Pocket Stylist: Fashion App

FTMG30256

INNOVATION PROJECT: Pocket Stylist

Babita Pun Lauren Bland Chloe Grainger Jemma Walsh Word count: 5462 1

CONTENTS i. List of Figures 4 ii. List of Tables 7 Ii. Exec summary 9

1.0 Introduction 10 1.1 Background 10 1.2 Aims and Objectives 10 2.0 Business opportunity 11 2.1 Mission Statement 11 2.2 Unique Selling Point 11 2.3 SWOT Analysis 12 2.4 Target Consumer 14 3.0 Branding and App Development 16 3.1 Developing a Brand 16 3.2 Moodboards 17 3.3 Logo Creation 19 3.4 App Page Development 20 3.5 Social Media Advertisment Design 21 3.6 App Specification & Features 22 4.0 Marketing strategy 25 4.1 Marketing Strategy 25

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CONTENTS 4.2 Market Analysis: The Macro Environment 29 4.3 Market Segment and Size 30 4.4 Sales channels 31 4.5 Competitior Analysis 31 5.0 Organisational Structure 37 5.1 Overview 37 5.2 Strengths and Weakness of Team 38 6.0 Financial overview 39 6.1Overview 39 6.2 Sales forecast 39 6.3 Expenditure forecast 42 7.0 Operations 45 7.1 Logistics 45 7.2 Development 45 7.3 Critical path 47 8.0 Extension strategy 48 8.1 Overview 48 9.0 Conclusion 49 10.0 References 50 11.0 Bibliography 52 12.0 Appendices 57

3

LIST OF FIGURES

4

Figure

Description

Reference

Page

i

App Design

Author’s Own (2017).

8

2.0

App Design

Author’s Own (2017).

11

2.1

Target Consumer

Author’s Own (2017).

14

3.0

WGSN SS18 Men and Wgsn.com. (2017). Accessories & Footwear Core Colour S/S 18 [online]. WGSN. Available at: https://www.wgsn.com/content/ Women: color trend board_viewer/#/67305/page/19 [Accessed: 13 October. 2017]. inspiration

17

3.1

Colour Moodboard

Author’s Own (2017).

18

3.2

Logo Development

Author’s Own (2017).

19

3.3

Competitor Logos

Author’s Own (2017).

19

3.4

App Design

Author’s Own (2017).

20

3.5

Social Media Advertisement Design

Author’s Own (2017).

21

3.6

Universal Checkout Design

Author’s Own (2017).

22

3.7

Outift Planning Primary Research

Author’s Own (2017).

23

3.8

Wardrobe Planning Page

Author’s Own (2017).

23

3.9

Notiication Pop Up

Author’s Own (2017).

24

LIST OF FIGURES 3.10

App Moodboard

Author’s Own (2017)

24

4.0

Hollistic Marketing Dimensions

Kotler, P., Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management. 14th ed. United States of America: Pearson Education Limited.

25

4.1

The Marketing Mix

van Assen, M., Pietersma, P. and van den Berg, G. (2009). Key Management Models. 2nd ed. Pearson Education Limited.

27

4.2

Most Popular Apple App Store Downloads in October 2017

Statista. (2017a). Market reach of the most popular Apple iOS retail apps in the United Kingdom (UK) as of June 2017 [online].

Statista, The Statistics Portal. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/516337/most-popular-retail-apps-ios-uk/ [Accessed: 30 October 2017].

30

4.3

Most popular Apple IOS retail apps in June 2017

Statista. (2017). Most popular Apple App Store categories in October 2017, by share of available apps [online]. Statista, The Statistics Portal. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/270291/popular-categories-in-the-app-store/ [Accessed 09 November 2017].

30

4.4

Favourite Retailers Primary Research

Author’s Own (2017).

31

4.5

Competitior Analysis

Author’s Own (2017).

31

4.6

Perceptual Map

Author’s Own (2017).

32

4.7

Competitior Analysis

Author’s Own (2017).

33

4.8

Competitor Analysis Continued

Author’s Own (2017).

35

6.0

Average Monthly Spend Primary Research

Author’s Own (2017).

39

6.1

Sales Forecast

Author’s Own (2017).

40

5

LIST OF FIGURES 7.0

The Drop Shipping Business Model Adaptation

Author’s Own (2017).

45

7.1

App Development Process

ScienceSoft. (2017) Mobile App Development Services. [Online] Available at: https://www.scnsoft.com/services/mobile-appdevelopment [Accessed: 3rd December 2017].

46

8.0

Product Life Cycle Model

Vernon, R. (1979). The product cycle hypothesis in a new international environment. Oxford bulletin of economics and statistics, 41(4), 255-267.[fig].

48

8.1

Spinningfields WeWork. (2017). No. 1 Spinningfields [digital image]. WeWork. Available at: https://www.wework.com/buildings/no-1Pocket Stylists Future spinningfields--manchester [Accessed 22 November 2017].

Work Space

48

6

LIST OF TABLES Table

Description

Reference

Page

2.0

SWOT Analysis.

Author’s Own (2017).

12

4.0

Holistic Marketing Strategy

Author’s Own (2017).

26

4.1

AIDA Model for Pocket Stylist’s marketing communication strategy.

Author’s Own (2017).

28

4.2

PEST Analysis

Author’s Own (2017).

29

4.3

Competitor Analysis

Author’s Own (2017).

34

4.4

Competitor Analysis Continued

Author’s Own (2017).

36

6.0

Sales Forecast

Author’s Own (2017).

40

6.1

Affiliate marketing and advertisment revenue predictions

Author’s Own (2017).

41

6.2

Expenditure Chart Year One

Author’s Own (2017).

42

6.3

Expenditure Chart Year Two

Author’s Own (2017).

43

6.4

Expenditure Chart Year Three

Author’s Own (2017).

44

7.0

Branding Critical Path

Author’s Own (2017).

47

7

Figure 1: App Design (Author’s Own, 2017).

8

I

EXEC SUMMARY Pocket Stylist is a smart device application (app) that allows the user to create outfits from specifically selected high street retailers and purchase them in a self-contained check out system. The retailers are notified of the purchase and delivery details, without the need for the consumer to click through to each individual website. Set out in a pinboard style layout, users can piece together different components of the outfit in a clear visual manner. Understandably, the target consumer of females aged 16-30 may not have the funds or interest in purchasing an entire outfit every time. Pocket Stylist allows you to upload pieces from your current wardrobe, in order to plan how the future pieces may work around your existing offering.

Liang (2017) identified that the following factors contribute to the user’s approval of the app: usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment and choice variety. A focus group with a sample of the target consumer was held to understand the main features from their favourite apps (see appendix 1). These have been incorporated into Pocket Stylist while ensuring ease of use and streamlined mobile shopping.

Pocket Stylist will launch in May 2018. By launching at the start of spring, Pocket Stylist will be marketed as an essential tool to plan outfits for day to day life as well as on the lead up to summer holidays. To ensure customer participation, the brand strategically plans to market themselves through a soft launch with Glamour magazine which will create the initial awareness. The app will be launched on iOS before being fully available for Android users should there be a demand. This is based on research that backs up the claims that iOS users are more affluent in their spending behaviours (Lubin, 2017). Also, Mintel (2015) states that the UK app store revenue is split 70:30 between the iOS App Store and the Google Play store.

By the end of first trading year, Pocket Stylist are aiming for 50,000 downloads, this is elaborated on in chapter 6. A bank loan of £40,000 with a repayment interest rate of 3.4% from Santander will provide funding for the initial start up costs. The business is projected to make a loss of -£18,617 in Year one (see table 6.0) due to expenses related to marketing and PR exposure. By end of Year Two, the business aims to make a net profit of £100,196 based on calculation of 75,000 downlaods. In Year three, Pocket Stylist predicts a 33% margin in Year 3 from 100,000 downloads and an annual profit of £300,638.

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1.0.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background There is high demand for stylish shopping apps in today’s mobile world (Abrosimova, 2017). According to Mintel (2015), the app market will continue to demonstrate healthy growth in the coming years. Mintel (2017a) further states that the mobile app market has doubled in value since 2013, and although the rate of growth has slowed, the market still grew 17% in 2016, adding over £140 million to its value. Pocket Stylist aim to make the most of the app market growth through the use of marketing to gain valuable share points.

1.2 Aims and Objectives Aim To be the go-to retail app for outfit planning and purchasing, with a following of 50,000 downloads after the first trading year.

Objectives • • • • •

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To explore the current retail and lifestyle app offering for outfit planning and purchasing.

To investigate the opportunities in the retail app market based around the creation of a universal checkout system for multiple retailers.

To understand the mobile shopping needs of the consumer through primary research.

To analyse current retail and technological trends to establish a brand with a clear identity.

To further expand into additional markets, including menswear retail market and luxury clothing.

2.0.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

2.1 Mission Statement

‘Pocket Stylist is an independent platform designed to create and plan outfits from your current and future wardrobe. Our mission is to be the go-to platform for outfit planning and purchasing, for females aged 16-30. Pocket Stylist is a one-stop shop to end the ever- daunting task of choosing what outfit to wear for multiple occasions and mood enhancement. Set out in a visual pin board, styling and saving your outfits has never been easier.’

Figure 2.0: App Design

2.2 Unique Selling Point Pocket Stylist offers the unique selling point of a universal checkout system. This offering means that the outfit created can be sourced from multiple websites, with only one checkout. The app works directly with the retailers and a notification will be sent to them confirming a purchase from their website, sparking their usual delivery procedure.

