Edgars Stores Limited is undertaking its most significant strategic shift in decades as it seeks to win back market share from the booming second-hand clothing market.
In its annual report for the period ended January 5, 2025, the clothing chain highlighted that severe pressure on disposable incomes has constrained consumer spending — one of the key factors driving shoppers away from formal fashion chains.
Households are prioritising food security, with expenditure on clothing and footwear diminishing, and budget-conscious consumers swinging towards cheaper second-hand merchandise.
The total number of units sold by the group fell by 15,6% to 1,99 million from 2,36 million in the previous comparable period. Revenue declined by 9,1% to US$30,7 million from US$33,7 million the year before.
In response, the retailer has rolled out a clear differentiation strategy.
“Edgars has put in place differentiation strategies,” said chief executive Sevious Mushosho in an interview. “Firstly, the group has segmented its product offering into three distinct categories to cover the entire market demographic of Zimbabwe’s clothing needs using its different chains of Edgars, Jet, and Express.”
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He said Edgars offers “high fashion, high quality, and exclusive products”. The Jet chain provides “family-centred value-for-money products”, while the Express chain is an “entire family offering of new and lowly-priced products, with a target of less than a US$10 basket size”.
Strategies to compete with second-hand clothing retailers are centred on product and price.
“The group offers brand new clothes of good quality that are well fitting. Our size curves have been well-researched in the country over the 80 years of our existence,” he stated.
“Our products are exclusive, as they are made to our specific designs from various suppliers that include our in-house factory, Carousel, which has over 600 employees and supports over 100 local partners ranging from SMEs to middle-sized companies.”
Mushosho said Edgars and Jet chains use product value-based models, where “fabric and styling considerations determine pricing.”
The Edgars chain uses “premium fabrics and styling,” and the group offers credit facilities for these two brands. The Express chain, however, is the group’s primary weapon for direct competition with the second-hand market.
“The Express chain is the chosen vehicle to compete directly with the second-hand market. We launched the chain in August last year,” Mushosho said.
“Express chain’s pricing model directly competes with second-hand clothing on pricing while offering brand new clothing with well-suiting fits and sizes.”
The group is also bolstering its in-house production capacity. “In-house production at Carousel using carefully selected fabrics allows the business to differentiate its products from the informal sector while maintaining high quality and adapting to the local size curve,” he noted.
Additional initiatives include product innovation through design hubs, faster speed-to-market strategies, and the development of online platforms.
“The group is working with local suppliers, including the development of local SMEs to feed this chain with product,” Mushosho added.
These efforts will be supported by an upgrade of the company’s Enterprise Resource Planning system, which will integrate core business processes such as finance, supply chain, and human resources into a unified platform.