Dive Brief:

• Clothing prices have remained low and are helping keep the overall inflation rate in check, according to U.S. Federal Reserve numbers. “Core inflation,” which doesn’t include the more volatile price changes of food and energy, fell 2% from March 2012 to March this year. Clothing accounts for 20% of the slowdown though it is only 3.5% of the Fed’s core inflation index. 

• Price-comparison tools and weak spending activity on clothes by young shoppers under 25 and older shoppers who tend to spend less on clothes contribute to the price pressure.

• “Clothing has become, for the consumer at least, one of the great bargains -- and it’s going to stay a bargain,” Erik Gordon, professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who has tracked clothing trends for two decades, told Bloomberg.

Dive Insight:

As apparel retailers struggle, especially those in the teen market, signs are that the discounts consumers have become used to will likely continue to be an expectation. Luxury brands are faring better, but mid-price and discount clothing retailers will likely be subject to a lot of continued bargain-hunting.