Fashion Futures Magazine

Kiera Sahota. 1800587. AD6603. FMC.

COVID-19 has taken over the globe with it’s intense and forceful change it has enforced upon society. This study takes a look at how the market has shifted from online brands targeting younger consumers to now having to analyse how the pandemic has made them appreciate experiencing the physical high street more. Similarly, the unforeseen circumstances have pronounced fear onto the older generation who before would have rarely ever shopped online but now are forced to learn how to, which I have supported in both my primary and secondary research. Working as a carer throughout the pandemic, I was able to argue, concisely and successfully, that the fashion industry has had to progress its focus within their markets by identifying how each age group has changed their shopping habits.

Pandemics are known to occur about every 100 years with the last global plague being the ‘Spanish Influenza’ taking over in 1918 right through until 1920 (Senthilingham, 2020.) This, obviously, means that a global pandemic is not a deadly new situation however, times have changed since the last century.

Technological advances have become the new norm with social media platforms and e-commerce taking over Gen Z. We now live in a digital era where the economy has to rely and behave in response to this. So, here we are in March 2020 and the government announces all non-essential stores, schools and leisure centres must close immediately, but where does this leave the economic state of the industry?

How will local businesses survive? Studies by Walter, 2020 show 96% of Gen Z do all their shopping online whereas only 65% 55+ year olds shop online. Yet, this has risen from last year where only 54% of the older consumers were shopping online. Could we blame this on the virus propelling apprehension and fear onto the more vulnerable, older generation? Throughout the pandemic, I have worked as a carer, looking after endangered health patients. Visiting around about 20 different houses every day, I have been able to see first-hand how their shopping behaviours and habits have altered through the months.

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For our first task back we were asked the question to reflect and respond to how our lives have changed through this pandemic. My life didn’t change too much during the lockdown as I was never furloughed. I had to continue my job as a carer throughout the difficult time, even increasing my hours up to 65 a week. Being the only people our patients see every day was difficult as we had to help them alter their lifestyles to a more digital, money efficient approach. Many of my clients did not have smartphones or devices which made it hard for them to do their online shopping etc. They couldn’t risk queuing up for hours to purchase their weekly shop so the only answer was learning how to shop online. Seeing the older generation have to alter their habits to this made me rethink about how I shopped.

In certain cases, I would have to go out for my clients and purchase their groceries for them which I think had a big impact on the way I continued shopping as I realised that I could make my money stretch a lot further by only buying the necessities during the lockdown. The virus saw a lot of people ‘panic-buying’ with many popular supermarket chains running out of toilet paper, flour and milk. I think this made a lot of people reconsider what was really essential to their lifestyles and which was not so. Straight away, I knew I wanted to analyse the severity of how our economy has changed and why both Gen Z and the older generation were so pivotal during this change. To be able to have first hand responses and face to face feedback off my clients was amazing and so useful, however, the most helpful experience was actually being able to help the elders do their online shopping and seeing who still wanted me to go out and purchase their shopping and who actually actively wanted to learn and grasp the concept of e-commerce. I knew I couldn’t just account for how many people shopped online versus physically going out during the lockdown, without having substantial evidence behind to support this thesis so I, kept note over a 32 day period how often my clients would shop, how much they would spend and if their purchases were online or not. Similarly, I kept an eye on what their shopping habits were like and if they evolved during the progression of the pandemic.

Firstly, I overlooked my research on how often my clients were shopping. After keeping track of 12 clients throughout the 32 days, each client made no more than 4 grocery shops during this time which averages out to a weekly shop. However, these once as week purchases were very easily explained by the price point spent as the average money spent between the 12 clients was £62.84, some were spending around the £40 mark, others just about missing £100. When surveying Gen Z, I found out that many agreed that when they go to supermarkets, they now see it as a sort of experience and time out to have a gander and relax because if they are in a rush or have hectic schedules, they prefer to shop online and favour same day delivery yet, when physically visiting big supermarket chains such as, Tesco, they are more likely to spend disposable income on little bits and bobs that they don’t necessarily need such as candles and furniture. The older cohort agreed with this point that because most of them are retired, when they do go out they are not in a rush so can spend time having a look around which means shopping online saves them a fair amount of money as it is not as easy for them to access and explore e-commerce, which means they do the bare minimum by purchasing only essential items.

