Topshop

PLACE

Topshop is a multinational corporation that operates 620 stores located in over 40 countries (Arcadia, 2020). Topshop stores are located in most cities globally, which provides convenience for their consumers as they can access Topshop garments with ease. The brands iconic flagship store is situated on London’s Oxford Street and attracts 400,000 customers every week (Arcadia, 2020). Topshop has also adopted a hybrid approach by offer their products in both their own stores as well as in concessions in department stores such as Selfridges. This is an advantage for Topshop as they do not need to spend money building physical stores but are able to target more customers. Alongside this, Topshop offers an effective online presence through its e-commerce platforms and its website and app. The Topshop.com website enables for shipping to over 110 countries worldwide. This effective delivery service provides accessibility for those customers that cannot reach a physical store. Overall, Topshop’s physical and digital presence enables the company to penetrate the global market by engaging with their target market and subsequently encouraging them to purchase.

The affordability of Topshop’s mass market products is due to the fact the brand uses a horizontal integration strategy (appendix j). This outsources production to factories located in low income countries, with 75% of Topshop’s production located in “Turkey, China, Romania, Vietnam and India” (Arcadia, 2018). Due to outsourcing, Topshop experiences a reduction in the control over how the garments are actually made as they do not directly own the factories.

PROMOTION

Topshop operates a diverse promotional mix to “promote their... products and services” (Posner H, 2015, p172). Topshop’s Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategy, consists of advertising, sales promotion and public relations to engage with their consumer base. PR is vital as it creates brand awareness and promotes upcoming events. Topshop’s advertising strategy uses traditional communication mediums such as print media in editorial magazines and outside media like billboards to promote new collections as well as utilising celebrity endorsements to generate strong brand relationships. Perhaps the brands most famous collaboration was with supermodel Kate Moss, who’s collection was “an interesting exploitation of a star’s personality, style and aura of exclusivity into a regular” Topshop range (Arnold R, 2009, p82). The availabilty of student discount, alongside seasonal sales promotions and discounts is also vital to Topshop’s promotions as it provides incentives for purchase. Promotions rely heavily on “digital content-led marketing” (Baker R, 2013). Topshop has the largest social media presence compared with 70 other UK fashion retailers in 2017 (Stevens B, 2017) (appendix L) with 10.2 million followers on Instagram and “over 4.5 million weekly visits across mobile, tablet and desktop” (Arcadia, 2020). This is vital for Topshop’s promotions as “Instagram was found to be the biggest driver of social presence” (Stevens B, 2017) as it allows Topshop’s “products... to speak directly” to the consumers “individual needs” (The Business of Fashion, 2013). Topshop uses Instagram to share outfit ideas through the hashtag feature #TopshopStyle which has 411,525 posts. Social media has enabled Topshop to create a more “seamless shopping experience” by offering shoppable posts that link the products directly to the website (Drapers, 2018). Similarly, Topshop also uses direct marketing via emails to establish a direct link between themselves and the end consumer. Finally, Topshop relies upon their sales staff offering a Personal Shopping service that is “available free of charge” and is done “instore by appointment only” (Topshop, 2020). This enables customers to receive professional advice and styling tips, which adds a sense of exclusivity to what the high street retailer offers.