MANAGING MARKETING IN BUSINESS AMC525 ELIZABETH BROUGHTON
TABLE OF CONTENTS Company Background ...................................................................................................... 3 Market Audit ................................................................................................................... 3 PESTEL Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 4 SWOT Analysis.......................................................................................................................... 6 Current Market Trends ............................................................................................................. 7 Fast Fashion .....................................................................................................................................................7 Sustainable Fashion .........................................................................................................................................7
Target Market ................................................................................................................. 8 Pen Portrait: ............................................................................................................................. 8 Behavioural Analysis................................................................................................................. 8 Perceptions .............................................................................................................................. 9
Competition..................................................................................................................... 9 Porters 5 Forces ...................................................................................................................... 10 Analysis of Competitor- H&M ................................................................................................. 11 SWOT Analysis: ............................................................................................................................................. 11 H&M’s Strategies: ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Marketing Objectives......................................................................................................12 Marketing Strategies ......................................................................................................12 Marketing Programmes ..................................................................................................14 Evaluation ......................................................................................................................16 Budget ................................................................................................................................... 16 Measurement......................................................................................................................... 17 Gantt Chart ............................................................................................................................ 17
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................18 References......................................................................................................................19
COMPANY BACKGROUND Topshop, owned by Arcadia, is a women’s fashion brand situated mainly on the high street but also has a growing online presence. ‘Topshop is a global fashion brand and beauty destination that connects women with the new and the next in style and culture’ (Arcadia, TOPSHOP, 2019), their mission statement shows their focus of keeping up to date with trends as well as bringing to the customer what they might expect to see trending in the future. Topshop is also associated with Fashion Footprint, which ensures the social and environmental impact of all Arcadia businesses, for example reducing the environmental impact of all their products through ethical trading and their supply chain, ensuring environmental management throughout the business from the distribution network to the head offices and finally engaging employees with the community and customers as well as charity partnerships (Arcadia, Fashion Footprint, 2019). Topshop’s vision involves progressing and growing internationally, as well as developing many of their already established collaborations & campaigns such as Future VOICES with The Business of Fashion, which is looking to encourage the next generation of talent through connecting with them and then communicating with fashion’s future leaders (Arcadia, TOPSHOP, 2019). Topshop is also keen to associate itself with progressive campaigns such as the first virtual runway which they made with Oculus Rift. The business’s corporate objectives stand mainly within Arcadia as they release little information about the individual brand’s objectives. However, due to the rapidly evolving way we shop, where 66% of people have purchased fashion online in the past year(Mintel, Fashion Online-UK-June 2017), and new competitors in the market that are solely internet based, such as ASOS, PLT (Pretty Little Thing), Boohoo etc, Topshop will likely be aiming to keep up with these ‘fast shopping’ brands in order to maintain their mainly young and middle aged female audience.
MARKET AUDIT Topshop, being in the fashion retail industry, operate in a massive market; from other high street chains, to supermarket clothing lines to the ever-growing online retail companies. This means that the factors affecting the business are also constantly changing and come from multiple different directions. Topshop operates globally, it has 620 stores across over 40 countries, however this will be focusing, mainly, on the UK branch of the business.
PESTEL ANALYSIS Factors
Explanation
Political
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Brexit The General Election
Brexit and the upcoming General Election, businesses that operate globally have been put in a position where continuing to operate in the UK may be more expensive than moving abroad. It is likely the cost of trading with other countries in the EU if/when we are not in the EU will come at a much greater cost because of taxation, higher exchange rates from the pound and changes in trading laws. ‘the EU's deal with Canada took more than five years for negotiators to complete and another three before it came into force, on a provisional basis.’ (Walker, 2019) therefore it will take a long time for UK businesses to get at a good trade deal.
Economic
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Consumers purchasing fewer ‘wants’ and focusing on ‘needs’ Fashion brands having to lower prices/ put on more promotions Many high street retailers closing
economic uncertainty. Consumers are likely trying to save in preparation of an uncertain outcome this means they will be spending less on luxuries such as fashion items. For the fashion retail market this has meant that they are being forced to push prices down and put on new promotions to catch up with their online competitors and to keep affluent amongst the decline in high street shoppers, where other high street businesses have been falling.
Online retailers offering free shipping and return and refund policies Supermarkets selling clothing, convenience, everything in one place Ever-changing trends, businesses need fast turnover of products
growth of supermarket fashion lines, everything is about convenience and supermarkets have made themselves a place where consumers can pick up everything they need in one store. ASDA had a 3.5% share of the UK apparel market in 2018 (Sabanoglu, share of apparel market, 2019) and Tesco had 2.9%. Compared to Arcadia’s 3.8% share you can begin to understand their impact.