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2.0. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY 2.3 SWOT Analysis

2.0.

A SWOT analysis has been conducted to provide information on matching Pocket Stylists resources and capabilities to those within the market it will operate in (Van Assen, Van Berg and Pietersma, 2009).

STRENGTHS • • • • • •

Primary research in the forms of focus groups, questionnaire and industry intervews state that there is a need for Pocket Stylist for our target consumer.

Pocket Stylist’s unique selling point is what differentiates the app from competitors.

A secondary unique elements is being able to mix elements from the consumer’s existing wardrobe, with items of clothing the consumer wishes to purchase.

Pocket Stylist is a free app to download, unlike other competitor apps.

Pocket Stylist will send frequent notifications to the consumer’s mobile device, encouraging engagement. The app will be connected to mobile calendars, reminding consumers to organise outfits on the app for certain events.

A ‘share’ feature on Pocket Stylist will allow consumers to share their boards, outfits and wardrobes with their friends. This will increase downloads by word of mouth and also encourage engagement by friends discussing their outfits.

WEAKNESSES • • •

The current Pocket Stylist team does not hold the skill set to develop an app, third party assistance is needed.

May incurr reluctance to download un-essential apps due to lack of storage space available on consumers mobile devices.

Established competitor apps available: My Wardrobe, Stylebook, Villiod.

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2.0. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY OPPORTUNITIES • •

• •

To launch initially with a brand or magazine to increase awareness of Pocket Stylist.

To develop a feature in the future with the opportunity to upcycle used clothing to earn vouchers/points to use within Pocket Stylist. Additionally creating opportunities to swap and sell used clothing via the app. This enables Pocket Stylist to become more sustainable and to encourage consumers to think about what they can do to become more sustainable themselves.

Another opportunity would be to launch globally, allowing consumers from all over the globe to use Pocket Stylist. This would give Pocket Stylist the chance to collaborate and work with brands and retailers in other countries.

The expansion into the menswear market would also be a future opportunity for Pocket Stylist.

THREATS • • • • • •

Rise of competition - similar apps already in the market but not marketed enough to consumers such as: My Wardrobe.

Retailers have already started launching similar features: the ASOS stylist app.

Avery Dennison’s Janela uses RFID/ NFC technology in collaboration with retailers to insert IoT into 10 billion products. We aren’t able to compete with this as we don’t have an existing retail outreach.

ASOS try before you buy phenomenon may discourage customers to use Pocket stylist to purchase and checkout which will cause loss sales resulting in low income from affiliates.

Retention and maintaining customer loyalty.

Deleting app to “free space”.

Table 2.0: SWOT Analysis (Author’s Own, 2017)

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2.0. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY 2.4 Target Consumer

STYLE CONSCIOUS INSTANT GRATIFICATION

TECH SAVVY EXCITEMENT SEEKER

VALUES ‘ME’ TIME

ENTERTAINMENT

INCOPORTE WELLNESS

SOCIAL LIFE

EMBRACES CITY CULTURE Figure 2.1: Customer Profile (Author’s Own, 2017)

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BRAG POSTER

2.0. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY 2.4 Target Consumer Pocket stylist will primarily target fashion forward females aged 16-30. While the target age range is broad, Pocket Stylist caters more to the mindset than the age itself.

The target consumer is fashion conscious and has an active social life with regular events and occasions to attend. Figure 2.1 is a visual mood board of Pocket Stylist’s customer profile and helps to visualise their interests and lifestyle. The target consumer was identified through primary research. The research conducted was a questionnaire, of 70 respondents, and a focus group, seen in Appendix 1 and 2. This helped shape the target consumer; specifying the types of retail and lifestyle apps they use, their mobile behaviour and the retailers they shop with. Research concluded that the consumer uses her phone regularly, actively using apps for multiple experiences and inspiration including all Social media platforms: Uber, Spotify and a fitness app. She also has multiple lifestyle apps including Vogue and Bloglovin’ and retailer apps including ASOS, Boohoo and TopShop.

She is mobile driven and shops regularly online through her mobile device. She tends to shop towards the mid-range priced items -while they may occasionally splash out on an expensive label they usually will shop at high street and online retailers as they are restricted in choice by their level of income. Favourite retailers are shops that provide the newest fashion at an affordable price including online and high street. These included: ASOS, Topshop, Zara, Missguided, New Look, Boohoo and River Island. Shopping is usually done online or on mobile apps. Typical shopping behaviour will consist of browsing multiple websites and stores, refining the styles by price and range in search for the perfect item to compliment their style.

The primary research conducted through a survey, stated that 55% of people sometimes planned outfits in advance. When speaking to people in the focus group, the results were also backed up this statistic stating that they would usually plan outfits in advance for events and special occasions. The results for the primary research support Pocket Stylist’s aim of creating and designing outfits, hence why the app is linked to your iPhone calendar and Facebook attending events to achieve this aim.

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3.0. BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT 3.1 Developing a Brand “Influential and successful brands manage to engender positive or constructive associations in the minds of consumers, triggering emotions and feelings that can be extremely potent and affirmative.�

(Posner, 2011) Establishing a brand with a clear identity was a core objective. This was conducted through secondary research on WGSN through the top colour trends of 2018 (see figure 3.0). These elements were then incorporated within the branding and design of the app (see figure 3.4). Pocket stylist is looking to create a brand within the 16-30 year old female demographic. The brand perception and point of differentiation should lead to potential business advantages such as customer retention and loyalty, mainstream media attention and naturally product line extension (retail partners, market growth and global expansion.

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3.0. BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT 3.2 Moodboards

Figure 3.0: WGSN SS18 Men and Women: colour trend inspiration (WGSN, 2017)

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3.0. BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT

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Figure 3.1: Colour Moodboard (Authors Own, 2017)

3.0. BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT 3.3 Logo Creation

Figure 3.3: Competitor Logos (Authors Own, 2017) A focus group of 6 females within the target age group was conducted where pilot app logos and designs were previewed. The designs that were shown were in figure 3.2. The focus group were asked to discuss the designs and styles and share their honest opinions. The overall response was very positive and the group particularly praised the colour palette and minimalistic styling. The only suggestion that was raised was the feminine colour scheme which they all loved, however it may put off men using the app if it was later launched into the menswear market. The group was also asked to give their opinion and state which out of the suggested logo designs they preferred and why. The group decided that the design in the bottom right hand corner of figure 3.2, was best suited to the app and this was taken into consideration for the branding.

Figure 3.2: Logo Development (Authors Own, 2017)

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3.0. BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT 3.4 App Page Development

Pocket stylist landing page

Pocket stylist in App store

Pocket stylist USP: Universal checkout

Figure 3.4: App Design (Authors Own, 2017)

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3.0.

BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT 3.5 Social Media Advertisement Design Pocket Stylist will be using social media advertising as a part of their Marketing strategy, see appendix 3 for Marketing calendar from launch date.

Instagram sponsored post

Facebook advertisement

Figure 3.5: Social Media Advrtsement Design (Authors Own, 2017)

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3.0.

BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT 3.6 App Specifications & Features The app is designed with multiple features to allow the customer to use it for a variety of reasons as well as simply shopping.

Universal Checkout System The main unique feature of this app is within the shopping section of the app: a universal checkout system.

This feature has not been used on any other similar apps. This unique feature allows the customer to checkout in one place with Pocket Stylist for as many items and retailers as they wish to shop with. The process after this will be exactly the same as if they shop with each retailer directly, it just misses out the step of checkout on multiple websites making the process much smoother and time efficient for the customer. The system works by simply sending a direct email notification to the retailer after a sale has been made, exactly the same as if a purchase was made from their own website to ship it as usual to the customer.

Figure 3.6: Universal Checkout Design (Author’s Own, 2017).

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3.0. BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT Wardrobe Planning The wardrobe planning section is split into multiple sub sections. In a Pinterest style design, the customer can add and delete boards, making as many in total as they desire. This can include as little as one outfit or their entire wardrobe.

Through primary research, it was found that out target consumer does not always purchase full outfits, Figure 3.7, so this features enables them to add items from their current wardrobe by uploading a photo from their mobile to the app.

These items can be categorised as the customer wishes with a suggested style of Tops, Trousers, Skirts, Dresses, Shoes, Hats etc. These items can then be added together in boards, and they can add as many sections to their board as they wish, building it up to create a full outfit. The outfits can also be put together with items they wish to buy from retailers websites. These items can also be stored on the app and will flag if and when items become out of stock. This means outfits can be built in advance and compared against each other as a typical customer will buy more than one outfit or item for an occasion usually returning the one not wanted. This feature aims to reduce the amount of returns to retailers.

Figure 3.7: Outfit Purchase Primary Research (Author’s Own, 2017).

Figure 3.8: Wardrobe Planning Page (Author’s Own, 2017).

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3.0. BRANDING & APP DEVELOPMENT Mood Board Another key feature of the app is the mood enhanced wardrobe. The customer can organise and plan their outfits based on different moods and weathers, for example, figure 3.10 shows the Moodboard page with options such as Rainy day, Comfy sunday snug as a bug, Beach vibes, Festival fever, Dinner date etc. The mood enhanced wardrobe can pop up actively on your phone linked to the weather and the season in your location, as well as the date and any events noted in your calendar. The app also has an active link to social media, particularly facebook noting any events you are ‘attending’ and notifying you about these in advance and whether you will be needing a new outfit.

