Fast Fashion and Social Media

The Fast Fashion Cycle and Social Media: An Investigation into how Facebook and Instagram Influence the Consumption of Fast Fashion from H&M and Zara.

Faith Mitchell Project Research DE0929 13002623 BA (Hons) Fashion Communication Northumbria University

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Contents Page 4| Introduction Page 6| Methodology Page 8| Chapter One: The Fast Fashion Cycle Page 14| Chapter Two: Fast Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Social Media Usage.

Page 20| Chapter Three: The Global Fast Fashion Leaders- H&M and Zara.

Page 26| Chapter Four: How Does Social Media Increase Consumption from Fast Fashion Retailers?

Page 32| Chapter Five: Conclusion Page 34| Biblography Page 40| Image References

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“The strength of fast fashion is that the clothes look like much more high end clothing�-Lee Barron, 2015.

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Introduction “An important element of social media, because it is so visual, is the clothes

people are wearing and where are they buying those clothes from,” Lee Barron, 2015, “the strength of fast fashion is that the clothes look like much more high end clothing, which satisfies the need for fashion, but at the same time gives a playful, aspirational quality to the clothing lines.”

In recent years fast fashion has grew in popularity due to affordability and the desire for high fashion clothing. New trends have shorter life-cycles, and consumers want to spend less on clothing with a short life-cycle. the main selling point of fast fashion is that it makes the latest trends available to everyone at a reduced price point (Kalinin, D. 2013.)

Two of the biggest fast fashion retailers, Zara and H&M have seen sales continue to rise in recent years, with the desire for low cost clothing that mimics high end designs continuing to increase. Social media usage also continues to rise, as of January 2014, 74% of online adults use social networking sites (Pew Research Centre, 2015.)

This research document will look into the fast fashion production cycle; why the fashion cycle has evolved to meet the needs of consumers and how retailers ensure stock gets into stores on time. Focusing on females, this document will also look into fast fashion consumer behaviours, both in-store and their social media presence and how Instagram and Facebook influence the consumption of fashion from Zara and H&M. -5-

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Methodology Both primary and secondary research have been undertaken in order to create a thorough and detailed study of the fast fashion production cycle and how Facebook and Instagram influence the consumption of fast fashion from H&M and Zara.

Primary research includes an interview with Dr Lee Barron, a professor with experience researching the fast fashion cycle and social media. An online survey was also carried out between 100 women aged 16-35 to find out about their shopping and social media habits. A focus group was conducted between three females aged 19-25 in order to gain further insight into their social media habits and their consumption of fashion.

Secondary research was conducted through examination of academic books and journals covering the topic of the fast fashion cycle, social media and buyer behaviour such as “Buyer Behaviour for Fast Fashion� by Margret Bruce and Lucy Daly. Online reports from Mintel were also analysed, as were articles from websites such as Vogue, Forbes and Business of Fashion.

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“The reality that is now gradually being accepted both by those who work in the industry and those who study it, is that the demand for fashion products cannot be forecast,� -Lowson, C. et al. (2004).

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Chapter One: The Fast Fashion Cycle

Fast fashion has been defined by Byun and Sternquist (2008) as a “marketing

approach to respond to the latest trends by turning the inventory at a rapid rate.” The fast fashion model evolved from a product driven concept referred to as “quick response” which was developed in the U.S in the 1980’s (Lowson, B. et al 1999). The fast fashion model has had its name since the 1990’s and builds on the idea of quick response (QR). The business model consists of four main characteristics: quick lead times, changing product assortment, short product lifecycle and product design fits the markets needs (Choi, T. 2014). Barnes, L. & Greenwood, L. (2010, p 761) described fast fashion as “a business strategy which aims to reduce the processes involved in the buying cycle and lead times for getting new fashion product into stores, in order to satisfy consumer demand at its peak.”

