Finished unit 10

UNIT 10 FASHION RETIAL BUYING ENVIRONMENT

Responsibilities of the Buyer â– Who do buyers need to communicate with?

They need to communicate with suppliers, senior retail managers, stores and customers.

â– Where do buyers need to go and why?

They need to attend trade fairs during the buying seasons of February and August to source and select new products for following collections. They also need to attend fashion weeks; Tokyo, Milan, Paris, New York and London to find out new and upcoming trends. These are called Directional shops and are informative to the buyer on both trends and consumer habits.

â– What do buyers have to do on a daily basis?

They need to regularly review performance indicators; sales and discount levels, meet up with various members in the same department such as merchandisers and suppliers as well as senior retail managers to present new collections. They have to trend forecast based on sales figures and customer feedback.

Research ■Buyers must do a lot of research before they are to present a collection, this research aids in forecasting the trends that are to be successful, this can be done by attending trade fairs and fashion weeks.

■Their research also includes being analytical with previous consumer buying patterns allowing them to forecast future trends based on these patterns. This allows them to react to changes in demand ensuring they stay competitive with other products.

■They can also research by talking directly to the customer, by getting merchandise feedback from the customer you can predict trends on the feedback you receive. This also helps them further in understanding the needs of the customer, e.g. price ranges and quality

Sourcing By meeting regularly with suppliers buyers are able to source garments, also by creating partnerships with new suppliers, this allows them to plan for future products. The relationship with the supplier also includes negotiation. Sourcing products also can be done by attending trade shows and trade fairs to find new garments and trends for the customer. The buyer must also travel to meet with suppliers to source new garments. This can take them to places like India and China, each with different niches, China is known for supplying finished garments, India for embellished garments.

Communication

Buyers need to be communicating with many people on a regular basis. They need to communicate with the suppliers to be able to negotiate prices, quantities and delivery dates. They also need to liaise with other members on departments such as design, fabric technologists, merchandising and quality control, and also with internal departments such as marketing. They also need to work and communicate with the customer asking for feedback of the merchandise and analysing consumer buying patterns.

ARTICLE TASK â– TRENDS

Increasingly its not just designers at fashion week that are dictating trends for us, but in recent times, we look to celebrities to direct us in our style and what we wear.

Both Kanye West and Rihanna, two prominent fashion icons have taken both their passions for fashion and turned this into brands of their own. These trends such as an urban more androgynous style can be seen also in fashion week and also in high street retailers.

As a buyer I would need to be aware of these obvious muses and the trends and styles that they exert as they are constantly in the public eye especially to the younger generation. This means that whatever trends they take an interest in are going to become popular.

GLOBAL MARKET This article describes the projections for retail data from USA TODAY. The data shows that just ten retailers are expected to ‘haul in’ 66.7% off all the revenue retailers.

This shows how competitive the market is and how people may favour certain retailers over others giving them a head start in the market. As a buyer, I need to be aware of customer loyalty and always increasing the personal relationships with my customers therefore ensuring their return to my retail store, increasing sales. Also this allows me to see that as a buyer I need to remain competitive with other retailers for example on price, quality and even promotional offers.

This will ensure that I have a good place in the market, not only in my country and with other retailers here in the UK but to be aware of global competition. (USA TODAY, 2016)

ECONOMY As the value of the pound drops, consumers are losing confidence in their spending as they fear that as a result of the dropping value, trading prices or prices of good or materials are going to rise as a result and this in turn will mean that the prices on high street that they shop in will also go up.

This will affect the retailer as it means they will lose customer loyalty meaning a fall in sales.

To combat this as a buyer I would negotiate the cheapest prices for materials that I’m purchasing, especially overseas. Not only this but I would find new ways to increase customer loyalty for example deals for long term customers such as 25% off their next shops.

Government polices- Brexit According to this recent article by the retail gazette, prices within retail are due to rise by 5% ‘across the board’ by next year, stating suppliers have upped their prices blaming the UK’s decision to vote out being the reason behind this inflation. (Retailgazette.co.uk, 2016) The article describes how prices will rise across all areas of retail from clothing to food and stating how this is ‘something consumers will have to get used to’. (Retailgazette.co.uk, 2016) They have also stated within the article how some retailors prices may even rise to up to 8%.

This affects the role of the buyer in numerous ways, the main issue they will now encounter will be negotiating with suppliers. The reason retail prices will be increasing will be due to the increase in suppliers pricing as leaving the EU means trading with other countries is more expensive. This will then in turn increase retail prices which could lead to a decrease in sales as consumers will be less likely to pay 5% more for an item they bought previously at a reasonable price. A decrease in sales will then lead to a decrease in profits which could then make the buyers budget smaller, and this suggest that this article has a negative affect on the buyer and their role.

(Retailgazette.co.uk, 2016)

Natasha Horsley

Retail Market Similarly to the previous article, this report, featured on the retail gazettes website, has a negative affect on the buyer.

According to the article, footfall fell ‘by 0.9% across the board in September’ suggesting that each sector of retail felt this drop in consumer spending. It also states that shopping centres lost consumers at a ‘higher rate than the high street.

(Retailgazette.co.uk, 2016) Journalist are blaming the usually warm September weather as the reason behind this sudden drop in footfall across the country.

This affects the buyer in a number of ways, for example less footfall within stores leads to a decrease in sales, which decreases profits and could in turn decrease financial budgets for the buyer. Furthermore, buyers will have to take a closer look at shopping centres and their customers in order to try and improve footfall in their stores within the centre.

This could also impact the way buyers communicate with other departments. For example, buyers will have to communicate with visual merchandiser, in particular those based in shopping centres, in order to try and make the products and the stores more appealing to their customers in order to increase footfall and boost sales/profits.

(Retailgazette.co.uk, 2016)

Natasha Horsley

(BetaNews, 2016)

Technology

The article featured left, shows how technology can affect the role of the buyer, however this report has neither a positive or negative affect on the role of the buyer as the article describes how shopping apps generate more money when they are targeted at women.

According to the article, women are 'more likely to make a purchase' on shopping apps and they are 'less expensive to acquire compared to their male counterparts'. (BetaNews, 2016) This suggests that male consumers are much harder audience to deal with in regards to making a profits through shopping apps, and that if companies want to make a profit they 'must target women'. (BetaNews, 2016) This will affect the role of the buyer, in particular the way the communicate to app designers. For example they will have to work with the IT department in order to come up with new ways of enticing the male consumer to purchase through their shopping app. Furthermore, buyers may want to look at another Channel of persuading male consumers to shop with their company.

Natasha Horsley

Consumer spending Consumer spending rebounds in September driven by online purchases: This article by retail week, contrasts drastically in comparison to retail market article as it is suggesting that despite a drop in footfall, consumer spending rose in September, suggesting a positive impact on the buyer.

According to the article, consumer spending online rose by 6%, however more money was spent on leisure such as eating out and holidays. It also states that 'the troubled fashion sector continued to struggle' (Tugby et al., 2016) as clothing and footwear sales dropped significantly.

This will affect the role of the buyer as they will have to try and boot sales throughout the remainder of the year in order to make a profit. They will also have to communicate with visual merchandisers within stores in order to try and make displays more exciting for customers and try to increase footfall around the country.

Natasha Horsley

TOPSHOP TASK

CUSTOMER DEMAND ■Customer profile – TOPSHOP customers have been described as ’cool girls’, who are ‘style conscious and independent’. This means that TOPSHOP clothing should be up to date with the latest trends from fashion week but also offer a cool alternative to other clothes offered on the high street. Not only this but a former spokesperson for TOPSHOP said that the official age for their target market ranges from ‘15-30 year old women’ however they want to ‘target everyone who likes fashion regardless of age or income’. This means that their products need to be generic while simultaneously being stylish, allowing to accommodate to a large target market. TOPSHOP has also been described as ‘majoring in up to date, affordable style’ meaning that they must continue to offer competitive prices that can compete with similar high street retailers as this is what their customers have come to love and expect. (Arcadiagroup.co.uk, 2016) Customer Profile This is Daisy, she is 21 years old and in her third year studying art and design in London. She works part time in a coffee shop balancing her studies with her work. Because of this she is on a tight budget as it was an expensive move from Leister to London, she is very money savvy and saves most of her wages to spend on clothes. As a result she loves a bargain and will never spend more than she needs to on her clothes. She loves FKA Twigs and Miley Cyrus and likes their unique style both in their music and style.

She also enjoys accessorising and feels that in fashion terms, details are most important. She is a gym girl and works out three times a week, also going to yoga twice a week with her friend Marina.

She goes against the tide in fashion and enjoys taking two or three different styles, usually inspired by London fashion week which she takes a keen interest in, and then adapting these to herself.

MARKET TRENDS •TOPSHOP’s A/W16 collection sports many trends including ‘Punk’ ‘New Wave’ with ‘hedonistic youth culture at its core’.

•The clothing included ‘pale blue denim jackets’, ‘slit side dresses’, with references to the fifties with tailored blazers and highwaisted cigarette trousers.

According to Vogue, the most prominent of trends for 2016 are Sportswear, Shearling, Military, Heritage, Velvet and Oversized. TOPSHOP hits many of these trends with their A/W16 range including their oversized denim jackets, smart business clothing such as their cigarette pants and blouses and their various velvet pieces such as their velvet burgundy flippy skirt and smart red, velvet cigarette pants.

These trends offer an exciting twist on both materials and styles. The oversized component of their collection is daring and fashion forward, offering a more masculine look to the wardrobe however the tailored pants and blouses allow for femininity in our everyday wear. This fits in with both the TOPSHOP ideals as it offers an alternative, for example instead of bringing out a simple fitted denim jacket, they have released an oversized pale denim jacket with a fur trim giving a more exciting and style conscious alternative to other high street jackets while also adhering to A/W16 trends of trims. This also fits with the customer profile as its different from the average retail store and also gives the customer the ability to pick and choose different styles, fabrics and colours to create their own individual looks.

FINANCIAL BUDGET TOPSHOP's ranges tend to use high quality materials like faux fur, cotton, silk and embellishments, particularly sequins. This means the prices of the materials used to make these items will be expensive. As a buyer for TOPSHOP I will need to ensure I have created and maintained good communication with previous suppliers so I can negotiate the cheapest materials and clothes. If I fail to remain inside my financial budget, the mark up from the cost price to retail price will need to be increase as to generate profit for the store. This could decrease popularity within my target market, particularly with the large audience of students whom have a much tighter budget. If prices in TOPSHOP were to increase, customer loyalty may in turn decrease meaning less sales for the retailer. This may also leave room for competition to gain more attention, which as a buyer is a negative thing.

As a buyer I also would need to be aware of the bestsellers and most popular trends within the current fashion environment. If I was to identify and allocate a specific trend for my current seasons collection that was not going to be popular within my target market, this would mean that I would sell less of the product. Therefore, to make the most of my financial budget I would need to be choosing trends that I know are going to be desirable to the target market.

STORE POLICY TOPSHOP have a number of ‘Responsibilities’ including•Fashion Footprint- This is Arcadia Group’s programme which ‘plans, monitors and manages the social and environmental impact of our business.’ From this, TOPSHOP’s mission statement was derived which is ‘to produce fashionable products in an ethical way and demonstrate a responsible attitude towards people and the environment.’ (topshop.com, 2016)- This is important to keep in mind when being a buyer as you need to adhere to this when you are sourcing your products. This could be that you need to go to the factories you source your materials and clothing from and inspect the working conditions and the treatment and pay of the workers that are producing your clothing.

If as a buyer you don’t adhere to these responsibilities this could tarnish the reputation of TOPSHOP as a brand, deterring people from shopping at your store. This appears to be followed by TOPSHOP as on their site it continues that;

TOPSHOP also collaborates with many charities such as Help the Aged, Age UK, Teenage Cancer Trust and Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. The charity they are most involved in is the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, for which they design annually a breast cancer related t-shirt of which 30% of the proceedings go to the charity itself. This year it’s the 20th anniversary of the collaboration with the charity raising over the years £14 million to fund cancer research. Their aim is by ‘2050 no women will die of breast cancer’. This is a bold statement and as a buyer for TOPSHOP you would need to continue to fully support the charity and design the tees each year. This shows commitment to both the company and the charity. You would also need to be aware that to sell the t-shirts at such a pace that it would generate large proceedings to donate to the charity, they would need to fit with current trends and be stylish, not just focussed. This year for example, they have adhered to the trend of the 90’s and printed logo tees, an ever popular casual piece in fashion. However they have adapted this to the cancer theme as the t-shirt has flashes of pink patterns and subtle pink stitching, the well known colour of breast cancer awareness. (Topshop Blog, 2016)

TREND RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS This is important to the role of the buyer as without analysis of trends and discovering and utilising current trends, their products would not be fitting to the target market and sales would drop.

