THE FASHION JOURNALIST MELISSA EVERY
P estle Factors In the industry
TASK 1: FACTORS IN RETAIL
EXTERNAL FACTORS There are many different factors that affect fashion retail externally. The retail market focuses on how retailers are performing, whereas the economy focuses more on the income of customers. There are 6 different external factors that form together to make PESTLE; political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. This issue, we will be going into further depth on how certain factors impact retailers and their businesses and see whether these effects are positive or negative... Enjoy!
The social factor
Social factors that can effect a business range from major events such as the Olympics, to smaller factors such as a customer’s opinion that has been expressed via social media. Celebrities and other wellknown personalities have a huge influence on trends and fashion as they can be seen as role models and therefore have a dramatic effect on the fashion and retail industry. A fab example of social effects is Rita Ora being the new face for Adidas. This is definitely a positive factor for Adidas as it encourages customers to purchase their products, simply because Rita is seen in the same outfit. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to look like the wonderful Rita Ora?!
TECHNOLOGY
In Retail
DO WE LOVE IT OR LOATHE IT!? Technology is an external factor that retailers have no control over, especially regarding how technology progresses and how shopping has changed as a result. We LOVE technology, how would we be here today without it?! Online shopping is a god send! With the speed of progression in technology, who knows what will appear next, maybe a ‘BUY’ button on Twitter!?!? Us Twitter users will soon be able to buy items on the site with the introduction of a “buy” button to help generate more cash. The button will be embedded in a tweet and people will be able to purchase directly from that message. The feature will embed within text and allow users to purchase items within a few clicks. Retailers have definitely responded to this external factor; talk about keeping up! This feature is currently limited to 19 Twitter accounts in the US, names like Burberry, Rihanna and Eminem are the first on board. Rihanna is allowing her followers to purchase her latest music, merchandise and even concert tickets through the fast new buying button... how exciting!
“CONVENIENT AND EASY, HOPEFULLY EVEN FUN!”
Environment
Here
at i-D magazine we LOVE our
planet and we’re definitely ‘green’. So seeing all these high street shops do their bit for the planet is fabulous! We love that they love to be green! To prove themselves as environmentally friendly they’ve changed from harmful plastic bags to using the friendly paper bags that can now be seen all over the high street! Our favourite stores such as Topshop, Nike, ABC and even Primark have now done their bit to ensure they’re helping the planet in some way, and we love it! Hopefully we’ll be seeing paper bags from every store all over the high street very soon! This shows how retailers have kept up with the external factor and adapted for their own!
“FACED WITH THE QUESTION OF PAPER OR PLASTIC, THE ANSWER SHOULD ALWAYS BE PAPER!”
Making decisions in store is very important if sales want to be made. This could include taking risks to ensure sales increase. It also involves good communication to make sure the store is running smoothly. To make effective decisions, managers have to lead by example and be fair. If no decisions were made in store, it would simply not make any more sales and possibly decrease sales. If complaints are not dealt with correctly then it could lead to the store being taken to court. If staff are not dealt with in the right way then the store won’t be functioning correctly and underperforming in terms of targets being met and sales being made.
“I LIKE TO MAKE SURE THERE IS A MIX OF AGES ALL GIVING THE CORRECT SERVICE!”
In the industry
Overall
accountability involves taking responsibility for the stores performance through roles and responsibilities of staff and managing staff correctly. This can include training employees and making sure they're trained to the correct standard and ensuring the correct staff are in place and have the correct customer service skills for the position. If roles and responsibilities aren’t delegated throughout the store, this could lead to too much work being left to one person, which may result in the underperformance of a store; the same could happen if staff don’t receive the correct training. Undertrained staff won’t be able to see the correct running of the store as they will be unable to meet the needs of customers and the hitting of targets. If staff don’t have the right customer service skills, no purchases will be made within and the number of sales will drop which could lead overall failure of the store. This will also result in complaints being made and problems occurring which then falls back onto management team.
Planning, organising and implementing strategy This is important to ensure the store runs smoothly and well. The management team in store needs to be approachable to ensure staff can speak to them over any issues; however they cannot be too over friendly to prevent people taking advantage. If managers aren’t approachable then no communication will take place and staff may be unsure of what their roles are in-store, this won’t promote sales and could overall reduce the amount of sales that take place.