Consumer ability to compare and contrast prices across platforms Next day delivery Ways of getting customers details e.g. email receipts, which gives businesses ways to contact customers
technology has given the consumer more power than ever, consumers can price match across platforms and can leave and check online reviews meaning retailers are under a lot of pressure to get everything right the first time, they need the lowest prices and the best quality of that product or they lose out. Next day delivery has also given consumers more power and choice and puts more pressure on the brands.
Cutting down on wastage (plastic packaging) Sourcing Fast fashion leading to environmental backlash
information on climate change is growing, businesses now have to be mindful of wastage and how much they are recycling as well as where they are sourcing materials from and whether or not they are recyclable. Fast fashion has a big impact on the environment it causes tonnes of wastage of clothing materials as people wear items once and then discard them.
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Social
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Technological
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Environmental
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Legal
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Consumer Protection law Labour/employment Data protection, GDPR
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) regulates data protection and privacy for all EU citizens. It means that consumers have more control over their own data, and just means businesses need to regulate how they process customer information. Consumer protection laws stop businesses from lying about their business and their products for example where materials are sourced, animal testing, vegan/non vegan products, plastic usage, waste etc. Finally, labour and employment laws stop brands from mistreating and underpaying staff.
SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Weaknesses • Topshop & Topman accounted for 60% of • Arcadia had sales down 2.5% in the 2016 Arcadia’s profits in 2016. (Sender, 2017) financial year (Sender, 2017) • Fashion Footprint: ‘to produce • Fashion Footprint works Arcadia wide and fashionable products in an ethical way therefore this may be limited as Environmental and demonstrate a responsible attitude developments are ever changing so are hard to towards people and the environment’ keep up with especially in a large sub(Topshop, Responsibilities, 2019) organisation th • Topshop is the 8 most famous fashion & • Very broad popularity. Millennials 45%, clothing brand in the UK, 98% have heard Generation X 37%, Baby Boomers 32%. of the brand. (YouGov, 2018-19) (YouGov, 2018-19) could mean their target audience is too broad they may be too thinly • Topshop sells a wide range of items such spread. as make up, shoes, different clothing ranges, underwear, bags and jewellery. • Arcadia’s bad publicity from Philip Green. An Independent article’s headline reads: ’You • Access a wide target audience which should have boycotted Topshop before- now allows them to bring out a variety of we’ve heard the allegations against Philip different styles and ranges. Green, there’s no excuse not to’ (Corcoran, 2018) Opportunities Threats • Collaboration with ASOS, meaning ASOS • Even the big well known solely online retailers sell Topshop’s clothes as ‘branded’ items. are struggling in amongst smaller new and nd ASOS sell (as of 2 December 2019) 390 more advanced online businesses: ASOS has Topshop branded items. had a 8.24% decline in brand search by volume between May 2015 and April 2019 compared • Topshop currently only sell clothing in to PrettyLittleThing’s 17.2% rise and Boohoo’s sizes up to 18/ XL. There is a large online 1.91% rise. (Sabanoglu, search by volume, discussion about the inclusivity of brands, 2019) accessing the plus size audience could be a gateway into a newer market, ‘1 in 5 • Topshop do not have a plus-size range. Due to buy plus-size clothing’ (Dover, recent growth in the online discussion of body Womenswear sizing, 2019) positivity, brands are beginning to bring out ranges that fit all consumers not just the • Affiliate links with other businesses that consumers that fit their desired ‘look’. they sell in larger stores and online e.g. Topshop only provide up to a size 18 or an XL. Skinny Dip, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Quay Sunglasses and Champion. • Arcadia are competing against their own brands. Topshop and Miss Selfridge sell similar • CONSIDERED- Topshop’s recyclable/ items and compete for the same audience. sustainable clothing line. ‘Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing • Store cards simply encourage users to get into globally is recycled into new clothing’ (Butler, debt. Store cards offer limited usage and are 2018) basically a credit card for the store but end up leaving customers in debt to the business with high interest rates to pay off.
