Silk skirt sales slowdown
Silk skirt sales slowdown
The sales of Lao silk skirts fell around 30 percent last year even though prices have remained stable for the last three years, according to a businesswoman from the sector.
An owner of Mork Lao Silk, Ms Mork gave the opinion that the recent retail slowdown added to 2013's disappointing results when Lao silk skirt sales also fell by about 20 percent. The sales decrease since 2013 contrasted sharply with the boom experienced from 2009 to 2012 as business grew by around 8 percent each year.
The businesswoman, who spoke to Vientiane Times on Tuesday during the ongoing Wood and Furniture Exhibition at Lao-ITECC in Vientiane, also observed that at present the domestic economy had been slowing down compared to before 2013, which was making Lao women think more about purchasing silk skirts.
For example, in 2012 Lao women often purchased silk skirts costing at least one million kip each, but now they were tending to buy items around 700,000 kip. This showed their purchasing power had also diminished.
Another reason was because many Lao women already had many silk skirts in their wardrobe, but it wasn't related to counterfeit Lao-style skirts entering the market from china.
Ms Mork said local silk skirts were still highly valued and attractive to Lao women who appreciated the quality of the woven products.
She expected there might be some potential for growth in silk skirts sales if Lao economic conditions improved this year. Meanwhile, the Lao Handicraft Association should continue to look for other markets in the region.
Marketing should focus on countries where silk skirts are also worn such as Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
However, last year, she observed Lao silk skirts were gaining more interest from foreign tourists, especially Thai customers who were purchasing them as souvenirs, which might be a potential growth market for traders.
Ms Mork hoped that when Laos becomes part of the Asean Economic Community the finely crafted silk skirts would be able to expand sales to the region.
