55 from April 2017 to April 2019.
Despite the many reports that skinny jeans are down trending, Edited confirms they are still the “bread and butter of denim assortments,” adding that evergreen skinnies in core colors that are always replenished have kept a consistent price over the past two years.