Another key feature is the weekly wardrobe planned around your calendar. Depending on how much time the customer wants to spend on the app, the weekly wardrobe can be linked to their phone calendar flagging events a week in advance and actively asking them if they have an outfit ready for that specific occasion and whether they would like to build one or take one that has already been created? (Figure 3.9). This gives the customer enough time to purchase a new item if needed to re-style an old outfit or simply be prepared for the occasion ahead of them they may have forgotten about. This would encourage the customer to continuously engage with the app which in time will result in customer loyalty and increased retention.

The app also offers a premium account feature, which is an option for customers to use advertisement free. This feature was designed due to primary research see appendix 2 resulting in a large amount of people stating that they would choose to pay a small fee to opt out of seeing advertisements every time they use the app.

This is now a common feature many other apps use such as Spotify and one of Pocket Stylist’s close competitors - My Wardrobe as seen in table 4.3.

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Figure 3.9: Notification Pop Up (Author’s Own, 2017).

Figure 3.10: App Moodboard (Author’s Own, 2017).

4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY 4.1 Marketing Strategy Marketing is about identifying and meeting human and social needs (Kotler and Keller, 2012:27).

Pocket Stylist’s marketing strategy will be based on Kotler and Keller’s Holistic Marketing Dimensions (as seen in figure 4.0) aiming to put the customer as a focal point for all key marketing activities (Cokayne, 1991).

Figure 4.0: Holistic Marketing Dimensions (Kotler and Keller, 2012:41).

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY Pocket Stylist’s holistic marketing strategy can be seen in table 4.0.

Holistic Marketing

Pocket Stylist

Internal Marketing

As Pocket Stylist grows, so will the volume of employees. Kotler and Keller highlights that marketing is no longer the responsibility of a single department (2017:44). Employees from across the business will work together to also encourage an integrated strategy.

Integrated Marketing

Ensuring all of the marketing channels portray the same message, theme, colour scheme etc to increase brand identity. This will include magazine features, social media and the app itself.

Performance Marketing

This includes justifying marketing investments to identify the financial and non financial gain (Kotler and Keller, 2012). For pocket stylist these will include app download volume, activity, awareness and customer retention, as well as revenue gained from advertisements and retailers.

Relationship Marketing

Relationship marketing relates to creating long term relationships with customers to ensure they return and frequently use the app.

According to Kotler and Keller, attracting new customers can cost up to five times as much as retaining existing customers (2012).

Pocket Stylist will send frequent push notifications to consumers mobile devices to encourage interaction with the app, leading to increased customer retention and brand loyalty.

Table 4.0: Holistic Marketing Strategy (Author’s Own, 2017)

The marketing strategy for Pocket Stylist is outlined in the Marketing calendar and the financials for the marketing are further outlined in the expenditure chart in chapter 6. The launch is the most important part of the app boosting brand awareness and it’s marketing strategy particularly in the first year. Most of the budget will be spent on a variety of marketing including a large amount of social media coverage, a promotional video and university promotion around a variety of universities for fresher’s week. Influencer endorsement is also extremely important and a lot of money will be put into making sure this is successful in increasing Pocket Stylist’s followers on social media and receiving more downloads because of this. The launch with Glamour in May will also cost Pocket Stylist, resulting in a loss in the month of May. The launch is crucial to the awareness of pocket stylist in the first month, meaning that the launch with a successful magazine will help boost brand exposure. Pocket Stylist have also decided that their target customer likes to shop on Oxford Street in the lead up to Christmas. Therefore £50,000 has been invested into a billboard advertisement inside the station for the months of November and December, further advertising the brand and resulting in a large amount of downloads. This is also reflected with a celebrity collaboration promoted through their social media and a promotional video.

Apple app store sponsor is also a large outgoing for Pocket Stylist. By paying Apple the amount stated in the expenditure chart, growing every one to two months, the app rating on the app store will gradually increase, boosting the app up the free download app chart, meaning that more people will be exposed to the app and therefore more likely to download it. This also includes the advertising of the app on the app store, sponsoring its appearance on their homepage for multiple days.

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY Pocket Stylist came about having identified a gap within the current market. The business is a start up without an existing brand identity and awareness amongst target customers. The overall three year goal of the business and the vision for 2021 is to dominate the current gap within the market and be the market leader in retail technology offering universal checkout encompassing a large amount of retailers. The vision will be monitored annually and refreshed and realigned based on measures, track and direction.

The business also hopes to develop internationally and expand into the menswear market in the future.

Figure 4.1: The Marketing Mix (van Assen et al, 2009:136).

Pocket stylist’s marketing strategy will be key to its success before, during and after the launch in May 2018. The 4 P’s of the Marketing Mix (Figure 4.1), as introduced by McCarthy in 1960 (McCarthy as cited in Anderson and Taylor, 1995), has been adapted to the launch of Pocket Stylist. Each aspect of the marketing mix which can be applied to the launch of Pocket stylist, including its price - free, the product of a unique but practical app that can be used daily with a variety of extra features. the place of initially only

launching with Apple IOS and finally its promotion which is mainly tailored to social media advertising. The most important aspect of the marketing mix is promotion for the launch of Pocket stylist. The promotional aspect will be directed in a variety of ways through the launch with Glamour Magazine. The app will be printed and digitally featured with the magazine’s May issue with multiple images of the apps main features and a small paragraph describing why their customers should download it. Previous to this, sneak peaks for early download will be advertised on Glamour’s website a week before its launch with an offer of 10% discount with first purchase. Multiple sneak peak social media posts starting with ten days before the launch, will also be posted on Glamour’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages linking to Pocket Stylists social media profiles to increase brand awareness. This will continue through the launch to further expand the range of customers downloading the app.

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY The AIDA model as created by Lewis in 1898 (Aryal, 2005) has been adapted to demonstrate Pocket Stylist’s marketing communication method (Table 4.1). AIDA is an acronym that is used by marketers and advertisers to develop a marketing communication strategy and explains a four stage process for the sale to happen (Rawal, 2013:online). AIDA will play a big part in the marketing plan of Pocket Stylist. As a new brand it is essential that the attention of the target consumer is captured.

A

Pocket Stylist will gain the target consumers attention through various marketing channels: The launch with Glamour magazine Through the use social media platforms Advertising on social media Travelling around fairs and stalls at various universities talking to the target consumer

I

The use of bloggers and social influencers will help to spark interest in Pocket Stylist. The bloggers will be chosen carefully and will be given incentives to talk about Pocket Stylist on their social media and promote the app to their followers.

D

The desire element will occur when the target consumer see the various marketing strategies used and wish to download the app to try it for themselves.Pocket Stylist will create desire by promoting the apps many useful features and how consumers can use the app to help with their day to day lives.

A

Successfully achieving the above elements of the AIDA model will result in downloading Pocket Stylist. Action on the app will be retained by notifications reminding the consumer to plan outfits for events or A products to buy.

Table 4.1: AIDA Model for Pocket Stylist’s marketing communication strategy (Author’s Own, 2017).

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY 4.2 Market Analysis: The Macro environment A PEST analysis was conducted to assess the Macro environment factors that may affect the business. The headings for these topics in each section of the PEST are as seen below in Table 4.2. An extended version of the PEST is seen in appendix 4.

Political and Legal

Economical

• • • •

• • •

Brexit Intellectual property Non disclosure agreement Permission marketing

Cost of app development The return culture Cost of shipping

Social

Technological

• •

• • •

Lifestyle Cross-cultural communication

Digital New technologicies Artifical intelligence

Table 4.2: PEST Analysis (Author’s Own, 2017).

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY 4.3 Market Segment and Size As of January 2017, the Apple App Store had 2.2 million mobile apps available for download and more than 180 billion cumulative downloads (Statista, 2017a) since its launch in 2008 (Mintel, 2015). Apple (2017) states that each app can be assigned two categories, a primary and a secondary. Pocket Stylist primarily is within the lifestyle genre of apps. Apple describes lifestyle apps as apps relating to a general interest subject matter or service (Apple, 2017:online). According to Statista (2017) lifestyle apps were the fourth most popular form of app download from the Apple store in October 2017, with 8.32% of total downloads, as shown in Figure 4.2.

Pocket Stylists secondary category will be shopping. Apple describes shopping apps as those that support the purchase of consumer goods or materially enhance the shopping experience (Apple, 2017:online). Customers can purchase items through the app with Pocket Stylist’s universal checkout. Using two categories will increase discovery through the app store (Apple, 2017). Figure 4.4 below states Apple’s most popular retail IOS apps as of June 2017, with Ebay as their leading downloaded app. (Apple, 2017) This figure indicates the need for more lifestyle and retail based apps, which are growing year on year in popularity with smaller brands such as Etsy and Wish gaining in popularity.

Figure 4.2: Most Popular Apple App Store Downloads in October 2017 (Statista, 2017a).

The brand positioning of the app was identified and placed within the high street and e -commerce category, through analysis of primary research. This demonstrated the target consumer’s shopping habits and retail preferences to be primarily high street. The brand will be registered within lifestyle and shopping in the Apple iTunes store.

Figure 4.3 : Most popular Apple IOS retail apps in June 2017 (Statista, 2017b).

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY 4.4 Sales Channels

4.5 Competitor Analysis

Pocket Stylist will firstly be available on the iOS App Store that is a feature on all Apple products.