The traditional buying cycle is based on long-term forecasts for the four main seasons, these are often predicted over a year in advance, with orders being placed up to 6 months prior to the product launch (Birtwistle, G. et al. 2003.)

These long lead times can often lead to inaccurate sales forecasts and a high percentage of marked down stock. “The reality that is now gradually being accepted both by those who work in the industry and those who study it, is that the demand for fashion products cannot be forecast,” Lowson, C. et al. (2004).

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“In extreme cases, typified by the successful fashion retailer Zara, there might be twenty seasons in a year,” -Christopher, M. et al. (2004).

Consumer demand has changed, which has made the fashion market highly competitive, consumers have a constant need for new products and the latest fashion trends. (Lowson, C. et al. 2004). This need for a constant refresh of products has lead to many retailers extending “seasons” (Christopher, M. et al.

2004.) “In extreme cases, typified by the successful fashion retailer Zara, there might be twenty seasons in a year,” Christopher, M. et al. (2004).

Fashion consumers are spending a smaller amount of their income on fashion but they are buying products more frequently and in larger quantities (Hansson, M. 2012). This new buyer behaviour was explained in an interview conducted with Dr Lee Barron (2015) (see appendix 2) “[Fast fashion] is disposable, but it is fashionable and it is reasonable in terms of price. Some of the clothing looks like much more high end clothing, which satisfies the need for fashion and that aspiration is a really important aspect of the clothing lines.” It is no longer enough for retailers to compete on price alone; being able to deliver what the customers want, quickly and efficiently is what makes the fast fashion retailers stand out (Hansom, M. 2012.)

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Due to these changes, the relationship between retailers and suppliers has to be close, with suppliers understanding the importance of changes and the ability to get trends into store and available to the consumer quickly (Bruce & Daly, 2006.) Retailers are using production lines with shorter shipping times to ensure products get into store quickly; whilst goods from China have a shipping time of up to 22 days, goods from Turkey, Europe and India can take just 5 days (Joy, A. et al. 2012). Zara, who once manufactured all their goods in Europe, now outsource at least 13 percent of their manufacturing to China and Turkey in order to keep costs down (Joy, A. et al. 2012.)

“Effective supply chain management is a key factor in the fast fashion business model” Hansson, M. 2012. Fast fashion retailers keep costs down by ordering smaller batches of product, which is presented “floor ready” on hangers and with labels attached, and rely on supply chain strategies to respond to consumer demand quickly and get the product into store before demand falls (Bruce & Daly, 2006.)

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Image one: Agile supply chain system Martin, C. (1999)

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There are two main types of supply chain strategies, Quick response and Agile; quick response uses advanced IT systems and flexible manufacturing to ensure the right goods are in the right place, at the right time. This helps to eliminate inefficiencies from the supply chain (Hansson, M. 2012.) Due to the use of advanced IT, retailers are informed of changes and shortages in stock immediately, allowing them to make quick decisions based on this. They can use the IT systems to make orders instantly, in turn shortening the lead time- as there is no need to speak with the supplier as the order is already on the system and all the information is sent automatically (Hansson, M. 2012.)

Agile chains (image one,) are flexible, short and demand driven (Hansson, M. 2012). These chains are driven by information shared between companies in the supply chain, the visibility of this information throughout the supply chain allows the supplier to be extremely responsive. For example, point-of-sale data is shared, which is used throughout the chain for immediate ordering and replacement of products (Barnes & Lea-Greenwood, 2006.)

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“Fast fashion enables consumers to play with an aspirational image in a way that doesn’t necessitate a huge investment but also has that disposability,”- Dr Lee Barron, 2015

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Chapter Two: Fast Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Social Media Usage.

