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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