Oxfam Boutique Report

colour page A NEW BEGINNING: THE OXFAM BOUTIQUE EXPERIENCE

Hanna Fowler N0309716 Negotiated Project: Stage Two FASH30002 Word Count 5348 This project was a joint colloboration between myself and Amiee Littlefair. All the research was conducted together and the execution visuals were distributed between us both (See list of illustrations). All of the writing is my own work.

consumer engagement

the consumer

29

the the the the

32 34 36 40

7.1 why is it important?

7.2 using instagram #fiestagram case study 7.3 vault event

66 68 68 70

bargain hunter conscious club alternative bunch pick n mixers

64

introduction

7

why now?

10

the planning

42

the future

76

2.1 Fast Fashion 2.2 The Economy

13 15

5.1 the concept 5.2 the marketing goals 5.3 three step plan

44 45 45

8.1 consumer touchpoints 8.2 gauging success 8.3 conclusion

78 80 81

identifying the problems

17

the reinvention

46

the appendices

3.1 donations 3.2 where do they buy secondhand?

3.3 so, what's the problem?

19 20

48 49 52 62

see page 84 for full appendix contents

23

6.1 the logo 6.2 the sorting centre 6.3 the shop environment 6.4 the exchange

1

INTRODUCTION

When Charity shops were introduced in the UK in the 90’s, they dramatically changed the face of charity shopping, instead of rooting through jumble sales or car boots to find second hand goods, the charity shop offered a convenient go to shop on your local high-street. From a Mintel report from the 90’s they commented that Charity shops have been a ‘major beneficiary of the reduced stigma attached to buying second-hand goods, and especially clothes’ (Mintel, 1997 in Horne, S & Maddrell, 2002). They caused a retailing phenomenon, with the recession looming over the UK, charity shops prospered and consumers could buy what they needed for little money.

Figure 1: The Mail on Sunday newspaper article, 2013, own photograph

Introduction

Today there are over 9,000 stores across the UK; they have successfully expanded their presence on the high-street and offer an alternative shopping experience to traditional retail spaces. However, since their popularity in the 90’s, there seems to be a stigma attached to charity shopping amongst the younger audience. Instead of a place to source exciting one off pieces, many have commented that ‘charities have become our dumps’ (Cline, 2012).

This project will look at the current charity shop structure and its popularity with the 18-25 year old market. Research will be undertaken to look in to these negative connotations associated with charity shops and identity the key points that need to be addressed to maintain charity shops future on the high-street. From this research we will create an idea that can be implemented to improve their popularity with the 18-25 year old demographic which will help secure their future and relive them to their former glory.

More specifically, we will be focusing on the brand Oxfam, showing how they can implement changes within their Oxfam Boutique stores to attract the 18-25 market. From visiting an Oxfam sorting centre in Huddersfield we saw first-hand the work that goes in to the sorting process and also found key areas we feel need improving to ensure quality control and item selection (See Appendix 3).

Oxfam are one of the leading charities in the UK, with over 700 high street stores, they are more than a charity but a commercial business which rely on the profits they make to help tackle poverty. Their stores are a massive part of this, they raise tens of millions for the charity, so developing these stores to maximise their success is important.

Oxfam’s new boss, Mark Goldring was recently quoted in a newspaper interview saying, ‘I’m not a retail specialist, so I’m not going to get my hands dirty in designing how we set out our shops. But they are important…’ (Owen, 2013).

We believe we can help Oxfam from a retail and business perspective, where they lack in retail knowledge, we can offer this expertise to make them not only a great charity brand, but also a great fashion brand. In the interview, Goldring himself admitted it has been a tough year for the charity, with competition from online sellers and commercial companies offering to buy old clothes by the kilo, but he said Oxfam’s priority is ‘to get a better return on our existing shops.’ Our recommendation focuses on this; we are suggesting they improve the Boutique stores they already own to create a brand which is charitable, on trend and fun.

A detailed methodology regarding our research can be found in Appendix 1. 

2 why now?

Figure 2: Charity shop clutter, 2013, own photograph

The main aim of this project is to secure the future of charity shops on the British highstreet. We feel charity shops need to be addressed if they want to continue selling successfully. There have been many factors which have impacted the charity shop structure and appeal, as well as trends which are rising which make this project relevant now.

2.1 fast fashion Fast fashion changed the method of retailing; it broke away from seasonal selling and introduced new clothing to consumers constantly. It has been reported that Zara process over one million garments a day and since 2009 Forever 21 have been buying more than 100 million pieces of clothing a year (Cline, 2012). This change affected the way consumers buy their clothing, it opened up new possibilities and made buying items on a regular basis easier and cheaper. Instead of buying key items per season, consumers can now buy items weekly to add to their wardrobes.

The low prices of these fast fashion items changed the consumer mind set, from the book ‘Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion’ Cline commented that ‘…low price also signals to consumers that a product is disposable.

Low price and fast trends have made clothing throwaway items, allowing us to set aside such serious questions as How long will this last?

Or even Will I like it when I get home’ (2012).

Figure 3: Wardrobe of clothing, 2013, own photograph

These fast fashion outlets challenge the very concept of charity shopping; where most items are one offs or very limited stock.

Low value stores such as Primark and Supermarkets have become direct competitors to charity shops because of their low prices and wide choice of items available.

Not only has fast fashion widened the charity shop’s competitors but the nature of ‘fast fashion’ has allowed consumers to throwaway items a lot quicker than they used to. When consumers do get rid of these items they end up on charity shop racks which are ‘now filled with cheap fashion and budget basics we prefer’, Park went on to say that in his own experience ‘the good “finds” at charity thrift stores are getting fewer and farther between’ (Park in Cline, 2012). To encourage more consumers through charity shop’s doors changes need to be made which drive the consumer to use charity shops instead of the fast fashion route. As well as this considerations have to be made about the quality control in stores to ensure charity shops still have the items you want to discover.

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2.2 the economy Britain’s economy has remained uncertain in recent years; with the recession which once made the charity shop thrive resurface in 2009. Since then the economy has been trying to get stronger, however reports have been released that propose that the UK situation will still be fragile within 2013 and 2014 (Inman & Moulds, 2013). This could suggest that people will still need cheaper options when buying luxuries such as clothing, so a strong presence from the charity shop market will ensure they are at the forefront of consumers’ minds.

Figure 4: Annual Income for charity shops illustration, 2013, own creation

Improving the charity shops appeal will not only secure their current consumers interaction but it will expand their audience much wider. Not only is second hand shopping gaining popularity for older consumers for price reasons, but the younger market are shows signs of interest towards thrift shopping. But instead of buying in to this trend to save money, they are turning to second hand shopping for style and nostalgia. In a research document on the appeal of vintage shopping, ‘Individuality was listed as a prominent motivation for engagement in vintage clothing.

The scope for distinguishing themselves was seen to be far greater in alternative retail channels than what is found in mainstream fashion’ (Gladigau, 2008). There is an opportunity to target the younger demographic in charity shops as there is already a consumer base who love second hand shopping. This project will look to give the younger consumers more reason to enter charity shops and determine why they aren’t shopping there currently.

Figure 5: Wardrobe of clothing, 2013, own photograph

These economic changes have impacted many consumers shopping habits and in turn the charity shop had a revival in the 2012 period for shoppers who needed to save money for other necessities. This shows that although there are some negative connotations associated with charity shopping, the charity shops current consumer, who are mostly women over 45 (Mintel, 2010) are actively sourcing second hand clothing and using charity shops regularly.

3

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEMS

Figure 6: Charity shop perceptions moodboard, 2013, own photograph

Figure 7: Charity shop perceptions moodboard, 2013, own photograph

3.1 donations

For the start of this project we wanted to identify the problems consumers felt were most prevalent in the charity shops they have shopped in. We wanted to gain the perspective of our target consumer and hear their opinion on not only charity shops, but recycling, sustainability and whether they buy second hand clothing. There have been many attempts to revive the charity shop, for example in 2009 Mary Portas tried to turn the fortunes around of an under-performing Save the Children shop. Identifying what the 18-25 audience see as a problem was key to suggesting recommendations of how charity shops wecan improve not only for now but continue to keep improving long in to the future.

From our research, we found that although some consumers have negative connotations surrounding shopping in charity shops, the 18-34 demographic are actively donating to charity shops the most over other second hand channels, as seen in figure 8. In fact in our online questionnaire, 82% of 1835 year olds donate their clothing to charity shops, followed by friends and family with 50% and then Ebay with 37% (See Appendix 2). This result suggests that charity shops are still relevant to this consumer group as they opt to donate their clothing to charity first, rather than using another outlet.

From another study in 2002 conducted by Horne and Hibbert (Horne & Maddrell, 2002), they found similar results regarding how consumers dispose of clothing. The most popular method was again charity shops with 49.7% and similarly to our results the next popular destination was to friends and family. In their study in 2002, the other popular ways to dispose of clothing was through jumble sales, car boot sales and newspapers. Online sites such as Ebay were still in their infancy, whereas now they are well established and well known. But it seems although online platforms help consumers to sell more easily, not much has changed in the 12 years since the first study; charity shops are still the number one way to dispose of your unwanted clothing.

Figure 8: Where consumers donate their unwanted clothing, 2013, own creation

This was backed up further when we went on to ask consumers to number a list of priorities when getting rid of clothing, with one being the highest priority and three being the least. Instead of what we expected, that the younger consumers would list earning extra money as a top priority, this was in fact the opposite, with 43% of consumers listing this last and only 35% listing it as a top priority. Instead they chose getting rid of the items quickly (41%) and the ‘feel good factor’ (41%) donating gives them the highest. From this research, we concluded that consumers were happy to donate to charity shops; in fact it was their first point of call on their donating journey.

We thought that a solution that focused on getting people to donate to charity shops would not be worthwhile or beneficial to secure their future. Instead solutions need to be addressed to solve the negative connotations of shopping in charity shops.

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3.2 where do they buy secondhand?

Like previously mentioned, 89% of the consumer base we want to attract to charity shops are donating in stores regularly. However from the same questionnaire, only 24% buy second hand clothing from charity shops, as shown in figure 9. Instead they use other outlets such as vintage shops (57%) and Ebay (37%), 31% of respondents said they buy no second hand clothing and the rest was split between ASOS marketplace, Etsy and car boot sales.