Trend research can be done in many ways such as; •Attending fashion weeks in Milan, Paris, New York and London. This allows them to see new trends that are being show on the runways and then analysing these to see what has worked in past seasons and what is befitting to the target market.

•Trend forecasting websites such as WGSN can also help retail teams to stay ahead of the trends. This takes into account shape, fabric, pattern, colour and clothing type.

The act of trend research is different for different areas of the fashion industry. For example within the luxury brands, the idea of seasonal trends still stands firm and these trends can be spotted during fashion week working six months before the season itself allowing for buyers to analyse these new trends ready for the new season. However other types of fashion such as fast fashion required a much quicker turnover of new trends. This means that a more in depth understanding of the target market is sometimes required. Not only this but the concept of a two season year in fashion is altered to bring mid season collections therefore trend forecasting is important to bring the new and increased number of collections on time and on trend.

However, Topshop itself also has different ways of researching new and upcoming trends. Topshop is the only of the high street retailers to have a runway collection at London Fashion Week with their TOPSHOP Unique range. This means that the designers need to be aware of what’s trending and what are the most fitting clothes to be on the runway. This also allows them to compare their clothing with other designers that also attend fashion week giving them an even broader view of what other fashion styles are trending and what is the mode for that season.

Topshop also stays on trend by looking to celebrities for inspiration and from this creating collaboration ranges featuring clothing from these celebs. Some of these include Cara, Kate Moss and Beyoncé.

They can then see of which of these trends within the collaborations are selling and popular with consumers and continue these particular trends, for example Beyoncé's sportswear brand Ivy Park. Sportswear is such a big trend for 2016 therefore Ivy Park includes many of Topshop’s bestsellers including the oversized logo hoodie and the Ivy Park logo leggings.

TRADE SHOWS Trade shows are a great way for buyers to scope out recent market trends and opportunities. It also allows for the creation of contacts within the industry by meeting with other retailers. Other important functions for fashion trade shows include;

EXAMPLES OF TRADE SHOWS-

•Discovering new lines or new products •Contacting potential suppliers •Finding new ideas and conducting market research •Comparing market research •Buying exhibited products

This is the UK’s ‘largest gathering of fashion buyers and takes place at Olympia London’. It showcases footwear, accessories and ready to wear collections and ranges from high end brands to independent designers. It focusses on customer experience and trend inspiration. This is essential for the buyer because they need to stay up to date with current and new emerging trends to translate to their products and trade shows are a good way to do this. Olympia.london. (2016)

Scoop is more of a contemporary womenswear and accessories trade show held in the Saatchi Gallery London. It showcases ‘talented, successful and unique’ exhibitions. It promises to guarantee visitors ‘something they have not seen elsewhere’. As a buyer for Topshop, I would have to choose the trade shows I attended based on the look my store wants to achieve. As Topshop describes itself as having a unique and individual style allowing customers to choose their own style, a trade show like SCOOP would be ideal to attend as it shows independent and individual trends from over ‘250 international contemporary designers’. (Scoopinternational.com, 2016)

SOURCING AND NEGOTIATION- Buyer/Supplier relationships Sourcing and NegotiationWhen sourcing my collections I would need to keep in mind how ethical and environmentally friendly my chosen fabrics and the factories from which I sourced these were. The term ‘Social Responsibility’ is often talked about when talking about sourcing, a code of ethics is usually firstly written were they should ‘strongly state and define the firm’s expectations on human rights issues’. (Weconnectfashion.com, 2016) Topshop is owned by Arcadia Group, on their site they state that have ‘strong working relationships with our network of international suppliers, 60% of which have been with us for three years or more’. This shows that they have good, strong relationships with the factories that they are sourcing from, allowing them to negotiate competitive prices with the suppliers.

The top five countries that they source their goods from are; •Turkey •China •Romania •India •Bangladesh Arcadia Group also ensure ethical standards are met when they source their materials as they undertake country risk assessments when making new relationships with suppliers.

This involves the establishment of ‘a fire and building safety programme in Bangladesh for a period of five years’. As a buyer this is important to continue and uphold all initiatives like this as the consumer is becoming more and more aware of the moral price of their clothing, especially since the 2013 Bangladesh factory collapse. By following the risk assessments you are ensuring all your materials are ethically sourced.

As a buyer, negotiation is important as it allows for your store to compete against similar retailers as you may source and buy materials at a cheaper cost price resulting in a higher profit when the RRP is worked out. This means your clothing becomes more appealing to the consumer, increasing sales. (Arcadiagroup.co.uk, 2016)

Buyers need to liaise with suppliers frequently, sometimes on a daily basis. Therefore you need to have a degree of trust and support between the two departments of the buyers and the suppliers. This helps in difficult retail industry situations such as inaccurate forecasting. With good communication between supplier an buyer this can reduce the impact and cost of this. (Anon, 2016) As a buyer for Topshop I would need to maintain a good degree of communication with the suppliers for the store.

Respect and an equal power distribution within the buyer supplier relationship means that each party are more likely to give in depth feedback and information.

Communication is especially important in overseas relationships as it is more difficult to cancel and change orders once shipped so a high level of communication needs to be maintained during the whole of the buying process.

PESTLE Employment Laws

P= POLITICAL

L=LAW Wage rates

Laws for Changes to minimum pay legislation

E=ECONOMIC Tax Policy

Political Stability

Inflation rate

Economic growth and decline

S=SOCIAL

Health

Copyright

Cultural norms

E=ENVIRONMENTAL

T=TECHNOLOGICAL

Age distribution Mobile technology

Social Network

Sustainability Weather changes

Online Shopping

Customer values

Environmental Primark has been associated in the past with exploitative behaviour, being involved in the 2013 Bangladesh factory collapse as they sourced many of their materials from here.

They have been generally criticised for ‘profiting from cheap fashion in developed nations’, this has an overall negative impact on the retailers themselves as many activists would be put off by these facts and the unethical way that Primark's products are sourced. (Doshi, 2016) Primark has since made an effort to improve their ethical standard;

Primark and DFID join forces to improve the wellbeing of garment workers in developing markets

CottonConnect Cotton connect is an initiative funded by Primark and allows for women in Gujarat, a ‘drought prone’ cotton growing region in India. It included ‘about 380 women’ who have been attending ‘training camps’ that are being run by Cotton Connect.

This is good because the majority of Primark’s fabric composition is made from cotton itself and although not directly buying from these suppliers, the women who they are funding, they have states that their long term ambition ‘is to ensure all the cotton in our supply chain is sourced sustainably.’.

This has helped both the environment and the social aspects of the area and the people involved in the scheme. The average yield of the cotton plants has ‘increased by 10%’ and profit per household has increased by ‘£1819 on average over two years’.

DFID is the Department for International Development and aims to improve working conditions of garment makers in developing countries. This has helped them as it combines presence, networks and the skills of both organisations to improve the ‘health and wellbeing’ of the workers. DFID works in many countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma, Ethiopia and India, this is useful to me as a buyer because this could potentially help me with networking and gathering new contacts therefore allowing me more sourcing opportunities that comply with Primark’s new ethical standards.

(Primark.com, 2016)

SOCIAL

On Primark’s actual online site, they state ‘Unlike other brands, we don't spend money on flashy advertising. In fact, other than letting you know when we're about to open a new store, you won't see any advertising from us!’. This is an unusual approach in retail as it is hard to reach new audiences and market your clothing if you don’t advertise and inform people.

However, in October 2016, well known vlogger Gabrielle Lindley also known as VelvetGh0st launched her new range in Primark which included nightwear and homeware. She advertised this on her twitter and Instagram, utilising these well know social media platforms being used increasingly in the fashion industry, using the hashtag #GabriellaXPrimark. This was good as people could become aware of the range from Gabriella herself however also allowed them to become involved on a personal level and use the hashtag when they shopped the range. This again increased awareness of the collection, in itself becoming an advertising campaign.

(Primark.com, 2016)

As a buyer having celebrity endorsements like these are good for the marketing of the collections as they encourage the target market, in this case young women to shop the range as they are widely influenced by the celebrities used and can relate to them. Not only this but as a buyer this would be beneficial as it means less of the financial budget would be used on advertising an large, flashy campaigns as the use of social media is widespread and interactive to the consumer, an essential concept to younger audiences. (We The Unicorns, 2016)

TECHNOLOGICAL

Primark is one of the only fashion retailers to remain popular and known widespread despite its lack of technological advertisements nor online shopping outlet. As a buyer, the use of technology in both the marketing and distribution of products is essential as it enables us to reach a larger target market, particularly in the younger generation however also offers a more convenient and revolutionised means of shopping our ranges. The initiative is both online and visual in store to the customer, with lights and hashtags in the stores themselves with the hashtag PRIMANIA. This, paired with free wifi, larger changing rooms encouraging customers to take changing room selfies to upload to the site means that the products sold in Primark are being advertised by the customers themselves in a fun and engaging way.

As a buyer this is a good because it is increasing the reaches of the products themselves as they become accessible to more people. It also keeps up with the changing ways of advertising, both being visual and online. This would work to advertise and increase sales of new items. It would also be good as it would allow us to see a visual representation of what is being bought and the trends that are popular among the target markets.

With analysis, this could help us boost future sales by knowing what will sell in the future.

LEGAL Following the increase in refugees in Syria, many supply chains have become taking advantage of these people as means of cheap labour and workforce. One of these companies were in fact Primark reporting that they had indeed found ‘unregistered refugees’ working on their factory floors. However its not just the illegality of having foreign unregistered workers, they have also been accused of mistreating the refugee workers, describing them as receiving ‘abuse’.

On Primark’s site, they state that ‘no harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed’ concerning their workers. This article goes against said statement.

This had a negative effect on the buyer because it suggests that Primark as a company support ill treatment and abuse of workers, tarnishing the reputation of the store. This is turn would deter consumers from shopping in the store as they could be seen as supporting this, or prolonging it. This would reduce the amount of people shopping at Primark.

However, from this a positive outcome has also risen as Primark now are expecting suppliers to ‘support unregistered refugees to get work permits.’. This may increase their workforce as they are openly showing their support for the employment of refugees in a legal and well informed manor.

POLITICAL Following the vote to for the UK to leave Europe there has been an increase in the value of the euro against the pound. This means that overseas profits are increasing following being translated into sterling therefore leaving owners, ‘Associated British Foods with enhanced balance sheet despite fashion chain’s expected ‘marginal decline’ in UK earnings’.

This is good for the company because despite their sales actually decreasing sales in the months of April and May due to ‘abnormal weather patterns’ the overall balance sheet remains untouched by this.

However future effects of the pounds devaluation in comparison with both the dollar and the euro could adversely effect Primark’s sales and this would effect the buyer. This is because they may be left with less money to be spending on materials because prices are rising when buying from overseas factories. Not only this but in turn this would mean that prices of the clothing would rise however Primark is known for its cheap and affordable prices on the high-street so this could damage the reputation of Primark again decreasing sales.

ENVIRONMENTAL Both in the spring months of April and May running up to Summer and the Fall months of September and October preparing for winter, sales have declined in Primark due to abnormal weather conditions. The unseasonably cold temperatures of April and May resulted in the decline in sales of clothes for the upcoming summer and more currently, the unusually warm temperatures of September has resulted in consumers ‘making do’ with their previous years clothing, not wanting to invest in new winter clothes.

This is particularly bad for retailers like Primark who use overseas suppliers, sourcing goods from countries in the Far east and South Asia. This creates problems as as soon as stock is sourced and bought, the company has to commit to these clothes as ‘once stock is on its way, you can’t turn the ships around’. This means that warehouses often become saturated with unsold stock, a danger for fast fashion retailers like Primark who need a constant supply of new trends so therefore they are forced to discount the unsold stock meaning a decline in profit. As a buyer you would need to be aware of the possibility of weather abnormalities offering a transitional option/options in your A/W ranges allowing customers to shop the new range without committing to clothes that do not fit their needs. Not only this but you may have to re think you suppliers in these circumstances, sourcing new products and making new contacts with suppliers that are located closer to home.

ECONOMY Following Primark implementing the national living wage, they have released a statement saying that this and ‘other factors that affect Primark and is in not going to prejudice our pricing position’.

