Analysis of UK Fashion Clothing Market and Retailer Strategies Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the UK fashion clothing market, examining key changes and challenges faced by retailers, specifically focusing on Next plc. The introduction defines retail theory and practice, setting the stage for an exploration of the market dynamics. The main body identifies crucial shifts in the UK fashion landscape, including political, economic, technological, social, environmental, legal, and fashion trend changes. It further explores the impact of Brexit, economic recessions, technological advancements, and evolving consumer preferences. Following this, the report suggests and discusses various strategies and tactics that retailers can employ to respond effectively to these market changes. These strategies encompass adapting to e-commerce, managing competition, and addressing shifts in marketing approaches. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and recommendations, while the references section provides a list of sources used in the report.

Report

Table of Contents
Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
a) Identifies key relevant changes in the UK fashion clothing market...................................1
b) 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..................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The retail theory and practice defines the different procedures that has been followed by
the retailer so as to enter in the marketplace while selecting the better place while gone through
with different stages and at entry phase they have offer the low prices with the limited flow of
services and facilities. In this the retailer is an entity who sells the different range of products and
service directly to the customers as by managing the different distribution channels and have
work with the target to achieve better profits (Andresen, 2019). Retailing is the termed that state
that selling of diverse variety of goods and service to the public instead of selling it to the
businesses. This report is based on the Next plc as it is the British multinational clothing, home
product, footwear retailer and has worked with around 700 stores in this 500 are in UK and rest
200 are in Europe, middle east and Asia with having the headquartered in Enderby,
Leicestershire. This report includes the different relevant changes in the fashion clothing market
in UK and some strategy as well as tactics that are used by the retailer to manage the occurred
changes in the market.
MAIN BODY
a) Identifies key relevant changes in the UK fashion clothing market
The UK fashion clothing market has been following the rapid changes on continuous
basis as per the last decade as the people become more attracted towards the fashionable and
trendy clothes. The marketplace also gets more diverse and with this the e-commerce get
introduced that make easier for both the seller and customer in terms of selling or buying. In this
the transportation of the service done with the support of digitalisation as in the form of social
media etc and that brings more challenge for the growth of fashion cloth business as they have to
be more presentable with this faces a struggle with make the balanced in between the flow of
services with the better profit (Bernon, 2018). As through the usage of digital platform the
business serve high cost and gain low sales that is due to the economic recession that has been
faced by UK as after the brexit and due to pandemic attack of caronavirus. The Brexit is the
biggest challenge that affects the sales and productivity of the fashion clothing market as the
trade regulation has been changes that make huge cost to the fashion retailers. There are some of
the changes that have been settled in the UK fashion clothing market and are as explained below
as:
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Political changes: It is the changes that are affected by the different modification of the
rules and regulation of UK government. As after the Brexit there are some certain changes that
affects the working performance and ability of Next plc as with this the tariff on the imports will
get increases and with this the manufacturing cost of the company get exaggerated. The trading
of Next plc to the other countries will get changes and that enhance the production cost of the
company as the price of material and the labour cost at different nation is not same (Cleophas,
2019). The Next plc has also managed the competitor as like Marks and Spence, Arcadia Group,
Debenhams etc and to gain the better competitive advantage it is also be essential that company
provide the most quality products to the customer with more suitable and appropriate price. So as
to manage the fashion trends it is needed that the Next plc works with the clear and transparent
direction by which the production and manufacturing cost get controlled by which effective
profit get gained.
Economic changes: UK is the most stable and balanced country and with this have the
minimum amount of fluctuation in the policy and regulations. UK is the first largest economy
and GDP holder as after the Japan, US and Germany as they have the highest population but they
have gone through with the economic recession as after the Brexit. It has high cost to the people
and bounds the expending and purchasing power of an individual that develop more difficulty for
the Next plc in order to maintain the sustainability. In addition the inflation rate of UK is 3.1%
that enhance the clothes pricing by which it is not easy for the customer to get purchase more
clothes thus in this Next plc make the customer in confidence about their quality and services by
which they keep attract towards the services (Hayes, 2018). The high sterling exchange rate of
Euro makes it even tougher for the business to sell the products outside UK but in adverse the
investment in outer market increases the profit share of business as well. There is another change
as well regarding the unemployment rate that get decreased and it is in favour of nation but with
this Next plc have to spend more on the wages and salary of employees and enhance more
problem while recruiting the talented employees.
