Clothing Is Essential For All Members Of The Uk

More recently, the recession impelled many bricks-and-mortar retailers towards a damaging focus on discounting that eroded not only many stores’ price positioning but also any point of differentiation or exclusivity.

All the activities and strategies involved in getting the desired clothing and fashion industry marketing messages to the intended target markets are possible through communications. The global clothing industry has been handling a tough consumer market following the presence of established and competitive fashion rivalry (Smith and Taylor 2004, p. 7). Harvey Nichols has tried to cope with the changing consumer tides through introducing efficient marketing strategies to draw the attention of its consumers.

The foremost market segment that H&M should target would be the women 's outerwear segment which includes all garments from tops to blouses to jackets (REFERENCE). Main reason being, this market segment is reasonably profitable with a Retail Value of over $3000 million (Refer to figure XX), where women have traditionally been the dominate consumer in the clothing and footwear industry (REFERENCE). However, there appears to be a new social trend where men are becoming more fashion-minded and are also looking for cheaper options (REFERENCE). In recent times, there has been a change in preference for young women, where they do not only demand for high quality yet fashionable products, it must also be low priced (REFERENCE). H&M should then be able to target this segment, as the company 's core concept coincides with this new trend. Where H&M 's women 's clothing are designed for women of all ages who are fashion minded, where its product line includes “everything from modern basics to tailored classics, sportswear, maternity clothes and cutting-edge fashion.” (H&M, 2008, pg. 17). However, for the purpose of this report and to make it easier to target, the primary segment will be young women aged 18 to 24, while the

In the world of commerce and retail today, there are a variety of retail stores that are all geared toward the customers who are interested in saving money and finding bargains on their daily purchases, as well as on some of their major purchases. Some of the retail stores that are in this category of low prices and discount prices are Big K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Inc., Fred’s Dollar Store, Family Dollar Store, and Ollie’s Bargain. Due to the increase in e-commerce and online purchases, several of these retail stores, such as Big K-Mart and Fred’s Dollar stores are closing in many areas of the country. Since there has been an increase in the demand for more sales and discounts by customers and there are less discounts stores available, retail stores

Fashion and leather goods retailers can differentiate themselves quite strongly through the styles and designs of their goods. Even un-known designers can become successful from one collection to another due to the unpredictable nature of fashion. Products are determined by designers, sub-cultures and are subject to sharp and unpredictable changes

By the 21st century, the advancement in technology has forever changed the way clothing is made. “The impact of CAD software on everyday clothing is becoming more prevalent as the software is linked to 3D printing technology.” This saying, clothing has come to be an easy thing to come by and still is advancing. “Machines for home printing are becoming more affordable… the ability to create customized clothing is becoming more of a reality as technology evolves.” As technology evolves, it will impact the way people shop for clothes and how their clothes are

For retailers, being online is efficient and improves customer relationships, but it does not replace a retailer's ability to "up-sell" and ultimately it struggles to match the brand appeal created by a physical presence in a strong shopping centre.

Given its unrelenting competitive environment, the retail industry is constantly exposed to rapid changes. These changes have given online retailers a competitive advantage over the traditional stores who have recently experienced a drop in foot traffic. The continuous drop in the number of sales has forced the stores to rely heavily on big markdowns in order to clear out the unsold inventory. The executives of

Consumers’ tastes and preferences along with fashion trends influence the products in the marketplace. The ability to provide a compelling value proposition

The current market environment faced by retailers is one that has become highly saturated. Due to a constant expansion and growth of specialty, discount, and department stores, retail businesses have sought to maintain their sales at levels that will keep them out of debt ridden balance sheets and put them above their competitors. Out of this need, retailers found some relief by increasing their promotional intensity through multiple sales events and techniques using high-low pricing tactics.

Our target market includes socially and eviromentally awere middle to upper class teenages and young adults, aged 14-25. These are people who see fashion as way to express themselves, to both set them apart from the maintream but also to connect with other like them. In addition, their easy access to information on issue like climate change, pollution, and the exploitation of lower class workes have put pressure on them to become more concious and more resposible shoppers. Since the majority of teenagers and young adults are not awere of the negative aspects of

An assessment should then be carried out to determine who the winners and losers are of the fashion high-street retailers and this has been completed in the same report. Value and young retailers, supermarkets, mid-market retailers and specialist retailers (in particular foot-wear) have been analysed, by terms of sales, to define which retailers have succeeded and which have suffered during the recession. By comparing these retailers, it can be understood what the succeeding retailers have offered consumers over the suffering retailers. Value retailers have stood out in this report as being a beneficiary of the downturn “this growth has been driven by a number of economic factors, particularly consumers’ keenness to obtain value for money and genuine pressure on their household budgets, leading them to trade down on many items. Given continued reductions in clothing prices, fashion has been particularly attractive relative to other household spending categories” (Mintel, 2010). The report suggests that “as might be expected, taking advantage of sales and offers is more common among those spending less last year as well as in 2010, as is shopping more often in value clothing stores or trading down to less expensive stores than usual”. The report ‘Clothing Retailing – Europe – 2009’ suggests that “when the economy starts to recover, life could get tougher for the value retailers and positioning correctly for the upturn will be important. So, while ultra low prices and

Building a clothing brand from the ground up in the U.S. can be a daunting task for a mid-size entrepreneurial start-up. Given the competitive nature both domestically and internationally, every avenue for increased market share must be explored. The apparel industry in particular is constantly changing due to evolving fashion trends which is stimulated by social media. In order to keep pace, we must continuously offer innovative and unique products to help maintain and grow our existing business. In the event of failing to innovate and upgrade our products, sales will be adversely impacted and create excess inventory. As a result of this, clearance sales and widespread markdowns will help clear the inventory but will ultimately dilute the brand.

2. Richard M. Johns (2006). The Apparel Industry. 2nd ed. UK, London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. 1-124.

It shows that between 2004 and 2007, total retail growth was only 4.6% while online retail was increased by 130% (The Times 100, NA) (Table 5). With no doubt, it seems more difficult for retail shops to survive, but Lindquist (2002) stated that shoppers prefer to integrate internet shopping with other forms of shopping (Lindquist et al., 2002). The supply chain of Topshop and its changes can help us to understand how retail shops nowadays adjust its position in the