Primark is well known for its affordable prices being one of the most loved fast fashion brands on the high street. Because of this they have built up a large fan base within their brand and have many loyal customers who have come to expect the low prices Primark offer.

Therefore Primark’s statement is so important to the upkeep of the loyal market as they discuss that despite a higher national living wage for their employees, the prices of their clothing will not rise to compensate for this.

This is important to Primark as a brand as it means they remain competitive on the high street with other fast fashion retailers like Forever 21 and will mean the maintenance of their loyal customer base.

As a buyer I would need to be aware of this when it comes to my financial budget and would need to strive to source and negotiate materials at the cheapest prices. This may involve sourcing new suppliers and building new strong relationships while maintaining pre existing ones.

TECHNOLOGICAL

Primark has consistently grown from its beginning in 1969 with figures rising every year however this year is the first year that growth has not been seen in the companies numbers and for the ‘first time in 16 years, same-store sales have dropped’. This contrasts to similar clothing companies such as ASOS and Boohoo who have seen ‘strong double digit growth recently’. This is because both of these retailers are based mainly around the online experience of shopping which is becoming so popular in recent years. Experts have commented on Primark’s decline as being fuelled by its lack of online platforms for which consumers can use. This is then amplified by the target market as figures show that the largest consumer group for Primark are in their 20’s, a generation that would prefer to shop online.

As a buyer, I would need to be aware of this drop in sales and continue to use pre existing online recourses available for Primark such as Primania and the #Primania to target the online generation to boost sales. Not only this but I would need to think of alternative ways to boost sales such as deals or promotions on clothing or more seasonal reductions.

SOCIAL

Bob Geldof recently played a festival in Brentwood Essex with his band Boomtown Rats but has been slated in the media for his poor conduct and ugly accusations throughout the set. One subject that was made obvious was Geldof’s hate for the retailer Primark. He slated the festival goers for their wearing of Primark clothing, describing it as inappropriate festival wear.

This is the opposite of celebrity endorsements as it shows Geldof’s hatred towards the brand. This gives the brand a bad name as it suggests that if you are rich and successful like Geldof, you wouldn’t even think of wearing Primark and it gives the impression that the clothing are not good quality.

This is an impression that has been seen frequently in the media regarding Primark…

To work against this, stores can use other platforms in the social eye such as the social media app, Instagram. Primark’s instagram page advertises new collections, seasonal promotions and key wardrobe pieces that are best sellers in store. This showcases the best bits of their ranges allowing people to easily access and view clothes and accessories that they actually want to buy.

ECONOMY In 2015 Primark opened its first USA store in Boston. To mark this the newspaper, The Sun conducted a comparative price shop detailing the prices of five items sold in UK Primark stores and five similar clothing items from the new US store. Overall, it was found that the women’s outfit was £8.14 cheaper in the US and the men’s, £6.38. This caused upset in UK shoppers feeling that they were being charged more for exactly the same items. However, Primark responded stating ‘This comparison is misleading and is not an accurate reflection of our pricing’ and concluding that the price difference was in fact down to taxing. In Boston there is no sales tax but in the UK we have to pay VAT which is usually as 20%. Not only this, but it said also that prices in different retail stores are affected by the competition in that area and that ‘local competition’ needs to be taken into account. This could be that in the US there are more fast fashion retailers so their prices need to be lower to deal with the increase in local competition whereas here in the UK Primark is one of the leading fast fashion retailers.

As a buyer I would need to be aware of the need to conduct comp shops similar to this to establish the need for increases/decreases in price in conjunction with the competition in my area. Not only this but I would need to use advertising and other endorsements to combat the response to any increase in prices. For example using celebrities to endorse new collections as this would increase customer desire for the items as they would be encouraged to purchase new clothes worn by their idols and therefore would work against the price increase meaning sales would not decrease in response to this.

POLITICAL-Employment laws

In 2013, in Bangladesh a catastrophic factory collapse occurred leaving over 1000 workers dead.

This was due to unsafe working conditions within the factory. Primark supposedly sourced many of their clothing from factories inside the building leaving their reputation tarnished and their customers unsatisfied with the ethical implications buying Primark’s clothing had.

Since then, working conditions have been improved with many companies like Primark having a risk assessment initiative before they can source from that particular factory however a human rights speaker for their current factory in Dhaka has commented ‘you cannot say you are trying to improve working conditions and help workers out on one hand when on the other hand you are not giving a fair price’. The average wages for these workers in India is $68 a month, a wage that will barely support the families with their basic needs.

This results in many of the workers becoming ill and resulting in forced early retirement. Although they are ‘getting the minimum wage as per legal requirements, they are not getting a living wage’.

Although Primark are now adhering to laws, the ethical implications still exist. This could deter current customers and decrease sales. As a buyer I would need to do a full assessment in all areas of the factory or areas that I am sourcing from making sure both workers and working conditions are acceptable and comfortable for the workers.

(South China Morning Post, 2016)

LEGAL In Primark’s code of conduct, they state that they only source from ethical suppliers and all their workers are treated with respect and in good conditions. However in 2009 they were revealed to have been sourcing from suppliers that paid their workers less than half the minimum wage, a ethical crime.

This breaks their code of conduct an illegal action.

This tarnishes Primark’s reputation as they become not only unethical but criminals in the eyes of the law. This might deter people from shopping at Primark as they can no longer know if their clothes are coming from an ethically sound place.

As a buyer I would need to ensure that the suppliers that I am sourcing from are ethically in line with what Primark’s code of conduct stated was necessary while simultaneously ensuring that the materials and clothes I am sourcing are still cheap so that I can remain competitive to similar high street brands.

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Own label retailer- Working for your own label gives the buyer a lot more independence in all departments of retail. For example with your own label you can choose your own image, pricing, sourcing and who you buy from and your marketing strategies. Instead of having a large team of marketing, designing and branding, you are responsible for all these aspects of your brand.

Your responsibilities can include buying in all your necessary materials; fabric, trims and embellishments. Also the industrial side of the designing such as the sewing machines. Your team may include an assistant buyer who may be in charge of sourcing materials from suppliers. There Is often a crossover between the designing and the buying aspects of the job as you are in charge of doing both of these as its al achieved in house rather than with the help of a design team.

An example of an own label retailer is The Carey Twins, these are two sisters who have started an Instagram based brand selling distressed band t-shirts.

They are in charge of sourcing their t-shirts and any other materials they need like embellishments as well as actually designing, marketing and selling the products themselves.

High Street Chain- High street retailers have a much larger scale than own label retailers. This is because they often have more than one store and may even stretch to international stores unlike own label retailers who may have only one store. Because of this as a buyer working for somewhere like TOPSHOP or River Island you have to take into account the environment of the store that you are buying for. This may include analysing and picking out specific bestsellers for you store, a certain pair of trainers may be selling really well in your London store but may not be in a Liverpool store meaning you may be buying different items for different stores for the same retailer. Also, the price ranges for high street retailers differs depending on what category your store falls into; high end, Vivienne Westwood, middle end, River Island and then fast fashion retailers like Primark. For stores like Primark, the role of the buyer would be very different to a buyer at Viv W because the fashion is fast paced bringing new trends and stock weekly. This means buyers need to constantly be analysing new trends in the media, fashion weeks and be very aware of what the everyday consumer is requiring and then actually buying. The high street retailers also differ in the amount of stock then bring in to each store, a subject that buyers need to be aware of. In Vivienne Westwood, only one of each size ranging from 6-14 will be bought into store as the pricing is significantly higher meaning profit is generated from the small amounts of stock. However in a more average high street retail store such as River Island, the amount of stock Vivienne Westwood ÂŁ100 bought in will depend of the popularity of that item and previous sales, maybe ten of each size will be chosen by the buyer to be in their store.

River Island ÂŁ18

Department store- These have even bigger premises as it has a plethora of different departments within the different brands. For example, unlike a high street retailer who may have womenswear, menswear and kids, a department store will have theses as well as homeware, makeup, perfume and other more focussed areas. Because department stores often have concession stands showcasing small amounts of stock from other retailers, the buyers for these are usually external from the brands own head office. However, in department stores such as Debenhams you may be a buyer for a particular area of the store for example shoes. This means you would have to source shoes for you own branded shoes however may have to source from pre-existing brands such as Faith and Sketchers depending on the demand from your customers.

If you are a buyer for a concession, you may only want to pick the bestsellers from your store as only a small amount of stock is bought into the department store itself, therefore you only want the most popular items to be bought in.

Branded buying- Branded buying is usually online and aim to pick out the most popular brands opposed to the most popular trends. Some examples of these include ASOS and Very.com. These are two popular online retail sites that although have independent clothing and shoes, buy from other brands such as Nike, New Look, River Island and Topshop. This type of buying needs a lot of negotiation skills as you are buying from brands, selling for the same price as the brand however still need to generate profit. Therefore you often need to negotiate a lower cost price for your retail store. As a branded buyer your trend research and analysis may differ from other buyers as you aren’t looking for trends that prove popular at fashion week but the brands that are popular among celebrities and social media.

Independent stores and boutiques- Independent stores and boutiques have a small design team within which responsibilities can often crossover. For example as a buyer for a boutique you may be in charge of buying the materials and embellishments for the boutique but then also may be in charge of later on in the process, visually marketing the collections made. They may have more than one store however not as many as a high street retailer and within these stores they may employ sales assistants.

How do these types of buyers jobs roles compare and contrast the different retail environments ■Concession- When buying for a concession you need to be hyper aware of you target market. This is because unlike high street stores, a concession store only contains a small sample of the clothes therefore as a buyer you need to identify the bestsellers, keeping in mind style, color, shape and even sizes that you need to stock in order to increase sales.

■High Street- A buyer for a high street store would have a focused job role, within their role they would need to have one focus group within the retail store, for example women's shoes. This means that their research will be much more focused than for example a branded buyer who need to think about the brand as a whole and not the individual departments within the brand.

This means that their research of trends will probably come from fashion shows and trade shows where they can simultaneously source and make relations with suppliers for future negotiations.

■Brand Buying- As a brand buyer, I would need to concentrate more on what brands are doing well in the media and in the current market. For example I would see what celebrities in the target market I am buying for are wearing. For example Rihanna wears and endorses for the brand Puma, and so does Kylie Jenner. From this I can assume that if I was buying for young women's sportswear, Puma would sell well. Brand buying also differs in the way that I research as I would not be going to trade shows and fashion shows to find independent suppliers to source new collections from, because collections would already be pre existent, I would only need to scope out brands that already exist.

■Online- An online buyer has a whole different clientele and therefore a different environment, Firstly the environment is different in the way of advertising and the literal environment as it is online that clothes are being sold, not o the floor. This means that it is more difficult to advertise as there is no shop floor or VM’s to market the ranges. Another way it differs is the fact that the target market is usually a younger one as these are more likely to be accessing online stores and shopping in this way.

Job Titles & Roles Buyer (Bags) Description- An experienced buyer wanted for the TOPSHOP bags team, a key department within the TOPSHOP store. Applicants need to have a strong experience in a non-clothing environment, able to cope with the fast pace. They must help to develop and deliver new unique product ranges and will focus on the Brand’s product strategy and the ability to manage and make key business decisions within your own department.

Some responsibilities that the job requires are; •Being able to anticipate and then meet the demands of the average TOPSHOP buyer while keeping the look fresh and creative keeping within the price point, quality and standards in TOPSHOP •Responsible for implementing the strategic direction and financial plans for a specific product category •Negotiate price, delivery and terms to support the business objectives •Be able to develop and maintain strong relationships with external third parties and suppliers •Attend trade shows, buying trips and competitor shopping trips •Be able to analyse the business to react in a timely manner •Need a creative eye and be able to strongly interpret trends into designs/products for the TOPSHOP customer

MUST HAVES•Currently be working at a buyer level for a fast paced retailer •Have proven success at buying and trading your own area •Have had previous experience and expertise within the department of Bags •Good analytical skills, excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills •Have a genuine passion for everything non-clothing

Job Titles & Roles Menswear Buyer- Secretsales.com Description- Wanting high-calibre and passionate individuals. Looking for someone who is highly ambitious and who really want to be part of a fast growing ecommerce company. They will be responsible for their own menswear campaigns and will be involved in own category management, current supply base management and brand acquisition. They must investigate new and innovative brands for the audience market making sure they are accurate with time and pricing, making sure they are aware of competitors, brands, pricing and scheduling.