This was decided as it has been proven Apple have higher credit scores, usually meaning they have more money (Lubin, 2017). Therefore they have the funds to purchase more on the app. In order to be available to Apple users, the company will be enrolled into Apple’s Developer Programme, costing $99 (£75.59) annually (Dahbura, 2016) . After the initial trial period of three months, the company shall review whether there is a demand to become available to Android users. Whereby, if this is the case, the app would then become available on Google Play. To ensure the app meets the needs of the target consumer, the focus group of six females aged 18-28 identified themselves as trend followers who take pride in their fashion choices (see appendix 1).

When analysing the market for retail and shopping apps, there were four main competitors that stood out as the main competition for Pocket Stylist. These included: Polyvore, My Wardrobe, Villiod and Stylebook. The ease of use, popularity, functionality and product offering were analysed through primary and secondary research to conclude findings for competitive advantage. Figure 4.5 demonstates results of the popularity of these apps found through a survey amongst the target customer.

The group unanimously proposed the following retailers to be displayed on Pocket Stylist: Topshop, ASOS, Zara, Missguided, Boohoo, New Look, Mango, River Island, H&M, COS, & Other Stories as they stated that these are the retailers they wish to be able to shop from.

Figure 4.4: Favourite Retailers primary research (Author’s own, 2017).

Figure 4.5: Competitor analysis primary research (Author’s own, 2017).

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY Whilst there are numerous styling apps available in the market, Pocket Stylist’s unique selling point of the universal check out puts its ease of use and usability at a the high end of the spectrum. See Figure 4.7 for more detail for the perceptual map of competitiors.

High product offering

High functionality

Low functionality

Pocket Stylist

Villiod

Polyvore

Stylebook

My Wardrobe

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Figure 4.6 Perceptual map(Author’s Own, 2017)

Low product offering

4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY 4.5 Competitor Analysis

MY WARDROBE

Fig 4.7 Competitor analysis (Author’s Own, 2017)

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4.0.

MARKETING STRATEGY Figure 4.8 shows images representing a competitor analysis.

Table 4.3 and 4.4 further expands on the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor app in comparison with Pocket Stylist.

COMPANY

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESS

Pocket Stylist

• •

• • •

•

Universal checkout feature Weather intelligence - suggests appropriate outfits Include items from own wardrobe Themed outfits Tailored to the high street market Option to buy premium account to become ad free Synchronise events with phone calendar

• • • • • • •

Take pictures of own items Syncronise events with phone calendar Digitally ‘pack your suitcase’ or travel Available in both Russian and English Available on iTunes and Google Play Optimised for Android Optimised for iPad

•

• • • •

My Wardrobe

Table 4.3: Competitor Analysis (Author’s Own, 2017).

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• •

COMPETITVE ANALYSIS SUMMARY

Customer awareness Limited to high street customers Not available on Google Play until Not optimised for Android initially Not optimised for iPad initially

Ads overbearing with expensive premium option

Whilst My Wardrobe has some good offerings of wardrobe organising features it’s lack of ability to shop and add to your wardrobe put it at a competitive disadvantage to the others

4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY POLYVORE

SYLEBOOK

VILLIOD

Fig 4.8 Competitor Analysis Continued (Author’s Own, 2017)

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4.0. MARKETING STRATEGY COMPANY

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESS

COMPETITVE ANALYSIS SUMMARY

Villiod

• • • • •

•

Must click through to individual sites to purchase not within the app Cluttered layout of boards

Being endorsed and co-founded by a high profile celebrity meant the app would be visible to 2.8m (Alexa Chung’s current number of instagram followers - where she first announced the app) people at the time of launch.

• • • •

Brand awareness Celeb endorsement - co-founded by Alexa Chung Current #1 recommended shopping app by Apple (iTunes, 2017) Current #1 recommended lifestyle app by Apple (iTunes, 2017) Features 4000+ high street, high end, vintage and emerging brands Option to log in with email or Facebook account - for people nervous about privacy settings Shows designer as well as high street products Optimised for Android Optimised for iPad 10% discount off your first purchase

• • • • • • • • •

Draggable outfit building Includes homeware and cosmetics Celebrity inspiration Brand awareness Save other’s sets into own collection Optimised for Android Optimised for iPad Option to sign up with Facebook or email address High Street and designer pieces available to purchase

•

Must click through to individual sites Cannot upload pictures of own items Limit of 50 items per set Tedious scaling and positioning

Following on from the findings from primary research, Polyvore was the most recognised outfit building app to the consumers who partook.

Therefore, it is the challenge of Pocket Stylist to compete with the popularity of the well established website and app

•

Statistics are created based on how often you wear pieces of your wardrobe Can save images of inspiration that Packing list Calendar tool to plan what to wear day to day Over a million items in the ShopStyle™ catalogue, across over 7,000 brands Save body measurements Style advice from experts in their field Option to share your outfits with friends and other devices via wifi

•

•

Polyvore

Stylebook

• • • • • • •

•

• • •

• •

Cannot purchase new items through the app Must upload entire wardrobe to get full effect Costs £3.99

Table 4.4: Competitor Analysis Continued (Author’s Own, 2017)

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Pocket Stylist wishes to be the free version of Stylebook due to its vast array of useful features and ideas.

Following on from primary research, it was identified that consumers rarely if ever purchase an app. Hence why, Pocket Stylist will have the competitive edge

5.0.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE 5.1 Overview Pocket Stylist will follow a functional low level hierarchy, grouping employees by job responsibility and expertise. The initial four permanent members of staff will be in charge of internal jobs until the end of Year 1 where they will support themselves with an external part time job. Weekly meetings will take place to debrief on quarterly marketing strategies and ensure all employees are informed and aware of ongoing projects.

Project management tools such as Asana and Slack (Asana, 2017) will be used as primary form of communication. The team members have had previous experience across Sales, Marketing, PR, Wholesale, Buying, Merchandising, see Appendix 7 for full descriptions. An internal team Strength and weakness evaluation was conducted to identify skills and expertise that could be utilised and understand additional skills required for external positions in the future. All group meeting minutes have been recorded and can be found in Appendix 8.

Babita Pun Sales Executive

Chloe Grainger Client Representative

Lauren Bland Marketing Executive

Jemma Walsh Social Media Manager

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5.0. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE 5.3: Strengths and Weaknesses of Team

Strengths • • • • • • • •

Strong Marketing and PR skills Connections to a PR agency Connections with industry professionals in America for future global expansion Design CAD skills on photoshop, illustrator and inDesign Communication skills Experience on customer service Experience in sales and merchandising Connections with bloggers

External Team

Weaknesses • • •

Lack of knowledge around the development and coding of the app - would need a developer to complete it Money and investment- internal personal savings isn’t enough to cover expediture therefore additional loan will be required.

New entrepreneurs competing in an experienced market.

Job responsibilities The team will be responsible for the initial web design and development of the app. The team will be in charge of ensuring the app is running smoothly and maintaining quality assurance to constantly keep on top of bug fixes and updates. The team will be using a digital customer experience and technical agency called Concentric based in Manchester to assign an App developer for initial stages pre-launch. The company will be responsible for providing a designated IT support team on a part time basis working 16 hr p/w after the launch in May.

Customer service representative Intern will be hired across multiple departments within the company, Marketing, IT, Sales, etc

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6.0. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW 6.1 Overview A loan of £40,000 for a 3.4 % repayment interest over three years from Santander will provide the initial start up costs to fund the app development and marketing (Santander, 2017).

The initial investment will help the business to launch and gain brand awareness until the next projected sales are obtained through affiliate and ad revenue.

The projected 50,000 downloads calculated for year one is based on our research of number of downloads in comparison to the competitors. Alexa Chung’s fashion app, Villoid gained 350,000 downloads within its first year (Reed, 2016). Predictions calculate Pocket Stylist will gain 15% of the volume of downloads Villoid gained, based on the fact that it is a new app entering a very competitive market, with no current celebrity influence.

6.2 Sales forecast The business is projected to make a loss of -£18,617 in Year one (see table 6.0) due to expenses related to marketing and PR exposure. By end of Year Two, the business aims to make a net profit of £100,196 based on calculation of 75,000 downloads. In Year three, Pocket Stylist predicts the annual profit of £300,638.

The retail commision margin for Pocket Stylist’s sale has been set to 15%. Usually, retail concession is a popular alternative channel to sell through, estimated at 30% commission rate.

Pocket Stylist have positioned themselves lower than this due to being an entry level brand entering the market. However as Pocket Stylist is based as an online platform, the business will aim to make between aiming between 15-20%. (Davis, 2017) Throughout the three years, the forecasted average customer monthly spend and affiliate fees will stay the same. The average spend of £40 per consumer has been based on the primary research results (see Figure 6.0) whereby over 70% of respondents were willing to pay between £20-£60 every time they shopped online or on mobile.

The second source of income is achieved through ad revenue of £3,500. According to Mintel (2015) in-app advertising accounted for 68% of mobile app revenues overall. The ad revenue forecast is calculated based on click through rate of 10% of active users, £0.50 will be generated per click through. This calculation elimates the 5% of premium account users the app is hoping to have.

Figure 6.0 Average monthly spend Primary Research (Author’s Own, 2017)

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6.0. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW 6.2: Sales Forecast

Table 6.0 Sales Forecast (Author’s Own, 2017).

Figure 6.1: Sales Forecast (Author’s Own, 2017).

Year one’s marketing expenditure will include the initial soft launch with Glamour magazine, the biggest selling women’s lifestyle magazine in UK (Conde Nast, 2017) which would have a relevant outreach to our chosen target base. The fee to place the app into the Apple App store and Google Pay is also incorporated alongside staff wages and business insurance.