CURRENT MARKET TRENDS FAST FASHION ‘Fast fashion is the term used to describe clothing designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends.’...’Fast fashion allows mainstream consumers to purchase trendy clothing at an affordable price.’ (Kenton, 2019). Fast fashion has ignored the old trend of seasonal fashion and has replaced it with a sometimes-endless chain of new products being released by both high street and online fashion retailers. As a new look is revealed, either by a celebrity or a high end cat walk, brands fight to make the product as cheaply as they can before the competition, to make it affordable for the consumer. Fast fashion puts immense pressure on the fashion industry, where designs and manufacturing have to be done in days rather than months. Technology has been the leading force behind this, making it possible to speed up production processes through Supply Chain Management (SCM). SCM ‘involves the active streamlining of a business’s supply-side activities to maximise customer value and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace’ (Hayes, 2019). Fast fashion can be beneficial to business’s as it encourages consumers be more loyal and to shop more regularly so they can keep up with these trends meaning brands make large profits after the expenditure on fast production. SUSTAINABLE FASHION Due to growing concerns about global warming and climate change, consumers are becoming more demanding of retailers and their suppliers. With Consumer Protection Laws meaning businesses can no longer hide anything from consumers it is becoming increasingly important that brands ensure they do all they can to become more sustainable or they risk losing customers. ‘48% of UK clothing consumers prefer to shop with retailers that are trying to reduce their impact on the environment, with this rising to 60% of Gen Z consumers.’ (Dover, 2019). Although 48% is a large number of consumers affected by the decisions businesses make towards the environment, and how they choose to produce, ‘the vast majority of consumers often prioritise other factors such as price’ (Dover, 2019). This shows the other side where there are still many consumers who are not fussed with the impact a business has on the environment when purchasing their goods. But if businesses take no account of the growing environmental movement, they may fall short as the debate on climate change is growing. More people are becoming more aware and businesses will be left behind and highlighted by campaigners. Sustainability shows the importance of CSR in businesses, in order to keep consumers happy, it is important to act on these issues. Many brands are reducing plastic packaging, limiting their carbon footprint, sourcing responsibly, using recycled materials and ensuring they recycle their goods and wastage in order to keep on top of the consumer pressure to remain environmentally friendly. Examples of brands already take steps towards more sustainable products are: H&M’s ‘Conscious’ line and PLT’s ‘Recycled’ line although there are arguments that these lines don’t have a big enough impact.
TARGET MARKET P EN P ORTRAIT : Jodie is a 18-year-old college student living in her family home in London, she has a part time job at a local café. She spends her free time going to live music events and going shopping with her friends. She spends most of the money she earns on buying new outfits for parties, festivals and gigs. Jodie likes to keep up with the latest fashion trends and tends to buy a new outfit every other week. She has just recently become an environmental activist and won’t buy products from any brands that aren’t transparent about their footprint. She is passionate about encouraging others to recycle unwanted clothes rather than binning them and has her own Depop page.
(Pinterest, 2019)
BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS Demographic: According to TGI Snapshot 2017 the largest percentage (38%) of Topshop’s consumers are between 15-24, then 25% are between 25-34, with 35-44 year olds still being 16% showing Topshop’s age range is quite vast (TGI,2017). Topshop is largely a female market as their partner brand Topman provides for male consumers. Using the information above it could be assumed that the average income of Topshop’s main audience is rather low as most of the 15-24 age category are students meaning they likely aren’t in full-time work. Acorn classes Type 34 (student flats and halls of residence) as the type of consumer that shops at Topshop. Behavioural: According to Acorn (Acorn, 2014) many of these consumers are smartphone users and access a wider range of content a lot more frequently than most. They are likely to follow celebrity pages and interact with brands on social media. They regularly purchase goods on the internet from groceries to clothes. Purchases are likely influenced by reading reviews and comments. Generally, more accepting of marketing generally but less likely to approve of marketing sent to their phone. Interests may include sports, films, going out and attending gym classes. Psychographic: When it comes to shopping, their customers are beginning to shop more online and are more concerned about ethics when purchasing; where products they buy are coming from and how they are made. Growing concerns about the environment, wastage, recycling and sustainability.
Geographic: Topshop’s stores are generally, in the UK, situated in towns and cities. Meaning it is likely that most their consumers live in and around these areas. However, with the growing use of the internet and clothing deliveries Topshop can reach customers all over the nation.
PERCEPTIONS Customer perceptions are important to all brands, however with the rise of cheaper online alternatives, amongst existing competition such as H&M and Zara, Topshop need to ensure they maintain good perceptions from consumers. Making sure they maintain that their quality is the best for the price its being sold at, as well as keeping on top of trends to keep consumer opinions positive.