Figure 10: Barnardos charity shop, 2012

It became apparent that most consumers did care about helping the environment as their attitude to recycling was positive, with one respondent saying ‘I am a firm believer in recycling clothing, after all, one girls trash is another girls treasure’ (See Appendix 2). Only 26% of people asked felt that recycling and helping the environment wasn’t an issue which affected them.

The findings we found were similar to that of Mike Barry’s views, who is the head of sustainable business at M&S. He believes that 20% of the population are hardened sceptics, and will not get involved with helping the environment, almost one in ten consumers fall in to the ‘hard-core category’ and are passionate about sustainability. The remaining 70% of the population are what he believes ‘what counts’, they care but need more encouragement to get involved (Barry in Balch, 2012). When thinking about our solution for charity shops, the focus will be on targeting that 70%, creating something where the consumer can see a benefit for them but done in a fun and easy way.

(Barry, 2012)

Figure 9: Where consumers buy second hand clothing, 2013, own creation

3.3 so, what's the problem?

With the attitude to recycling very positive, it left us then wanting to understand why consumers are still not buying from charity shops. We knew that most of the consumers we asked buy second hand, as only 31% said they would never buy a pre worn item; instead they were using other outlets to source second hand pieces. From the first questionnaire we gathered key information regarding where consumers shop but next we needed to know why they shopped there and not charity shops. To do this we asked consumers in a separate questionnaire (See appendix 5) to tell us one word they associate with charity shopping.

From this, there were key words which consumers kept repeating in regards to charity shops. Most of the words were negative and associated with the visual aesthetic of the shop environments. Words such as ‘bad smell’, ‘messy’, ‘dark’ and ‘jumble’ were the most popular and gave us the most insight in to why consumers don’t shop there.

When we interviewed different consumers asking the specific reasons why they do not use charity shops, one respondent went further to say ‘the smell just over powers everything. You also want to be able to see properly but most charity shops are very dark!’ (Bachir, See appendix 7c).

Figure 12: Negative views on charity shops, 2013, own creation

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Instead of remembering their experience in a positive way, consumers leave the shop with no intention of returning, with one respondent describing her experience at an Oxfam Boutique store as poor, ‘it was not set out very well so seemed crowded’ (Goudie, Appendix 7b). This then leads to bad word of mouth for the brand; as they go on to tell others of their bad experience which could influence potential customers to shop elsewhere. However, the same consumer commented that ‘Inviting window displays, brighter interior’ would influence her decision to shop in an Oxfam Boutique store. This highlights how the negative attitudes are related to the visual aesthetic of the shop environments, not the charity themselves, so changes can be easily made to entice these consumers in store.

Overall we found that charity shops were being perceived by consumers, and more specifically 18-25 year olds, a lot differently than what charity shops see themselves as in the market. The perceptions were mostly negative, with one consumer comparing charity shops to the same level as Primark (Jamieson, See appendix 7e). These negative connotations are being fuelled by the lack of in store creativity; with most consumers we asked believing that the in-store environment is a major deterrent to using charity shops.

In fact one consumer commented ‘it would take making the shop modern looking, fresh and light. Also good music and air freshener! The clothes may be the same but the shopping experience is just as important and this would entice customers…’ (Bachir, appendix 7c). We took note of these suggestions from our target consumer and hope to replicate these ideas within our executions to change the negative perceptions in to a positive one.

Figure 13: What consumers would change about charity shops, 2013, own creation

From our research we used our consumer insight to create a perceptual map of where charity shops are in the market against their competitors. As you can see in figure 14, for the axes we used whether the store has a positive or negative status with the consumer and whether the store uses creative visual merchandising or basic store layouts. With the competitors for charity shops now reaching out to value retailers, the market is a lot more penetrated, meaning consumers can choose to go elsewhere to find a bargain.

The negative attitudes we found towards charity shopping meant that charity shops were lower down on the map and other retailers where 18-25 year old shop were much higher such as H&M and TKMaxx. This negative status within the consumer mindset is not helped by the poor visual merchandising in store, which as previously mentioned is a major deterrent to shopping in charity shops.

Figure 14: Perceptual map of Oxfam Boutique in the market, 2013, own creation

We believe that there is an opportunity for Oxfam Boutique to be one of the first charity shops to expand their presence in the market and become a destination thought about by 18-25 year olds. While shops like H&M and TKMaxx offer cheap clothing, they are incomparable to charity shop’s unique, quirky and personal atmosphere, which is why improving their appeal will increase their consumer base further. The target consumer we want to attract are actively sourcing second hand pieces from vintage retailers, however many have commented how vintage shops are increasingly becoming too expensive, with one expert suggesting ‘Vintage clothing, like designer clothing, is in danger of becoming a rich person’s sport, forcing even well-made used clothing even further out of reach of the average consumer’ (Paben in Cline, 2012). Through our recommendations, we will propose that Oxfam Boutique can match the appeal of vintage shops and improve their image, giving consumers an alternative option to buying second hand clothes.

Figure 15: Polaroid of consumers, 2013, own creation

4 CONSUMER

Figure 16: Rails of clothing, 2013, own photograph

When looking at the current charity shop consumer, it became apparent that the older market had a greater interaction with charity shopping than the 18-25 market we want to target. The over 45 market are the key users of charity shops (Mintel, 2010) with a bias towards AB women who are more likely to donate items but while they are there look for quality vintage finds to take home. In fact, from the research we looked at it suggested that women were more keen consumers of charity shops over men, with one Mintel report estimating that only 36 per cent of men use charity shops whereas 60% of women use them (Mintel, 2010). This led us to decide that we should focus on targeting more women aged 18-25 as they will have a greater impact and can influence other woman to shop in store.

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the bargain hunters

Figure 17: ‘The Bargain Hunter’ consumer

The current consumer within this age demographic can be split up further regarding their attitude towards charity shopping. The ‘Bargain Hunters’ are older customers who use charity shops as more of a social destination on the high street, they go for the sense of community and interaction in store. Shields wrote ‘This social value of communication and interaction is a significant element of the charity shop’s offering’ (1992 in Horne & Maddrell, 2002). These customers value their local stores and are loyal customers, visiting often and contributing to the community by donating and shopping in store. Within this consumer group, there are also the mum bargain hunters, who in recent times have turned to charity shops to source cheaper clothing alternatives for themselves and their children.

This consumer group have been hit the hardest by the recession in recent years, so their charity shop visits are more purposeful, they want to find the items quickly and hassle free.

the conscious club We labelled another current consumer of charity shops as ‘The Conscious Club’. These consumers are actively engaging in charity in some way, whether it is through volunteering, shopping in store or donating old clothing. As previously mentioned, Barry commented that one in ten consumers fall in to the ‘hard-core category’ regarding sustainability and recycling, The Conscious Club are part of this category as they use charity shops as social hubs to express their views. They believe in doing the right thing, so are often encouraging others to get involved with charity or doing something extra for the community. For these consumers, the store environment is not as important as the actual act of ‘doing good’ for charity, so for our own project this consumer is not our target demographic to be focusing on.

Figure 18: ‘The Conscious Club’ consumer

The next two consumers are customers who we wish to target more effectively through our recommendations. These consumers are all in the 18-25 demographic, but are once again divided in terms of their shopping attitudes and lifestyles.

Figure 19: ‘The Alternative Bunch’ consumer

the alternative bunch These consumers use different retail outlets to add individuality and personality to their outfits. They don’t like to conform to everyone’s ‘normal’ so use charity shops to find unique, quirky items that they can add DIY elements to. A majority of this group are already using charity shops to source second hand pieces; however we feel through our executions more of this group will be influenced to shop in Oxfam Boutiques.

"When I got older, I would venture inside on my own and look for hours and hours...I was amazed" (georgia shipley, 2013)

Figure 21: Rogers curve of Innovation with consumer groups, own creation

We spoke to Georgia Shipley from the blog ‘For the love of thrift’ as she is a great ambassador for this consumer group, her attitude epitomises the lifestyle of the alternative shopper. She commented that ‘I like to shop in second hand shops because, you are sure to find something affordable and quite quirky and the price tag is a fraction of the cost of something from say Topshop!’ (Shipley, Appendix 6c). Through her own blog she writes about her vintage and charity shop finds, expressing her passion for charity shops, ‘When I got older, I would venture inside on my own and look for hours and hours as I was amazed at how cheap everything was.’

Looking at consumers like Georgia, we hope to attract more consumers like her to the newly improved Oxfam Boutiques. We believe ‘The Alternative bunch’ are the innovators of their age group, and hope to use these consumers to influence the habits of our next target consumer ‘The Pick n Mixers’. Using Rogers Curve of Innovation (figure 21), we believe that for Oxfam Boutiques to become a respected and fashionable destination, we first need to convince the innovators and early adopters of this, which in our case are ‘The Alternative bunch’. These consumers are more open to adaption and will lead the way for other consumer groups to follow.

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Figure 22: ‘The Pick n Mixer’ consumer

the pick n mixers Our last consumer we wish to target through our idea is the Pick n Mixers. These consumers are currently the most sceptical about shopping in charity shops; however most of this group are buying second hand clothing as our questionnaire showed that over 60% of 1825 year olds regularly buy pre worn items. These consumers like to mix high street brands with second hand pieces, mostly from vintage shops and online websites. The Pick n Mixers are the most fashion conscious; their shopping habits are constant as they like to buy new styles regularly. Because of this, they look for on trend styles for cheap, meaning Oxfam Boutique have an opportunity to develop their stores to reach the needs of this consumer.

5 THE PLANNING

Figure 23: The planning stages, 2013, own photograph

1 Sorting Centre 5.1 The concept

the idea is to reinvent the charity shop experience for younger audiences; turning the

in to nostalgic

5.2 marketing goals Increase the footfall of our target demographic (18-25) in to charity shops Increase the buying to recycling ratio in charity shops Improve the product selection in store

turn the

in to undiscovered treasures

and unwanted items in to vintage pieces waiting to be loved.