In year two, the team will move to a WeWork space based in Manchester. As the company grows, more staff members, primarily within sales and customer support will be hired and office space will be of high importance.

Table 6.0 shows the overall busineSs net profit figure for year one, two and three. The sales forecast table includes income. ad revenue, gross profit and expenditure. Figure 6.1 shows the expenditure and profit predictions for year one, two and three. The orange line demonstrates cost and the green line represents profit.

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6.0.

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Table 6.1: Affiliate marketing and advertisment revenue predictions (Author’s Own, 2017).

Table 6.1 demonstrates the predicted affiliate marketing and advertisement revenue for year one, two and three. This is based on 50% of customers actively purchasing an average of ÂŁ40 worth of items monthly. Pocket Stylist understands that not all of customers will use to app to purchase frequently, however notifications will be sent out to encourage engagement.

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6.0. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW 6.3: Expenditure Forecast

Table 6.2: Expenditure Chart Year One (Author’s Own, 2017).

Table 6.2 outlines all expenditures Pocket Stylist will incur throughout year one. This includes the initial app development, through to monthly IT support, staff wages and an array of marketing activities to increase band awareness.

42

6.0. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Table 6.3: Expenditure Chart Year Two (Author’s Own, 2017).

Table 6.3 outlines all expenditures Pocket Stylist will incur throughout year two. This includes an increase in staff numbers, loan repayment and a continuaton of marketing activities.

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6.0. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Table 6.4: Expenditure Chart Year Three (Author’s Own, 2017).

Table 6.4 outlines all expenditures Pocket Stylist will incur throughout year three. This includes a further increase in staff, rent at We Works in Manchester and marketing techniques to reach the aim of being the go to app for outfit planning and purchasing.

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7.0. OPERATIONS 7.1 Logistics Once the customer has used the universal check out system, each individual retailer is notified of the purchase and it is their duty to ship the item to the customer. This is done through a system called drop shipping. “Drop-shipping allows e-tailers to sell merchandise without directly spending on inspecting, holding, picking, and packing.” (Ayanso et al., 2006)

1. The user places their order through the app

2. The payment is paid directly to the retailer (including shipping costs)

3. The app notifies the retailer(s) of the order and the customer’s details

4. The retailer(s) ships the item(s) directly to the customer

5. The app receives a 3% commission from the user clicking on the affiliate link

Figure 7.0: The Drop Shipping Business Model (Kraly, 2017) Adapted by (Author’s Own, 2017)

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7.0. OPERATIONS 7.2 Development Once the app has been created, a hockey app will be developed and tested by the developer. This is the most successful way for a developer to get the app live on a platform and be fully tested on a mobile device. This can then be further tested on multiple types of consumers without it actually being released and will be live for approximately 24 hours. From these results, a large amount of changes will need to be considered and added to the development programme. Once the app is running to everyone’s satisfaction it needs to be submitted to Apple for testing to be released onto the Apple store. Apple’s regulations are very strict so this can take a few weeks to complete which also needs to be considered before launch in the critical path incase of any problems which may occur. Once Apple have confirmed they are happy with the regulations of the app, the app can be put up on IOS for testing for 24 hours. This is the perfect time to get as much feedback as possible from multiple focus groups which can be arranged on this day for testing and development. After this any changes will also need to be adapted before the launch a few weeks later. Figure 7.1 shows the development process that Pocket Sylist’s app will complete before launch. All information on the development of the app has been taken from an interview with Senior IT Project Manager: Jacqueline Kruger from MiddleSex University who recently was part of the development for an app for the university which launched in September 2017. See Appendix 5 for the full interview.

Figure 7.1 App Development Process (ScienceSoft, 2017)

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7.0. OPERATIONS 7.3 Critical Path A Critical path highlighting key dates till launch in May 2018, has been created (see Table 7.0) This allows the team to stay organised and complete mandatory tasks to ensure any issues that could potentially cause delays are flagged up and rectified immediately.

Table 7.0 Branding Critical Path. (Author’s Own, 2017)

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8.0.

EXTENSION STRATEGIES

8.1 Overview If the product life cycle of Pocket Stylist approaches the decline stage, as seen in Figure 8.0, an extension strategy shall be implemented in order to revive the app. This is due to the fact that having a well thought through brand strategy is a key contributing factor to corporate success (Martinez and Chernatony, 2004).

Figure 8.1 Pocket Stylist will have a five year contract with the digital customer experience consultancy and technical delivery agency, Concentric.cx. The agency created the app and will be under a contract that protects the app from being replicated by the agency for another brand. As the app grows in success, Concentric.cx will provide more IT support as the number of active users increases.

6.0.

The brand wants to support the local community by employing two interns over the duration of the year. This will be advertised to students who attend the local universities such as University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford University. A contact will be gained through their university employability teams. Interns will be paid £100 a month to cover expenses.

Figure 8.0: Product Life Cycle Model (Vernon, 1979)

Place The company’s office space will move from the home garage office to a WeWork private rented office space in Manchester by year two, in alignment to the growth of the following costing £1,850 for five desks. By year three it is predicted the team will require 10 seats, costing £4,250.

Promotion Based off of the success of the first years marketing plan, elements of the best performing strategy will be implemented again. Further outreach to fashion influencers and wider known celebrities.

Figure 8.1: Spinningfields - Pocket Stylists Future Work Space (WeWork, 2017)

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9.0. CONCLUSION In conclusion, Pocket Stylist has created a business plan containing actions for the first three years of operating. A business aim has been created, as well as clear objectives to formulate a plan to meet this aim. Within chapter 2, Pocket Stylist’s unique selling point has been stated, differing the app from its competition. A target consumer has been identified through the use of primary research, including a focus group and a questionnaire with a sample of the target consumer.

A third party will be recruited to develop the app, using information gained from the primary research interview. Initial designs and pages of the app have ben created and are displayed throughout this business plan. The logo and colour scheme have been piloted to the target consumer and have been deemed successful and modern. A Gantt chart has been created, see appendix 6, to ensure all deadlines are met before the launch of the app.

Pocket Stylist’s marketing strategy was outlined in chapter four, demonstrating the theories to be used to create a successful marketing strategy. Competitor analysis has also been undertaken within this chapter, highlighting positive and negative features already being used within the market and how Pocket Stylist will learn and grow to overcome these.

Strengths and weaknesses of Pocket Stylist’s original team members have been identified, as well as hiring new staff and interns in the near future. The financial cost of these, along with many other development and operational costs have been outlined within chapter 6 in the expense forecasts. Marketing activities are also found here, with plans for year one, two and three. Key marketing techniques that have been chosen in relation to Pocket Stylist’s target consumer are billboard advertisements in Oxford Circus, promotional videos with a celebrity, app sponsor to increase Pocket Stylist on the apple app store home page and influencer endorsements.

Pocket Stylist aims to make a profit within year two and to continue to grow and develop until the aim of being the go to app for outfit planning and purchasing is met.

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10.0 REFERENCES Abrosimova, K. (2017). 3 Types of Mobile Fashion Shopping Marketplaces You Can Build [online]. Yalantis. Available at: https://yalantis.com/blog/fashion-appsinnovation-mobile-commerce-app-development/ [Accessed: 29 November 2017].

Anderson, L., Taylor, R. (1995). McCarthy’s 4Ps: Timeworn or time tested? Journal of Marketing Theory and Practise [online], 3 (3), pp.1-9. Available via: Taylor and Francis Online. [Accessed: 20 November 2017].

Apple. (2017). Choosing a Category [online]. Apple. Available at: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/categories/ [Accessed: 09 November 2017].

Aryal, B. (2005). AIDA Model Application. The Journal of Nepalese Business Studies [online], 1 (11), pp.65. Available via: Google Scholar. [Accessed 20 November 2017].

Ayanso, A., Diaby, M., Nair, S. (2006). Inventory rationing via drop-shipping in Internet retailing: A sensitivity analysis. European Journal of Operational Research [online], 171 (1), Pages 135-152. [Accessed: 01 December 2017].

Cokayne, F. (1991). Successful Marketing Strategies. Cambridge: Director Books.

Liang, Y. and Liu, C. (2017). Websites vs. Apps: a comparison of consumer acceptance of apparel mass customization across online channels, Allied Academies International Conference. Academy of Marketing Studies [online], 22(1), pp. 44-49. [Accessed 20 October 2017].

Kotler, P., Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management. 14th ed. United States of America: Pearson Education Limited.

Kraly, A. (2017). The Ultimate Guide to Drop shipping (online). Drop Ship Lifestyle. Available at: https://blog.dropshiplifestyle.com/what-is-drop-shipping/?_ ga=2.141458802.1736814750.1511266409-1341496370.1511266409 [Accessed: 21 November 2017].

Lubin, G. (2017). Apple users have higher credit scores than everyone else [online]. Business Insider UK: Tech. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/appleusers-better-credit-android-2017-1?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 23 November 2017].

Mintel. (2017a). Online Fashion purchasing [online]. Mintel. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/display/839739/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Mintel. (2015). Mobile Phone and Tablet Apps-UK-October 2015 [online]. Available via: Mintel. [Accessed: 09 November 2017].

Posner, H. (2011). Marketing fashion. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Rawal, P. (2013). AIDA Marketing Communication Model: Stimulating a purchase decision in the minds of the consumers through a linear progression of steps.

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10.0 REFERENCES Reed, S. (2016). Alexa Chung’s Fashion App, Villoid, Has Nothing to Do With Villains or Asteroids [online]. Pret-a-Reporter: Hollywood Reporter. Available via: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alexa-chung-explains-her-fashion-886884 [Accessed: 21 November 2017].