Some responsibilities the job requires; •Reporting to the Senior buyer and Head of buying and contributing to the team sales targets •Taking responsibility for menswear campaigns •Identify recognisable, relevant and attractive brands within your category •Build long term partnerships with top brands and maintain your partner relationship •Campaign scheduling •Negotiate best possible price and payment terms for the stock and reserve the desired amount •Work closely with other departments on time and accurate •Daily and monthly critical path management •Manage a Buying Assistant Desired skills and experience; •3-5 years prove experience within a buying capacity •Proven experience within a menswear capacity •A relevant degree is desirable but not essential •Educated to a degree level •Advanced negotiation skill •Excellent brand awareness •Strong sector and market knowledge •Ability to work in a fast paced environment while maintaining a high attention to detail

Job Titles & Roles Trainee Buyer- Primark Description-To support the Buyer / Assistant Buyer in the day to day running of the section while aiming to maximise sales and profitability and learning the requirements of a Primark Buyer.

Responsibilities; Sales and Commercial Focus; Maximising sales, opportunities and performance •Accurately input orders, updating and amending computer systems with the order detail as required •Continually assess product range with key competitors to compare prices, quality and value •Use of magazines and other fashion publications to identify relevant trends and put forward ideas •Give personal input in the selection of garments •Range- Identify and develop key styling, colour palette and range content Develop and source Products- Maintain Buyer’s relationship with suppliers •Daily communication with suppliers and attend any appropriate meetings •Manage the critical path •Liaise with suppliers regarding raised orders •Manage paperwork associated with delivery of product Samples and specifications- Manage relevant garment specifications and maintain high quality standards •Preparation or size specifications •Management of initial sealing and production samples •Effectively manage receipt and despatch packages to and from suppliers •Review lab dip submissions for discussion with the Buyer/Buyer Assistant •Prepare and coordinate samples for press requests

Job Titles & Roles Buying and Merchandising Assistant- TJ Hughes £14,600 Description-The purpose of this role is to support the Buyer & Merchandiser and be accountable for the ordering process and allocation of stocks to stores in line with the department planned buying strategy.

Responsibilities of the job; •Ensure that orders are created and processed and sent to suppliers with manageable lead times to plan the delivery of goods •Plan allocation of new stocks in to stores , in line with the store grade and stock requirement, optimising stock turn •Responsible for the accurate creation and maintenance of product codes, set up and maintain auto replenishment to timescale set by the buyer or senior merchandiser.

•Manage and control inter-store transfers •Identify lines that should be set on auto replenishment and establish levels for each store by line •Manage and maintain all aspects of supplier bar coding e.g. linking barcodes, scan check approvals Skills required; •Previous experience working within a buying office environment •Highly motivated with strong personal drive and ambition •Effective people skills •Analytical and commercially minded •Strong IT skills and highly organised • The ability to work in a fast paced environment and deliver results

Job Titles & Roles International Buyers Admin Assistant- Ted Baker Description-Working within the International Women's buying division of the business and alongside WW buying. This role primarily focuses on supporting the International Womenswear buying team who buy for Ted’s own international stores in USA, Asia and License Partner stores.

Responsibilities of the job; •Raising and sending po’s for the international exclusive ranges and styles •Po amendments for international orders •Bestsellers-ensure the product and notes are set up for the weekly best sellers presentation •Setting up and managing the buying schedule for international •Range review pull outs •Setting up styles and putting costs and selling prices on the system for international ranges •

Requirements; •Entry level- Retail experience and knowledge an understanding of Buying as a whole needed.

•Relevant work experience in a Buying Head office environment beneficial •IT Skills

Job Titles & Roles Merchandising Admin Assistant- Hobbs

This job is for a merchandising admin assistant for Hobbs. The role involves ensuring stock meets sales plans, provision of analytical backup for example the amount of stock being sold versus bought. This differs from the job of a buyer because it involves looking at the finished product of collections, whereas buyers are involved in the process of sourcing, and researching the collections themselves. Similar to the role of the buyer, merchandisers need to develop ‘strong working relationships with the DC and channel merchandising teams’. Buyers also need to establish and maintain relationships with suppliers.

Job Titles & Roles Senior Merchandiser- Boux Avenue Similarly to the buyer, the merchandiser must analyse previous figures and from these come up with new strategic ways to drive sales to help the ‘longer term direction of the brand’.

For this job, they must liaise with the buyer when it comes to sales and promotional offers. Buyers will need to ensure that the merchandiser is well informed of upcoming promotions so that they can alter stock being bought into store to keep up with the increase in sales.

Job Titles & Roles Merchandising Intern- Boohoo.com

This job differs from others in a similar environment as although its still a merchandising opportunity, it is one for an online retailer. This means that their responsibilities may differ. This could be in areas such as the amount of stock needing to be ordered, or the type of suppliers that you liaise with may also differ to that of a high street retailer.

Job Titles & Roles

Required Skills; •Currently be working at Merchandiser level for a fast paced fashion retailer •Excellent commercial awareness of a proven ability to drive profit •Commercially astute and confident decision maker with the ability to communicate across all levels •In depth experience in range planning •Established track record of managing the supply chain •Proven experience of managing and developing a team •Highly numerate, analytical and have a high attention to detail

The Significance of Buyer Environments Merchandising- Buyers need to work very closely to merchandisers on a daily basis. This is because buyers must be aware of how much of the budget they are spending in concern to how much stock they are ordering in to each store form their suppliers. Merchandisers must meet the needs of the customer while staying within budget and increasing sales. This means that they must communicate with the buyers what the best sellers in the store are, and from this know to order more of this particular item. They also must communicate with buyers about forecasting departmental sales, buyers will communicate the trends that are in for that particular season and from this merchandisers can stock up on these seasonal trends.

Visual Merchandising- The buyer must discuss with the VM the overall concept for the season. This is because the VM role includes dressing the shop window, floor and mannequins to fit the buyers research into the trends for the current season. It would be important for the buyer to share their original concept board for the collection with the VM as they can base their design of the shop of the concept board, meaning the overall feel of the clothing will match the feel of the shop, making the whole retail experience more visually exciting and satisfying for the customer in store.

Design- Buyers need to discuss frequently with the design team concerning trend guidelines, what styles, colours, fabrics and pieces are in for any particular season. This is important because the buyer has researched the seasonal trends and knows what will sell within the target market. They must also share their original concepts and mood boards with them so they can gain an idea of how the clothing is meant to look, therefore making it appealing to the tailored view of the target market that the buyer has researched and found. Time and budget are also a concern with buyers and designers. This Is because fashion is a very fast paced environment and clothing needs to be completed and ready to be put on the shop floor on time to make it desirable for that season. If it isn’t, then it looses desirability in customers for example a fur coat being released in S/S will not sell as it is not a fitting piece for that season. Therefore the buyer needs to give the design team time limits for completion of collections. Although buyers may find trends that will prove popular in a season, after discussion with the design team, they could conclude the use of that particular trend is not cost efficient for the store. For example, in 2016 embellishments are a big trend especially on bomber jackets and jeans. The price however is expensive to complete this design and as a result the production may go over the financial budget. Not only this but RRP will have to be increased as a result meaning the item may be harder to sell and sales may decrease.

Marketing- For a collection to succeed within the target market it needs to be advertised and marketed successfully. This is because unless it becomes appealing to the customer, they wont desire the clothes. To make ranges appealing, buyers will talk with a marketing team to target specific markets. Buyers will share information with the team like sales trends for certain collections. This can give them an indicator as to which items they are advertising successfully and the ones that are unsuccessful allowing them to alter how they market certain products. They will also discuss a financial budget with the team. For example, if the marketers intend to bring in a celebrity endorsement to advertise the clothes they need to discuss this with the buyers to ensure that there is enough of the budget to do so after all other areas have been completed. Not only this but if they were to bring a celebrity endorsement, they would need to discuss with the buyers what the bestselling items in the collection re so they can dress the celebrities in them, making them even more desirable to the customer and hopefully, increasing sales.

Retail- When communicating with the retail store they are buying for, buyers must keep many things in mind. They need to discuss with the store how much stock they are to have depending on how well the collection is selling. This works the other way round as store and regional managers will report sales figures back to head office, allowing patterns to be drawn on what is selling and popular within the target market, and what needs to be altered.

Buyers can help the store to boost sales by sending out look books of the collection to aid visual merchandisers in floor plans and visuals for the shop. These look books may even include promotions and sale deals that can be used by the sales assistants to further push sales such as seasonal promotions on certain items, for example jackets for A/W.

SHOP FLOOR

Visual Team Leader

Senior visual merchandiser

CEO Regional Manager

Head Cleaner

Area Manager Security Store Manager

Junior visual merchandiser Assistant Manager Assistant visual merchandiser

Head of security

Supervisor

Keyholders

Sales Assistant

Cleaner

CEO

Buying

Head buyer

Marketing

IT

Finance

Marketing Director

It Manager

Finance manager

Senior Buyer

Regional Marketing Manager

Junior Buyer

Branch Marketing Manager

Assistant Buyer

Buyers Admin Assistant

Marketing Team Leader

Marketing Associate

It assistant manager

It engineers

It Technicians

Finance manager Assistant

Finance Team Leader

HR

HR Manager

HR assistant manager

HR staff

Merchandising

Head of Merchandising

Assistant merchandiser

Stephanie Burns

Brand- Victoria’s Secret. I chose this brand because it is a well known, celebrated brand within my age group in particular. It has created a strong, solid brand identity within both its ranges, advertising and fashion shows. The brand centres around lingerie and loungewear for women, however cater primarily for smaller women, only sizing their products to 38DD. The average bra size for women in the UK is a DD-G therefore there is a gap in the brand where my range would sit. The brand however good, is not reflective of women in the UK therefore I feel like a plussize range would be appropriate for the brand. The swimwear range Swim, is lacking in both quantity and sizing with bikinis also stopped at 38DD, and cover ups and kimonos only sized to a L (12-14). Victoria’s Secret as a brand build on celebrating women as they are, advertising the brand as ‘a body for everybody’ however this is not reflected in their stock or ranges, my swimwear range would build on the previous ideals, offering a more reflective collection to todays woman. The collection will be S/S as it is a swimwear range; it will include bikinis, one piece’s, cover-ups and kimono’s.

To find out more about my potential customer I will build a customer profile to ensure my range is as focussed to my target market as possible. Not only this but I will look at Victoria’s Secret as a brand and research the history of the brand, ensuring that I keep the identity strong within my range and see what has worked and been repeated in previous similar collections. By doing this, I can identify previous trends that are exerted within Victoria’s Secret as a brand and ensure these are exerted also in my collection.

Another method I will use in my mini project is a competitive shop. As not many ranges offer a plus size alternative for swimwear. By doing a comp shop I can work out average prices and make sure I remain competitive against similar brands.

This will also help me to identify trends and styles that work for different sized women, making sure that my collection is desirable to this target market.

Not only this but I will also be looking into swimwear trends for next season, S/S17 and identify which ones compliment both brand and target market. This will help me further in the task as it allows me to choose which colours, styles and designs of the clothing I will create for my collection. Again this will help me to stay focussed to the consumer and what they want.

I will also conduct a Pestle, and look at advertising and celebrity endorsements both in the past, and what I would bring in for my future collections. This will be shown in various mood boards and concept boards, which will also show trends that the collection will showcase.

All of the areas I have discussed to look at throughout the project will be on a global level, not looking at the brand in this country, but getting influences from all over the world and incorporating these into my range.

To evaluate my mini branding task I will reflect after every method and task and discuss and evaluate the pro’s and con’s of what I have discussed. I will evaluate after each task as I go through the branding project making sure that I critically evaluate throughout. Not only this but at the end of the project, I will produce an overall evaluation of the final collection, commenting on how well it caters for the target market, the pricing and where it stands in the market and the actual items in the collection itself.

TASK

DUE DATE

COMPLETED

Brand History

14th November

Yes

Customer Profiles

14th November

Yes

Comp Shop

20th November

Yes

Trend Forecasting

16th November

Yes

Previous Ranges

16th November

Yes

Mood Board

16th November

Yes

SWOT Analysis

7th December

Advertisement/Celebrity endorsement

6th December

Yes

Visual Merchandising

5th December

Yes

Business Plan

30th November

Yes

Brand-Victoria’s Secret Brand History Victoria’s Secret is a ‘manufacturer and marketer of women's premium lingerie, womenswear and beauty products’ well known for it’s beautifully crafted underwear sets, flawless models and yearly fashion shows. It is the largest American retailer for women’s lingerie, and is owned currently by L Brands.