We want to change the perception of Oxfam Boutique and make them what their title suggests, a fashionable destination for people who want to look good and do good for the environment

We believe that change needs to start at the beginning, so focusing on the first point of call in the Oxfam journey is important. The sorting centre is where items get selected and work their way through the system and on to a shop floor. We believe changes can be made to improve the product selection in store and ensure product quality is its best, we hope to achieve this through a selection of trend documents available for the workers. We believe by focusing on this we will fulfil one of our marketing goals: to improve the product selection in store.

How will we achieve these goals?

We will achieve these goals through a three step plan proposed to Oxfam Boutique to ensure their future on the British highstreet. Our three step plan has three key areas within the Oxfam brand we want to develop and change, each of these key areas has a creative execution which will reiterate our main concept.

2 In-store environment The in-store environment was a key issue which are target consumers kept mentioning through our research. The store is the visual representation of the Oxfam brand; it is the first aspect the consumer sees in their shopping journey, so ensuring that it looks the best in key in changing perceptions and targeting the younger consumer. To improve the store, we have produced detailed floor plans and visual merchandising mock ups which aim to increase the footfall in store of 18-25 year olds.

3 consumer engagement The way the consumer interacts with the Oxfam brand is another factor we want to improve, more specifically with our two target consumer groups. Like previously mentioned, these consumer groups are actively donating to charity shops but a majority are still going elsewhere to buy second hand. We hope to increase the buying to recycling ratio of the 18-25 demographic and want to secure their engagement with the brand through an event idea that will influence them to shop in store.

a new beginning...

THE REINVENTION

Figure 24: Newspaper article, 2013, own photograph

6

For our logo, we wanted a clean, simple design that fit in to Oxfam’s brand image but still was visually striking and appealing to the younger audience. Our first inspiration was the fact we wanted to distinguish Oxfam Boutique to other Oxfam stores, as we believe a clearer differentiation will make the brand more attractive. This then led us to think about the design elements surrounding contrast and opposites as we found a lot of research about this visual trend; more information can be found on our layout inspiration mood board in appendix 9d.

For our design, we chose a bright purple colour, as this was on the opposite side of the colour spectrum wheel to Oxfam’s current green. We decided to add this different colour to separate the Boutique brand from the other stores, the contrast created through using the two colours is vivid and dynamic, so we felt many options could be explored by choosing the colour purple. We also decided to keep the logo very minimal by removing the Oxfam from the typography. We think the logo is strong enough and well recognised to standalone, it also makes the Boutique brand feel more of a fashion brand, rather than a charity, which is something which is key in targeting the 18-25 demographic.

To help guide the workers through this process more effectively, we have produced two trend documents which will improve the workers item selection and also ensure the Boutiques have quality, on trend stock.

Figure 25: Trend mood board, image taken from Trend Forecast, 2013, own creation

6.1 The logo

From our visit to the Oxfam sorting centre, we saw what a large production Oxfam run to maintain stock levels through their stores. Although efforts were made to consider popular styles and trends whilst sorting, this information was pinned up in one corner of the warehouse and seemed inaccessible to most of the workers during their shift.

We believe that the trend book will successfully improve the product selection, as workers will be able to easily flick through the book to see relevant trends (figure 26), key items (figure 27) and colour palettes.

Instead of lengthy pages of text written about the trends to look for, the trend book would be more of a visual representation, with selected annotations. Workers can view the document as a whole or view the contents page to skip to a specific trend, colour or item they want to find.

Alongside the trend book, a monthly email newsletter will be sent to the sorting centre which offers more up to date trends, as well as creating a conversation between Oxfam Boutique and the sorting centre workers (in figure 28).

The email is displayed in a poster style, so it can be printed and placed in important areas throughout the warehouse, including the staff rooms, offices and noticeboards. We found that there seemed to be a lack of communication between the external Oxfam brand and the sorting centre, so we feel that injecting more fun and personality through the communication will boost the workers morale.

The newsletter is an A-Z style trend watch, displayed in a visual way to make it quick to access. The email format means that information can be sent relatively cost free, which is an important issue for a charity brand in keeping down costs.

An expert in email marketing, Tink Taylor commented that it ‘offers a highly cost-effective, trackable and accountable way of communicating with prospects and customers’ (Taylor, 2011). Email gives you the platform to personalise your messages for your target audience and the fast turnaround time means you can react to current events quickly and efficiently. This is important for our trend newsletter, as we want to be able to react fast to upcoming trends or shifts in the market regarding what consumers want to buy.

Figure 26: ‘Urban Safari’ Trend, Key Colours, 2013, own creation

6.2 The Sorting Centre The trend book will be a twice yearly document in a written, visual format allowing the workers to view it more easily than a few posters pinned up on the walls. We decided on a twice yearly publication as we think six months would allow the time for clothes to get donated by the public and old trends begin to resurface, meaning old items can be reused to fit in with current trends. The trend book will feature a Spring/Summer issue and later in the year an Autumn/Winter version.

Figure 27: ‘Urban Safari’ Trend, Key Items, 2013, own creation

Figure 28: A-Z trend email

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From our research the in-store environments of charity shops were a major deterrent for our target consumers and would impact their decision to shop there. These bad opinions throughout our research such as ‘dark’ and ‘messy’ are not the image Oxfam Boutique want to portray to the public, so these connotations need to be addressed through visual solutions. As well as our target consumers finding the charity shop experience lacklustre, when we conducted a mystery shop at the Nottingham Oxfam Boutique, we found the visual merchandising and window displays lacking in creativity and influence that made us want to interact with the store and buy (See Appendix 4b). Although some effort was being made throughout to think about the aesthetic and show current trends they were poorly executed.

Our research suggested that the store environments were an important aspect to a shopping journey, this is supported in Paco Underhill’s book ‘Why we buy: the science of shopping’. He comments on this factor and writes about the importance of these environments for customers, especially women. He writes that shopping for women is a transforming experience so the environment they surround themselves in does affect their buying habits, he goes on to say ‘…this all means one patently obvious, overarching thing: women demand more of shopping environments than men do’ (Underhill, 2009). This is the reasoning behind the changes we have suggested, they all work towards providing a comfortable, stress free environment, hoping to increase consumer footfall and average time spent in store.

For these recommendations, we have used the Nottingham Oxfam Boutique store as our pilot. All of the suggestions we propose have been worked from the original floor plans, showing how a manageable and realistic effort to change the in store merchandising can be achieved.

photos before

Figure 31: Oxfam Boutique Shop Front, Nottingham, 2013, own photograph

Figure 29 & 30: Oxfam Boutique, Nottingham, 2013, own photographs

6.3 The shop environment

window displays The window display is an important aspect of the shopping experience, as it is the first way a retailer can communicate their brand message to the consumer. Many have commented that window displays are especially important in bricks-and-mortar stores as they act as a ‘silent salesman’ (Buttle, 1988; Lea-Greenwood, 1988 in Ti, 2009).

For Oxfam Boutique’s window displays we have decided to use clean, minimalist window designs as seen in figure 32. A graphic stitching effect will be used throughout the windows, as we believe this will be impactful to the consumer; they will be able to see through to the store and look at the newly designed merchandising inside. Over time the window illustrations can become more intricate and elaborate, for example for seasonal occasions such as Christmas or to mark the arrival of an important event, as seen later in our VAULT event launch.

Figure 32: Oxfam Boutique window shop front, 2013, created by myself

in-store floor plans For inside the store, we wanted to unclutter the space and open up the environment by using simple changes and display solutions which are low cost and easy to replicate in other Boutiques across the UK. From looking at the original floor plan (figure 33) you can see that the clothing was separated in to different categories, such as ‘High street’ and ‘Vintage’, however from speaking to one young charity shop consumer they noted that they preferred the clothes ‘to be in sections of what items they are such as all dresses together’ (Shipley, appendix 6c). We found the categories currently being used to be more confusing for the consumer to shop easily, whereas all the items in one place, as shown in the new floor plan in figure 34 makes it easier to navigate and find what you are looking for.

From the original floor plan, when the consumer enters the shop, they have no focal point to look at; instead they are met with open space and have to search for the first rail or visual merchandising to catch their eye. We wanted to change this as we found significant research around visual merchandising that speaks about the importance of focal points within shop spaces. In the book ‘Visual Merchandising: Windows and in-store displays for retail’ they state it is ‘important to comprehend that the first area of the store when entering is the prime selling space; this is why it is called the platinum space’ (Morgan, 2011). Taking this in to consideration we have added key focal points throughout the store to catch the consumer’s eye and keep them moving throughout the space.

Now when the consumer enters, they are met with the ‘new in’ rail, which is within zone 1 of the shop. This zone is the first area the consumer enters therefore generates the most footfall, so putting promotional items and new in rails here will attract the most attention and will hopefully result in increased profits. We have made sure that each zone has at least one focal point, this is to encourage customers to browse through zone 1 towards zone 3 as customers who remain longer have a higher chance that they will make a purchase (Morgan, 2011).

Figure 33: Original floor plan for Nottingham store, 2013

Figure 34: New floor plan for Oxfam Boutique, Nottingham, 2013, created by myself

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As well as ensuring the floor plan is clear and easy to navigate around, we wanted to add more visual elements around the store to make it feel like a ‘Boutique’. These details can be seen on the 3D floor model in figure 35. We wanted to mix homemade elements with clean rails and uncluttered floor spaces, keeping it modern but still the essence of a second hand charity shop.

As the brand is a charity brand, we understand that there are cost limitations to what they can achieve; however most of the solutions we suggest can be up cycled using old fabrics and materials.

Some of these elements include an accessories wall made from wall hooks and clipboards, an ideal storage solution for handbags and jewellery. Also included is patchwork curtains for the fitting rooms, which can be made from scrap material which gets donated regularly to Oxfam’s sorting centres. The display cases are now wooden crates piled up to create an eye catching display feature to hold shoes, handbags and old cameras. A more detailed look in to the visual inspiration can be found in Appendix 9c.

Figure 35: 3D mock-up of in-store layout

clothing tags

Figure 36: Rail of clothing, 2012

Another problem we found during our mystery shop of the Nottingham store was the tags on the clothing. Instead of keeping them consistent on all the items, some items had no information on while others had larger tags which included the price. This can become frustrating for customers, especially if they have to then ask a sales assistant for unnecessary assistance. We have produced a series of tags which can be used on all the items in store. The tags use the new Boutique logo and colours, with space on the back of the tag for handwritten pricing. These tags will ensure all the items are consistently priced and labelled, making the experience an even easier and enjoyable one.

