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The Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry has faced a mixed operating environment, with industry revenue anticipated to fall 1.4% in 2025-26. While wholesale bypass and rising import competition have constrained revenue growth, resilient demand from clothing retailers, particularly through digital channels, has provided a cushion. Online spending on apparel and footwear rose 12% year-on-year in Q1 2025, even as instore purchases declined, signalling a structural shift in consumer behaviour. Retailers now expect tech-enabled wholesalers capable of offering smaller, more frequent deliveries and trend-aligned product options. However, the role of traditional wholesalers is being challenged as more retailers source directly from overseas manufacturers to cut costs and enhance control. This trend, along with softening discretionary income and declining department store demand, has forced many wholesalers to streamline operations or shift towards value-focused product lines.
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IBISWorld's research coverage on the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand includes market sizing, forecasting, data and analysis from 2015-2030. The most recent publication was released June 2025.
The Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand operates under the ANZSIC industry code F3712NZ. Wholesalers distribute a wide range of clothing and footwear products to retailers while also managing key logistical and administrative functions. These include storing and transporting stock and maintaining strong relationships with manufacturers and retailers to support consistent product demand. Related terms covered in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand include wholesale bypass, cloud computing, landed costs, ecommerce, radio frequency identification (rfid) and omnichannel.
Products and services covered in Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand include Women's clothing, Men's clothing and Children's and infants' clothing.
The Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand is highly fragmented with no companies holding a market share greater than 5%.
The Performance chapter covers detailed analysis, datasets, detailed current performance, sources of volatility and an outlook with forecasts for the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand.
Questions answered in this chapter include what's driving current industry performance, what influences industry volatility, how do successful businesses overcome volatility, what's driving the industry outlook. This analysis is supported with data and statistics on industry revenues, costs, profits, businesses and employees.
The Products and Markets chapter covers detailed products and service segmentation and analysis of major markets for the for the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand.
Questions answered in this chapter include how are the industry's products and services performing, what are innovations in industry products and services, what products or services do successful businesses offer and what's influencing demand from the industry's markets. This includes data and statistics on industry revenues by product and service segmentation and major markets.
The Geographic Breakdown chapter covers detailed analysis and datasets on regional performance of the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand.
Questions answered in this chapter include where are industry businesses located and how do businesses use location to their advantage. This includes data and statistics on industry revenues by location.
The Competitive Forces chapter covers the concentration, barriers to entry and supplier and buyer profiles in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand. This includes data and statistics on industry market share concentration, barriers to entry, substitute products and buyer & supplier power.
Questions answered in this chapter include what impacts the industry's market share concentration, how do successful businesses handle concentration, what challenges do potential industry entrants face, how can potential entrants overcome barriers to entry, what are substitutes for industry services, how do successful businesses compete with substitutes and what power do buyers and suppliers have over the industry and how do successful businesses manage buyer & supplier power.
The Companies chapter covers Key Takeaways, Market Share and Companies in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand. This includes data and analysis on companies operating in the industry that hold a market share greater than 5%.
Questions answered in this chapter include what companies have a meaningful market share and how each company is performing.
The External Environment chapter covers Key Takeaways, External Drivers, Regulation & Policy and Assistance in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand. This includes data and statistics on factors impacting industry revenue such as economic indicators, regulation, policy and assistance programs.
Questions answered in this chapter include what demographic and macroeconomic factors impact the industry, what regulations impact the industry, what assistance is available to this industry.
The Financial Benchmarks chapter covers Key Takeaways, Cost Structure, Financial Ratios, Valuation Multiples and Key Ratios in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand. This includes financial data and statistics on industry performance including key cost inputs, profitability, key financial ratios and enterprise value multiples.
Questions answered in this chapter include what trends impact industry costs and how financial ratios have changed overtime.
The Industry Data chapter includes 10 years of historical data with 5 years of forecast data covering statistics like revenue, industry value add, establishments, enterprises, employment and wages in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand.
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The market size of the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand is $2.1bn in 2026.
There are 594 businesses in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand, which has declined at a CAGR of 1.4 % between 2020 and 2025.
The Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand is unlikely to be materially impacted by import tariffs with imports accounting for a low share of industry revenue.
The Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand is unlikely to be materially impacted by export tariffs with exports accounting for a low share of industry revenue.
The market size of the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand has been growing at a CAGR of 3.4 % between 2020 and 2025.
Over the next five years, the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand is expected to grow.
Women's clothing and Men's clothing are part of the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand.
The level of competition is moderate and increasing in the Clothing and Footwear Wholesaling industry in New Zealand.