Technological changes: It is a change that is associated with the technological
advancement and in this UK is the country that is more acceptable with the new technology and
having the vast bandwidth and with this the customer also get penetrate towards the smart
technology. In changes or modify the shopping preference of the customers and have become
more selective as they have a lot of options to buy the clothes within the lesser period of time
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and from the home as well. More of the people are busy with their other works thus get purchase
the clothes through the official websites and get shifted towards the online shopping. In this Next
plc has faced some challenge to make the investment while maintaining the shopping website by
which the easy and flexible accessibility get assessed (Heller, 2019). It is the most important
factor as well as with this the fastest growing business get developed and have the positive
impact on the Next plc and it also allows the existing of new and vulnerable clothes. In this the
company adopt different decisive technology but there is no surety that the business get lag
behind the competitor or maintain the lead in the marketplace.
Social changes: It is the change that is more relative to the customer likelihood and there
living standard and with this the there is a huge difference in between the working hours of the
individual as from the previous timing as it get decreases from over the last decade thus people
has more time to spend it while measuring and differentiating in between the prices or the quality
services of the different retailers. In addition people are more aware about the environmental
issues as they get more information from the newspaper, TV and radio advertisement thus people
collect more information about the production of product and services. They get more focused
about the material and working process that is used by the factories in order to manufacture the
fashion clothes and consider the different circumstances as like child labour as well and with this
manage the purchasing aspect of business. In this Next plc avoid the child labour and enhance
the working ethics and sustainability by which shun the redundancy (Lee, 2019). The Next plc
also get develop the clothes that are more trendy and fashionable and with this designed the most
suitable clothes for public that brings the feeling of satisfaction.
Environmental changes: It is relative to the changes through which the environmental
measures get managed by the Next plc so as to protect the surround. UK has developed some
strict rules for the safety and security of the surround with this the companies get more difficult
to manage the expectation rate over this and with this the company has to control the production
and ensure that it doesn’t harm the surround at all. It is always be more relative factor to the
public as well as they are also be more concern and understand the values of safe and secure
environment and provides the rating to the business as per their experience from the business.
Thus it is more costly for the business and with this they have to designed the best and
appropriate clothes as per the suitability of customers by ensure that its manufacturing didn’t
harm the surround (Netten, 2018).
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Legal changes: It is the factor that is more based on the different factors which came into
existence as per the laws of UK government and that must get followed by all the retailing
companies otherwise they have to bear more loss. General Data Protection Regulatory (GDPR) is
the policy that is developed by the governance under the norm that the business that has chose
the e-commerce and social media in order to gain the effective sales they have to maintain the
transparency in the business and provide the adequate information to the customers as per the
requirement (Rao, 2019). In this Next plc must get follow all the laws as like providing adequate
information to customer, suitable wages to employees with other benefits, avoidance of child
labour etc.
Change in the fashion trends: The people are more willing and attract toward the trendy
and fashionable clothes thus with this the designing must get changes with more spontaneous. As
the reach on all the individual get diversified and have easy access all around the world thus
there expectation towards the clothes also gets fluctuated as per the shift in time. It is more
essential that the clothes must get sold within the particular period of time otherwise after that
they become useless as it is not acceptable by the customer because of the inducement of new
clothes. In this Next plc has collaborate with the different designers that get develop new design
as per the changed trends and ensure that limited amount of inventory get maintained by which it
didn’t become waste.
Change in marketing strategies: The Company must have select the different strategy
and policy to perform the marketing as the time get shifted from the television advertisement to
print media to the digital platform thus the selection of liable and appropriate channel of
marketing is being more needed (Riquelme, 2019). Next plc has chosen the social media
marketing and with this manage the fashion trends and with this maintain the lead as per their
competitors.
Increases competition in relation market: The number of companies that are working
within the fashion retailing is being increases and in this the constructive competition gets
developed in the marketplace. In this Next plc must ensure that they have provide the quality and
affordable clothes to the individuals and offer the selective discount and offer to the customer by
which they kept attractive towards the company.
Online shopping: It is most trendy change on fashion clothing market as most of the
customer get switched their shopping as to e commerce sites from the malls as it has the smooth
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access and also save more time of both customer and company (Shetty, 2019). Thus it is more
pressured for the retail companies to use to social media to make the certain interaction with the
customers and through which they have showcase all the stocks in front of viewers for their easy
selection. It is the most favourable change as in this the Next plc makes the strong bond or
connection in between the customers and with this the suitable outcome gets generated on
continuous basis.
b) 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.