To further interact with the consumer on their shopping visit, on one of the tags there is a piece of written copy which reads ‘Thank you for finding me, I am more than you might expect, but only a piece of clothing, I was made for this purpose, to be found by you, I’d like to belong to you, on your back and on your floor, to breakfast to the park, or even framed above your mantle, tell your friends about me, tell the story of how we met…’ followed by the hash tag #howwemet. We hope the personal touches to the items make them more desirable and the customers experience in store more noteworthy. The hash tag is to encourage customers to share their story of how they met their new purchase online, promoting the newly improved Boutique stores further. We hope this, along with our social networking communication discussed later will begin to change perceptions of the Boutique to the 18-25 demographic and make them want to experience it for themselves.

Figure 37: New Boutique clothing tags



When visiting the different areas within Oxfam, the stores and the sorting centre felt very disconnected, it felt that there was little interaction between the two.

We feel that a greater connection could be established to improve the product selection in store and boost staff morale. We propose that an online website can be produced that allow employees to log on to an online database full of trend information, latest VM displays, styling inspiration and pricing suggestions.

6.4 The Exchange

This Exchange would be an extra tab on the current Oxfam main page, directing the employee to a new window where they enter their store or employee log in details. We believe this website would act as a problem solving platform, if they needed new VM inspiration for their store or tips on pricing the items, they can easily log in and access the information directly.

Figure 38: The Exchange Log in page

Also to bridge the gap in between the sorting centre and the stores, there would be a page dedicated to the best finds of the week from the sorting centre and the best-selling items from different store locations. This way both ends of the production are being kept in the loop and both have the opportunity to learn more about popular styles and products the consumer keeps buying.

Figure 39 & 40: The Exchange: Trends and VM tabs



Figure 41: Instagram photographs, 2012

While face-to-face is just as important as it ever was, now that we've got all kinds of new tools, it lets us tighten bonds in between those in-person moments. @chrisbrogan

7

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

7.1 why is it important?

As mentioned, one of our goals is to increase the buying to recycling ratio amongst the 18-25 year old consumers. To do this, we need to look at the interaction Oxfam Boutique currently have with their consumers and suggest how we could improve this to reach our goals. The way the consumer interacts with a brand ultimately determines their perceptions, whether they decide to visit a store and continue shopping in the future. We have produced detailed suggestions of how Oxfam Boutique can create more of an online presence and continue this offline with an event which hopes to reconnect students to the charity brand.

Creating a social community online is one of the fundamental ways to connect with a consumer. Currently the online interaction for Oxfam Boutique is very poor, for example the Nottingham Boutique store has a Facebook and Twitter page yet they have remained un-active since September 2012.

For online engagement to be successful and see measurable results, brands need to keep a constant conversation between themselves and the consumers, otherwise they will lose interest and go elsewhere. We propose the Boutique begin to use these platforms more actively, as the target consumer we want to attract in stores are the most active online and part of generation Y.

"Social media is a unique component of the consumer decision journey: it's the only form of marketing that can touch consumers at each and every stage, from when they're pondering brands and products right through the period after a purchase, as their experience influences the brands they prefer and their potential advocacy influences others."

(Divol, 2012: online)



As seen in figures 43 to 45, we think each Oxfam Boutique should create an Instagram account, allowing for fans to follow their local store to see the newest items delivered and street style photographs of Boutique customers. As already mentioned these photographs can create conversational threads which can then lead on to increased sales in store and more importantly the changing of perceptions with 18-25 year olds.

Like the Ford Fiesta case study, Oxfam Boutique can use the early adopters and innovators of their brand to influence others to follow. The Alternative Bunch consumers are already interested in charity shopping, so using social sites to increase interaction with these consumers will begin to raise the awareness of the brand to other potential customers.

7.2 using Instagram We believe Oxfam Boutique can begin to successfully use Instagram as their main online tool to talk to consumers. Instagram is a social site which has proved to have the ability to convert pictures to purchases. This was outlined in a WGSN report ‘Instagram driven purchases’ where it was highlighted that there seems to be shift from the traditional brand to consumer selling system to a more online approach. Preston (2012) added ‘Key items posted on apps such as Instagram create conversational threads…these conversations can translate directly into online sales or shift brand perceptions’. Oxfam Boutique can increase brand conversation online and introduce more peer to peer interaction which will raise their brand awareness and connect more effectively to the 18-25 year old consumer.

Instagram now has over 100 million users and brands are starting to harness the benefits of using this photo site to gain new customers. Amongst some of the top brands in the world, nearly 6 in 10 now use Instagram, a statistic which has risen nine per cent from November 2012 and is one of the fastest growing online sites behind Pinterest (Garibian, 2013). Dane Atkinson, the CEO of a data analytics company recently commented that ‘...when it comes to likes, comments, sharing and all of that, engagement from Instagram users is as much as 10 times greater than other platforms like Facebook and Twitter’ (Nisen, 2012). Another great benefit of Instagram is the ability to log in on the go in an app format on your smartphone, but consumers can still access Instagram on a webpage format, giving increased possibilities and levels of interaction with consumers.

An example of a brand successfully using Instagram in to their communication and marketing is Ford Fiesta. At the start of 2012, the brand introduced the first ever Instagram campaign called ‘#Fiestagram’. The idea itself was simply a photo competition, but by using Instagram as the platform to share it on, it instantly became accessible to millions of potential customers. Through their Instagram page, they were able to reach a small target group of ‘early adopters’ and amateur photographers. As a result of their competition, they made it to the popular page multiple times, meaning even more potential customers saw the photographs, over 16,000 photos were posted in seven days and the average dwell time (Time spend on an advert times by the rate of engagement) was 3.4 minutes (Bachfischer, 2013). They gained 120,000 fans and the campaign received media coverage from blogs and online websites. They managed to innovatively create a larger community online all by using the photographs to drive traffic to their page.

Within the store, the clothing tags will have the hash tag ‘#howwemet’, encouraging the customers to share how they found their new item online. Using this hash tag will mean Oxfam Boutique can measure the success of the engagement, determine if it is driving traffic and ultimately result in customers entering their local Boutique store to browse and shop. If the Boutique remains a constant presence on Instagram, they will soon see their follower count rise and their mentions online reach a larger audience; a more detailed analysis of how we will gauge success can be found later in chapter 8.

Figure 43, 44 & 45: Oxfam Boutique Instagram account and posts

Figure 42: #Fiestagram campaign results, 2013



7.3 the event

VAULT is an after-hours ‘lock in’ event which merges aspects of a student’s nightlife with great bargains, live music and a cool atmosphere; it is a new shopping experience for charity shops. The student masses still have substantial spending power despite being under financial pressure from loans and other payments. With 2.5 million people in higher education, their annual spending power is put at much as £15 billion by marketing agency Campus Group (Wood, 2012). The same Guardian article found a rising number of students are now swapping nights out for retail ‘lock ins’ filling shop floors instead of dance floors. With our main goal to increase interaction with 18-25 year olds, this type of event will interest the younger audiences, giving them not only a shopping opportunity but a chance to browse with friends and chill out in a different atmosphere.

Aim: To show that Oxfam Boutique are a relevant, fashionable brand, that doing good for charity isn't boring or hard work, it can be fun. Ultimately we wish to increase the footfall in stores of 18-25 year olds.

The event will be held twice yearly and by using the Nottingham store as our trial we can suggest how promotion of the event can be encouraged and take note of any changes that need developing before the event runs in other cities. The timing of this event is important to its success to target the consumer we want to attract. The first event will be held in October, as this is the start of University for Nottingham students, student loans have been paid in and consumers will be more willing to get involved in social events as it is just after ‘Freshers’ week. The second VAULT event will be held six months later, in April. Again students have just come back from Easter break and Nottingham will once more be filled with students, also from our own research we found that consumers get rid of their unwanted clothing in cycles of six months, hopefully meaning more updated stock will be available for the event.

Figure 46: Rail of clothing, 2012

Alongside the online interaction, an event will be introduced in store and promoted predominately online through the Boutique Instagram and Twitter pages as well as in store promotions.

the promotion To target the students to the event, promotion will mostly take place during Fresher’s week as this will ensure the event receives maximum exposure and footfall. Inside the stores, leaflets will be displayed near the point of sale displays, as well as staff handing out leaflets to the student population near the University grounds. To encourage students to visit the event, another incentive will be introduced. Fifty wristbands will be handed out during fresher’s week, giving the lucky students who receive one a special viewing time before any other customers, as shown in figure 48. The store window displays will further promote the event, as when the night gets closer, the windows will tease customers of what is to come, as seen in figure 47.

Having already established a more active social presence, Oxfam Boutique can use these platforms to promote the event to existing customers, who will hopefully go on to tell their friends by free word of mouth promotion. During the event, social media will not get forgotten about, as photographs will be taken throughout the night showing people’s purchases and capturing the overall atmosphere of VAULT. These photos will be uploaded to Instagram and Twitter, hopefully encouraging other customers to upload their own photographs and tag Oxfam Boutique Nottingham. This should lead to increased awareness of VAULT, hopefully making the next event even bigger and better.

Figure 47: VAULT Window display

Figure 48: VAULT event wristbands Figure 49: Posts about Vault on Instagram account



Although getting the customers through the doors is the most important aim of the event, we also wish to promote VAULT to bloggers and local media to ensure future success. We will send personal E-invites to local fashion bloggers in the Nottingham area, such as Georgia Shipley from the blog ‘For the Love of Thrift’. When we interviewed her, she commented that she would like to start blogging about her own experiences to promote her love of charity shopping and by showing her purchases that it will hopefully inspire others to shop there (Shipley, Appendix 6). Bloggers are the key influencers and tastemakers amongst their peers; they are very much respected by their readers, so gaining their approval is vital in expanding the presence of not only VAULT, but could result in these individuals influencing their readers to shop in Oxfam Boutique and change their perceptions. In terms of Malcolm Gladwell’s definitions of influencers, these bloggers act as the ‘Connectors’, they are the people who bring others together and spread the message of new ideas (Gladwell, 2002). From hearing about a new shopping experience from a source they rely on, instead of the brand itself, it can hold more respect and authority and consumers can be more influenced to change their habits.