The primary consumers of fast fashion, as described by Dr Lee Barron (2015) are; “certainly that younger generation and slightly older, simply because of

affordability.” This could be classified as Generation Y, however the ages of Generation Y range from 16-36. The primary consumers are likely to be the younger people from generation Y, ranging from ages 16-25, because of affordability. The main selling point of fast fashion is that it makes the latest trends available to everyone (Kalinin, D. 2013,) and that it is cheap and disposable, because of the quick turnaround of fashion seasons, consumers no longer want to spend money on a product with a short life cycle (Hansson, M. 2012.) Fast fashion appeals to the aspirational younger generation, “Younger people want to be fashionable and they’re dreaming of the day in which they can effortlessly wear Marc Jacobs, DKNY and Donna Karan but they’re not, they’re yet too. However, fast fashion enables them to play with that image in a way that doesn’t necessitate a huge investment but also has that disposability,” Dr Lee Barron (2015).

For the Youth Fashion (2014) report, Mintel asked 942 consumers aged 15-24 where they had bought clothes from in the last 12 months. Fast fashion retailers were featured heavily on the list; 57% of respondents answered Primark, 33% answered H&M and 13% answered Zara, although Zara’s number does not include online sales, for which there was no information given.

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An online questionnaire (see appendix 3) was answered by 100 females aged 16-35 (full results can be found in appendix 4,) all of them stated that they used Facebook and 79% said they used Instagram (Image two.) 70% of those women shopped at Primark, 60% at H&M and 43% bought clothes at Zara. When asked why they bought clothing at these retailers, 84% said they shopped at these stores due to the design of the clothing, 77% said that price influenced them to shop there and half said it was the quality of the clothing. These results suggest that the design of the clothing may be just important as the price for consumers, something that fast fashion retailers excel at; Zara mimic high end designs at a low price and can get the designs into store in two weeks (Badia, E. 2009.)

Instagram has over 400 million users, with 80 million photos uploaded daily, and 3.5 billion “likes� generated daily (Instagram, 2015.) The are 1.4 billion Facebook users, generating a total of 4.5 billion likes daily (Pew Research Centre, 2015.)

The Youth Fashion (2014) report showed that young people are more inclined to use social media networks than any other age group. This is particularly the case when it comes to fashion, with a 43% of 15-24-year-olds using Instagram for engaging with fashion brands, the highest out of any other social media platform.

Although Facebook is the most used social networking site overall; with 42% of respondents aged 15-24 agreeing it is the site they use most, young people are increasingly using Instagram and Twitter to engage with brands for a specific purpose. For example, to interact with brands and tell them that they like adverts and campaigns (Mintel, Youth Fashion. 2014.)

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Image Two: Results of an online questionnaire answered by 100 women regarding which social media sites they use.

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[

50%

of women thought that social media influenced the way they purchased fashion

]

Females are more likely to use Facebook and Instagram to interact with brands than males, with 29% using Instagram and 49% using Facebook, with four in ten females likely to use social media for style advice or inspiration, it is the most popular way for females to interact with fashion brands (Mintel, Youth Fashion.

2014.) 39% of females use social media to interact with brands for style advice or inspiration. Respondent #62 (see appendix 5,) from the online questionnaire stated “If they [brands] show an image with a nice product I might be tempted to buy it if I like it.”

In an online questionnaire conducted (see appendix 4,) over half of the respondents answered that they followed the brands they purchase clothing from on social media, with 50% saying they thought social media influenced the way they purchased fashion. Respondent #47 (see appendix 5,) stated “If it [an item] is trending or being worn on social media, I am more likely to buy or try it,” when asked how social media influences her shopping habits, with respondent #57 (see appendix 5,) stating “I sometimes like what someone I follow on Instagram is wearing for example and then they would say where they bought it from.”

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[

39%

of women use social media for style advice or inspiration

]

In a focus group conducted with three females aged 19, 21 and 25 (see appendix 6,) all participants stated that they used social media sites regularly, particularly to look at fashion from different celebrities, bloggers and post pictures. Rachel, a 25 year old participant in the focus group, who does not follow clothing brands on social media, stated “I usually just buy what I like, however, maybe [social media] it does influence me without me even realising, because I follow celebrities on social media it could influence me subconsciously.” Kate, a 21 year old participant in the focus group, who follows brands on social media, stated, “If I see someone wearing something, or if they go shopping and post a photo and I like it, I’ll go buy it.”

