Analysis of the UK Fashion Market and Strategies for Clarks

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RETAIL THEORY AND PRACTICE
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Identifies key relevant changes in the UK fashion clothing market................................................4
Suggests and discusses strategies and tactics that could be used by the retailer to respond to the
major changes occurring in the fashion clothing market.................................................................7
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Reference List................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
The retail market of the United Kingdom is changing day by day. This is generally due to the
change in the taste, preference and the behaviour of the customers that are present. These are
occurring due to the facility of internet where people get to know about the new fashion trends
that are followed in the whole world. It has been witnessed that there has been a huge change in
the retail clothing of the United Kingdom, which is making the market to be unstable. This
serious condition is being witnessed in that market. The essay will consist of the different
changes that have affected the market of the United Kingdom in relation to the retail clothing
market. The essay will also throw lights on the different strategies and techniques that will be
taken by the organisation to overcome those changes.
Company Overview
The company that is selected for the essay is Clarks. The full name is C. & J. Clark Internal Ltd.
This British multinational organisation is situated in England and was founded in the year of
1825 by Cyrus and James Clark, who were brothers. The headquarters of the company is located
in Somerset, England. They have more than one thousand store throughout the world and they
sell their products through distribution of third party (Clarks.in, 2019). The product that is sold
by them is footwear. According to recent review, it has been found that the number of employees
working under the company is fifteen thousand three hundred and eighty.
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Identifies key relevant changes in the UK fashion clothing market
There are different changes that are witnessed by the market of the United Kingdom in respect to
the fashion clothing market (Robinson and Hsieh, 2016). These are necessary to be discussed in
order to incorporate all the changes in the organisation Clarks, UK. The various relevant changes
will be explained below:
Engagement Retail
There has been a new form of retail present in the market of the United Kingdom, which is to
engage their customers in order to sale their products to the customers. Clarks, UK can use this
way to enhance the customers well (Burnes and Towers, 2016). This is done through the process
of customer relationship management, through which the customers get to know about the
preference, taste and behavior of their customers. This will help the organisation Clarks to
produce the products in the style that is liked by the customers. Through this process, the
customers will be engaged and they will think special as they are given importance.
Exhibitions for sale
This is another change that is being witnessed in the market of the United Kingdom. It has been
seen that, there is a necessity for any organisation to put up exhibition in order to perform sales
for them (Twigg, 2015). This system needs to be applied in Clarks and they need to perform this
activity to increase the sales of the business. They need to perform exhibition in order to
showcase their products that they are selling in the market. This can be done in the form of
fashion shows that are held in the country.
Social Shopping
Another change that has been witnessed in the markets of the United Kingdom is the shopping
that is done in the social ways. There are number of internet sites where goods are sold now days
(Morgan, 2015). Since, the people do not get time to visit the physical stores they tend to shop
online. It is necessary for the organisation Clarks to have their appearance online so that their
products are available at any point of time for the customers to buy. This will help them to
increase the base of the customers and the area of service will increase on the same time. There
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are different social media sites like Instagram, facebook and Twitter where different retailer are
coming up to sell their products. They pay certain percentage of commission to the social media
and perform their business there as well.
Recognition of instant fashion
This is another change that has occurred in the market of the United Kingdom that is necessary
to be accepted by Clarks in order to capture the market. Instant fashion is very much increasing
in the market due to the use of internet (Ozdamar Ertekin and Atik, 2015). People from all over
the world can communicate with each other and the people of the United Kingdom can like the
styles of different areas. They can take the photo of the clothing and search for that same
product. Clarks need to be updated every day to get to know about the new fashion trends so that
they can provide with the products to the customers, which will increase the sales for them.
Fashion Shows
This is another important change that has been witnessed in the market of the United Kingdom in
relation to the retail clothing (Okonkwo, 2016). This can also be performed by Clarks in order to
show the customers the variety they have in their clothing. This will help them to bring more
interest within the customers that will help them to increase their sales in the market.
Communities led by the retailers
In today’s world, the retailers are holding the market for the fashion retail. The retailers like
Clarks are performing their activities in such a way that brings in interest among the people of
the country (Fernie and Sparks, 2018). They have different marketing techniques that are helping
the organisation to move forward and hold a position in the market. These are essential elements
for Clarks to perform in order to increase the sales and the market share.