One of the main things I realised during the pandemic was that my clients were more fearful than ever. A lot of them suffer with mental illnesses anyway, so fear and worry is not particularly abnormal for them, however, we saw many reablement clients cancel their regular shopping calls and instead, opt for carers to help them shop online. It was so eye-opening to see how eager and interested the older generation are about internet shopping and e-commerce so being able to help them gain knowledge into the basics of technology was fascinating for myself and other colleagues.

One of our clients, June, even purchased a Samsung S4 just so she could shop independently online.

Pocketing out of their own money, the over 60s were very realistic and willing to learn and engage with e-commerce however, for economies to really take advantage of this, they would need more credential evidence to support their investments into marketing campaigns toward the older generation.

After identifying and exploring the basics of the older generation, I wanted to gain insight on to how Generation Z’s buying habits were affected during the pandemic as this would allow me to understand if it would be worth the industry’s efforts and money to campaign their online sales more specifically toward older customers. The response I got from Gen Z was very different to what I received prior from clients. Surveying 14 teenagers who lay in the Generation Z age bracket, I asked them the same questions that were put before my patients: How frequently did you shop during the pandemic? If comfortable, how much did you spend on average during each shop? Did your buying habits alter at any point that you are aware of? Although not a key piece of information, I do want to add that out of the 14 surveyed, 8 were girls and 6 were boys which did, in fact, deploy the results I received. Responding to the question of how frequently they shopped, 4 out of the 14 said that they would do a weekly shop online and would spend about 30 to 45 minutes choosing what to buy. The majority, being 8 people, said that they appreciated a trip to the physical supermarkets which got them up and active and would use this as time to get out of the house and socialise.

The remaining 2 said that they didn’t really take part in doing the household shop, leaving it up to their parents however, did mention that they appreciated that it gave their parents a useful opportunity to be outside and have some space. All 10 also argued that they spent way more than they usually would as they were trying to constantly find new and exciting stuff to do to entertain themselves during lockdown. This is where social media saw new trends popping up as baking became a very exciting hobby for a few. Social media platforms, Instagram and TikTok saw a 18% rise in baking and cooking accounts being verified on channels which meant the accounts were marked as original and authenticate users (Praveen-Sequeira, 2020.) Being able to identify and confirm that the market demographic for e-commerce has shifted was beneficial as I was able to argue my point with clear and concise primary research. However, I knew it wasn’t just about the consumers when looking into the fashion market, I also needed to account for businesses and retail.

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A huge and magnifying trend that birthed from the global pandemic was the hashtag #supportsmallerbusinesses. This movement was in support of smaller, local businesses who would subsequently suffer from the pandemic, with a loss of financial stability and customer loyalty. More reputably this movement was in favour of hyper-localism. Being hyper-local means focusing on the primary concerns of the population within a local community. Social media platforms have recently taken up the hyper-local approach by introducing features such as ‘neighbourhood groups’ and ‘close friends’ to their channels. This allows users to explore active people and services that are located near to them. Hyper-localism became very popular and useful during the pandemic as citizens were prohibited to a small social bubble with far travelling banned therefore, local businesses had the opportunity to shine. Similarly, the economy suffered badly during the pandemic which meant there was a movement for the support of smaller brands who would struggle financially with the drop of funding and sales. My next step in seeing whether hyper-localism is the future of the industry is surveying both Gen Z and the older generation to find out how aware they are of this new movement and also, looking at past studies of hyper-localism to acknowledge how successful it can become. Surprisingly to me, both generations understood the concept of hyper-localism very quickly and were able to engage in a weighted conversation about which local, smaller brands they support and why.

I noticed a common theme within each generation as many of the older clients seemed to date back their support of smaller businesses by purchasing fresh produce and antique, treasurable items from smaller shops and markets whereas, Gen Z seemed to favour buying their everyday clothes and attire from these local businesses.

Don Farrell, is one of my clients who has just turned 82, and he said “I really enjoy visiting the markets within town and being able to pick up fresh fruit and veg, it has a great sense of authenticity and ripeness to it which supermarkets don’t. The supermarkets are too fast paced for me, I don’t mind spending a bit extra for good groceries.” Many of the older gen agreed with Don’s statement but when read out to Generation Z they seemed to admire Don’s efforts but admitted to not acting upon this themselves. Jasmyn, 16 stated “I love the idea of shopping at local markets and stuff like that, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t have the time to really be shopping around markets when I have college work and stuff. I would rather nip into Tesco Express and get a few essentials in for my mum than shop around for high quality food.” Both statements regarded were the overall consensus from both age categories which initiated the thesis that older people appreciate the value of local businesses more but it still left me wondering if Generation Z supported and valued local businesses.