Bloggers will influence a small group of early adopters and innovators in their age group, but to expand the VAULT launch further, promoting the event in more mainstream channels will catch the attention of the average consumer. We have produced a press pack to be sent digitally to local press, as shown in figure 49. This pack includes a personal E-invite, a press release promoting the launch and other material including an event poster. For the Nottingham event, local press such as the Nottingham Post will be contacted, but if the event proves a success, more national media will be contacted, focusing on Sunday Supplements such as The Sun’s Fabulous and Stylist magazine. Contacting these industry professionals is a great way to get free exposure, but also getting the Oxfam Boutique name out there could prove worthwhile when thinking about expanding the event to other high profile cities in the future.

Figure 49: VAULT press pack 

THE FUTURE

Figure 50: Looking forward to the future, 2012

8

8.1 consumer touchpoints Throughout we have mentioned different routes we want to talk to our consumer through.

These consumer touch-points include a range of available channels for the consumer to take, including engaging with social media, visiting the newly improved store and hearing about the new VAULT event. We have produced an Infographic showing a detailed view of how each consumer finds their way to the store, included are the current consumers; the bargain hunters and the conscious club and more importantly how our three step plan will influence the two new consumer groups to interact with Oxfam Boutique.

Figure 51: Consumer touch points, 2013, created by myself

conclusion

8.2 gauging success Thinking about the future of the brand and how this can be developed is an important area to look at, as we want this to be a progression of change, not simply a one off stunt which never grows to other stores across the UK. We have created a diagram illustrating timely goals for the future, with a three month, six month and two year plan of targets we wish to hit. This can be found in Appendix 10. Each area we have focused on is considered, including the store, the event, quality control and online engagement.

Our concept was to reinvent the Oxfam Boutique brand, ensuring its future on the High street and changing the perceptions of the charity. Within this we had key goals which we wanted to meet and achieve, which included increasing the footfall of our target demographic in to charity shops, to increase the buying to recycling ratio in charity shops and improve the product selection in store. I feel we have achieved these goals through a detailed three step plan focusing on the sorting centre, the shop environment and the level of customer interaction. Each step was clearly mapped out and had a number of creative outcomes to inspire and engage the consumer. The Oxfam Boutique brand has been made more modern, fashionable and consistent throughout all of its consumer touch-points and realistic goals have been set to show how the brand can continue to expand their presence well in to the future.



THE APPENDICES

Figure 52: own photograph, 2013

9

ethical consent forms references list of illustrations bibliography critical path tutorial record sheets

the sorting centre

112

a. photographs

112

86 88 90

a. blank questionnaire b. consent c. georgia shipley interview

94 100

128

128 129 130

inspirations

138

a. consumer b. trend book c. VM d.overall visuals

138 139 140 141

104

mystery shop

methodology

108

clothing consumption

110

A. clothing consumption questionnaire B. the results

charity consumer questionnaire

Photographs

a. the template 114 c. b. the results 115 d. e. f. g.

word association questionnaire

Ark braderie cow vintage oxfam boutique white rose

121 121 122 123 124 125

111

131

questionnaire a. blank questionnaire b. jessica goudie c. yazmin bachir d. rachel perkins e. sarah jamieson

131 132 133 134 135

126

consumer photographic research

136

126 127

a. consent b. photographs

136 137

110

a. the question b. the results

non charity consumer

the future a. gauging success timeline

142

ethical consent forms

references 1. Horne, S & Maddrell A (2002) Charity Shops: Retailing, consumption and society: Routledge Studies in the Management of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. Routledge Publishing Ltd, London.

2. Cline, L. E (2012) Over-Dressed: The Shockingly High Cost Of Cheap Fashion. Penguin Group Publishers, New York.

3. Owen, V (2013) ‘An extraordinary month in the life of the new boss at Oxfam’. The Mail on Sunday, 5 May 2013 p.89 4. Inman, P & Moulds J, (2013) UK economy should avoid triple-dip recession, OECD forecasts [online] The Guardian, Available at: http://www. guardian.co.uk/business/2013/mar/28/uk-economy-avoid-triple-dip-recession-oecd Accessed April 21st 2013 5. Richmond, A (2010) Student Lifestyles – UK – June 2010 [online] Mintel, Available via Mintel: http://academic.mintel.com/ display/530044/?highlight=true#hit1 Accessed April 1st 2013 6. Gladigau, K (2008) Op till you drop: Youth, distinction and identity in vintage clothing [online] Available at: http://www.tasa.org.au/ uploads/2011/05/GladigauKirsten-Session-27-PDF.pdf Accessed 26th April 2013 7. Horne, S & Maddrell A (2002) Charity Shops: Retailing, consumption and society: Routledge Studies in the Management of Voluntary and Non-profit Organizations. Routledge Publishing Ltd, London.

8. Balch, O (2012) Is recycling revamping retail rules? [online] Guardian, Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/recyclingcircular-economy-consumer-behaviour?INTCMP=SRCH Accessed March 4th 2013 9. Equinet Media (2011) How to use email marketing in your business today [pdf] Available via: http://www.equinetmedia.com/ files/9413/2085/7633/Email_Marketing_White_Paper.pdf Accessed April 20th 2013 10. Underhill, P (2009) Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping (updated and revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer and Beyond) New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, Inc.

11. Ti, C (2009) The Effects of Window Display Setting and Background Music on Consumers’ Mental Imagery, Arousal Response, Attitude, and Approach-Avoidance Behaviours [online] Oregon State University, Available at: http://scholarsarchive.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/ handle/1957/12480/Ti_Thesis.pdf?sequence=1 Accessed April 9th 2013 12. Morgan, T (2011) Visual Merchandising: Window and in-store displays for retail, Second Edition. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd. 13. Divol, R et al. (2012) Demystifying Social Media [online] McKinsey Quarterly, available at: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Demystifying_ social_media_2958 Last accessed 6th January 2013 14. Brogan, C (2013, April 22) The importance of Social media: https://twitter.com/chrisbrogan [twitter post] Accessed May 5th 2013 15. Preston, LJ. (2012). Instagram-driven purchases: digital youth consumer. [pdf] WGSN Available via: http://www.wgsn.com/content/report/Youth/ Youth_Think_Tank/2012/August/Millennials_reaching_the_digital_youth_consumer.pdf Accessed 15th Nov 2012 16. Garibian, L (2013) Instagram and Top Brands: Engagement Up as Audiences Grow [online] MarketingProfs, Available at: http://www. marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10149/instagram-and-top-brands-engagement-up-as-audiences-grow Accessed May 1st 2013 17. Nisen, M (2012) One Statistic That Should Convince Every Small Business to Get On Instagram [online] Available at: http://www.businessinsider. com/why-small-businesses-need-instagram-2012-11#ixzz2BumzxcPa Accessed May 2nd 2013 18. Bachfischer, N (2013) Case Study Visual Social Media: Marketing with Instagram [blog] Aquarius, Available at: http://www.aquarius.biz/ en/2013/04/26/case-study-visual-social-media-marketing-with-instagram/ Accessed May 12th 2013 19. Garibian, L (2013) Instagram and Top Brands: Engagement Up as Audiences Grow [online] MarketingProfs, Available at: http://www. marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10149/instagram-and-top-brands-engagement-up-as-audiences-grow Accessed May 1st 2013 20. Nisen, M (2012) One Statistic That Should Convince Every Small Business to Get On Instagram [online] Available at: http://www.businessinsider. com/why-small-businesses-need-instagram-2012-11#ixzz2BumzxcPa Accessed May 2nd 2013 21. Wood, Z (2012) Savvy students ditch union bar for retail ‘lock-ins’ [online] The Guardian, Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/ oct/21/students-retail-lock-ins Accessed April 17th 2013 22. Gladwell, M (2002) The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference, New Ed edition, Abacus, New York 

list of illustrations

Figure 17: ‘The Bargain Hunter’ consumer

Figure 1: The Mail on Sunday newspaper article, 2013, own photograph

Older women photograph, 2012 Available at: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/mod_product/FileUpload/Uploads/1840_Old_woman_black_white_ portrait.jpg Mum photograph, 2012, Available at: http://www.flashcharlie.co.uk/prestbury-family-photography/ Consumer attributes on acetate, 2013, created by Amiee Littlefair

Figure 2: Charity shop clutter, 2013, own photograph

Figure 18: ‘The Conscious Club’ consumer

Figure 3: Wardrobe of clothing, 2013, own photograph

Women photograph, 2012, Available at: http://jessetherrien.com/tag/woman/ Consumer attributes on acetate, 2013, created by Amiee Littlefair

Figure 4: Annual Income for charity shops illustration, 2013, own creation Figure 5: Wardrobe of clothing, 2013, own photograph Figure 6: Charity shop perceptions moodboard, 2013, own photograph Figure 7: Charity shop perceptions moodboard, 2013, own photograph

Figure 19: ‘The Alternative Bunch’ consumer Young woman photograph, 2013, Available at: http://25.media.tumblr.com/5e4641575a7fd910f0ac57b47ba07bcb/tumblr_ mhz4g4D34u1qjz294o1_1280.jpg Consumer attributes on acetate, 2013, created by myself

Figure 8: Where consumers donate their unwanted clothing, 2013, own creation

Figure 20: Georgia Shipley quote, 2013, own creation Girl Illustration, 2012, Available at: http://th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/008/9/4/girl_illustration_by_arisendreams-d4lphu8.jpg

Figure 9: Where consumers buy second hand clothing, 2013, own creation

Figure 21: Rogers curve of innovation with consumer groups, 2013, own creation

Figure 10: Barnardos charity shop, 2012 Available at: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ypuz0q8sMc/TeNSodcWEkI/AAAAAAAABOY/nEKP_6mgTbs/s1600/ Barnardos-3.jpg