These findings suggests women are consuming fashion constantly, even if they do not realise, due to the proliferation of images on their ‘feeds.’ Other factors that possibly influence women to purchase include seeing items purchased by others on their social media feed, brands posting images of clothing, clothing being worn by celebrities or items that copy catwalk trends.

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21st

-H&M’s ranking on the Interbrand list of best global brands 2015

30th

-Zara’s ranking on the Interbrand list of best global brands 2015

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Chapter Three: The Global Fast Fashion LeadersH&M and Zara.

Two of the biggest global fast fashion retailers are H&M and Zara; both of which have grew dramatically through their dominance of the fast fashion world (Kalinin, D. 2013.) Both of these retailers continually appear on the list of best global brands by Interbrand. In 2015, H&M placed 21st with Zara coming in at 30th and being awarded the “Top Riser� award. They are surpassed only by two fashion retailers, Nike and Louis Vuitton; with the next fashion retailer within their price point being sports retailer, Adidas, at number 62 (Interbrand, 2015.) The placement in the Interbrand ranking combines financial performance, delivering on customer expectations and the strength a brand has to command a premium price or secure earnings for the company. These factors, compared aginst other companies in the list such as Apple and Louis Vuitton mirror the tremendous success of these fast fashion retailers (Kalinin, D. 2013.)

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Although very similar, H&M and Zara both employ very different advertising and marketing strategies. The self definition of Zara is, “Zara’s clothes are cheap, but they don’t look cheap,” (Barron, L. 2015) and that is what makes them appeal to so many consumers. Zara prides its self on having spent a minute budget on conventional advertising throughout its history (Tungate, M. 2004.) For Zara, their stores are their way of communicating and advertising, “[advertising] doesn’t bring any added value to our customers. We would rather concentrate on our offering in terms of design, prices, rapid turnaround of stock and the store experience. Thats why we have stores in the smartest locations and devote a lot of attention to facades, interiors and window displays. Our stores are our way of communicating” Carmen, press officer at Intidex, (Tungate, M. 2005) (image 3).

Despite the fact that Zara are elusive on the advertising front, they still exploit the use of free advertising on social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook.

Their Instagram page has 8.3 million followers, each image gets upwards of 30,000 likes, and their Facebook page has over 24 million likes (Business of Fashion, 2015.)

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Image Three: A Zara store exterior Zegbe, J. (2015)

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On the other hand, H&M are very different. “They are very visual, their minimalist, modernist style is offset by that really bold red fluorescent light that really stands out in a social landscape, especially if you go to a bustling, global cities” Lee Barron, 2015 (image four). H&M’s core values are “fashionable, exciting and accessible,” (Tungate, M. 2004) their use of guest designers and celebrities allows them to stand out (Barron, L. 2015) and also makes them popular with their target market, as consumers who purchase from H&M are most interested in celebrities (Mintel, Youth Fashion. 2014.) Designer collaborations allow their consumer to have a piece of designer clothing for a fraction of the price; ensuring their core values are still met. Their first celebrity collaboration was with Karl Lagerfeld in 2004, the collection sold out in minutes- showing the power of making high end clothing accessible (Cope, R. 2014.)

H&M has over 11.4 million followers on Instagram, 25 million ‘likes’ on Facebook and each Instagram post gathers upwards of 80,000 likes (Instagram, 30th December 2015.) According to social media management platform Sprinklr, H&M was the most engaging and most talked about brands out of Topshop, Zara and Forever 21 in 2015- in September alone it had 8.2million engagements (likes, shares and comments) (Ryan, J. 2015.)