Santander. (2017). Personal Loans [online]. Available at: https://www.santander.co.uk/info/personal-loans/open [Accessed: 15 November 2017].

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Van Assen, M., Pietersma, P. and van den Berg, G. (2009). Key Management Models. 2nd ed. Pearson Education Limited.

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WeWork. (2017). No. 1 Spinningfields WeWork [online]. Available at: https://www.wework.com/buildings/no-1-spinningfields--manchester [Accessed: 22 November 2017].

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11.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 11.1 Books Ansoff, I. (1988). Corporate Strategy. Revised Edition. England: Penguin Books.

Baker, M. (2014). Marketing Strategy and Management. 5th ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Cokayne, F. (1991). Successful Marketing Strategies. Cambridge: Director Books.

Creswell, J. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design. 2nd ed. London: Sage.

Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design. 3rd ed. London: Sage.

Creswell, J., Poth, C. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design. 4th ed. London: Sage.

Denscombe, M. (2003). The Good Research Guide. 2nd ed. Berkshire: Open University Press.

Easey, M. (2009). Fashion Marketing. 3rd ed. Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell.

Howard, J. (1969). The Theory of Buyer Behaviour. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoyer, W., MacInnis, D., Pieters, R. (2016). Consumer Behaviour. 7th ed. United States of America: Cengage Learning.

Kotler, P., Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management. 14th ed. United States of America: Pearson Education Limited.

Porter, M. (2008). On Competition. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Porter, M. (1998). Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press.

Posner, H. (2011). Marketing fashion. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., Thornhill, A. (2015). Research Methods for Business Students. 7th Edition. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd. Van Assen, M., Pietersma, P. and van den Berg, G. (2009). Key Management Models. 2nd ed. Pearson Education Limited.

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11.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 11.2 Journals Anderson, L., Taylor, R. (1995). McCarthy’s 4Ps: Timeworn or time tested? Journal of Marketing Theory and Practise [online], 3 (3), pp.1-9. Available via: Taylor and Francis Online. [Accessed: 20 November 2017].

Aryal, B. (2005). AIDA Model Application. The Journal of Nepalese Business Studies [online], 1 (11), pp.65. Available via: Google Scholar. [Accessed 20 November 2017].

Ayanso, A., Diaby, M., Nair, S. (2006). Inventory rationing via drop-shipping in Internet retailing: A sensitivity analysis. European Journal of Operational Research [online], 171 (1), Pages 135-152. [Accessed: 01 December 2017].

Deci, E.L. and Ryan, M.R. (2000), The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: human needs and the self-determination of behaviour. Psychological Inquiry [online], Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 227-268. [Accessed: 01 December 2017].

Kavassalis, P., et al. (2014). Mobile Permission Marketing: Framing the Market Inquiry. International Journal of Electronic Commerce [online], 8 (1), pp.55-79. Available via: Google Scholar. [Accessed: 21 November 2017].

Kotler, P. (1964). Marketing Mix Decisions for New Products. Journal of Marketing Research [online], 1 (1), pp.43. Available via: Business Source Complete. [Accessed: 20 November 2017].

Kovacic, A. (2014). The Action Model for Measuring Influence in Advertising. Journal of Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences [online], 3 (7), pp.90. Available via: Google Scholar. [Accessed: 20 November 2017].

Liang, Y. and Liu, C. (2017). Websites vs. Apps: a comparison of consumer acceptance of apparel mass customization across online channels, Allied Academies International Conference. Academy of Marketing Studies [online], 22(1), pp. 44-49. [Accessed 20 October 2017].

Martínez, E. and Chernatony, L. (2004). The effect of brand extension strategies upon brand image. Journal of Consumer Marketing [online],21(1), pp.39-50. [Accessed: 14 November 2017].

Napoli, J., Dickinson, S.J., Beverland, M.B. and Farrelly, F. (2014), Measuring consumer-based brand authenticity. Journal of Business Research [online], Vol. 67 No. 6, pp. 1090-1098. [Accessed: 16 November 2017].

Rawal, P. (2013). AIDA Marketing Communication Model: Stimulating a purchase decision in the minds of the consumers through a linear progression of steps. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Social and Management Sciences [online], 1 (1), pp.37. Available via: Google Scholar. [Accessed 20 November 2017].

Sichtmann, C. (2007). An analysis of antecedents and consequences of trust in a corporate brand. European Journal of Marketing [online], 41 (9/10), pp. 999-1015. [Accessed 17 November 2017].

Thompson, C.J., Rindfleisch, A. and Arsel, Z. (2006). Emotional branding and the strategic value of the doppelgänger brand image. Journal of marketing [online], 70 (1), pp.50-64. [Accessed 16 November 2017].

Vernon, R. (1979). The product cycle hypothesis in a new international environment. Oxford bulletin of economics and statistics [online], 41(4), 255267. [Accessed: 29 November 2017].

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11.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 11.3 Websites Abrosimova, K. (2017). 3 Types of Mobile Fashion Shopping Marketplaces You Can Build [online]. Yalantis. Available at: https://yalantis.com/blog/fashion-apps-innovation-mobile-commerce-app-development/ [Accessed: 29 November 2017].

Amazon. (2017). Associates Programme Policies [online]. Amazon. Available via: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/operating/policies#Associates Program Fee Statement [Accessed: 21 November 2017].

Apple. (2017). Choosing a Category [online]. Apple. Available at: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/categories/ [Accessed: 09 November 2017].

Asana. (2017) Slack + Asama App Integration [online] Available at: https://asana.com/apps/slack [Accessed: 03 December 2017].

Bearne, S. (2016). Brexit: what does it mean for online retailers? [online]. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2016/jul/12/brexit-what-does-it-mean-for-online-retailers [Accessed: 3 November 2017].

Carlson, K. (2016). Millennials and Their Power to Influence [online]. Experticity. Available at: https://www.experticity.com/millennials-and-their-power-to-socially-influence/ [Accessed: 30 November].

Deloitte. (2017) Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2017: UK Cut [online]. Available at: http://www.deloitte.co.uk/mobileuk/assets/img/download/global-mobile-consumer-survey-2017_uk-cut.pdf [Accessed: 30 November].

Fu, J. (2017). How Much Does it Cost to Make An App in 2017? [online]. Available at: https://www.codementor.io/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-makean-app-in-2017-1nqj6ehste [ Accessed: 14 November 2017].

George, A. (2017). Top 5 Legal Issues Facing App Developers [online]. App Empire. Available at: https://appempire.com/top-5-legal-issues-facing-app-developers/ [Accessed: 3 November 2017].

GOV.UK. (2017). Marketing and Advertising: The Law [online]. GOV.UK. Available via: https://www.gov.uk/marketing-advertising-law/direct-marketing [Accessed: 21 November 2017].

Ismail, N. (2017). How Brexit will affect UK App Developers and Consumers [online]. Information Age. Available at: http://www.information-age.com/brexit-affect-uk-app-developers-123464478/ [Accessed: 3 November 2017].

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11.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY Kraly, A. (2017). The Ultimate Guide to Drop shipping (online). Drop Ship Lifestyle. Available at: https://blog.dropshiplifestyle.com/what-is-drop-shipping/?_ga=2.141458802.1736814750.1511266409-1341496370.1511266409 [Accessed: 21 November 2017].

Lubin, G. (2017). Apple users have higher credit scores than everyone else [online]. Business Insider UK: Tech. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider. com/apple-users-better-credit-android-2017-1?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 23 November 2017].

O’Reilly, L. (2017). Instagram wants you to start shopping in the app [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/instagram-launches-shopping-2016-11 [Accessed: 13 November 2017].

Reed, S. (2016). Alexa Chung’s Fashion App, Villoid, Has Nothing to Do With Villains or Asteroids [online]. Pret-a-Reporter: Hollywood Reporter. Available via: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alexa-chung-explains-her-fashion-886884 [Accessed: 21 November 2017].

Santander. (2017). Personal Loans [online]. Available at: https://www.santander.co.uk/info/personal-loans/open [Accessed: 15 November 2017].

ScienceSoft. (2017) Mobile App Development Services [online]. Available at: https://www.scnsoft.com/services/mobile-app-development [Accessed: 3rd December 2017].

Shembekar, A. (2016). Legal Issues In Mobile App Development [online]. LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/legal-issues-mobile-app-development-important-things-aditi-shembekar [Accessed: 3 November 2017].

Smart Insights. (2017). Mobile Marketing Statistics compilation [online]. Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/ [Accessed: 13 October 2017].

Smith, J. (2017) Mobile eCommerce Stats in 2017 and the Future [online)]. OuterBox. Available at: https://www.outerboxdesign.com/web-design-articles/mobile-ecommerce-statistics [Accessed: 20 November 2017].

Statista. (2017a). Market reach of the most popular Apple iOS retail apps in the United Kingdom (UK) as of June 2017 [online]. Statista, The Statistics Portal. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/516337/most-popular-retail-apps-ios-uk/ [Accessed: 30 October 2017] Statista. (2017b). Most popular Apple App Store categories in October 2017, by share of available apps [online]. Statista, The Statistics Portal. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/270291/popular-categories-in-the-app-store/ [Accessed: 09 November 2017].

Stylebook. (2017). Stylebook Closet App: 90+ Features to Organize and Manage Your Real Clothes and Outfits [online]. Stylebook App. Available at: http://www.stylebookapp.com/features.html [Accessed: 13 November 2017].