Figure 22: ‘The Pick n Mixer’ consumer

Figure 11: The populations views on recycling, 2013, own creation

Young girl photograph, 2012, Available at: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ziikximMmLw/T6mPmnxv3-I/AAAAAAAABo8/PR5QWUQ7YA0/s1600/black-andwhite-cigarette-girl-ray-ban-sunglasses-Favim.com-404256.jpg Consumer attributes on acetate, 2013, created by myself

Figure 12: Negative views on charity shops, 2013, own creation Figure 13: What the consumers would change about charity shops, 2013, own creation Figure 14: Perceptual map of Oxfam Boutique in the market, 2013, own creation Figure 15: Polaroid of consumers, 2013, own creation Figure 16: Rails of clothing, 2013, own photograph

Figure 23: The planning stages, 2013, own photograph Figure 24: Newspaper article, 2013, own photograph Figure 25: Trend mood board, image taken from Trend Forecast, 2013, own creation Figure 26: ‘Urban Safari’ Trend, Key Colours, 2013, own creation 

Figure 27: ‘Urban Safari’ Trend, Key Items, 2013, own creation

Figure 48: VAULT event wristbands, 2013, created by myself

Figure 28: A-Z trend email, 2013, created by myself and Amiee Littlefair

Figure 49: Posts about Vault on Instagram account, 2013, created by myself

Figure 29, 30: Oxfam Boutique, Nottingham, 2013, own photographs

Figure 49: VAULT press pack, 2013, press release written by myself, surrounding visuals by Amiee Littlefair

Figure 31: Oxfam Boutique Shop Front, Nottingham, 2013, own photograph

Figure 50: Looking forward to the future, 2012, Available at: http://eyobberhane56.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/looking-back-looking-forward1.jpg

Figure 32: Oxfam Boutique window shop front, 2013, created by myself

Figure 51: Consumer touch points, 2013, created by myself

Figure 33: Original Boutique floor plan, Nottingham, 2013, created by Amiee Littlefair

Figure 52: own photograph, 2013

Figure 34: New floor plan for Oxfam Boutique, Nottingham, 2013, created by myself Figure 35: 3D mock-up of in-store layout, 2013, 3d Sketch created by myself, added visuals created by Amiee Littlefair Figure 36: Rail of clothing, 2012, Available at: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cMT7d8XD7lU/UCKSf7-ywQI/AAAAAAAABk4/SCDORgXhu90/s1600/ P1070161.JPG Figure 37: New Boutique clothing tags, 2013, created by Amiee Littlefair Figure 38: The Exchange Log in page, 2013, created by Amiee Littlefair Figure 39, 40: Trends and VM pages, 2013, created by Amiee Littlefair Figure 41: Consumer using Instagram, 2012, Available at: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7iS6pYGvZio/UYfN9bW-k4I/AAAAAAAAAQQ/4QnJlExMP7w/ s1600/instagram.jpg Figure 42: #Fiestagram campaign results, 2013, own creation Figure 43, 44, 45: Oxfam Boutique Instagram account and posts, 2013, created by myself Figure 46: Rail of clothing, 2012, Available at: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cMT7d8XD7lU/UCKSf7-ywQI/AAAAAAAABk4/SCDORgXhu90/s1600/ P1070161.JPG Figure 47: VAULT Window display, 2013, 3d mock up created by myself, added visuals by Amiee Littlefair 

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Lacy, P & Keeble, J (2013) Technology is crucial to driving changes in consumer behaviour [online] Guardian, Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/ sustainable-business/technology-crucial-driving-change-consumer-behaviour?INTCMP=SRCH Accessed March 2nd 2013

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Lindström, M. 2010. Brand sense sensory secrets behind the stuff we buy. 2nd edition. London : Kogan Page Ltd.

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critical path

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Tutorial Record Sheets

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appendix 1: Methodology Throughout our research, we used the ethical guidelines to aid our data collecting and made sure we took the appropiate ethical requirements for each one of our research techniques. Full consent was given by each participant, either by accepting the ethics clause on a questionnaire, or giving written consent to use their opinions and words within this report. Each questionnaire we conducted was piloted for a trail period before it went live to the public, to make sure the questions asked gave the best answers and allowed us time to make any quick changes.

For my secondary research, please see my bibliography and list of references to get an overview of the reading material I looked at and used within this report

To find out consumer attitudes to donating clothing and buying

Questionnaire

Online through Quick Survey

second hand clothing

Allowed us to get quick responses

54 respondents

in a short responses in a short

89% were 19-34

amount of time and share the survey on social networking sites

52 women

used by are target audience

2 men

5th March 2013

2

Part of a work experience with University. Sorted

‘Behind the Scenes’ access to the

through clothing and compiled data regarding their overall quality Our initial idea for our

Ethnographic/

Oxfam Sorting Centre in

Oxfam Company, got to speak

Huddersfield

to Oxfam workers and see first

paid experience

16/1/13 2 Visits

hand any changes we felt could

and

3

25/1/13

be made

project came from the visit To look at the differences between three different

Throughout Nottingham;

retail spaces, Vintage,

Covert ethnographic

including Oxfam Boutique,

Retail and Charity and

research - ‘Mystery shop’

Aegis Trust, Cow Vintage,

compare the shopping experiences

Braderie & ARK

We saw the shopping

3 locations

environments first hand, making

visited 3 times

it easy to compare each store

to ensure

and take detailed notes and

reliable and

photographs

usable data

Visit 1 12/4/13 Visit 2 17/4/13

4

Visit 3 22/4/13 

appendix 2a: clothing consumption questionnaire 1 What is your gender?

6 What are the reasons why you decide to get rid of an item of clothing?

Female Male

Imperfect (stained etc.)

Damage (rips, tears etc.)

Durability (shrinkage etc.)

Trend led item which has become out of fashion Item doesn’t fit any longer Other

2 How old are you?

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ 3 How often do you have a wardrobe clear out?

Once a year Every 6 months Every other month Once a month Other 4 Do you donate any clothing?

appendix 2b: questionnaire results

89% donate their unwanted clothing

7 What would stop you donating clothing?

Takes too much time Postage costs (when sending clothing out) Sentimental value of holding on to clothes Seller fees (On sites such as Ebay) Unreliable buyers (bad experience of people purchasing without payment) Don’t know where to sell/donate Other 8 What are your highest priorities when donating clothing?

Yes No

Earning extra money Getting rid of the items quickly The charitable act (giving to charity) Other

5 If yes, how do you donate your clothing?

9 Where do you buy second hand clothing?

Ebay Charity Friends & Family Throw them away Car boot sale I don’t throw anything away, I wait until they come back in to fashion Other (Please specify)

Vintage stores Charity shops Ebay Asos marketplace Etsy Car boot sales Other (Please specify) 10 “Over 1.4 million tonnes of clothing are sent to UK landfill every year.

Much of this can be worn again.” Does this figure affect you in any way, or is this issue not important to you? Please explain.

barriers for donating clothing

54% much time

50% 50% value

43% 30% buyers

20%

Takes too

consumers get rid of items because...

41% 37% 24% (shrinkage)

69% fashion

Postage costs

69%

imperfections rips and tears durability

Item out of

No longer fits

Sentimental

Question 10 Seller fees

Unreliable

Don’t know where to sell/donate

“That is an alarming amount, I am happy that I always donate and sell clothing therefore not adding to the landfill. I am a firm believer in recycling clothing, afterall, one girls trash is another girls treasure! :)” “I understand its an issue which could be easily fixed, however honestly I don’t know if it would change my actions greatly.”

“It does affect me, I think there is so much that people can do with clothes instead of throwing them away but they are either lazy or don’t know how to, or where to donate their clothes.” 

appendix 3: Oxfam sorting Centre

Photographs from the Oxfam Sorting Centre Visits - Taken by myself.

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appendix 4: mystery shop

appendix 4: mystery shop: 12/4/13

Mystery shop template Store name: Location: Date: Time: Status: Customer service: Communication: Greeted: Offered help: Thanked / Goodbye: Prices: Lowest: Highest: Visual display: Outfit inspiration: Store: Smell: Music: Fitting room: Sales assistant: How many customers upon entering: Footfall during time:

Store name: Ark Location: Nottingham Date: 12/4/13 Time: 14.50 pm Status: Retail Customer service: Communication: Yes, ‘hello’ Greeted: A nod and smile when entering the store Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: Yes Prices: Lowest: £9.99 jersey dress Highest: £84 Fred Perry Dress Visual display: Outfit inspiration: Sales promotions throughout the store, stock on tables and most floor space covered with fixtures and rails Store: Smell: No distinct smell, door left open Music: Modern, club, mainstream Fitting room: 6 available to use.

Sales assistant: A lot of staff moving around, about 6, mixture of male and females How many customers upon entering: 5 Footfall during time: 10

Store name: Oxfam Boutique Location: Hockley Nottingham Date: 12/4/13 Time: 13.00 pm Status: Charity Customer service: Communication: No communication during visit.

Greeted: No. Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: No Prices: Lowest: £3.00 t-shirt Highest: £65.00 Doc Martin Boots Visual display: Outfit inspiration: A4 printouts of trend reports on walls, various mannequin displays, poorly dressed and not very inspiring outfits that you would want to purchase.

Store: Smell: Off smell as you walked through the door, wasn’t to over powering.

Music: Frank Sinatra Fitting room: 3 available Sales assistant: 2, 1 male, 1 female, foreign, spoke between themselves during full visit.

How many customers upon entering: 7 Footfall during time: 10

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appendix 4: mystery shop: 12/4/13 Store name: White Rose for the Aegis Trust Location: Nottingham Date: 12/4/13 Time: 15.05 pm Status: Charity Customer service: Communication: No. Greeted: Smile from till assistant when entering Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: Yes Prices: Lowest: £3.99 tshirt Highest: £20.00 Zara Jacket Visual display: Outfit inspiration: Overall store aesthetic was kitsch and cute, using vintage inspirations throughout, with homemade signs and nice clothing tags. Outfit inspiration as you walk downstairs, outfits pinned on walls Store: Smell: No distinct smell upstairs, the door was left open, downstairs smelt more strong because it was a smaller confined space.

Music: No music Fitting room: 1 available Sales assistant: 1 female behind till and another 2 employee’s downstairs sorting clothing How many customers upon entering: 2 Footfall during time: 5

Store name: Cow Vintage Location: Nottingham.