When asking the 14 teenagers, I was intrigued to what they did buy from smaller companies and if they understood the significance of the hyper-local movement.

78% said that they recognised and learnt about smaller businesses through online platforms and made their purchases through e-commerce. They also agreed that the most frequent things they bought from smaller businesses was either clothes or self-care items such as face masks, skincare and candles. Learning this was very insightful as it made me question whether any smaller businesses were aware of their target market and how they responded to a height in online sales over the national lockdown.

In response to this, I was constantly emailing and direct messaging people on all social media platforms to try and interview small business owners about how their business has been affected throughout the pandemic and whether they thought it helped on hindered their sales and reputation.

After about 2 weeks of searching, I managed to set a date to interview the owner of a smaller, local business within my community who started off online but during the pandemic, decided to also open a physical store. I thought it would be interesting to ask them why they made this decision and their opinions on online versus physical sales and upholding consumer loyalty and brand image through unprecedented times.

I asked the girls who are only 22 and 17 years old themselves, why they decided to open a physical store during the pandemic and how they managed to retain sales. Freya, aged only 17 and listed as a director of the company replied “we have always wanted our own shop from the get go. What young girl doesn’t want their own shop? But it was hard knowing we had to follow strict guidelines enforced, obviously by the government which is so understandable but it was hard for us to get the shop decorated and stuff on time for opening, like we didn’t want to keep paying rent for the property and not make any profit so I think that’s why we are lucky that we started out on Instagram because we was able to maintain sales over on our Insta page but I think having a shop has really propelled us because we see the same faces walking around and its great marketing have people constantly see and talk about your shop.” Ava, also chipped in admitting that “we were so lucky that we were able to rent property in an area where we are very familiar with the locals but still in a highly populated area so we can gain new customers.”

Poser Parlour is an online retailer that began in April 2020, massing over 18,000 followers in just over 6 months, the brand was able to fund to launch their own physical store. Luckily enough for me, I only live down the road from it! Located on a busy main road, sisters Ava and Freya Limb set out to create a spontaneous and girly brand that focuses on lounge and sleepwear. First off, I began by asking the duo who they thought their target market were and how they use this information to their advantage when marketing. The eldest sister, Ava responded by explaining that they “have a main demographic of girls around the ages of 12-21 however, we also now sell childrenswear which starts from the age of 1 to 8 years old which means we now have seen a rise in parents buying from us, especially within store.” This answer did not surprise me at all as I have purchased pyjamas from Poser Parlour before and know many others that have. I, also, had 87 mutual followers with the brand so was aware the demographic was going to be very similar to my age range. Following on from this,

It was fascinating speaking to the girls about how they began their business however, I wanted to discover their opinions on the pandemic and whether this benefitted or harmed their trading. “We began our Instagram page at the beginning of lockdown, so we were very familiar with delivery times and shipping procedures and stuff with our garments and accessories. I also think that because all of the social distancing rules and stuff that were introduced we were more focused on integrating a whole new customer experience rather than having customers feel like the store isn’t really essential or worth popping in. We have hairstylists, makeup artists and fitters in 3-4 times a week to ensure customers can access more of a lifestyle. We also focused heavily on our aesthetic spending hundreds on seating, neon lights, signs, just the decor overall really. We are sisters, at the end of the day, so we wanted to really enforce that idea of family and warmth.” I can admit the store really does radiate a warm and welcoming energy. My chat with the pair lasted around about 40 minutes and the girls were very open and transparent about their practices as a new, small fast-fashion business that occurred as a result of the pandemic. I wanted to end my chat with them by asking them what they think the future market of fashion looks like. The girls responded saying “we definitely think the younger consumer is always going to be present within the industry as they are the newcomers, they’re the ones we’ve got to keep up with but we do appreciate that it’s the older generation, the 30-50 year olds that are the hardest consumer to tap into so once you’ve broke that barrier, it is a great avenue for your business.”