The idea for the store was taken from the embarrassment of former owner and creator, Roy Raymond whilst shopping for lingerie for his wife Gaye. He described shopping for his wife as making him feel like an ‘unwelcome intruder’. The experience was not enjoyable as he was faced with ‘racks of terry cloth robes and ugly print nylon nightgowns’. From this he saw an opportunity and following a loan of £80000 he opened Victoria's Secret, a store with the intention to ‘make men comfortable when buying lingerie for their wives’ .

The brand was created, centred around elegance and fanciful clothing. The look was meant to exert the ‘sense of class and dignity associated with the Victorian Era’. In 1982, Roy Raymond sold Victoria's Secret to L Brands for $1000000 whom still own in today. (Fabry, 2016) Over the years, the brand has seen changes in its designs, moving towards a more cleavage concentrated design with exaggerated push up bras, and ‘purple and reptile print under things’. This detracted from the initial idea of VS being a classy and sophisticated lingerie shop. I feel this was a mistake as this causes the identity of the brand to become lost and perhaps may narrow the customer market.

By 2006, there were 1000 stores across the United States and VS accounted for one third of all purchases in the intimate apparel industry. Since its beginning in 1977, Victoria’s Secret has launched notable ranges and items such as the ‘Incredible bra’, in 2012 the introduction of Victoria’s Secret Designer Collection which was described by Vogue as the ‘first high end lingerie line’.

Victoria’s Secret is also notable for it’s annual fashion shows, beginning in 1995. The shows were introduced as a means of brand advertisement and established the confident identity of the women that would be known to be associated with VS. Models used have also become a well known and loved part of the brand, named VS Angels.

These women are stereotypically beautiful model women, who feature in televised campaigns and who walk in the shows themselves. This has helped with advertisement and distribution of the collections as they become more known through these women and more desirable to the customer, particularly the younger Market.

The Perfect Body

In 2014 VS launched a new range ‘Body’ producing products that were made to tailor all body types with different styles of bras and knickers.

To advertise this a campaign titled ‘The Perfect Body’ was launched, picturing beautiful petite models in the new range. This sparked outrage with the public and VS saw a blow in social blow to the brand as women protested against the exertion of an ‘ideal 'body type that was not realistic or reflective of women as a whole.

There was backlash against the campaign with the hashtag #IAmPerfect circulating round popular social media accounts. The advert was seen as being offensive, cruel and dangerous. A petition against VS was made with over 15000 signatures, it stated ‘Victoria’s Secret’s new advertisements play on women's insecurities and send out a damaging message’.

Other brands, such as Dover, also joined the outrage against VS bringing women together to celebrate the Real Body that we have and asking women to be proud whatever their shape and size.

In response Victoria’s Secret remained quiet, offering no apology or response however they did change the campaign on their website to ‘A Body For Everybody’.

This is a baby step to change within the brand to a more body positive and representation of women, for my collection I will build on this idea of a body for everybody as the models in the updated advert are exactly the same as the previous one, showing they still don’t fully understand their customer in what they want and need.

Customer Profile Pre-existing customer

This is Grace, she is 20 and currently travelling around Europe. She is a very active girl and hikes in every country or takes long scenic walks with her boyfriend. She loves going out and dressing up and is constantly looking for new and fresh outfits.

She also loves movie nights on Fridays and loungewear is her favourite clothes. She shops this style frequently in Victoria’s Secret and Victoria’s Secret Pink.

As well as her walks, she is an avid runner and likes to keep very fit and does this through her running and also by weekly gym visits. In her down time she goes shopping with her boyfriend who funds her spending habits.

Her and her mum love to shop together also and she is spendaholic just like her mother, they love to bra shop together and make it a monthly trip.

The pre-existing customer is a typical girl. Victoria’s Secret has everything that she needs from underwear and loungewear, to swimwear and gymwear. This means that the new range would be inappropriate for this customer in both style and size.

New Customer

This is Gemma. She lives in Leeds and studies English and History at Leeds Becket University. She is a fashion blogger for plus size fashion and attends fashion shows such as The Curve and also an advocate for anti bullying in the UK. She has a younger sister whom she loves to shop with and they go for coffee every Wednesday evening. She and her boyfriend Darren go on almost monthly holidays and love getting away from home for a break in the sun.

They have a joint beach house in Miami which they spend their summer in.

She is 22 and works part time in Costa although she wishes to work in retail as she has a flair and passion for clothes and fashion.

This customer is the ideal customer for my range to be marketed towards, she is the typical customer the collection will be for. Other retailers she buys from will be La Senza, River Island, Fig Leaves and Simply Be as they all stock plus size in swimwear however they are not always the most fashionable items so she would be drawn and more inclined to shop from the new VS collection. Like all of the potential customers, she is based in the UK as the need for plus size is more needed here than other countries like America with our average women a size 14. Customers like Gemma will shop the range because it will offer a more fashionable alternative to the usual plus size ranges which concentrate on size and not style, my collection will do both. Not only this but as she is confident in her body she will be happy to show it off and want to have nice bikinis and swimwear on holiday, this however will not be the case with all my target market therefore the way I market the range will be of optimum importance. For this I will use several well known plus size models, big in the media at the moment and have them as the main faces for the campaign on all leaflets, look books, online campaigns and TV adverts. This will increase their confidence and make them feel more comfortable in going and actually shopping my collection. As she has a part time job, she and customers similar to her will be able to afford the mid-high price range that is usually associated with VS however because the brand identity is so strong, having the label as VS will already establish a large customer base already ready to shop the collection.

Comp Shop ITEM

FABRIC COMPOSITION

RETAILER AND PRICE

80% Nylon 20% Elastane

Aerie £35.43

87% Nylon, 13% Elastane

Simply Be £45.00

80% Polyamide 20% Elastane

Lascana £55.00

ITEM

FABRIC COMPOSITION

RETAILER AND PRICE

100% Viscose

Simply Be £25.00

100% Cotton

Aerie £31.49

100% Polyester

Lascana £38.00

ITEM

FABRIC COMPOSITION

RETAILER AND PRICE

80% Nylon 20% Nylon

Aeire £31.49

85% Nylon/Polyamide, 15% Elastane.

Simply Be £58.00

84% Polyamide, 16% Elastane

Lascana £59.00

Comp Shop The main materials used in the competitor stores were nylon, polyamide and elastane.

These are materials associated with swimwear as it is breathable, stretchy and fairly cheap. I would definitely use similar materials for my range, especially elastane as it is a plus size range and I have aimed to create body shaping items.

The price range of the retail competitors averages around the £40-60 mark. My items are going to be priced slightly higher than this averaging around £80.00. This is because previous ranges in Victoria’s Secret Swimwear have been priced on the high end of high street prices. This means that the existing customers who I am targeting are already used to these high prices and therefore will be willing to pay the extra for good quality and also, the brand name. Also, because it is a plus size range, there will be more materials being used therefore a higher price range is suitable in this case. The shapes that I can identify from the competitive shop are halter necks and high waisted bikini bottoms. These are most definitely shapes that I have also adopted for my range, making sure that I remain competitive with these desirable shapes that are already on the market. However my range differs from these items as they are mainly block colours, blues, blacks and pinks. This means they are quite plain and boring. My range is more visually exciting than this as it has tropical leafery and florals with similar colours meaning they may be more appealing to my target market, making sure my collection is competitive with existing ranges.

Retail Competitors As of 2016 there are not many places, popular in the age category I am aiming towards that actually sell plus size beach wear.

I would probably say that my main competitors currently on the market are;

These are one of the few retailers that stock sizes in swimwear up to XXL, they also have been a big name in the news before as they feature non re touched models and plus sized models in their campaigns.

However their bikinis and swimwear is are basic pieces, mainly sports type, two piece bikinis in sameish colours mainly blacks and blues. This is uninteresting and would not be appealing to the women I am hoping to market my range towards.

Simply be is appealing for many reasons to plus size women. Firstly, it features plus size models in all campaigns and advertising. This means that they are able to see a good representation of what the outfits look like on someone with a similar body shape. Not only this but it means they may feel more comfortable purchasing the swimwear. Next, the colours an designs used are tailored to the needs of these women. They have shape hugging and sculpting materials that help to suck and shape bodies. Not only this but the colours are exciting and have nice designs also that are very appealing. The price range of the swimwear is also affordable but for good quality clothing. This means I would have to price my collection at a similar and competitive price to Simply Be.

Previous Ranges

In previous Victoria’s Secret swimwear ranges, the colours have been vibrant colours using peaches, purples, teals and neon’s. These colours are very out there and for plus size women this may be undesirable as it is well known that darker colours, in particular black, are slimming colours in the world of fashion.

This means that I would change the colour scheme to a darker tones however I intend to keep the original Victoria’s Secret colours of pinks and purples to retain the identity of the brand, this will also help when I release the range in store as the VS Pink stores are have a pink colour scheme. Although my range will offer other colours like blacks, teals and purples, the pink in the designs will compliment the colours In the store, although the range will stand out from the rest of the store it will still fit in.

Trend Forecasting Floral

Evoking a sense of the 60’s, floral patterns and prints are a big trend for SS17 swimwear. The swimsuits from the Miu Miu show had a retro feel about them with pastel colours and belted straps.

This works well for my collection as I want to take my consumers back to the beginning of VS, allowing them to enjoy the classy Victorian fashion.

Creative shapes

Etam’s latest swimwear range showed off a seductive all black swimwear collection. The idea of the pieces was to explore the use of cut out and shapes within the swimwear pieces to accentuate and explore women's body shapes. The collection concentrates heavily on details.

This would be a good trend to include in my range, firstly because black is infamous for its slimming abilities, helping to make the most of body shapes but also because the concept of the range is shapes, this could be translates from body shape, to shapes of the actual items themselves.

Intense Tropics The concept of Intense Tropics is a big trend for SS/17, this takes the idea of the sweet, pastel floral patterns that are so typical for summer clothing and turns this in to a ‘darker, more intense aesthetic’. The darker colours of the background allows the flowers and plant life to ‘pop’ emphasising colour and design. The look that is overall achieved is a fresh and graphic one, perfect for a fresh range. The idea of the Victorian classic florals is turned into a more relatable design, revamping VS ideals and concepts making way for a future of exciting swimwear.

Lace & Ruffles

The loose materials like silk, netting, lace and a sheath material that are associated with cover ups and kaftans are ideal for creating a ruffled, dramatic and romantic look, reminiscent of Italian designers. The looseness of these materials also are ideal for swimwear and beachwear as they are cool in the heat and allow for an easy slip off for the beach.

Lace and ruffles are also flattering as they are appealing to the eye and also remind us of the feminine style that Victoria’s Secret are all about, pairing this with deep colours like black mesh, dark green florals and perhaps even embroidery creates a hip summer look.

Vibrant Prints This pattern is reminiscent of a Hawaiian feel with large, vibrant florals in abstract shapes of hibiscus flowers and foliage.

This encapsulates the Miami feel of Victoria’s Secret with the vibrant colours of mustard yellow, corals and baby blues. These colours fit with the S/S seasons bringing in browns of Autumn, giving a fresh new look.

I will use the concept of vibrant prints in my range as it indeed fits S/S 17 but also mimics the florals previously seen in VS swimwear. It pairs nicely with stripes or alternatively block colour allowing for mix and matching bottoms and tops for my bikinis.

Classic Swimsuit One piece swimsuits have always been a beach essential for summer vacations. They are such a versatile swimwear item that can be dressed up and down and even worn straight from the beach to the club. Because of their versatility they can be styled in so many ways from plunge to tie around the neck, high hipped and shape enhancing for a smaller waisted look.

They cover a large portion of the body and therefore for many women this is the preferred swimwear style, opposed to a bikini. Not only this but they may also offer more support than a bikini as they are less flimsy and delicate than most bikinis. However they are certainly not boring and even the classic swimsuit can be made exciting with cut outs, styled straps, frills and patterns.

Patterns that I would add to my swimsuits would be vertical stripes, tropical prints such as leaves, hibiscus flowers and parrots and also just block colours in vibrant complimentary colours.

Colour Blocking

Colour blocking creates a vibrant and fresh look, ideal for SS17. It involves layering several different colours together in a random even chaotic manner and contrasting them to each other generating an eye-catching design. As my colours are all complimentary of one another, I would choose to use this design in my swimwear range bringing in a colourful geometric style.

This idea could also be used in a different way, pairing two colours off as a two piece bikini, a forest green bikini top and black bottoms.

Halter Neck Halter necks are a ss17 trend for swimwear, they are flattering on all body types and can add a bit extra to a plain swimsuit or bikini. There are many types of halter necks, strappy, front crossing, thick strap and tie around the neck, all of these are interesting and I would like to use this as a trend in my swimwear collection. I would probably opt for thick straps however as a tie around the neck style might be difficult for the bustier women.