Think Digital First (2017) The Demographics of Social Media Users in 2017 [online]. Available at: http://www.thinkdigitalfirst.com/2016/01/04/the-demographics-of-social-media-users-in-2016/ [Accessed: 02 November 2017].

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11.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY WeWork. (2017). No. 1 Spinningfields WeWork [online]. Available at: https://www.wework.com/buildings/no-1-spinningfields--manchester [Accessed: 22 November 2017].

Wgsn.com. (2017). Accessories & Footwear Core Colour S/S 18. [online] Available at: https://www.wgsn.com/content/board_viewer/#/67305/page/19 [Accessed: 13 October. 2017].

11.4 Databases Mintel. (2017a). Online Fashion purchasing [online]. Mintel. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/display/839739/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

Mintel. (2017b). Online Retailing UK 2017 [online]. Mintel. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/display/796701/ [Accessed: 13 November 2017].

Mintel. (2017c). UK: Asos introduces try before you buy [online]. Mintel. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/display/ id=864981?highlight [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Mintel. (2016a). Fashion: Technology and Innovation - UK - September 2016. [online]. Mintel. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/display/788845/?highlight [Accessed 23 Nov. 2017].

Mintel. (2016b). Mobile Devise Apps – UK – October 2016 [online]. Mintel. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/display/796703/?highlight#hit1 [Accessed: 09 November 2017].

Mintel. (2015). Mobile Phone and Tablet Apps-UK-October 2015 [online]. Available via: Mintel. [Accessed: 09 November 2017].

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12.0 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Primary Research Focus Group 58 Appendix 2: Primary Research Questionnaire 63 Appendix 3: Marketing Calendar 64 Appendix 4: Expanded PEST Analysis 65 Appendix 5: Primary Research Interview 67 Appendix 6: Gantt Chart 68 Appendix 7: Organisational Structure 69 Appendix 8: Meeting Minutes 70

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12.0 APPENDICES What sort of freebie would you like if it came with one?

Appendix 1: Full Focus Group transcript

K: Free month’s subscription

What would make you purchase a new app? Or maybe even an app you haven’t heard of before?

S: If it was for clothes then maybe a discount

G: If you get a freebie for downloading it

L: Yeah a discount code usually works for me, but a good discount not just 10% because everywhere does that now and its standard student discount too

S: If it was free C: Yeah if it was free L: Depends on reviews and stuff too and what I’ve heard from my friends, if they recommend something I will give it a go K: Yeah if it was free and if it was useful to me C: If there was maybe a promotional video on facebook or something to explain how it works K: Yeah that would be good that would probably get my interest too C: Just something short and visual L: Yeah I agree H: If it had good reviews and was free or low cost I would like to download it S: Also if it was a game I like to test out the game before I download it some adverts let you do that for a few minutes

G: Depends what the app is, maybe food? Free samples, or yeah a discount code for buying clothes What’s the most recent app you downloaded and why/what made you download it?

G: It was Nottingham Cars and I heard it was cheaper than uber so that’s why S: Nottingham cars, I was the one that told Gemma too! Its easier than using cash and again cheaper than uber L: Gluten Free Scanner because ive recently become Gluten Free!

K: Boohoo so I can shop online because I buy a lot from them and someone told me it was a good app H: Boost juice app, I’m a dedicated customer and they have changed their points system to an app instead of a card C: Blog Lovin’ so I can read blogs I like in the same place rather than visiting separate websites K: I also downloaded picture collage it had really good reviews and was at the top of the search page

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12.0 APPENDICES What fashion apps do you have on your phone, what’s your favourite, why and how often do you use it?

How often do you shop online? And do you/have you ever shopped on mobile?

L: I don’t have any, I used to have ASOS but I struggle for storage on my phone so it’s the first to go

G: Probably every week, and I mainly buy stuff on my phone

S: I actually don’t have any now I’m thinking about it

K: I browse a couple of times a week online but only buy about twice a month, yes I do mainly shop on my mobile too.

C: I don’t have any either because of storage but I do have business of fashion which I use a few times a month

S: I prefer to buy online but sometimes browse on my phone if my laptop isn’t with me or I’m scrolling through emails.

K: I have Boohoo, ASOS and River Island, ASOS is definitely my favourite and I use it a lot because I have premium delivery and it has a variety of brands to shop from. I probably look at it a few times a week

H: Whenever I buy from ASOS I use the app as I find Apple Pay bit so quickly.

I generally only buy online from ASOS as well because I find clothes better quality, I only shop every 2 weeks on average, but I do return a lot!

G: I don’t have any either I just search on the internet from the retailer I want to buy clothes from – apps would fill up my phone it would be a nightmare - I need more storage!

K: I don’t shop on my laptop only really on my phone or through apps, only really in the last year though since I got my new phone upgrade I just use it for everything now

H: ASOS, Topshop, Zara, Boohoo, Pull & Bear, New Look, Vestiaire Collection – I only use ASOS a lot through the others are just on my phone and I actually find their app easier than looking through the website.

S: I browse every week but only really buy online once a month but I don’t have a job so that’s definitely why!

G: Actually I have used Boohoo before when I was on placement last year, but I deleted it when I came back to uni because I would just buy loads its too tempting when its on my phone and I have no money K: Yeah I agree with you, the ASOS app is definitely easier to use than the website.

C: I never shop on mobile because I find the screen too small! I only really shop on my laptop but I don’t buy that much probably once or twice a month – depends on what’s going on L: I browse pretty much every day and probably buy something 2-3 times a month, mainly on my laptop but like Han said I use ASOS app because of apple pay.

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12.0 APPENDICES What top 3 retailers do you shop with regularly?

S: Miss Guided, New Look, Boohoo C: Topshop, Zara, River Island G: Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, New Look L: ASOS, Zara, Topshop K: ASOS, River Island, New Look H: ASOS, Zara, Boohoo Do you usually buy whole outfits or individual items?

S: Individual items – cheaper and already have things for items to go with L: Yeah, Individual items only really G: Full outfits because it’s easier than trying to match things K: Individual items mostly because I already have something for it to go with, but if I’m going to a special occasion or have a birthday coming up or something I will buy a whole outfit H: For a night out I’ll buy a whole outfit but for casual/work wear i’ll buy individual items C: Individual items because it’s unlikely i’ll find a whole outfit that I like from one shop, so I don’t usually try and just buy random things

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12.0APPENDICES Appendix: Transcript of branding/logo/ app design pilot focus group Suggestions were taken on board and relevant adaptations were made before publishing th An informal focus group was conducted to get feedback on pilot logo, the following logos were presented to a group consisting of 4 females and 2 males aged 18-23 currently attending Nottingham Trent University.

The App Idea So our idea is to create an app, which acts as your mobile wardrobe, you can upload photos of your own clothes and store them in categories also building outfits you like and saving them in a Pinterest style fashion. You then can also shop on all your favourite retailers on our app piecing together entirely new outfits or just one top to match those trousers you always wear on a night out. You can add as many items from as many retailers as you want and then click buy now and buy them all in one go on a universal checkout system, without having to shop on individual websites. You can also link it to your calendar, so if Emma’s 21st is next weekend the app will remind you of the event and ask you if you have an outfit planned? You can also build boards a bit like Spotify for moods such as rainy day, festival, date night etc so you have outfits you may have forgotten about ready to go! Or purchase an extra item for to jazz it up! - so this is our idea what’s your initial thoughts and would you purchase this app? (It’s free too!)

K: I would deffo purchase it, it would help me create outfits from items I want to buy and clothes already in my wardrobe, plus the reminder feature is great so I don’t forget to plan/buy outfits for events, also love that you can buy from more than one retailer at a time in one transaction.

G: Yeah that sounds really good! It would be a lot easier having all the online stores in one place rather than having to switch apps. Plus it would probably remind me to actually buy them because I always just put stuff in my wishlist and forget to buy them C: I like that you can add existing items if you wardrobe so you can build outfits with a combination of what you already own and new stuff, probably would mainly use it for a special occasion or if I was buying a whole outfit for a specific reason because of being able to build outfits from different brands L: Yeah sounds fab would deffo download it just depends if it takes up too much space if you’re storing things on it, nice for Inspo ideas too K: Also love that you can download one app and shop from so many retailers, saves having to download each individual retailer app so saves storage H: I love the idea of a universal checkout - allows you to keep track of how much you are spending!

S: Yeah I agree, I like the pinterest-y style idea too!

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12.0APPENDICES Logo – please let me know which logo you prefer and why?

K: Circle with black background, it’s simple but also stands out C: Any of the bottom ones L: Bottom Right, I like it’s genderless too with the colours and style G: Middle bottom H: I like them all but probably middle right S: Bottom right too! Love that one App design – do you like it is there anything you could change about it or have any suggestions on?

K: I like that it looks really modern and stylish, love the colour scheme and its quite minimalistic which is good so its not too much or in your face – I also like that you’ve designed more than one screen so you can see what it does a lot clearer.

L: Love the design really nice and minimalistic, only thing is it this targeted at men and women because the pink makes it very feminine.

C: Yeah the pink is quite feminine so might put any guys off using it but I really like the layout too.

S: Yeah I completely agree, really like the design though it’s not too much but its clear what the design would be.

G: If you’re aiming just at girls definitely keep it as it is because yeah I agree and I really like it but the colours may put guys off I agree.