Jenny Ryan, a senior product marketing manager at Sprinklr states that, “brands that have higher engagement levels tend to have higher overall brand awareness.”

H&M’s highly successful designer collaborations and innovative interactive social media campaigns help solidify the brands engagement (Moth, D. 2013.) A case study of the Alexander Wang X H&M collaboration by Crimson Hexagon found that the campaign generated 171,000 social media posts from April to December 2014 (Milnes, H. 2015.) Just before the premiere of the collaboration in November, 60% of H&M’s social media conversation was related to the collaboration (Milnes, H. 2015.)

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Image Four: A H&M store exterior.

Webber, A. (2015)

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“Social media gives a much more “user friendly” perception of what brands have to offer,” - Lee Barron, 2015.

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Chapter Four: How does social media influence the consumption of fashion from H&M and Zara?

As suggested by Jenny Ryan, retailers who have high engagement levels on

social media have higher brand awareness, which in turn increases sales (Moth, D. 2013.) Social media plays an important role in the consumption of fast fashion, retailers use social media, specifically Instagram and Facebook to reach out to consumers, with social media giving a much more “user friendly” perception of what the brands have to offer (Barron, L. 2015.) Fashion brands are using Instagram to incorporate into their fashion campaigns, with H&M sharing insider pictures of their Alexander Wang collaboration ahead of the official launch; and more recently announcing their collaboration with Balmain on Instagram (Business of Fashion, 2014.)

The unprecedented element of social media also means that consumers are spreading images themselves, “people will be using Facebook and Instagram to post their latest purchases, to show themselves wearing the clothes, even taking photos of the clothes in-store, just to say ‘wow check it out, this is new,’ so you have a much more diffused proliferation of images” Dr Lee Barron, (2015).

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This diffused proliferation of images means that the products are being spread at a wider and much more varied audience, for example; if you search for the hashtag ‘Zara’ on Instagram, it has been used in over 13.2 million posts (Instagram, 30th December 2015.) In comparison, the official Zara account has only posted 885 times (Instagram, 30th December 2015.) The use of hashtags has a positive effect on sales, with Kate, a 21 year old participant in the focus group (see appendix 6) stating, “the Zara [Instagram] account isn’t the best, it just shows images off the website, I mainly see clothing from Zara when friends buy things and post them online or when someone is wearing something and they use the hashtag.” The same goes for the H&M hashtag, when you search “HM” on Instagram, it has been used 4.1 million times in comparison to the official account only posting 1924 times (Instagram, 30th December 2015.)

The images consumers are spreading themselves means they are outsourcing opinions on their style to a wider audience than ever before, creating an almost instant feedback loop for retailers (Hendriks, V. 2015.) Consumers buy products, or see products in-store and post images on social media to show others and to gain feedback, the feedback they receive influences whether they will buy or return the item, suggesting that the customer journey exceeds way beyond purchasing in-store (Henriks, V. 2015.) Megan, a 19 year old participant in the focus group (see appendix 6,) stated, “I follow quite a lot of fashion bloggers and seeing them post photos, particularly on Instagram always makes me want to go and buy the things they’re wearing,” suggesting that those who post images of their clothing, influence what their followers purchase.

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[ [

7%

The amount Zara’s sales rose by in 2014

14%

The amount H&M’s sales rose by in 2014

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] ]

In the past 5 years social media has evolved; “it is unthinkable to imagine a media landscape without social media” Dr Lee Barron, (2015). Image heavy sites such as Instagram are particularly popular for use with fashion, due to the simple imagery, the trend for selfies and the filters that can be used (Mintel, Youth Fashion 2014.) The rise in the trend for taking selfies ensures that people are visually documenting everything, and becauseInstagram is so visual, an important element of the site, is the clothes that people are wearing, and where their clothes are from (Barron, L. 2015.) Megan, a participant in the focus group (see appendix 6,) stated, “with Instagram it’s all about the outfit and the pictures and thats why people use it- everyone loves seeing what people are wearing on a weekend, the whole point of going out is a new outfit and taking selfies with friends.”