Date: 12/4/13 Time: 1.45 pm Status: Vintage Customer service: Communication: no Greeted: smiled as walked through door Offered help: no Thanked / Goodbye: no Prices: Lowest: £6.00 belt Highest: £38.00 bag and coat Visual display: creative visual merchandising throughout, using what they have available stock displayed in crates and boxes.

Outfit inspiration: No mannequins or outfits put together in store but inspiring window display hanging from washing line and bunting.

Store: Smell: No distinct smell in store Music: Peggy Sue Fitting room: Yes 1 available on ground floor Sales assistant: 2 females How many customers upon entering: 5 Footfall during time: 15

Store name: Braderie Location: Nottingham Date: 12/4/13 Time: 14.05pm Status: Vintage Customer service: Communication: Smiled and said hi whilst browsing display at till Greeted: no Offered help: no Thanked / Goodbye: no Lowest: £5 tie / £17 Ralph Lauren t shirt / Highest: £80.00 Harley Davidson leather jacket Visual display: stock displayed on rails / tables Outfit inspiration: Only within the front window of store, mannequins nothing exciting or overall memorable Smell: Very strong when entering, bad smell Music: Modern Reggae / Fitting room: 2 rooms available Sales assistant: 2 females sat behind the till talking between themselves How many customers upon entering: 2 / Footfall during time: 11

appendix 4: mystery shop: 17/4/13

Store name: Oxfam Boutique Location: Hockley Nottingham Date: 17/4/13 Time: 13.07 pm Status: Charity Customer service: Communication: No greeting or communication throughout the store visit.

Greeted: No. Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: No Prices: Lowest: £3.00 t-shirt Highest: £65.00 Doc Martin Boots Visual display: Outfit inspiration: trends printed on walls, mannequins throughout the store and glass display cases to how items Store: Smell: Quite musky smell throughout the store, but wasn’t too bad.

Music: Retro/Vintage music Fitting room: 3 available Sales assistant: 2 women, one older woman and a younger girl working near the till area How many customers upon entering: 5 Footfall during time: 16

Store name: White Rose: For the Aegis Trust Location: Nottingham Date: 17/4/13 Time: 15.00 pm Status: Charity Customer service:Communication: no Greeted: no Offered help: no Thanked / Goodbye: no Prices:Lowest: £4.00 H&M t shirt Highest: £20.00 Laura Lou dress?

Visual display: Store overall had a ‘cute’ vintage aesthetic, was pleasant to be in store Outfit inspiration: Manequines were placed in shop window, window could be improved matching the interior from inside.

Store:Smell: As you go downstairs smell hits you, possibly as that is where there sorting room is at Music: No music playing Fitting room: 1 fitting room available, creative looks like a beach hut, visually pleasing.

Sales assistant: 1 young female behind till point How many customers upon entering: 3 Footfall during time: 3 ** during this visit it was noted that there was less clothes out on the rails, seemed more organised into specific sections and also stock had been moved around.

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appendix 4: mystery shop: 17/4/13 Store name: Cow Vintage Location: Nottingham Date: 17/4/13 Time: 13.55 pm Status: Vintage Customer service: Communication: No. Greeted: Smiled by till assistant when entering Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: Yes Prices: Lowest: £7.00 belt Highest: £45 leather shoulder bag Visual display: Outfit inspiration: effort made to show items in a creative way, pegs and washing lines were used in the window displays and wooden crates displayed shoes and hand bags.

Store: Smell: No distinct smell, not overpowering like other vintage shops Music: Nostalgic/retro music Fitting room: 1 downstairs Sales assistant: 2 females, both young with the ‘vintage’ style How many customers upon entering: 6 Footfall during time: 12

Store name: Braderie Location: Nottingham Date: 17/4/13 Time: 14.10 pm Status: Vintage Customer service: Communication: No. Greeted: A nod and smile when entering the store Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: Yes Prices: Lowest: £5 tie/ £5 for ripped Levi jeans Highest: £60 Barber Jacket Visual display: Outfit inspiration: a mannequin near the window, however most of the other displays were hectic and messy Store: Smell: strong smell of old clothing Music: Modern with Reggae twist Fitting room: 2 available Sales assistant: 1 male and 1 female, both young How many customers upon entering: 0 Footfall during time: 2 (ourselves)

Store name: Ark Location: Nottingham Date: 17/4/13 Time: 14.45pm Status: Retail Communication: no / Greeted: smile and nod of head from male assistant Offered help: no Thanked / Goodbye: no Lowest: £9.99 midi jersey skirt / Highest: £84.00 Fred Perry dress Visual display: 20% off stickers on most items in store, some stock displayed across tables Outfit inspiration: limited mannequins across store mainly showing a dress which eliminates matching further items creating add of sales and pushing outfit sales Smell: No distinct smell / Music: Modern trance / Fitting room: yes 6 at the back of the store Sales assistant: 5 mixture of male and female How many customers upon entering: 6 Footfall during time: 7

appendix 4: mystery shop: 22/4/13 Store name: Oxfam Boutique Location: Hockley Nottingham Date: 22/4/13 Time: 13.10 pm Status: Charity Customer service: Communication: No greeting or communication throughout the store visit.

Greeted: No. Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: No Prices: Lowest: £4.99 checked shirt Highest: £65.00 Doc Martin Boots still the highest item Visual display: Outfit inspiration: trends printed on walls, mannequins not changed since first visit to the store and glass display cases remained the same, apart from a few items being sold Store: Smell: Quite musky smell throughout the store, but wasn’t as bad as vintage shops Music: Retro music Fitting room: 3 available Sales assistant: 2 employees, 1 man and 1 woman How many customers upon entering: 3 Footfall during time: 6

Store name: White Rose: For the Aegis Trust Location: Nottingham Date: 22/4/13 Time: 15.15 pm Status: Charity Customer service:Communication: no Greeted: no Offered help: no Thanked / Goodbye: no Prices:Lowest: £3.50 t shirt Highest: £20.00 Laura Lou dress Visual display: Store overall had a ‘cute’ vintage aesthetic, was pleasant to be in store Outfit inspiration: Manequines were still the same in shop window, not many changes throughout the store since last visit.

Store:Smell: door wide open, so fresh air, open and fresh.

Music: No music playing Fitting room: 1 fitting room available Sales assistant: 1 female behind the till point How many customers upon entering: 4 Footfall during time: 6

Store name: Cow Vintage Location: Nottingham Date: 22/4/13 Time: 14.05 pm Status: Vintage Communication: No. / Greeted: No. Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: Yes Lowest: £5.00 belt / Highest: £45 leather shoulder bag Outfit inspiration: effort made to show items in a creative way, pegs and washing lines were used in the window displays and wooden crates displayed shoes and hand bags.

Smell: No distinct smell. / Music: Retro music Fitting room: 1 downstairs / Sales assistant: 2 females and 1 male, both young with the ‘vintage’ style How many customers upon entering: 5 / Footfall during time: 18 

appendix 4: mystery shop: 22/4/13

Store name: Braderie Location: Nottingham Date: 22/4/13 Time: 14.20 pm Status: Vintage Customer service: Communication: No. Greeted: A nod and smile when entering the store Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: Yes Prices: Lowest: £5 offer for ripped Levi jeans still available Highest: £60 Barber Jacket/Leather Jackets Visual display: Outfit inspiration: a mannequin near the window, however most of the other displays were hectic and messy – everything was as it was 9 days ago, no reorganisation or changes.

Store: Smell: strong smell of old clothing Music: Modern Fitting room: 2 available Sales assistant: 2 females How many customers upon entering: 3 Footfall during time: 7

Store name: Ark Location: Nottingham Date: 22/4/13 Time: 14.40pm Status: Retail Customer service:Communication: no Greeted: Yes, ‘Hello’ when entering Offered help: No Thanked / Goodbye: Yes Prices:Lowest: £6.00 hat Highest: £84.00 Fred Perry dress Visual display: 20% off promotions still in store, some stock displayed across tables Outfit inspiration: limited mannequins across store – more table displays which end up messy and cluttered Store:Smell: No distinct smell, fresh air Music: mainstream/chart music Fitting room: yes 6 at the back of the store Sales assistant: 7 employees - mixture of male and female How many customers upon entering: 8 Footfall during time: 15

appendix 4c: mystery shop photographs: ARK

key finding: most 'professional' looking environment the most sales assistants instore, good interaction lots of promotional material throughout store

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appendix 4d: mystery shop photographs: Braderie

appendix 4e: mystery shop photographs: cow vintage

key finding: key finding: the least quality of items

visually appealling instore

cluttered rails

good use of vm

dirty converse

clean rails

little interaction from sales assistants

generated the most footfall - above charity and other vintage store

unclear tags clear labelling distinct smell

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appendix 4f: mystery shop photographs: Oxfam Boutique

key finding: least footfall of all the stores, most crowded environment, no interaction from shop assistants in store

appendix 4g: mystery shop photographs: White Rose

key finding: good atmosphere, window display was engaging, most professional charity store, good outfit inspirations & branding 

appendix 5a: Word association questionnaire

appendix 5b: Word association questionnaire

From the one word answers we received online, we visualised the words on a post it wall to clearly see the negative words and connotations coming through from our target consumer.

question: what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear 'charity shop'?

CONSENT: ‘This questionnaire is for a University project with Nottingham Trent University. All responses will remain anonymous and confidential. By filling out this questionnaire you give permission for your answers to be used as part of a research project. You may withdraw at any time. Any questions feel free to contact hannafowler92@ hotmail.com’

Used 1 Bargains 2 Thrift 1 Clothes 3 Old clothes 1 Cheap 8 Dark 4 Donating 1 Jumble 2 Messy 4

Volunteers 1 Bad smell 8 Cluttered 1 Old lady sales assistants 3 Used 1 Vintage 2 Old 1 Grunge 1 Hipsters 1

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appendix 6a: charity shop consumers: questionnaire

appendix 6b: Georgia Shipley: consent

1. What are the main reasons you shop in second hand shops?

2. Where else apart from second hand shops do you shop regularly for clothing?

3. When you think of the word ‘Charity shop’ what is the first thing that comes to mind?

4. Do you notice a difference when entering charity shops compared to ‘Vintage’ shops?

5. In terms of Charity shops visual merchandising and window displays, do you think any improvements could be made?

6. What started your love of thrift shopping?

7. Part of our project is looking at how to encourage younger consumers in to Charity shops. From our research, we found that there is a negative view amongst the younger audience to shop in charity shops.