Halter Neck Plunge A plunge helps to accentuate women’s natural curves as it shows a lot of skin while giving support. This is a good trend as it is supportive of a bigger women and in a one piece can be paired with a stomach hugging material to nip in the waist, this would enhance natural shapes and curves of the body. By adding a halter neck this makes the style even more interesting while also giving support to the bust.

Trends influencing my range I took influences from S/S17 trends that complimented my initial ideas. Because of my chosen retailers original designs included florals I chose to include tropical prints seen through the trend found of WGSN ‘intense tropics’. This I feel kept VS’s original ideas in mind keeping he brands identity at the heart if my collection- these prints add a fresh and vibrant spring/summer spin on VS swimwear, this print brings to mind Miami and Hawaii and he beach scene in America.

This is perfect for my long term intentions to expand the collection globally as it means it can remain popular in a number of global contexts.

Ruffles as a swimsuit style is also an S/S17 trend that I chose to come through in my designs.

This is good for plus size as a surplus of material is often flattering. This again retains VS’s original designs and ideas of femininity, this is attractive to a range of potential consumers.

These designs originate and bring to mind Italian styles with ruffles and lace. This Italian style was again used in my waist tying black lace cover-up. This works well for my range firstly as black is a flattering colour but also because of the looseness of the material, perfect for the heat of the S/S heat. Lace is also seen to be a good quality material and as VS if notorious for its higher prices compared to its competitor retailers, by using lace in my collection I am ensuring my target customers will get good quality in exchange for higher prices.

Business Plan

Business Aims

Business Summary My business idea is to create and release a plus size swimwear range for Victoria’s Secret Pink. This will consist of bikini’s, one piece swimsuits, cover ups and loose wear. The range will be aimed towards ‘plus size’ women ranging from 16-20 in size. I will call my range ‘Shapes’ as it emphasises and reinforces the aim of the range to celebrate women as a diverse body type, and plays on the previous range ‘Body’ which groups all women in one singular, petite body type which is not representative of women in the UK. I have chosen to structure the collection as a publicly limited company. I feel this is a good approach to take as it ensures maximum security and popularity of the collection as by offering shares to the public, this acts as a form of advertisement.

My aims that I want to achieve through the business are; Short term aims- Release the collection in UK stores such as Liverpool One, the Trafford Centre, New Bond Street London and Trinity Leeds. This means that the range would be available in a plethora of big cities in the UK meaning it would be widely available and easily accessible to the public.

Mid-Term aims- I would like to expand to global stores, particularly in the US. The collection initial release would be in the UK as the average breast size is significantly bigger, a 34G compared to America's 34DD. This means there is increased demand for a plus size range in the UK (Bbc.co.uk, 2016) Long Term aims- In the long term, I would like to have plus-size angels, models sized 14-18 and have them join the annual VS fashion show, showcasing the swimwear in the collection.

I would also like it to expand to accessories for beachwear such as sunglasses, towels, beach bags and beach shoes like flip flops.

I also would like to globally expand the collection bringing it in as a concession in other countries.

Financial Summary For my first year I hope to boost profits for the company by filling the niche in the market.

My projected sales figures from my merchandising spreadsheet states that the profit I hope to generate from my range will be £3132401.

I hope to use promotional offers to boost my sales ensuring that there is little to no remaining stock at the end of the 8 week sales period.

The significance of the Buying Cycle for different retail environments Monitoring Sales Figures This would include the merchandisers and the buyers reviewing past sales figures of items and ranges of previous collections. This is important because it helps you as the buyer to identify best sellers, items that may not be doing as well as hoped and styles that are desirable for the customer. This is significant to the buyer as it allows you to know for future seasons what to buy in in the future and what you may need to change about certain items. For example if the figures show that a certain coat or skirt has sold consistently throughout that particular season, you would buy this back in as you know it will sell well within your target market.

Budget Planning As a buyer you need to be aware of your budget as it has to be split between many different areas. Your budget needs to be distributed between buying your actual materials, paying for deliveries, paying staff, advertising and many more things.

Therefore as a buyer you need to plan how much you are going to sell your collections for versus how much you buy them in for. By doing this you can ensure you are actually generating profit. By budget planning this will help you as a buyer in later stages of the buying cycle. For example when it comes to selecting your final range, you can identify which of the trends are cheap enough to make but still on trend for that season.

Review Season Performance This involves reviewing trends that have worked well in the season gone. For this section of the buying cycle in particular, demographics play a big part as certain trends will work well in certain areas compared to others. By reviewing this you can see whether you need to buy in more of a key item to particular stores as the trends that take off differ from area to area because of the difference in customers. As a buyer you are looking for key items in collections that are selling well, bestsellers, so you can buy more of these in and perhaps put emphasis on these so you can increase sales again next season.

This may be more important in regular items that remain in stores all year round such as underwear and certain shoes.

Planning and Buying Schedules and Trips As a buyer you are called to seasonally attend fashion shows, trade shows and generally review trend that can be seen in public. This is important as it helps you decide key shapes, styles an designs that will be popular in the upcoming season to use for you collection thus ensuring it will sell to your target customer. It is important for the buyer to conduct a competitive shop at this point in the buying cycle as this helps them again to identify key features and trends that are in the market at one time but also helps them to identify average price ranges so they can factor this into their budgets, helping them to remain competitive with other retailers on the high-street. Other trips buyers may have to schedule are overseas trips to factories they are hoping to source from. This is important because it helps them to remain ethically sound, by visiting the factories they can check that they are following safety and ethics laws making sure that the retailer they are buying for does not become liable to public backlash or law suits.

Range Selection When selecting your range you would have to identify key trends from your research and then compare this to the demographics and your target market for the store you are buying in for. This helps you to distinguish trends that are going to sell from those that are not.

You also have to keep In mind your previous seasonal review as this shows you what trends your customers are buying and therefore gives you an indicator to the trends you should be selecting for upcoming ranges. Again, the budget planning you previously undertook is important when you come to selecting the range. As a buyer you must select items that you know are going to fit within your budget as if you buy in clothes that are not going to sell at a high price, then you are going to make no profit and probably be in debt.

Order Processing and Confirmation At this part of the buying cycle, buyers need to have close contact and communication with the merchandisers. Merchandisers will use previous sales data to decide how much of certain items are going to be bought in for the next season. The buyer needs to be aware of this date for when they put in future orders with the suppliers and factories. If they do not, they may buy in too little product or too much meaning not enough money is generated through sales. If too much of a certain item was bought in, this means that sales targets may not be met and the product will need to go into promotion meaning less money is being generated from the product and sales targets will not be met. Confirmation of orders is also important to keep in mind, ensuring that everything is ordered on time. This is imperative as if orders are not confirmed by a certain time, they will not arrive in time for seasonal release and therefore will not sell as well.

Price Negotiation & Setting Retail Price Negotiation is such a significant part of a buyers job as it helps them to allow for the highest margin and generate the most profit from their ranges. They must negotiate cost prices with the suppliers based on quality of the materials being sold, how much they are buying in, for example if they are buying in bulk they may get it cheaper than individual garments. This all depends on the relationship between the buyer and the supplier. These relationships will be built overtime with the company and the supplier as the buyer will continue buying from the same factories, meaning they know they can rely on one another. The buyer has to ensure they remain respectful to the supplier, making sure both parties are content with the decided cost price. To work out the retail price, merchandisers and buyers will work together to look at past data. When setting the RRP price you need to be aware of many things. First of all it is important here to know your target market well. This helps because you become aware of their budget and how much disposable income they have available. For example teen wear would be cheaper than women's clothing as women over the age of 30 are more likely to have a steady income than a child of 15 years old. Not only this but you may need to alter RRP’s based on previous seasonal reviews. For example If you found out from previous data that a coat is not selling as well as originally hoped, you may need to lower the RRP next season to ensure that you sell enough units to generate profit. Alternatively, if you know a skirt has sold extremely well last season, you may up the price of the RRP as you know it is a popular enough item, and may generate more profit than predicted.

Monitoring Deliveries Buyers need to monitor the deliveries to ensure that they are not going to arrive later than scheduled. This is important because they need to keep other departments updated to make sure the whole store is ready for when the products arrive. For example, the VM team could have the shop floor ready for a collection however if the deliveries are late, they will have no clothing to put on the floor. They also need to monitor deliveries to see if the supplier is following set times and dates. This helps them for future decisions concerning suppliers as they can decide on past experiences whether to use this supplier again.

Retail Selling Period Buyers need to consider many things when deciding on the retail selling period. For example, if they are buying in for a S/S collection, they will need to ensure it is released at an appropriate time for example early March. This gives them the largest period of time, in the allocated season, to sell their collection. They must ensure that all items of the collection fit with the season and be aware of weather changes, seasonal changes and other competitor retailers.

Differences in different buying environments

In different buying environments, the buying cycle will differ slightly. For example, with branded buying, the range selection will be a different process. As a branded buyer you have a much more focussed area to select from as you will have to choose pre-existing pieces that are already in the brand. You may still have to review pervious sales figures of these items but it will be a much quicker process as you don’t need to source your own materials and garments. Another way a branded buyer will differ from other buyers is the retail selling period. Choices that are made regarding when a product should be bought in for will change as often, pieces will be bought in all year round, for example bestsellers and basics. These are items that encapsulate the brand and customers have become used to being able to purchase all year round. Branded buyers would have to keep this in mind and continue to buy in these items all year round.

Fast fashion buyers jobs would differ also to other buyers. This is because they will undertake the buying cycle at a much faster rate than others. When buying in their orders, they will have to buy in bulk with a lot more stock being ordered than say a designer buyer. This is because stock is being sold at cheaper prices and therefore their stock gets bought at a faster rate than a designers. Their buying schedules and trips will also be different as they will source trends from places like social media opposed to trend shows as these usually happen seasonally which is not often enough for the fast fashion buyers as they are buying in more collections than just seasonal ones.

Designer buyers have more responsibilities in the areas of design and production of the range. For example, unlike branded buyers, a designer buyer would be responsible for sourcing materials for garments rather than buying in the whole garment from factories. This means that their trend forecasting will be concentrated more on fashion shows and very specific focussed trends for example colours and materials opposed to whole items like skirts or coats.

Sole traders As a sole trader, you begin working self employed, for yourself, you run your business as an individual.

You can keep all your business’s profits once you have paid taxes on them. Sole traders can employ their own staff however they will be held personally responsible for any losses in profits or any debts on the company. There are many advantages to becoming a sole trader; they are usually small and easy to set up and only need minimal money to be invested so there is a low initial start up cost.

Also, because there are usually few employees, the wage bill will be low so less of the financial budget will need to be spent in this area, leaving more money for materials etc. However, it is difficult for a sole trader to expand within their company as they are limited to how much capital that they personally have available so the company may stay very small and may not be able to spread globally. This decreases chance for more profit.

Partnerships This refers to a business owned by two or more people and is usually instigated by drawing up a deed of the partnership. Within this deed, the information of how much capital each member of the partnership has invested into the company and how the profits and losses of the company will be shared within the partners.

The advantages of partnerships is that all parties benefit from shared expertise making sure that the business has the most experience and knowledge ensuring maximum profit. There may be a partner within a partnership that is called a ‘sleeping partner’. This is someone who invests in the business 'but does not have dealings in the day to day running of the enterprise’. (Bbc.co.uk, 2016) The business may also be more flexible in financial terms as there are more than one person’s capital being invested in the business, this allows for the business to flourish, develop and expand. However, in partnerships there is often dispute between members. This can come from the initial start in as one person may have invested more and therefore may be getting more of the profit as stated on the deed, however the other members may not feel that they are working to a satisfactory level or not doing enough to be receiving so much of the profit.

Companies Private company limited by shares- This means that the business is only financially responsible for the amount that of shares they have invested into the company, meaning if they were to go bust, the debt they personally would be responsible for would only be the amount of shares they invested into the company, the rest would be paid by the other shareholders. (Gov.uk, 2016) Public Limited Company- These are usually bigger more established chain of retailers with stores in most major cities, shares are traded publicly on the stock exchange.

Market Research Desk Research Desk research includes gathering information from the internet and from books and recourses that can accessed from the desk.

Through my project I have conducted market research in many ways. I have used the internet to find VS’s current clientele. I have also looked and analysed their previous ranges in conjunction to my new customer and discussed how I would alter this to fit my new customer.