Couture revival
This is another significant change, which is witnessed in the market of the United Kingdom that
has changed the old ways of shopping. The people now days want new products at low prices.
The organisations like Clarks are introducing new techniques that support the thoughts of the
people (Young et al., 2017). The organisations have turned towards bulk selling so that they can
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earn profits by selling more products. This increases the sales of the organisation and they can
reach more number of people as compared to the earlier times.
Zoned leasing strategy
There has been an increase in the fashion products that are sold in the streets of the United
Kingdom. This can also be welcomed by the organisation Clarks by opening their outlet in those
streets and decorate their outlets in such a way that people get attracted (Gardetti and Torres,
2017). This is another way of increasing the sales for the business and reach maximum
customers to fulfill their shopping needs as well.
Increase in the purchasing power of the tourists
In recent years, there has been an increase in the purchasing power of the tourists helping the
organisations to increase their sales. Clarks need to focus on this part as well so that the tourists
that visit the United Kingdom buys products from this organisation. They should portray their
products well in front of the customers so that they get interested in the fashion any buy those
products.
These changes are witnessed in the market of the United Kingdom in respect to the retail-
clothing sector. These are necessary for the organisations to work on so that they do not lose
their customers and they provide proper services to their customers (Hammer and Plugor, 2016).
It is necessary for Clarks, who are the number fifth in this domain in the United Kingdom to
show the way to other organisations so that they can have sustainable success in the market. It is
a necessity for them to accept the changes that are occurring in the market and perform their
activities in the same manner. This will help the organisation to increase their sales volume that
will increase the profit. This will also increase their market share and they will perform well in
the market.
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Suggests and discusses strategies and tactics that could be used by the retailer to respond to
the major changes occurring in the fashion clothing market.
Overview of current changes in fashion market
The fashion industry of UK is stuck with several difficulties related to Brexit and vote in the
country. Foreign investment has become less and the country has faced a huge loss in the
industry due to the decision of Britain to leave EU (Henningeret al.,2017). The disposable
incomes of the people have been squeezed and the pound has become weak because of high
inflation rate. The inflation rate is expected to be more 2.0% in the upcoming years within 2020.
In this time rate for importing fashion commodities will be augmented and it will cost more for
the people of fashion industry. According the experienced fashion retailers of the market this is
the toughest time to come up with new start-ups and ideas in the fashion industry. It is not a good
time for expanding the business and some of the companies are planning to close down the
branch in UK. UK is now facing a tough time for the fashion industry for Brexit.
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Figure 1: Disruption in supply chain of fashion industry
(Source: Biondi, 2019)
From the above figure, the disruption in the fashion supply chain can be understood. Disruption
rate is high in the country and in this time bargaining power of suppliers will be high in this
industry. It is another reason of increasing cost in the industry. This time is very tough for the
fashion companies to acquire profitability. Presently the tariff is high in the industry with by the
amount 11.55 for importing goods from EU (Alexander and Nobbs, 2019).
On the other hand the chief of BFC has stated that the fashion industry has a chance to grow in
the upcoming years. Apart from the challenging situation of the industry, this industry has grown
from the last year and the chance of employment is also growing in this industry. Retain fashion
is facing the real challenge as per his concern but the manufacturing sector of fashion industry
has continued to grow.
Recommendation for Clark’s in this situation
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In this situation of market Clarks; should not try to expand the business. The marketing strategy
should be changed. Clarks has an already established market in UK and the market should be
kept tactically. It should improvise the strategy to reduce the costing. Present situation of the
market is beneficial for the administration to open manufacturing unit. Clarks should increase the
manufacturing and the export rate should be increased. Being a multi-national fashion retail
company, sales strategy in the branches of other countries should be taken care. The supply chain
in UK has been disrupted and this situation will throw a challenge to this administration and it
should get out from this situation by managing its own suppliers by proper negotiation. The
expansion within UK should not be done until 2020 (Prnewswire.com., 2019). It is expected that
the market will be again stable after 2020. Even in present situation Clarks should concentrate
more on the manufacturing sectors of UK and the sales outlet of other countries. It will maintain
the overall business of the company.
The positive side of the current situation is the growth of global apparel business in the country.