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12.0APPENDICES Appendix 2: Primary Research Questionnaire Additonal Questions

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12.0 APPENDICES Appendix 3: Marketing Calendar

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Appendix 4: Extended PEST Analysis

POLITICAL

ECONOMICAL

Brexit

Bearne (2016:online) states that the UK online retailers that Pocket Stylist aim to work with, will gain more freedom within their supply chain. The retailers will be able to buy from cheaper markets, in turn creating more profit for the businesses. In turn, a possible effect of this is cheaper products making them more desirable for Pocket Stylists customers. Resulting in higher sales through the app.

A factor that will affect the global launch of Pocket Stylist in the future is that when the UK leaves the EU, app developers will have to individually register for VAT and copyright in each member state (Ismail, 2017:online).

Intellectual Property

To obtain trademarks, to protect the app name and logo, copyrights to protect the design, content and coding of the app, and also patents to ensure Pocket Stylist’s newly developed processes are not used by competitors (George, 2017:online).

Non Disclosure Agreement

According to Shembekar (2016:online) the technology based world is very competitive. Precautions need to be undertaken to protect ideas from third parties. An non disclosure agreement will therefore have to be signed by the app developers Pocket Stylist works with.

Permission Marketing

The concept of permission marketing is the idea that people will give their permission to allow the marketer to educate them on its products (Kavassalis et al, 2014:56). Pocket Stylist will ask each customer to be able to store their personal details, as well as collect information of their shopping habits. Under the GOV. UK Marketing and Advertising Laws (2017:online) it states that when you collect customer details, you must get their permission if you want to send them other offers or promotions. You must also ask for their permission if you want to share their information with another organisation. This will be undertaken in order to sell customers information to other companies to make revenue.

Cost of App Development

The cost of setting up an app differs depending on the time it takes to develop and the cost of the hourly rate. In order to save on hourly rates cost the app will be developed by a freelancer, as this is a highly affordable option Due to IOS apps being cheaper and quicker to set up than Android (Codementor, 2017), the app will initially be optimised for Apple products. Then if the demand is there it will become available for Android users.

The Return Culture

Half of online shoppers return fashion items that were bought online, rising to 56% of female online shoppers. However, 52% of female 25-44s are interested in style advisers (Mintel, 2017), such as the feature that Pocket Stylist offers, that recommends products based on their previous purchase behaviour.

Pocket Stylist would not issue the returns themselves, so therefore there would be no cost lost in the process, should a customer return. However, to ensure that the recommendations feature is accurate, the retailer would send a notification to the app, informing of any products that were returned.

Cost of Shipping

Pocket Stylist does not deal with the cost or the logistics of shipping, instead it notifies the retailer and forwards the payment that is required for shipping.

Eventually the app aims to offer a one off fee for the customers to receive free delivery for a year. Once well established, research will be undertaken to see if it is cost effective.

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12.0APPENDICES SOCIAL

TECHNOLOGICAL

Lifestyle

‘The UK population is now 65.1 million, with 92.6% of the population actively using the internet.’ (Think Digital First, 2017) The lifestyle of the UK population in general has changed dramatically over the last 5 years with the use of the internet daily.

‘One quarter of Millennials look at their phone more than 100+ times a day, and 25% of Millennials spend more than 5 hours on their smartphone each day’ (B2X Care Solutions GmbH, 2017) This change in lifestyle over the last few years with a growing ‘obsession’ over mobile and mobile technology, is key to the lifestyle of a Pocket Stylists target customer. Instead of having a physical wardrobe while not have a mobile one that can be accessed at any time anywhere.

Social Media is also a large factor in this with 80% of time spent on Social Media happens via mobile. (Think Digital First, 2017) The target customer is typically someone who use their phone constantly and are very active on social media. The app needs to consider its links with social media encouraging outfit sharing and therefore further brand awareness.

Time is an important factor to consider within the busy target customer’s lifestyle, whether they have time to consider and plan outfits by taking pictures of their initial wardrobe and search for a new one. The app aims to be easy to use and time efficient, with the purpose for customers that are fashion forward and like to outfit plan.

Cross cultural communications

Logo and App design needs to be culturally considered through colours, images and symbols having various meanings in different cultures. The name ‘Pocket Stylist’ translated also cannot be something offensive in a different language.

Although pocket stylist is only going to be launched initially in the UK, if expansion to an international market opened up, the universal checkout system would need to be analysed though the conversions of different currency if ordering from multiple countries retailers.

Digital

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One of the most prominent tech trend is the rise of mobile and mobile payments.There is a positive growth prediction within the mobile app expenditure and in app purchases (Mintel, 2017) Pocket Stylist will benefit from this as the app suggests clothing options and encourages consumers to make purchases on the go.

New technologies Existing innovative technologies such as RFID and NFC have recently launched within some brand apparel offerings- primarily Janella. Pocket stylist is unable to offer technology of this sort currently due to heavy investment required. However this could be an opportunity that can be adapted within the 3/ 5 year goal.

QR codes and NFC could be of benefit to Pocket Stylist, as it would allow the ability to scan new and existing items more efficiently.

Wearable tech rise is also a positive for Pocket Stylist- as new technology is innovated pocket stylist can expand and adapt its services to be available across different platforms.

Artificial intelligence The rise of augmented reality and artificial intelligence and interactive retail in tech isn’t quite as big within apparel business at the moment but it could be over the next few years.

Emergence of visual showroom and augmented try on service would support the app, as the app might be able to incorporate virtual try-before-you-buy service features that would eliminate the rate of returns.

Social Media Technology readily available within social media such as shoppable instagram launched in 2016 (O’Reilly, 2016) could be a potential threat for the business, although instragram wouldn’t provide all features of Pocket Stylist, it could compete with the app within the checkout aspect.

Delivery Speedy delivery service offerings such as Amazon lockers, same day delivery could be another potential threat to the business. Pocket Stylist will need to ensure compatible partnership with retailers who are currently or will eventually be able to provide services such as this in order for the business to maintain agility and the ability to act quickly in this speedy demand environment.

12.0APPENDICES Appendix 5: Primary Research Interview Phone Interview with Jacqueline Kruger - Senior IT Project Manager at Middlesex University You recently project managed a new app for Middlesex university, how did this come about?

When looking at other universities we were one of the only universities in the UK still not to have an app for our students which will have their timetable, emails, maps and lots of other features so we felt it was time to develop one.

Is anyone on your team specialist in app development or did you need to hire someone to do this work on the apps development?

We have a few people specialising in areas of development but not the development itself. We actually purchased an app template online and then developed it from there with our own designs.

From a critical path point of view, from the original designs of the app through to its publishing, how long did it take to develop?

It took about 5 months, but we are still developing it now tailoring it to the students needs, as and when they need them for different things.

How does the development of the app work, once the app has been created are their any regulations or testing procedures you need to go through before publishing?

Our developer used something called a hockeyapp. He used this to test the app once the creation was complete, this allowed him to test it as many times as he wanted on different mobile devices of android and apple because they show up differently on different devices and also on different screen sizes too. After that we had to make some changes because we had quite a few problems flag up here, this took a few weeks and then we had to submit it to the apple and Google stores. Google was quite easy and only took a few days but Apple are a lot stricter. They took a few weeks to confirm that the app fit their regulations and they have a long list of requirements it has to fit including categories for the store and where it would sit against other apps. Both stores are really good though because once it’s been confirmed you can publish your app for one day or pay for more than one day if you need it to test the app one last time and we also used this to get some feedback from some students. The app then went live a few weeks before term started so we could check for any problems and make sure it was all working well before the students returned and downloaded it in freshers week.

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12.0APPENDICES Appendix 6: Gantt Chart

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12.0APPENDICES

Appendix 7: Organisational structure

Babita Pun Sales Executive

Babita has had previous experience within sales and merchandising at Li & Fung and The Bridge co.

She will be the internal sales lead at Pocket Stylist responsible for maintaining correspondence, negotiating sales fees and ad revenues with respective clients. She will also be in charge of communicating with the sales channels representatives ensuring weekly reports are tracked and finances are in line.

Babita will also be the go-to team member for allocating budgets various projects and marketing campaigns that will be running throughout the calendar year.

Chloe Grainger Client

Chloe has had previous experience in both head office and retail environments, including: George, Next and New Look. Work has been completed in buying, merchandising and sales team roles.

Chloe will be the leading client representative for Pocket Stylist. She will be handling queries from customers and placing their needs and satisfaction at the forefront of every decision.

Chloe will also be working alongside Babita in handling retail clients when negotiating and forming mutually beneficial work partnerships.

Lauren Bland Marketing Executive

Lauren’s background is in the PR and Marketing sector where she was an integral part of the team at L.K.Bennett, landing compelling press coverage across print and online publications.

Using her contacts in the industry she shall secure the placement in Glamour magazine that coincides with the launch. Lauren shall also direct the influencer out reach programme, focusing on influencers who best represent the mentality that Pocket Stylist users possess fashion-forward young women.

Jemma is the specialist in social media having run two brands social media platforms, posting daily whilst on placement at Storksak and Babymel. She ran monthly competitions, worked with many brand partnerships including Mumsnet, Mothercare and worked to communicate with up to 20 bloggers a week. She ran advertising campaigns through social media using google adwords and Facebook business manager to target advertisements to the correct target audience.

She will specialise in targeting Pocket Stylist’s target audience through their own social media channels building up their loyal followers through other brands such as Glamour, who Pocket Stylist will launch with, and also the use of bloggers using the app communicating to their fans.

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12.0APPENDICES Appendix 8: Meeting Minutes

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