This trend of people visually documenting and sharing every aspect of their lives, including fashion choices has led to-a number of women fearing being photographed in the same outfit twice (Hendriks, V. 2015.) This fear is particularly prevalent among the female millennial group, many of whom have adopted a ‘wear it once’ culture, with a third of women considering something as old after wearing it just three times (Green, C. 2015.) Out of 2000 women asked, one in seven blamed the effect of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for making them feel uncomfortable being seen in the same outfits more than once (Green, C. 2015.)

Kate, a 21 year old participant in the focus group (see appendix 6,) explained further, “Whenever I go out in a friendship group we always take selfies and ‘outfit’ pictures. You can’t wear the same outfit every time you go out, especially when your friends are all in new outfits getting photos and your wearing the same thing every week when photos are uploaded-its embarrassing.”

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This suggests that for most young girls, it is about fitting in with fellow peers on social media as much as it is about the fashion, they do not want to appear different to their friends, especially on social media when one of the main things to look at is the clothes they are wearing. This point was further emphasised by Rachel, a 25 year old participant in the focus group, “women care far too much about what people think and they don’t want people noticing and talking about them in a negative way.”

‘Tagaphobia’ as it has been nick-named (Henriks, V. 2015,) has ensured that fast fashion retailers such as H&M and Zara continue to profit from social media influence. Consumers are increasing the frequency at which they purchase fashion items to avoid being seen in the same outfit twice (Henricks, V. 2015.) The highend designs and cheap price points, as well as constantly refreshed stock means that fast fashion retailers H&M and Zara are experiencing considerable growth, with Zara sales rising by 7% (Schlossberg, M. 2015,) and H&M sales rising 14% in 2014 (Indvik, L. 2015.)

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Chapter Five: Conclusion

Fast fashion is a term given to low cost clothing collections that go from catwalk to store quickly and mimic high end fashion trends through highly developed supply chain management systems. The main consumers of fast fashion are the younger end of the millennials aged 16-25, due to affordability. Fast fashion allows them to indulge in high-end designs but at an entry level price point.

They shop from fast fashion retailers such as Primark, H&M and Zara and aside from price, it is the design and quality of clothing that influences them to shop there. Instagram and Facebook are the social media sites they use most often and they use Instagram primarily for style advice and inspiration because of the use of imagery.

Two of the biggest global fast fashion retailers, Zara and H&M both employ different advertising techniques. Zara rely on their store environment to sell their products, they invest heavily in the store interiors and window displays. Instead of concentrating on advertising, they focus on their product offering, perfecting design, prices and the rapid turnaround of stock; something that generates valuable social media advertising from consumers for the company. H&M on the other hand, do invest in advertising but it is their designer collaborations that generate a lot of advertising and social media engagement for the company. H&M use social media, particularly Instagram to launch collections, such as the Balmain collaboration which was announced recently via an Instagram video.

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The unprecedented element of social media has led to consumers spreading images themselves, and doing advertising for retailers. This diffused proliferation of images means that the fashion from retailers is advertised to a larger audience through the sharing nature of Instagram. People are constantly consuming fashion; they are taking images in store, documenting their own outfits and re-posting images from websites. The rise of the ‘selfie’ has also influenced this, because Instagram is so visual, an important element of the selfies is the clothes people are wearing and where they are buying the clothes from. This in turn has lead to women fearing being photographed in the same outfit twice, leading to more women shopping at fast fashion retailers, as the high-end design but cheap price point means they can afford to wear the item once and buy a new outfit for the next weekend. The rising profits of H&M and Zara and their high brand awareness on social media suggests that fast fashion and social media work together to influence consumers to continue purchasing into the fast fashion cycle.

Final word count excluding references and secondary research quotes - 3943 -33-

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