The luggage category had a tough 2020. With travel severely restricted, brands like Away and Rimowa saw one enormous drop in sales. But now, with vaccinations and Travel back (slowly)Baggage brands expect a return to growth in the next two quarters.
In the category, more than 80% of sales had dried up in the first three months of the pandemic NPD report from spring 2020. And many luggage brands tried to change their business overnight. Sara Banks, founder of SteamLine Luggage, said the brand’s pre-pandemic sales were 70% of large luggage and 30% of handheld bags. From March to November 2020 this ratio was 30% baggage and 70% handheld.
SteamLine also refocused its marketing efforts, shifting more resources from social media ads to email marketing, and changing the content to focus on how its high-end trunks are used as in-home storage rather than just Travel means can be used. Banks said these shifts helped the brand evade some of the effects of the pandemic. Between March and November there was a drop in sales of only 14%. SteamLine actually had 12% more transactions in 2020 than in 2019, even though the average order value was lower.
Banks said the luggage category was poised for a comeback in the next two quarters, particularly in markets outside of the US. While their brand did about 80% of its business in the US prior to prepandemic, that number shrunk to 60% in 2020. In the UK, sales grew 14% year over year and Australia increased 31%. The banks are now considering opening another distribution center in Australia to reduce the high shipping costs for this market.
Based on the future behavior of Australian consumers, people in the US and UK havewill be more thoughtful about their trip and there will be less place hopping and more staying in one place longer, ”she said.
At the start of the pandemic, travel and luggage brand Beis expected sales to decline 45% in 2020, but ended the year with sales up 159% year over year by focusing its marketing on its non-travel bags. 2020 DTC sales of its weekender bag were four times higher than last year and sales of its bags doubled. Beis was introduced in 2018.
Beis President and CEO Adeela Hussein Johnson said she believes the end of summer leading into fall will mark a revival in travel, if only domestically. Accordingly, she said the brand is preparing to ramp up luggage production by the fall. New models will be unveiled, either very small or very large, reflecting the two types of travel Johnson expects next year: short, frequent trips or long stays in a single place, fueled by consumers’ new work ability while traveling home.