- Are you aware of this view?

- How would you sell your experience of a charity shop to others who wouldn’t even think about shopping there?

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appendix 6c: charity shop consumers: Georgia Shipley interview

appendix 7a: non charity shop consumers: questionnaire

In terms of Charity shops visual merchandising and window displays, do you think any improvements could be made?

What are the main reasons you shop in second hand shops?

Firstly, I like to shop in charity shops because, I am helping out a much needed charity and some charity shops I shop in regularly are very close to my heart such as the Alzheimer’s Society as my Nana suffers from Alzheimer’s/Dimentia. Secondly, I like to shop in second hand shops because, you are sure to find something affordable and quite quirky and the price tag is a fraction of the cost of something from say Topshop! Second hand shops are also fabulous for cheap and cheerful books too!

Where else apart from second hand shops do you shop regularly for clothing?

I shop regularly in H&M and my favourite items to purchase are the fitted trousers they have. I love their androgynous items in there at the moment which I’m really going for this year. They also do very pretty dresses and they have a sale all year round so I’m never one to come out empty handed as I can’t say no to a bargain or two.

When you think of the word ‘Charity shop’ what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Cheap and cheerful bargains to be had and then I remember that I’m helping out a charity as well as getting a good purchase! I’m practically killing two birds with one stone.

Do you notice a difference when entering charity shops compared to ‘Vintage’ shops?

I do notice a difference - especially the prices of clothing! Some vintage shops in Leeds are very expensive so I prefer to hunt for vintage gems in local charity shops and they can range from possibly £2-£10. I have noticed in a few charity shops such as Sue Ryder, that they will have a ‘Vintage and Retro section’ and the prices seem to shoot right up! I work in a charity shop (St. Gemma’s Hospice) and we have many vintage items donated to us but we, as volounteers treat them the same as modern clothing unless of course it’s a very expensive brand so I walk away with a vintage and cheap bargain nearly every shift!

One criticism I will have with some shops is colour co-ordination of items!

It’s one of my pet peeves and it really puts me off when shopping around. I prefer the clothes to be in sections of what items they are such as all dresses together etc. Another improvement which I thwink could be made is ordering books alphabetically as sometimes my brother gives me a list of books and I will spend hours looking at bookshelves which aren’t in A-Z order and I have mild OCD and alphabetically ordering books/DVDs is must in my book (see my play on words there?).

What started your love of thrift shopping?

My family have always encouraged me and my siblings to my kind and giving to others. I remember when I was little, my mum would always donate millions of bin bags to a charity shop in the little town where I used to live.

When I got older, I would venture inside on my own and look for hours and hours as I was amazed at how cheap everything was. It wasn’t until in 2011, I became a volunteer at a charity shop near my school that I really fell in love with thrift/charity shopping. I’d come home with some grotesque things but I was helping a charity and I could always do some DIY right?

Part of our project is looking at how to encourage younger consumers in to Charity shops. From our research, we found that there is a negative view amongst the younger audience to shop in charity shops.

- Are you aware of this view?

- How would you sell your experience of a charity shop to others who wouldn’t even think about shopping there?

- I am aware of this negativity as I can tell what people think of mostly when they hear the words ‘second hand’ or ‘charity shops’ they say ‘Old grandmas and smelly clothes!’. When I mention to peers at school that I got an item of clothing from a charity shop, I ultimately look at their faces and the reaction is literally disgust and they think I am weird because I don’t shop in Topshop or Urban Outfitters and that I’m not showing my arse off to the world in some skimpy shorts or wearing a crop top that cost me something ridiculous like £20 (bit of an exaggeration but I’m sure I’ve seen one at that price!).

‘Any responses given to the following questions will be analysed to be included in an academic report looking into the future of charity shops. Responses will not be reproduced for any other purpose. Any answers you do give will only be seen by myself, my work partner and the examination board. You may withdraw at any time. If you would like any further information regarding the nature of these questions, please do not hesitate to ask.’

When you think of the word ‘Charity shop’ what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Have you even been in to a Charity shop before?

If yes, please explain your experience.

What shop/s would you compare Charity shops to in the market?

What are the main reasons you don’t shop there?

We’re looking in to reinventing Oxfam Boutiques, what would it take for them to become part of your shopping routine?

- I would sell my experience of a charity shop to others by showing them my purchases and saying that by shopping there you are a) saving money b) helping out others and c) getting quirky pieces or clothing, jewellery etc. I also would like to start blogging about my experiences on my blog a bit more to promote my love of second hand/charity shopping and showing my purchases and hopefully then people will be inspired! 

appendix 7B: non charity shop consumers: interview: Jessica Goudie

When you think of the word ‘Charity shop’ what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Old fashioned and unfashionable clothes.

Have you even been in to a Charity shop before? If yes, please explain your experience.

Yes, all of the staff were old and it was not set out very well so seemed crowded. Mannequins in window weren’t dressed well and all the clothes/shoes/bags were old fashioned.

What shop/s would you compare Charity shops to in the market?

Not really any shops, would compare it more to a market.

What are the main reasons you don’t shop there?

The lack of fashion clothes, richer areas have better quality stock so would shop in those ones because more likely to get nice clothes for a cheaper price.

We’re looking in to reinventing Oxfam Boutiques, what would it take for them to become part of your shopping routine?

Inviting window displays, brighter interior and clothes aimed more at younger people.

appendix 7C: non charity shop consumers: interview: Yazmin Bachir

When you think of the word ‘Charity shop’ what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Dark and gloomy. Specific scent aswell.

Have you even been in to a Charity shop before? If yes, please explain your experience.

Yes, always a short visit though! Only go to look for a good bargain or maybe even a book! An odd scent on all of the clothing.

Rusty old smell.

What shop/s would you compare Charity shops to in the market?

I would actually say urban outfitters. It has the same dark vibe and the style of clothes from a charity shop reminds me of that of urban outfitters.

What are the main reasons you don’t shop there?

The clothes are typically antique looking and the smell just over powers everything. You also want to be able to see properly but most charity shops are very dark!

We’re looking in to reinventing Oxfam Boutiques, what would it take for them to become part of your shopping routine?

I wouldn’t really shop religiously there but it would take making the shop modern looking, fresh and light. Also good music and air freshener! The clothes may be the same but the shopping experience is just as important and this would entice customers I believe!

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appendix 7D: non charity shop consumers: interview: Rachel Perkins

When you think of the word ‘Charity shop’ what is the first thing that comes to mind? smell Have you even been in to a Charity shop before?

If yes, please explain your experience.

No What shop/s would you compare Charity shops to in the market?

Second hand shops What are the main reasons you don’t shop there?

Don’t know who had worn the clothes before We’re looking in to reinventing Oxfam Boutiques, what would it take for them to become part of your shopping routine?

New stock

appendix 7E: non charity shop consumers: interview: Sarah Jamieson

When you think of the word ‘Charity shop’ what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Dark and gloomy. Specific scent aswell.

Have you even been in to a Charity shop before? If yes, please explain your experience.

Yes, always a short visit though! Only go to look for a good bargain or maybe even a book! An odd scent on all of the clothing.

Rusty old smell.

What shop/s would you compare Charity shops to in the market?

I would actually say urban outfitters. It has the same dark vibe and the style of clothes from a charity shop reminds me of that of urban outfitters.

What are the main reasons you don’t shop there?

The clothes are typically antique looking and the smell just over powers everything. You also want to be able to see properly but most charity shops are very dark!

We’re looking in to reinventing Oxfam Boutiques, what would it take for them to become part of your shopping routine?

I wouldn’t really shop religiously there but it would take making the shop modern looking, fresh and light. Also good music and air freshener! The clothes may be the same but the shopping experience is just as important and this would entice customers I believe!



appendix 8: Consumer Photographs: Pick n mixers/ alternative bunch inspirations

Uploading recent purchases - Photograph taken from Instagram Account

All the photographs were taken by myself and a few images were sourced from the participants Instagram account The participant was given a sheet explaining the project, with this ethical clause at the bottom.

‘I confirm that the purpose of the project has been explained to me, that I have been given information about it in writing, and that I have has the opportunity to ask questions about the research I give permission for Hanna Fowler to take photographs of my bedroom space I agree to the terms outlined in the paragraph above.

I understand that my participation is voluntary, and that I can withdraw at any time without giving any reason and without any implications for my legal rights

Photograph taken from Instagram Account



appendix 9: Inspiration moodboards for visuals

9A. Consumer Profile Inspiration

9B. trend book Inspiration



9C. Visual Merchandising Inspiration

9D. overall visual Inspiration

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appendix 10: gauging success

10. The Future: Gauging Success Timeline

We want footfall to rise by 10% in the first 3 months Every 1 in 5 consumers purchase

During the first event, daily sales are to be doubled during the 4 hours 1 in 3 consumers purchase Local media coverage and engagment with online bloggers

Stronger communication between store and sorting centre Related items from trend forecast arriving in stores Staff morale improved All followers on social media platforms (Instagram and Twitter) doubled More conversational threads online by customers Maintain an active social presence

Footfall to rise by 25% Every 1 in 4 purchase ATV to increase by 10% Update visual merchandising and window displays - keep them on trend

Changes from pilot store in Nottingham carried out to other cities Nottingham store have established regular customers Footfall doubled since rebrand

Event expanded to three new other locations Trial events in new cities Expand social media presence to promote the national events more effectively More influencial commentators visiting

Week long event campaign across all participating Boutique stores Still maintain to double profits within the 4 hour event

Second release of trend forecast with any changes/recommendations improved from first release Overall selection and quality improved in store Diverse items of clothing arriving in stores

Stronger rapport between customer and stores Customer recommendations of products Stock reaches Boutiques quicker Trend packs developed since first release e.g. swatches, fabrics, more detail

New followers across all platforms since new store opening and event launch Introduce item reserve system with Instagram account Conversations online driven by the customer

Triple 6 month target of online followers Development of item reserve system online paypal payments and collect in store options now available for Boutique customers