I’ve also taken into account the social influences on my range and how the term ‘plus-size’ is becoming so important in the world of fashion today. By doing this I have grasped a betted understanding of my target market as I have worked to understand them.

In 2015, VS swimwear sales totalled $500 million compared to their active wear line which had the potential to generate $1 billion. This shows there is obviously something missing from this area and my range can bring these statistics up and generate more sales for the store. (Schlossberg, 2016)

Field Research Field research involves asking people that you class as your potential customer their opinions on your new collections.

This can be conducted in many ways however a popular way is through the use of questionnaires. The questions that would be on these would be ‘do you already shop at Victoria’s Secret’.

‘Would you buy swimwear from Victoria’s Secret’.

‘Who are other retailers on the high-street that you currently shop for swimwear I’. ‘ What do you like about their styles of bikini’s?’

The point of field research is to found out as much information about the customers, their preferences and even competitors that might affect you and your sales.

It also helps to promote and generate awareness in potential customers so in the future, they will be able to shop the range.

This can also help because any negative comments or criticisms can be taken on-board and you can begin tailoring your collection to fit the needs and desires of your customer. Another way to conduct field research is to carry out test trading. This is when you show potential customers images from your range and ask them questions about what's on offer. Again this can help you to tweak the design/style/colour/fit to fit your target market’s needs.

Business Plan Victoria’s Secret is well known not only for it’s high quality and stunning lingerie but also for its beautiful, toned, petite models, more commonly referred to as ‘Angels’. This concept of beautiful women has moulded the whole basis of VS as a brand, the concept of perfectly structured women who wear beautifully structured lingerie, however, in recent years this has been attacked by the public and it may have become outdated in today’s society. Having come under fire for its negative messages to young people, setting the bar for body image at an out of reach goal for many. Victoria's Secret is in need of a reality check.

The idea of the plus size model is becoming so important in todays society advocating for the ‘real woman’, women who are not sizes 6-10. The average size of women in the UK is a 14-16, in fashion considered plus size however VS sizing does not reflect this target market, only stocking up to a 14 in swimwear and up to a 34DD in bra sizing. This in turn would suggest that the average woman in the UK is unable to shop successfully at Victoria's Secret.

Their swimwear range is also consistent with these sizing issues, bikini tops only stock up to a 40DD, three sizes below the average and the bottoms go up to XL although are very seldom in stock, and the XL are between 14-16. This is the same for the beach wear cover ups. This shows that there is most certainly a gap in the market for the plus size women of the UK. In the past, Victoria's Secret have launched a lingerie range named ‘Body By Victoria’ and offers the ‘ultimate everyday collection’. This builds on the idea that women have one singular body and one desirable body type that every women should have. My swimwear range would be called ‘Shapes’ as this emphasises the fact that women come in all different shapes and there is not just one category that we as women fall into, this is a positive name and would encourage bigger women to shop the range as they may feel more comfortable to do so.

The range would be released into the concession/smaller store within VS, VS Pink.

This is a typically more feminine and girly store, with loads of pink colours and lace, however by bringing in a darker, different coloured and styled range, this establishes the freshness and individuality of the new range, and helps it to stand out from the rest of the collections, something I intend to do.

Strapline Take the Plunge This is a concentrated strapline that focusses on the idea of a swimwear/beachwear range with the term ‘plunge’. This will also help later on in the campaign with the advertisement as I will have plus size models literally plunging into water. This also encourages women who would not normally have the confidence to shop in typically smaller women's shops such as VS to ‘take the plunge’ and buy a bikini or outfit from Victoria’s Secret Pink.

What am I going to sell?

I am going to be selling a collection of swimwear products including bikinis, one piece swimsuits, tankinis, cover ups, playsuits and beach shoes. Not only this but to compliment the range, the business will offer a bra fitting to women who shop the range as over ‘80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size’. (Anon, 2016) The initial idea of Victoria's Secret lingerie wear was to create a sense of ‘ class and dignity’ and began with ‘floral print’ underwear with ‘lacy bras and pants’. This was meant to mimic the Victorian Era. I want my collection to evoke this sense of elegance and class the swimwear, bringing VS back to it’s roots while simultaneously keeping the look fresh for the younger generation.

Within the range their will be separate components,  The classic VS design of floral, classy patterns revamped into a modern exciting bikini range. This will consist of two bikini sets and a one piece with this new design. This will be launched before the rest of the range to establish the overall darker feel of this range compared to previous ones.  Block coloured bikini’s to mix and match in a similar colour scheme will also be in the collection, these will be in exciting plunge and high waisted designs..  This will be released with cover ups and kaftans, again exerting the darker feel of the collection as they will consist of dark colours with lace and chiffon.

The sizing will range from a 36E-42H, but I will stock more of the bigger sizes as this is who my range is aimed towards. The cover-ups will range from 14-24, allowing for the typical UK women to also shop from the range allowing me to broaden my target market while also attending to the needs of the plus sized women.

The sizing for the range is going to be different from the typical VS sizing, which usually ranges from;

How I will contact my customers Advertising- I wish to contact potential customers through advertisements for the collection. This will include billboards, a TV ad and leaflets available in all PINK stores around the UK in the leading weeks to the release of my collection.

TV ad- This will feature well known plus size models such as Ashley Graham who has recently appeared on the front of Sports illustrated for 2016, she will be the face of my collections campaign. I will also use others like Crystal Renn and Iskra Lawrence, a younger fresher face for the campaign. By using plus size models to advertise the range, it helps the customers to visualise how they would look or what the collection would look like on them, more representative than on a typical Vs Angel.

The leaflets will be double sided. The front side will have the background of turquoise waves and in black, bold capital letters it will read ‘Take The Plunge’ with a pink exclamation mark, the tagline for the campaign. This establishes both the category, swimwear but also the darker feel to the range while keeping the classic pink of the VS identity. It will then on the back have the three main models on the back splashing in the waves with three different designs and styles in the collection with a blow up palm tree to compliment one of the main designs I will be using. Again this focusses on what is actually available in the collection and how good It looks on a plus size body. It will then have on the back also the release date and Victoria’s Secret Pink.

These will be available in all Pink stores in the UK. They will be located at the cash desk as well as a cardboard cut out forest cut out that they will also be found in, this will be near the front of the store so they can be easily spotted from entering into the store.

I will also on the day of release allow a promotional offer in stores of 15% off all bikinis and swimsuits, this will encourage more people to shop the collection and generate awareness through word of mouth. Not only this but the 15% off will be advertised on VS’s Instagram and twitter so people are aware of the offer and can take advantage of it.

I also will have data capture forms at tills to collect the emails and details of my customers, this means that not only can I gain knowledge of who my customer is and therefore what they want but will also allow their shopping experience to become more personal with promotional offers emailed to them seasonally. This will encourage customer loyalty.

Advertisement and Celebrity Endorsement.

SERVICES

Previous ranges of Victoria’s secret swimwear generally cannot accommodate for a plus size women, nor a woman who is busty. This is shown in many reviews describing their inability to remain dignified in their swimwear while enjoying a day at the beach. Therefore I would offer my consumers a bikini fitting service, allowing them to feel the most comfortable they can in my range.

In store there will be two qualified fitters offering a quality fitting service. These would be on call during the 8 week period of sales, giving advice, acting as personal shoppers and also fitting women for the right size bikini.

This makes the whole experience personal to the shopper as they feel like they are being valued as a customer. This encourages them to buy from the collection as they would be aware that this would be a worth-while purchase as the bikini would be tailored to them.

What business strategies will I use to target customers?

Business strategies I have used include a TV ad campaign, written advertisement such as leaflets and a promotional offer. This accommodates all areas of marketing my range.

Firstly, the TV ad generate awareness of the new range and establishes it’s a swimwear range and its for plus size women. Immediately this will grab the attention of the potential customers as this strays from the normal models of VS and will encourage them to look at what is on offer for them as a plus size consumer. The promotional offer targets both increasing desirability of the collection but also aims to reach the social media aspect of advertising. This is because the offer will be shown on VS Instagram which existing customer will already follow. This will be advertised with #shapes. Because the importance of social media has increased in recent years, this allows customers that are users to use the hashtag after their purchases, therefore advertising the range themselves to other potential customers. The desirability will increase with the 15% off as VS is notorious for its high prices however by reducing the price on release this will encourage customers to shop the range before the promotional offer ends.

When targeting customers in a global context I will need to keep in mind the seasons, for example, eventually in my long term aim I would like my collection to reach stores in Australia. However their summer is in the UK’s winter therefore I would have to consider my dates of release, stock allocation and advertisements prior to release. This ensures the collection is released at peak time ensuring the largest amount of sales.

Also, before releasing the US collection I will conduct field research in the US in prime beach areas like Miami, LA and Hawaii. From this trip I will gather trends that can be seen in the current street style and other important information such as brands people are wearing and music they are listening to help me to understand the needs of the customers in this area so I can collate a range that will be successful in this new area.

VISUAL MERCHANDISING

At the site of were the range is kept, there will be a cardboard cut out of a tropical rainforest environment with an inflatable palm tree. This will have a hashtag on it #shapes, the name of the range. Customers will be encouraged by sales assistants to take photos next to the cut out and then post it with the #shapes, this will automatically enter them into a competition which will give them a chance to win a pair of limited edition sunglasses and case. This promotes the range on social media and increases customer loyalty as they know we give perks and promotions.

I would place the new range in the forefront of the stores as this immediately grabs the attention of incoming customers.

The most exciting items, e.g. the floral print bikini and one piece would be on manikins as they are visually exciting and really encapsulate the dark, tropical feel of the range.

Artificial forest plants such as mini palm trees and hibiscus flowers would be shrouded around the table featuring the range, this is again visually exciting for customers and gains attention for the collection. I would also have speakers under the table playing forest sounds subtly, only for the first 8 week release period. This brings the range to life making the shopping experience more engaging for the customers, encouraging them to buy the items on offer.

RRP £85.00

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RRP £70.00 RRP £70.00 RRP £38.00 RRP £80.00

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The concept board links well to my range in many ways. The colours show through in my range with the vibrant pinks, purples and greens. The whole idea of tropics and rainforest design is also seen both in the concept board and the range, this is good because it’s the main design of the collection itself.

My range is ideal for my target customer as it includes shapes and styles seen in other plus size collections and new designs, perfect for that of a plus size woman.

For example, the plunge bikini. This is perfect for my customer as it gives support with the thick straps and underwire however it allows bigger women to show off their best assets and feel confident in themselves. The shapes I have chosen has the customer in mind as it uses body shaping materials and accentuates the natural curves of the body. By introducing colour ways this is a strategy to increase sales. If a customer likes the style of the plunge bikini, they may be inclined to buy more than one in different colours giving them the ability to mix and match the tops and bottoms to match their outfit or to just add a more interesting twist. The cover-ups also are consistent with the darker concept of the collection but also show femininity through the loose materials and lace used. The VS customer is fashion conscious and by adding details like a tie up chest to the cover-up, I can include another trend that is also practical. The colours link well to the concept board showing my original ideas well and showing a clear spring summer style.

The collection overall uses the trends that I have scoped from WGSN and applies them to the need of my VS customer while also keeping the idea of femininity, florals and the pink of VS as a brand in mind.

Merchandising Spreadsheet

How have you used data to inform Buying & Merchandising decisions?

I have conducted a merchandising spreadsheet using previous sales data to work out how much stock I will bring in to each store and how much profit I hope to generate over an eight week period. I used like for like data to ensure that my projections were as accurate as possible. I worked out both my cost price and RRP, allowing me to eventually work out my gross profit, I also worked out a margin to ensure that my RRP was set at a practical price. This is important as a buyer as it ensures that I remain competitive within the retail environment and with other retail stores, if my RRP was not within a healthy margin, then I would be less likely to generate as many sales and generate as much profit as projected, a healthy margin usually lies between 4060%.

I also included when my range would be released, I chose the first week of March as this is the month leading in to the beginning of spring, this gives me a short period of time before the season begins for people to buy and then sales will continue through the season as the demand for the range continues to increase. This will ensure sales continue at a steady rate over the 8 weeks opposed to if I was to release it earlier, when there was little to no demand for swimwear products. From my total quantities, I worked out a 15% replen for each item in the range. This ensures that sales continue and thrive as it allows me to continue to sell over the 8 weeks. For example if one of the items, the Tropical Print One piece was a bestseller and sold out within the first week, I would have stock left over from my 15% replen to ensure that the sales generated from the product didn’t cease at the first week, by adding 15% replen to my quantity I secure a higher turnover.

