Post on 07-Apr-2016
description
Task 1…
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he definition of retailing are the activities
involved in the selling of
goods to consumers for
personal or household
consumption. A retailer’s
purchases goods or products in large
quantities from manufactures directly
or through a wholesale, and then sells
smaller quantities to the consumer for
a profit. Retailing can be done in either
fixed locations like stores or markets or
either to a consumer’s door through
home delivery. In this magazine article
I am going to produce information
describing the structure and
organization within the retail sector in
response to some of the external
changes happening within the fashion
industry. I am going to look at different
competitive factors in the retail
environment, which the organisation
faces including, environmental, legal,
social, technology, economic and
political. I will also look into the
function of retail layout and its
purpose for its specific location / store.
Retails stores are classified differently
depending on their location and overall purpose. They can
be based on high streets, shopping centres and retail parks.
The location of a store must be appropriate for its purpose
and the store must ensure they have enough stock
available in order to meet the
demands of their consumers.
‘’People are always going to go shopping. A lot of our effort is just:
'How do we make the retail experience a great one?’’
Phillip Green
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ndependent stores could include, Little Red
Vintage, Cricket and Miss Francesca Couture.
These type of stores are owned by a single
person and there is only usually one store in a
specific area. They may be based just off the
high-street or in a smaller location as being based on the
high-street can be expensive for small businesses. Being an
independent store they strive to provide bespoke ready to
wear clothing. Online webpages are sometimes provided
for customers to look at as well, but tend to be very
minimalistic and often don’t provide much clothing to
purchase.
Multichain stores include, H&M, ZARA, Topshop and Miss
Selfridge. They are usually based on the high street and you
will see them in more than one city so the high-street looks
similar throughout each area, with the same chains of store
available. The stores may be based on a road which is for
pedestrians only or sometimes they may be based
somewhere with full cover to protect customers from
weather. ZARA has over 70 stores across the UK. Their
fashionable clothing is sold at low-end prices for the high-
street customer. Being located on the high street makes
their business more successful as it is easy to draw many
consumers into their brightly lit modern looking store,
offering affordable runway doubles. Across the UK ZARA
employs over 120,000 a year and is owned by one of the
biggest fashion retail companies in the world. As each of
their stores are so large they employee a lot of staff to help
keep their shop floor tidy and to a certain standard. The
need for it to be tided constantly reflect how successful the
business is as it is always busy and it is rare you find a Zara
store which isn’t busy.
Department stores include Debenhams, Harvey Nichols and
Selfridges. They will sell small concession brands within the
store and will often range from clothing to home wear.
Department stores may also offer services such as beauty
treatments or personal shopping services for specific
products.
Concession stores are based also on the high-street stores
such as Topshop where they have an Office concession on
their shop floor. The Selfridges department store has now
developed a concession for Primark which is a multi-chain
store. This progression of chain store being sold in small
concession also shows how retail is developing throughout
time.
There are also stores, which are aimed for a niche or a
specialist market such as Everton Fc and Maternity shops.
These are provide for a specific target market and sell
specialized products for customers.
A franchise store can include McDonalds, Burger Kings and
Vodaphone. These stores are owned by an individual who is
working under a large brand name and selling their
products to make a living. A franchise is bought by the
franchisee. Once they have bought the franchise they have
to pay a part of their profits to the franchiser.
Catalogue store such as Argos are usually based on the
high-street and instead of the shop floor being filled with
products, the customer can view all the products for sale in
a range of catalogues available. If the customer would like a
product they pay for it at the till and the product is then
bought to them within a few minutes. The Argos store have
over 700 stores with 430 million website visits a year.
Factory outlets like IKEA are where you can find your own
way around the products on display and collect the items
you want for yourself at the end. These type of stores are
usually found on larger retail parks due to the amount of
space available, as there will be a lot more stock.
Discount outlets are places like Cheshire oaks where
expensive brands sell their last season products at cheaper
prices for consumers. They are usually located out of town
and on a motorway with a large car park usually available
for customers. The Cheshire oaks outlet was the first in the
UK and still remains the largest designer outlet. The size of
the retail park is a quarter million square feet of retail space
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with more than 140 boutiques, and restaurants. They also
offer late opening hours, until 10pm. The brands that are
available to buy include M&S, Nike and Next. They also
offer higher designer brands such as Armani exchange,
Hugo Boss, Polo Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors.
A designer outlet such as TK.Maxx where many different
designers and brands are sold all under the same roof. It
could even relate to a centre such as the Met Quarter
which is small in comparison to some of the larger designer
outlets such as Trafford Centre but contains smaller higher
end brands and smaller boutiques such as Miss Francesca
Couture and Celeb Boutique. These are both independent
retailer located in the Met Quarter Liverpool.
