[2025 Fashion Barometer] Inditex, Fast Retailing, Shein, Nike… Who is really winning the battle for profits?

The four key points

Omnichannel: for most omnichannel players, the online market share has reached a plateau. This is the case in sportswear, where it has levelled off at 20%. At H&M, Inditex, and Gap, e-commerce varies between 26% and 38%. Only Inditex and Gap continue to strengthen an omnichannel presence.

General fashion: Inditex and Fast Retailing posted double-digit sales growth in 2024 (up by 10.5% and 12.2% respectively). The Spanish company, which is engaged in a drastic reduction of a store network (reduced by 25% since 2019), remains the most profitable player with a net margin ratio of 15.2%. Fast Retailing follows closely behind, with 12%.

Discount retailers: US-based TJX and UK-based Primark gained ground in 2024. Although TJX (the world’s largest fashion retailer by sales) and Primark saw more moderate sales growth (up by 4%), these players posted impressive profitability. They rank 3rd and 4th globally in terms of net margin ratio, at over 8.5%. In terms of market capitalisation, TJX is valued at US$139.32 billion, up 30.3% in a year.

Pure players: Shein, the world’s 4th largest fashion retailer, is now hot on the heels of Inditex and recorded the strongest sales growth in 2024 (up by 19%). With the exception of Zalando, all pure players saw profitability erode.