When handling finance and the budget, I need to be aware of the OTB budget. This is usually between 30-40% of my whole budget and it needs to be kept in cases of rebuying in certain items in the collection for example bestsellers.

By using store grades, this helps me as a buyer because it helps me to reduce wastage of stock ensuring that as little leftover stock is left at the end of the 8 weeks having to be sold at a discount or promotional offers, meaning I am more likely to reach my projected sales figures. This is because in different types of stores, sales of certain items may sell better, or sales may be worse in others. By projecting this data, for the different stores, I have more representative data of the amounts of stock I should buy in.

TROPCICAL PRINT ONE PIECE

TOTE LOGO BAG

TROPICAL PRINT BIKINI

BEACH SHOES

S

Strengths- Pre existing customer loyalty and customer base • 1,500 stores worldwide(Toovey, 2016) • Online site Victoriassecret.com • Large social media basis and influence, on Facebook they have 24 million followers • Annual Fashion shows, held all over the world so global influence, marketing strategy as acts as TV advertisement. Reinforces brand identity and shows available products • Two stores, Victoria’s Secret and Pink, larger target market more sales opportunities • Visual merchandising and in stores team attractive and true to the brand • Excellent staff knowledge of products • Angel card- In store card that gives free delivery, special points and gifts to loyal customers

O

Opportunities-Expansion into the global market as only exist in US Canada and the UK. • Collaborations with celebrities for upcoming campaigns • Fashion shows in other countries increasing global influence of brand • Collaborations with designers on new collections • Launching a plus size range as they are missing out this market • Advertisements with different sized women • Selling products through other retailers for example online on Amazon • Bra fitting services in store

W

Weaknesses- Use of skinny models in all ad campaigns • High prices compared to similar products on the market • Images used on site not true to colour or fit • Boring and repetitive ad campaigns • Body shaming and bad reputation in the public eye because of both use of skinny models and past slogans • Bad fit of garments, not reflective of all bodies • Merchandise often only suited to younger generation of customers • Stores only located in the US, Canada and the UK. • Meagre attempt at selling accessories Threats- Competitors that are more sympathetic and open-minded about size • Recession or crash in economy meaning that consumers have less disposable income • Sloppy sales attempts in other areas of the store e.g. accessories • High prices not being competitive against similar lingerie retailers on the market • Similar products being sold in other stores at cheaper prices • Exchange rate risks as they ship internationally.

Global economic changes such as currency changes that may not be factored in to budget • Unrealistic images creates protests against the brand

T

SWOT ANALYSIS The strengths of the store can be used to improve and promote my business as the identity of the brand exists strongly and is well known globally, especially due to the VS fashion show. The show is usually held in the US however has moved recently to Paris, this means the brand is in recent years trying to reach out globally. Not only this but the models used are from a range of different ethnicities including New Zealand, Africa and Brazil. This means that the brand is inclusive of a range of global influences and by word of mouth and through advertisements such as the VS fashion show, advertisements stretch globally.

However the use of these models and these shows is also an internal weakness of VS as a brand as it establishes itself as a discriminatory retailer, favouring the petite women against an average women. This reduces opportunities to widen their market. My business acts as an opportunity to this as it introduces a range of plus size products to launch in VS stores. This widens the target market but also relieves pressure from social media and protestors of the brand as it could be seen as responding to the publics outrage at the continual use of skinny models. This increases VS’s credibility in the public eye.

External threats to the company include their high prices that they mark their merchandise at. This is a threat as it means that they may not be as competitive with other retailers as other similar lingerie stores may offer a cheaper yet similar alternative to VS products, taking sales away from them. My products in my business are priced highly yet through quality remain competitive and are true to their price as they are good quality material and made robust with underwire and strong elastane.

VS has been slated in reviews on their site for non representative size and fit of products, customers when receiving products are not happy with the fitting of their swimwear products. I will use business strategies such as a bra fitting service in store to tackle this weakness. By offering bra fitting to customers in store, I eradicate the issue of poor fit and therefore help the customer to receive a good quality and worthwhile product increasing the likelihood of re purchasing from our store. This also continues to offer the strength of excellent customer service that already exists in Victoria’s Secret stores.

Another weakness of VS is their use of skinny models in their ad campaigns. Business strategies I will implement to tackle this are celebrity endorsements for advertising my collection. I will use several well known plus size models in my marketing of the collection.

This shows a change in the ideals of the brand, offering a more sympathetic, representative and real advert that more consumers can relate to. Hopefully this will increase the likelihood of bigger women shopping in VS stores. VS is also lacking stores in countries worldwide as they are only located in the US, UK and Canada. This means they are missing out on global business opportunities to expand stores and increase their profit. My long term aim of my business is to expand my range to new stores worldwide. This may include a concession in department stores in other countries or bringing VS as a brand to other global locations.

Overall, doing the SWOT has helped me to understand how I can combat weaknesses that exist in my retailer by using business strategies, this is important as a buyer as you need to constantly be thinking of innovative ways to eradicate threats and weaknesses of your business in order to boost profit and ensure successful sales.

Final Evaluation

In this unit I have learnt much more about the buying environment, especially in terms of the buying cycle. I have learnt more about their responsibilities including sourcing, negotiations and how to conduct these and why respect and forward thinking and planning is so vital within the buying process. There are many different environments in buying, for example branded, boutique buying high street and online. These different environments call for different skills. For example in online buying, the influence of social media and staying updated with technology and the younger generation is important to keep in mind when marketing. However when buying for a concession, it is important that you place your focus on bestsellers and items that really show off the brands identity as there is so little to buy for these collections so the items you do buy in must secure optimum sales.

By looking into organisational charts this allowed me further insight into the inner workings of the buyer environment. By seeing the retailer as a bigger company, including head office and all individual sections of the store, I could realise the importance of communication in buying. The visions of the members in head office, including head buyers, head merchandisers and design teams, need to be taken and translated within other departments in the store. For example a buyer needs to communicate with the merchandiser on what items are bestsellers and therefore which ones need to have more units in store than others. Also, the buyer will need to work closely with the design team to put forward successful trends that they have found from trade shows and fashion week so these can be tailored into new ranges. Not only this but the organisational chart helped me to understand the relationship between head office and their teams, and area managers and their shop floor teams. The buyers need to show their visions and concept boards to in store visual merchandising teams so the idea of the range can be translated onto the shop floor. By doing this there can be a clear link between the layout of the shop floor and the collections within it. This makes the whole store look more organised and also shows off the separate ranges, appealing to different groups of individuals. In different buying environments organisational charts will differ, for an own label retailer or a boutique, the chart will be much smaller as the concept of head office is lost. The team is usually small and succinct with members having more than one responsibility e.g. buying and merchandising.

There are many different buying environments, for example branded buying. This differs from regular buying as you have many more components to be aware of. For example if you are buying brands fro an online site such as ASOS you not only need to be aware of trends that are popular at the time but you would need to translate these into pre existing ranges and products that the brand already stocks. Not only this but if you are buying in brands for a department store you need to keep in mind the general target market of the department store itself, but also need to be aware of the brands target customer. This is often difficult especially in terms of VM within the store and a balance between the different target markets needs to be reached. Other environments in fashion buying include fast fashion, high street and designer. Fast fashion is often a difficult type of buying as you need to translate seasonal trends into a number of ranges including the seasons but also mid season ranges. This is because stock is being bought and sold at a much faster pace. This means the time for buying appointments and trips is much shorter and you are called to analyse and scope out trends quickly and efficiently.

This is different to say designer buying as they must spend time detailing focussed trends including shape, style, colour, pattern genre and many other components whereas a fast fashion buyer may only work on that seasons colour or alternatively shape of clothing. Not only this but a designer buyer may be in charge of simply seeking out materials appropriate to then buy, give to the design team so they can fashion appropriate garments to sell whereas in fast fashion , the buyer would be buying and sourcing straight from factories where they can buy whole garments often in bulk.

Through this unit I have developed skills on Photoshop, learning how to create a lifelike range based on the trends I have found, linking them clearly to my concept board. I have also learnt and developed my trends forecasting skills making sure I keep a range of global contexts in mind. I have continued to use WGSN as a source for trends however also looked into Pinterest for a way to source trends and inspiration for my collection. Also, I have developed my presentation skills as I was able to clearly pitch my ideas to the rest of my peers, selling my concept and ideas to them. I still feel that my communication skills need to be developed and I need to improve on the verbal communication of my ideas. This is so necessary in buying as they need to be able to convince head office and design teams that their ideas are going to be worthwhile to the company to ensure their collections are actually followed through on. This can also help me to understand my ranges and collections better as by pitching I can gain a better insight and understanding into what it is I am trying to sell. I can achieve this by continuing to practice my pitches in future to peers and family to improve my communication and demonstration.

In my range I used a number of business strategies to ensure my target customers needs where fulfilled. For example I chose to offer a bra fitting service to make sure they were comfortable and received the best quality product for their money. I also offered promotions on my range allowing them to shop the range for a cheaper price and also gave them a chance to win free gifts. All of these strategies where used to ensure the customer was engaged with the collection.

My collection itself was put together based on the shape primarily. My range needed to accommodate plus size women and therefore a choice of skimpy triangle bikinis and g string bottoms was not possible as a style for my range. Therefore I chose to use shapes like high wasited bikini bottoms and plunge bikini bras as well as one pieces, this kept my target customer in mind and their needs. Not just what was possible in the current market. Not only this but the colours I chose were popular for spring summer but also exciting and new for the brand making them desirable to a potential new customer. I kept the classic pink of VS to retain the brands identity. The range itself is visually appealing with large floral and tropical prints in complimentary colours including deep purples and khakis, these are an alternative to the neon colours of other VS swimwear collections and are more classic and appealing to the plus size market. I like my range as it ticks all the boxes to be appealing to my target market however if I was to redo the collection I may be inclined to add a bit more colour or embellishments to the block colour swimsuits as this would add an exciting detail perfect for summer.

For my elevator pitch I stated the niche in the VS market, their neglect of plus size women and their favour for the skinny or petite woman. I then looked at global business strategies such as scoping out exciting trends in other countries such as the US to see what would be popular there for future collections I may want to launch. I chose the name of the range based on their previous range ‘Body’ which was made for petite slim girls, grouping them into one body type. However in todays society there are many different body types and shapes which I feel should all be celebrated as I hoped to do in my collection, therefore I thought the name of Shapes was appropriate to let the target customer know that the new collection is an advocate for the many shapes that women’s bodies come in.

The retail environments that the range fits into is high street fashion. This is because VS is a high-street brand and is sold on this market. However also VS has an online site meaning that I would have to be aware of the online market when selling my collection. This means that I not only would be up against other swimwear high street brands like Simply Be and Fig Leaves, but I would also have to compete online as well. This could include online promotional offers and free deliveries to ensure that I remained a competitive online store.

I also learnt about the difference between buyers and merchandisers and about how buyers need to concentrate on creating the initial visons for the range including trends, markets, target customers and advertising whereas the merchandisers need to be aware of sales figures, the retailer in terms of the financial market, stock allocation and pricing, the budget for the collection and deliveries. From the merchandising spreadsheet activity I learnt that merchandisers need to be aware of past sales for certain items in order to be able to project future sales and therefore from these work out how much or which items to buy in for the store. I also learned the importance of cost price vs RRP and how you need to have a healthy margin in order to remain competitive while giving consumers fair prices. I found the activity difficult as it involved handling large numbers and detailed calculations however it helped me to understand the role of the merchandiser and the importance to the buyer with communicating with them more.

The marketing strategies I have used to sell my range is leaflets to promote awareness and offers, a TV ad to assert the new feel of the range, including plus size models, a change from the VS norm. I also would use promo offers to reel in the customer to encourage them to make in store purchases from my collection.

Overall, I feel that I have in particular developed my evaluative skills during this unit looking far more into the customer and what is important to them and not just the trends and designs I personally like. I have also learned how to gain a deeper understanding into the needs of my customer which helps you in other areas such as the range itself, the marketing strategies used to market the range, advertisements pricing and so much more. I have gained much more knowledge into not only the buyer, but the different types of buying and how these vary from area to area. Not only this but I think I have developed my mathematical skills and improved how I handle numbers, this was during the merchandising spreadsheet. Again this helped me find deeper understanding into the different roles within the fashion industry and know how each of these link and depend on each other.

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JOBS â– https://krbsjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/home/HomeWithPreLoad?PageType=JobDetails&jobId=978298&PartnerId=30055&SiteI d=5837&utm_source=indeed

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Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-perfect-body-campaign-2014-10?IR=T [Accessed 14 Nov. 2016].

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