A market stall is normally located where there is available
space such as in an unused warehouse or on a long road. It
will be filled with individual stalls selling products usually at
a cheaper price than in a store. Markets like these include
the Manchester Christmas Markets, and the great homer
street market.
Retail stores are also based online and can be based both
on the high-street and online or just purely online such as
ASOS, Boohoo and Miss Guided. ASOS is purely based
online and contains a high amount of products both own
brand and designer. The items are then shipped to the
customer at the most convenient time for them. Another
style of online retailing is auction, sites such as Amazon and
Ebay which allows general customers to sell on their
unused and unwanted products for other consumers to
purchase. The customers will bid on the item in the hope of
winning the product.
Most retail stores offer an online option for making
purchases which allows the customer to buy products using
the internet. The internet has many advantages over
shopping on the high-street as there is more choice and it is
proven a lot more convenient for customers, because of
this it is starting to move more and more people away from
shopping on the high-street in physical stores. It saves on
the cost of travel whether it by car or public transport and
the cost of expensive car parks. The cost of products can
also differ online, as some brands can offer certain
promotions online and not in their stores. The Internet also
provides access to worldwide products and services
whereas the high street is much more limited. Many brands
choose to combine their physical store with their online
website this is known as clicks and bricks.
There are also stores which are aimed for a niche or
specialist market such as Everton Fc stores, Taken shape
and Maternity shops. These stores all provide products for
a specific target market and provide specialized products
for customers. The Taken Shape store which is aimed at
bigger sized women is based on the high-street and online.
By having such a niche brand makes the brand stand out
well to consumers. It makes it easier for the consumer to
recognize what the brand offers and does which helps build
a uniqueness over their competitors.
A new store type which has been proven recently incredibly
popular is a hybrid store which is based on the high street
but offers more than one purpose. They don’t only offer
products but coffee shops and entertainment for
consumers. A good high-street example of this is Next, who
has recently opened a Costa within their store. A more
high-end example is Selfridges who have recently opened
an old fashion cinema experience within their store for
customers. Outlet stores and factory outlets are also
becoming more popular as customers are looking for ways
to make their money go further but also find good branded
names. Teleshopping has also evolved with the release of
smart TVs which gives you the ability to purchase straight
from your television screen. The QVC shopping channel also
has its own website where you can purchase items directly
from, because of all these different aspects it is hard now
when walking down the high-street to find a store which
doesn’t offer more than one of these channels.
Costa coffee inside Next store
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s you can see the structure of the retail industry
has become more complicated over the years
as retailers have more opportunities and ways
to provide for their customers. Retailers have
become more diverse and are located in
different places and in different ways. By looking at it in a
more detail using PESTLE analysis gives a better
understanding of each sector as a lot of external factors
give a huge influence. I am going to look at six key areas,
political economic, social, technological, legal and
environmental.
The political factors are what are happening politically in
the environment in which the retailer operates which could
include areas such as tax policy’s and employment laws. An
example of this is Syria, which is currently in the middle of a
civil war which has stopped all imports and exports to and
from the country. Syria produces oil and textiles and both
of these industries have been seriously affected.
Many production companies are moving their sites to Egypt
or turkey as a result and investment in the country has
decreased by half from 2010 to 2012. This has a direct
impact on the textile industry, as retailers now need to look
for production to continue in other counties and finishing
another reliable supplier. Production in another country
may come at a higher price, which would need to be taken
into account. This could alter the cost of the final product
being sold to a consumer in the uk. The consumer may not
want to pay an increased cost for a product, which is not of
better quality and may look at the retailer’s competitors to
buy their products from.
The economic factors that happen include economic
growth and decline. It will include interest rates, exchange
rates, wage rates, minimum wage, working hours,
unemployment, credit availability and cost of living.
Social Factors that can influence retailers can include which
is occurring socially in the markets in which you expect to
operate. It will include cultural norms and expectations,
health consciousness, population growth rate, age
distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. The
individual consumer will now also drive fashion change as
our society has become more concerned with being
personally fulfilled. Customers use social media sites like
Facebook and Instagram to create a statement about
themselves. In previous years the Government, family and
religion would have been more important than what the
individual customer wanted. The ability to create your own
identity and create a self-centred culture online which
enables people to make their own fashion statements and
create a more diverse culture. With people now being able
to create their own identity brands such as Vivien
Westwood have picked up on it and turned into a catwalk
trend. They used the punk trends to create a collection
which was influenced by street style.