COMPETITION Topshop’s direct high street competitors are H&M and Zara however, other key competitors for Topshop are those stopping consumers from shopping on the high street at all. According to a Mintel study (Mintel, how fashion items were purchased, 2019) 71% of respondents purchased online versus 70% of respondents who purchased in-store. Topshop does have an online presence and does sell items through its own website. It has also recently begun selling some of its products through ASOS, as part of ASOS’ big summer release in September of this year. Which provides great opportunity but also allows their clothes to more easily be compared to competition that may be sold on the same site e.g. Missguided, New Look and River Island which are all also sold on ASOS.
As shown in the graph above (Sabanoglu, leading retailers share, 2019) high street retailers are still a massive part of Topshop’s competition, where M&S have the largest share of the apparel market in the UK, although this has gone down since 2008 presumably because of online shopping. On the other hand, Primark, which has only recently launched a website
where you can actually look at its products, still does not offer delivery or shipping and has grown considerably since 2008. This shows that it may be likely that consumers are not only looking for the convenience in online shopping but may be enticed by online shopping as prices are generally able to be lower (as solely online businesses don’t have to pay the cost of the purchase, maintenance and staff for physical stores) and many of these online stores aim for lower prices than higher quality as their USPs.
PORTERS 5 FORCES Threat of New Entrants
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Entry to the fashion retail market is difficult generally, with the growth of online retail it may make entry easier as once you’d gained a social media presence it may be easier to lift off. However, there are already so many different brands so it would be hard to gather attention or even create a USP in such a densely populated market. High street entrants would face more challenges with online growing. Bargaining Power of Buyers
Suppliers likely have limited power in the fashion industry when it comes to these fast fashion brands, this is because they are all making similar and quite simple, low quality goods and can therefore easily move between suppliers. However, it is very likely that this would come at a great cost to brands as production needs to be fast paced in order to keep up with demand, 24/7 orders and new designs every week.
Threat of Substitutes
Consumers have a huge amount of buying power over the brands as there are so many alternatives selling similar if not the exact same items. This means consumers have a lot more power to dictate the price especially now that they can compare prices on the internet. High street stores face a lot of this buying power pressure as online retailers are gaining market share. Competitive Rivalry
Massive threat of substitutes, the fashion retail market is highly competitive and with fast fashion rising, and many new solely online brands gaining a place in the market, there are more and more substitutes for consumers to shop from. There is also a threat from online shops such as Depop and Ebay where consumers can buy second-hand goods cheaply instead of buying new less sustainable goods.
There are quite a few direct competitors to Topshop such as H&M, Zara, New look, River Island, Miss Selfridge. These brands are all established, and all have the same exact target audience as Topshop, as well as providing the same services and similar goods, gaining an advantage over competitors that are so similar is difficult. This leads to a lot of competition when it comes to pricing as well as the clothing lines they bring out, and who they collaborate with.
ANALYSIS OF COMPETITOR - H&M H&M is part of a group of brands under ‘H&M Group’, which also own COS, Weekday, Monki, H&M HOME, & Other Stories, ARKET and Afound, similar to Arcadia. H&M was founded in Sweden and has 4,414 stores in 73 different markets. H&M is a direct competitor to Topshop, both businesses have a similar audience and offer similar products (from clothing to accessories). And both operate mainly on the high street but have also been building their online presence. Both fashion brands have similar prices and also compete to be the first to bring out the newest trends in the race to be the first in the ‘fast fashion’ industry. SWOT ANALYSIS: Strengths •
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Multiple lines with various styles to cater to vast audiences. E.g. divided, trend, party, sportswear and basics Women’s, Men’s, Unisex, Kids and home ranges Membership scheme Wide range of sizes, inclusive.
Opportunities • •
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Sustainability at H&M- they have taken their first steps into sustainable fashion. H&M Music- where they collaborate with emerging artists, promote their music and create a line of clothing with them. Multiple partner businesses provide more opportunities and means good perceptions of other stores make them look good too.
Weaknesses • •
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Don’t have a specific target audience, may have too broad a reach. Tends to be slightly higher pricing than other online retailers but this may be due to higher quality. Slightly older-age styles. The majority of their lines are aimed toward an older age range, compared to competition
Threats • •
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Saturated market, lots of competition Threat of new entrants as market is slightly more accessible due to growth of solely online fashion brands Pressure of CSR as consumers are becoming more interested in ethics. More pressure to be one step ahead in environmental decisions
H&M’S STRATEGIES : ‘H&M is a fashion brand, offering the latest styles and inspiration for all- always. Customers will find everything from fashion pieces and unique designer collaborations to affordable wardrobe essentials, complete-the-look accessories and motivational workout wear. All seasons, all styles, all welcome’ (H&M Group, 2019). The brand also has big ambitions when it comes to sustainability, they aim to be: ‘100% circular and climate positive, 100% leading the change and 100% fair and equal’ (H&M Group, 2019).