There are different changes that get occurred in the fashion clothing market as Next plc
and for that it is needed to work with the several strategy and tactic to make the effective respond
and that are as define below as:
Staff Training: It is most needed that the working employee is more skilled and talented
with that have managed the flow of different services within the market. In this they have
develop the appropriate designing as per the changing market trends and provide the new and
fashionable clothes to their customers (Sit, 2018). In this the Next plc provide the timely based
training and development to the employee by which they could easily get incorporated with the
different technological advancement by which efficient connection with the customer get
proceeded by which they get retain for longer period of time.
Use of both traditional and digital marketing: There are still some people that believe
to get purchase the clothes while visiting the stores and for this Next plc has maintain both the
medium of marketing as in this they have select develop the print media and television
advertisement and for other uses the digital marketing to target the individual that uses the
internet. It expands the reach of the company and get connect with more of customer that helps
to generate more profit by maintaining the productivity.
Forecasting: It is more needed that the company must have forecast the future need and
demand of customers and for this Next plc target the world trends and perform the timely
research about the market trends (Suhartanto, 2018). It reduces the risk of additional stock
wastage and helps the Next plc to maintain the long term sustainability with more rightness.
Continuous innovation: It is the tactics of the Next plc and with this they have make the
continuous innovation in the different offered variety of clothes that helps to generated more
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sales and profit. It is also be essential as well while giving the tough competition to the
competitors and with this have differentiate their clothes and design as per others.
Communicate with Your Target Audience: It is always been concerned by the Next plc
and with this try to make the certain interaction with the customer and with that have
communicated with the large number of customers (Zhang, 2018). It improvise the purchasing
prospect of the customers towards the Next plc product and provide all the detail about the
special dealing and offers by both the medium as like online and offline with more sufficiency.
Active Presence within Social Media: It is most get managed by the Next plc and with this
they have been active in the social media platform and provide the needed information within the
market by using the timely updates as from which have provide all the relative trends and offered
product at the website by which the customer easily get known more about the business.
These are some strategy and tactic through which Next plc must get continuous attention
of customer that helps to enhance the productivity as well as profitability of the business.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above report that the fashion cloth retailing industry has
been following the different changes that get induces as per the shift or passes of time and it
helps to make the certain modifications by which the better and effective connectivity with the
customers get developed. To match up with the trends the business must have induce the various
strategy and tactic so as to make the sufficient changes within company that helps to make a lead
in the competitive surround.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Andresen, M.A., 2019. Environmental criminology: Evolution, theory, and practice. Routledge.
Bernon, M. and et. al., 2018. Aligning retail reverse logistics practice with circular economy
values: an exploratory framework. Production Planning & Control, 29(6), pp.483-497.
Business Research, 83, pp.130-137.
Cleophas, C. and et. al., 2019. Collaborative urban transportation: Recent advances in theory and
practice. European Journal of Operational Research, 273(3), pp.801-816.
Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Heller, J. and et. al., 2019. Let me imagine that for you: Transforming the retail frontline through
augmenting customer mental imagery ability. Journal of Retailing, 95(2), pp.94-114.
involvement and service performance: Evidence from frontline retail employees. Journal of
Lee, Z.W. and et. al., 2019. Customer engagement through omnichannel retailing: The effects of
channel integration quality. Industrial Marketing Management, 77, pp.90-101.
Netten, A. and Beecham, J. eds., 2018. Costing community care: theory and practice. Routledge.
Rao, S.S., 2019. Engineering optimization: theory and practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Riquelme, I.P. and et. al., 2019. The dark side of good reputation and loyalty in online retailing:
When trust leads to retaliation through price unfairness. Journal of Interactive Marketing,
47, pp.35-52.
Shetty, M.S. and Jain, A.K., 2019. Concrete Technology (Theory and Practice), 8e. S. Chand
Publishing.
Sit, J.K., Hoang, A. and Inversini, A., 2018. Showrooming and retail opportunities: A qualitative
investigation via a consumer-experience lens. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, 40, pp.163-174.
Suhartanto, D. and et. al., 2018. The link between tourism
Zhang, M. and et. al., 2018. The impact of channel integration on consumer responses in omni-
channel retailing: The mediating effect of consumer empowerment. Electronic commerce
research and applications, 28, pp.181-193.
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