Androgyny also has influence on fashion change as the
demands for unisex products increased. Men’s and women
states have now joined together and brands such as Doc
Martins are now creating products that are unisex. The
democratic of fashion is another driver of fashion change as
the growth of very exclusive brands is accepted into the
mass consumer market. Brands such as D&G and Prada
have become more common and it is more achievable for
more people to own such products.
A technological factor is what is happening with technology
that can impact what retailers do. As technology is moving
forward very fast retailers must look forward to the future
to keep up with advances. Things that may not have been
possible 5 years ago may now be possible with different
technology and advancements in web, blogs and social
media. New technologies will always be developing which
may create barriers for retailers as they will need to
consider financial implications of new technology.
Technology also drives fashion change through the
production methods and materials. Computers can
generate prints and different material with different
finishes. We also have the technology now to create
garments that are easier to care for and require less
Doc Martins Unisex Campaign
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maintenance. With technology the manufacturing speed
has increased and also the quality of the production but
also there are new methods of manufacturing such as laser
cutting and garment welding. Due to the different changes
in technology and the increase in the use of social media
fashion is now a lot more accessible through the world and
brands are now opening overseas when in previous years
they may not have been able to.
The globalisation of brands has effected how we dress as
now we are offered a much wider range of products and
styles. The globalization of brands has now led to more
competition for the brands as they need to stand out and
attract the consumer. The Internet, social media, film and
TV is accessible almost anywhere. This increase in media
communication allows people to communicate globally at a
fast speed. This instant exposure to other ideas, styles and
cultural influences can interpreted on the catwalk and then
can be interpreted on the catwalk and then interpreted by
fashion retailers and sold in store within matter of weeks
instead of months. The brand ZARA is an excellent example
of this. Due to greater communication global brands can be
created and consumers can get information on brands
through the internet. Due to the amount of information
being so accessible to consumers, a brand may decide to
rebrand to make it better and have a fresh start if their
current image isn’t working to well.
The pressure of consumer lifestyle also links back into
technology as brands make clothing which are easy to wear
and offer easy care garment which are easily washed.
Clothes tend not to be made to measure and are more
unstructured. This is due to consumers not having as much
time to shop so they prefer to go for a more casual look.
The use of internet and shopping from mobiles has
increased and so brands have has to develop this side of
their brand to react to the customer demand. Brands
understand that customers do not wish to wait around to
make purchases and so self-checkouts are not available in
many stores.
The legal factors are what is happening with changes to the
legalisation for example new laws for working hours on a
Sunday the law for minim pay, plagiarism, illegal labour,
access to material, resources, import and export restriction
and charges and taxation. An article in the Guardian
published in February 2014 exposed Bangladesh garment
factories for exploiting child labour for Uk products. It was
found that girls as young as 12 where forced to work 12
hour shifts in unsafe conditions despite a factory collapse
that killed over 1000 people just last year. Brands such as
Lee cooper use these factories were the workers were
physically abused and fire safety precautions were ignored.
Revelations like this are an embarrassment to any retailer
who produces products in these factories as it destroys
their reputation with the customers.
“Despite promises made by retailers to improve conditions following last
year’s Rana Plaza factory collapse in Dhaka, where at least 1,130 people
died and thousands more were injured, staff as young as 13 are filmed in factories being kicked, slapped and
hit with a used fabric roll as well as abused with physical threats and
insults”. The Guardian – February 2014
The environmental factors are what is happening to
ecological environmental issues. May of these factors will
be economical or social in nature? They could include
customer values, management and staff culture, EU factors
and fair-trade. The health and wellbeing of people will
effect fashion change. In modern world it is very important
for people to keep fit and healthy. The customer concern
and interest in this has affected brand so that they develop
their clothing in a way to appeal to the healthy consumer.
For example the retailer may use UV protection in
swimwear or breathable fabrics for fitness purposes. Some
brands offer a free gym pass with certain purchases while
monsoon offer fair-trade organic and ethical clothing. An
article from the Telegraph talks about how the fair-trade
brands has evolved to become more style friendly and
fashionable. In previous years it has been very important
but never what you could call on trend. Everybody knew
how important fair-trade was to the people in the poorer
countries but it wasn’t a highly bought item within fashion
and tended to be more popular with food products.
Fairtrade have now appointed some high profile designers
to use fair-trade cotton in their designs.
Ethical fashion works when it offers style first and its ethical
advantages as a secondary benefit. That way, people will be prepared
to pay the higher prices” DOLLY JONES – EDITOR OF VOGUE.COM
By brands working together to make fair-trade a standard
factor when making new products, the people who are
manufacturing the products in other countries could
benefit from a better way of life.
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