MARKETING OBJECTIVES Topshop should aim for the following objectives in order to remain competitive in the developing fashion retail industry, and in order for them to improve their position in the market: •
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Target a more specific audience. Topshop is currently too thinly spread across a wide range of consumers and this may prove difficult to retain throughout the changing way people shop. Focus in on one target audience as age range currently varies all the way from tweens to baby boomers. Topshop could focus on an older audience in order to get away from the vast competition that’s growing in the young audience. With cheap, simple pieces to expensive, intricate and high-quality items, Topshop needs to be more decisive and move away from the market that has growing competition. The objective is to have targeted a more limited age range, 25-34, as soon as possible, in order to promote new lines/ update brand image. And cut range of lines in half. Improve reputation and invest in more promotion and advertisement of ethical work following Philip Green’s bad publicity and scandals. Take attention away from the group’s owner and focus in on all the good things Topshop do. The increase in promotional material should begin promptly. Currently public opinion reads that 38% have a positive opinion of Topshop and 18% negative (YouGov, 2019). The target should be to increase opinions by 12% to reach a minimum of 50%. In comparison, H&M have a 53% positive opinion and 8% negative (YouGov, H&M, 2019). Encourage more repeat purchases, in order to bring in more profit and gain more market share, where the industry is so densely populated. Increase market share from Arcadia’s 3.8% (Sabanoglu, leading retailers share, 2019). This is may be more of a long-term objective as increasing market share takes time in such a huge, growing market. Make Topshop more inclusive. Bring the brand up to the same line as its competitors and bring out ranges to fit all shapes and sizes of consumers. The longer they wait to catch up with competitors the worse it looks for the brand. Inclusivity and diversity would bring further positive press and promotion and will also bring in a group of consumers that will currently have bad opinions of Topshop. This objective may take some time to roll out throughout all of Topshop’s goods.
MARKETING STRATEGIES In order for Topshop to meet the above objectives they should follow the below strategies: (applying Ansoff’s matrix (Ansoff, 1957)) Strategy 1: Topshop should use Market Penetration and, choose to focus more on a slightly older audience and focus on maintaining and improving their high street stores. Doing this would
also mean they could narrow down the different designs they are producing as currently they provide for a wealth of styles. They would need to focus more on their high-end higher quality pieces to attract older consumers. By repositioning to a slightly older market means Topshop can avoid the current influx of competition in the younger and online markets. As Topshop are already such a well known brand repositioning may not come with too many risks as long as they ensure the promotional campaign pulls the right audience. Strategy 2: Increase promotion through Market Development; gain awareness and bring out more styles to develop and gain publicity for CONSIDERED- their ‘new range that’s kinder to the planet’... ‘products contain at least 50% organic cotton, 50% sustainable viscose (lyocell) or 20% recycled material (polyester or cotton)’ (Topshop, TS x Considered, 2019). On the home page of the Topshop website there is no information about their sustainable line, you had to be looking for it to find it. The line could boost consumer opinions on Topshop and encourage those concerned about the environment to look into their campaigns. Currently there are only 61 items in the range (as of 4th December 2019), developing this further could bring more customers in. Strategy 3: Product Development- Topshop currently offer a store card and online membership as well as student discount however they may attract a number of shoppers by creating a loyalty card, especially as there is so much competition and comparison of brands online. ‘84% of adults are a member of a customer loyalty/reward scheme, while 60% of those who are members of one say that they influence where they shop’ (Mintel, customer loyalty, 2018) Creating a loyalty card would encourage a wealth of repeat purchases, by offering for example £10 off when every time you gain 100points on your card (where 100 points could equal £100) customers would be encouraged to come back to Topshop instead of buying similar items from competition. This target can be achieved in a relatively short period of time and can be sent first to those subscribed to email promotions. Strategy 4: Product development- Topshop should bring out a plus size range. ‘While Topshop used to regularly stop at a size 14, over the years a handful of size 16’s and 18’s have infiltrated shelves, but that is where the inclusivity ends. The retailer has also been accused of perpetuating an unhealthy body image in the past by using overly slimmed down mannequins in store.’ (Slink, 2019). Diversity and inclusiveness in fashion is growing demand, and brands that aren’t following are being heavily criticised. Being a brand that excludes doesn’t give Topshop a good reputation and also removes them from a whole other audience. Making their sizes more inclusive would bring Topshop up to the same level as other brands its competing with which currently access a wider range of people. May have to be a gradual release as new lines are brought out.