Within my studies, I was able to seek knowledge from both primary and secondary resources to identify and explore both Generation Z and older clientele and see how they reacted and responded to the pandemic. I was also able to research into hyper-localism and see whether both markets favoured or dismissed the movement. Finally, I also had an amazing opportunity to speak to owners of a small, local business to see how the pandemic has affected their custom. All of this information allowed me to calculate a clear and precise consensus that the future of the fashion industry has changed as more older people are shopping online so, it is worth marketers investing in campaigns that are directed towards the older generation. It has been concluded that younger people have years ahead of them and will always continue to go back and forth between shopping online and in physical stores yet, the older generation have had fear and worry engraved into them as the pandemic has cut all forms of communication and sociality off from them. This fear has put the older generation off going out to shops were it can be busy and populated as they don’t want to risk their health for a task they can complete from their comfort of their own homes, online. It must be mentioned though, that this fear that is more likely to be heightened within clients of my own as they are patients of ill health whereas, there are many 60 plus year olds that do not have underlying and ongoing health issues so may be much more willing to go out shopping. I undertake many interviews and surveys with Generation Z and my clients which I had edited and ready to upload however, I wasn’t able to receive the correct documentation from social services in time which meant due to safeguarding issues I am not allowed to upload. The 140 second video included clips which alternated between younger and older people voicing their opinions on the pandemic and how it has affected their lives. I am disappointed that it took weeks to get the correct documentation to present the video, but I am happy that I have been able to portray my interviews and surveys as concisely as possible.

Within my studies, I was able to seek knowledge from both primary and secondary resources to identify and explore both Generation Z and older clientele and see how they reacted and responded to the pandemic. I was also able to research into hyper-localism and see whether both markets favoured or dismissed the movement. Finally, I also had an amazing opportunity to speak to owners of a small, local business to see how the pandemic has affected their custom. All of this information allowed me to calculate a clear and precise consensus that the future of the fashion industry has changed as more older people are shopping online so, it is worth marketers investing in campaigns that are directed towards the older generation. It has been concluded that younger people have years ahead of them and will always continue to go back and forth between shopping online and in physical stores yet, the older generation have had fear and worry engraved into them as the pandemic has cut all forms of communication and sociality off from them. This fear has put the older generation off going out to shops were it can be busy and populated as they don’t want to risk their health for a task they can complete from their comfort of their own homes, online. It must be mentioned though, that this fear that is more likely to be heightened within clients of my own as they are patients of ill health whereas, there are many 60 plus year olds that do not have underlying and ongoing health issues so may be much more willing to go out shopping. I undertake many interviews and surveys with Generation Z and my clients which I had edited and ready to upload however, I wasn’t able to receive the correct documentation from social services in time which meant due to safeguarding issues I am not allowed to upload. The 140 second video included clips which alternated between younger and older people voicing their opinions on the pandemic and how it has affected their lives. I am disappointed that it took weeks to get the correct documentation to present the video, but I am happy that I have been able to portray my interviews and surveys as concisely as possible.

Image 12. Poser Parlour. (2020). Instagram photo taken from official account with permission.

Retrieved from: https://instagram.com/poser/parlour/accounts

Image 11. Poser Parlour. (2020). Instagram photo taken from official account with permission.

Retrieved from: https://instagram.com/poser/parlour/accounts

Image 10. Poser Parlour. (2020). Instagram photo taken from official account with permission.

Retrieved from: https://instagram.com/poser/parlour/accounts

Image 9. Poser Parlour. (2020). Instagram photo taken from official account with permission.

Retrieved from: https://instagram.com/poser/parlour/accounts

Image 8. Errikson, P. (2018). Virtual Illustration in Technological advancements. Retrieved from: https://handsomefrankillustrationagency.com/techn o/illustrations/digidownload//

Image 7. Sahota, K. (2020). Photograph of client.

Retrieved from: family of health client (iCare).

Image 6. Sahota, K. (2020). Photograph of client.

Retrieved from: family of health client (iCare).

Image 5. Sahota, K. (2020). Photograph of client.

Retrieved from: family of health client (iCare).

Image 4. Sahota, K. (2020). Photograph of client.

Retrieved from: family of health client (iCare).

Image 3. Manniko, P. (2012). Cyber Nostalgia.

Retrieved from: https://annamystory.com/illustrations/

Image 2. Kussabi, R. (2020). Illustration of COVID-19.

Retrieved from: www.rosakusabbi.com/shop

Image 1. Manniko, P. (2010). Time Mapping Installation. Retrieved from: mymodernmet.com