Fashion Retailing

Book excerpt: Throughout modern history, retailers have opened their doors to consumers, providing them with goods and services that satisfy both rational and emotional needs. They do this by evoking a customer's sensory system, to create memorable experiences that will entice shoppers to visit again and again. Starting with a brief overview of the history of retail, market research, site selection and retail typology are then discussed. The differences between on-site and off-site retailing are distinguished; and multi-channel approaches that have been used in retail test markets as a means to cost-effective growth within the industry are explored, with specific reference to how technology has created a new formula within a stagnant model. Fashion Retailing further explores back-of-house functions, such as human resources (hiring, payroll, job descriptions and salaries) and loss prevention from a management standpoint. Front-of-house functions, including merchandising (product analysis, fixturing, fixture sales tracking), visual merchandising (seasonal displays, windows, mannequins), circulation patterns and the relationship between the merchandising and management teams in driving overall sales and brand image, are explored across different retailers. Readers will gain a thorough understanding of how the retail model operates in an effort to continually capture the ever-changing market, as well as an insight into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and brand sustainability.