Clarks will generate double-digit growth in this situation. The global businesses should be
concentrated more (McKinsey &Company., 2019). The consumers of travelling and the spending
of the consumers globally is increasing. The outside consumer spending the country of Asia-
Pacific has been increased by triple of their previous spending, while the value of spending worth
$600 billion. From the analysis, it can be stated that these countries can give a huge market to
Clarks. Asia-Pacific market is one of the huge markets in nowadays. The market is growing on
regular basis. Clarks should concentrate more on this market by continuing the manufacturing in
UK. It will give them profit from UK and the other market too. The manufacturing fashion is still
growing in UK.
Sustainability has become a new trend in the fashion market. The consumers are becoming
conscious about the environment friendliness of the administration. Clarks should now
concentrate to the ecological value of the products. If the sustainability can be maintained by the
administration, it will be helpful to increase the sales in the administration. Changes in UK
market will affect the business of Clarks. Changes of UK market cannot be stopped by the
administration but the company can continue its profitability by improvising the strategy.
Likewise, other companies, it should also concentrate on the global market and the sustainability.
Environmental sustainability has become a new trend and it should be focused more by the
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administration. Clarks is operating in the shoe manufacturing market since 1825 and the
company can now make it sure that the shoe making process does not harm the ecological
balance (Clarks.in., 2019). It will help them to become more popular worldwide. This is the high
time; innovation should be incorporated in the processes. In order to make high profit, innovation
and ecological balance will help this administration to get a better position in the global market.
The above analysis and the recommendations for Clarks will help them to become stable in this
market situation. The market of UK is expected to be stable after 2020. Now the inflation rate is
expected to increase which will lead to reduce the disposable income of the people. The above
strategies will help Clarks to maintain its business overall the global market. The company will
also capture UK market by focusing more on the manufacturing departments. These strategies
will help the administration to gain a decent profit in this unstable market of fashion in UK.
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Conclusion
Various changes are witnessed in the markets of the United Kingdom in relation to the retail
clothing market. This is an evolution happening in the United Kingdom, where the taste,
behaviour and preference of the people are changing every day. The organisations need to cope
up with the change so that they can increase their profits. It has been observed that there are
different strategies that are taken by the organisation Clarks in order to make the necessary
changes within the operations so that they can serve the market better. These strategies and
tactics needs to be followed so that they can expand their market in other parts of the world. This
will make the company more profitable and there is an increase in the tourists visiting the United
Kingdom. Their focus needs to go on that part as well in order to increase their profitability.
These are essential for the organisation Clarks to have a clear look at the market and decide the
best suited activities so that they can increase the profitability and the market share.
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Reference List
Alexander, B. and Nobbs, K., 2019. Multi-sensory fashion retail experiences: The impact of
sound, smell, sight and touch on consumer based brand equity. In Global Branding:
Breakthroughs in Research and Practice (pp. 39-62). IGI Global.
Biondi, A., 2019. Will Brexit break British fashion?. [online] Vogue Business. Available at:
https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/impact-brexit-fashion-textile-industry-no-deal
[Accessed 26 Jun. 2019].
Burnes, B. and Towers, N., 2016. Consumers, clothing retailers and production planning and
control in the smart city. Production Planning & Control, 27(6), pp.490-499.
Clarks.in., 2019. About Us. [online] Available at: https://www.clarks.in/about-us/ [Accessed 26
Jun. 2019].
Fernie, J. and Sparks, L. eds., 2018. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new
challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan page publishers.
Gardetti, M.A. and Torres, A.L., 2017. Sustainability in fashion and textiles: values, design,
production and consumption. Routledge.
Hammer, N. and Plugor, R., 2016. Near‐sourcing UK apparel: value chain restructuring,
productivity and the informal economy. Industrial Relations Journal, 47(5-6), pp.402-416.
Henninger, C.E., Alevizou, P.J., Tan, J., Huang, Q. and Ryding, D., 2017. Consumption
strategies and motivations of Chinese consumers: The case of UK sustainable luxury
fashion. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 21(3),
pp.419-434.
McKinsey & Company., 2019. Succeeding in tomorrow’s global fashion market. [online]
Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/
succeeding-in-tomorrows-global-fashion-market [Accessed 26 Jun. 2019].
Morgan, E., 2015. ‘Plan A’: Analysing business model innovation for sustainable consumption
in mass-market clothes retailing. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, (57), pp.73-98.
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