MARKETING PROGRAMMES The strategies recommended can be related to the 7P’s of the Marketing Mix (Zeithaml et al, 2012). Product: When it comes to product the elements that are related from the strategies above are the additional plus-size sizes that will be added to existing ranges, as well as the recommended growth in the sustainable line ‘CONSIDERED’ which will likely involve a far more complex product development than increasing the size range will need. This is because the sustainable items have to meet more requirements before being launched such as the guidelines Topshop have set themselves for sustainable goods. The process will also be more complex as the materials themselves will be harder/more expensive to bring in if they are along the sustainable guidelines stated. Price: Pricing is key to Topshop in its industry as customers are more and more likely to be comparing prices from different clothing websites online, therefore Topshop needs to ensure its pricing is competitive and either reflects realistically the quality of their goods or prices need to be lower than that of competition. There are too many alternatives within the fashion retail market for Topshop to charge higher prices whilst having the same product offering, as consumers will simply go to competition. On the other hand, sustainable ranges can be sold using price skimming, as there is growing demand for trendy sustainable goods, as awareness grows and few brands have full ranges out. Place: Topshop is located on the high street, which Is in decline, and more recently online. Topshop’s online presence is growing along with the growth in popularity of the internet. They are currently still running high street stores; however, this may change, dependent on which way they go following the recommended strategies. They may focus more solely on their online platform or they may direct their focus to boosting high street sales. Promotion: In order to promote the strategies recommended above Topshop will need to engage in a series of different promotional campaigns. Focusing on social media promotions will be the best communication point to consumers. The loyalty cards would best be communicated through social media as well as through direct mail to customers already subscribed to Topshop’s emails. Further promotion of ‘CONSIDERED’ would be most effective on social media as this communication would be directed straight to those consumers that are most concerned about the climate change and are therefore most likely to purchase sustainable goods.
People: Topshop’s people are a key part of the high street locations, with online reviews becoming fundamental to footfall in some stores. Customer service may be key in order for Topshop to facilitate keeping open their retail stores. Therefore, ensuring staff and everyone associated with the store will be fundamental to ensure a positive shopping experience. This may also have relevance to their website where customer complaints will need to be replied to, and any issues customers have with the website resolved in order to limit any bad reviews put onto social media or onto the website. Process: The website will be a big focus in Topshop’s process. Maintenance and the system through which customer click through in order to process orders will be incredibly important in ensuring the customer journey online. The process of getting the products to the customer once they’ve ordered will also be heavily important, ensuring the promised items get to the consumer in the promised amount of time can affect the likelihood of repeat purchases. Returns processes can also boost sales if consumers know they can order one or more items or sizes and ensure the right item gets to them the first time. they can then return whatever is left, this is a massive selling point to the growing consumer need for convenience. Physical evidence: Topshop’s physical evidence includes product packaging, physical stores and customer interaction both online and in store. Product packaging is becoming widely spoken about online as single use plastic is beginning to be boycotted, companies have begun having to invest in alternative way of packaging products as well as the materials they make their carrier bags with. Physical stores are important, from layout to location all elements can affect the consumer experience, layout of the store can be made to psychologically affect the way consumers shop, for example in supermarkets they put essentials at the back of the store so you have to walk past other items and likely pick them up before reaching what you went in for. Similarly, smells are used to entice customers in especially in shopping centres, to catch the attention of customers walking past. Customer interaction is incredibly important in the fashion retail industry as customers going away with a good experience can affect customer loyalty as well as encouraging or discouraging new customers from shopping with the brand.
EVALUATION In order to reduce risk and overspending whilst launching new strategies it is important to set a budget. Budgeting ensures that the business has an estimate of how much they have that they can spend but also puts down a line at where they should stop spending, this also means they can forecast profits or losses. It is also important to make sure objectives are measurable to be able to calculate non-monetary success of the campaign.
BUDGET The strategies mentioned throughout will all come at a monetary cost to Topshop, stated below are the estimated costs that will occur throughout the running of each of the campaigns. Strategy 1: The narrowing down of Topshop’s audience will initially hold mainly promotional costs such as website redesign, rebranding and promotional campaigns (online, social media, tv, billboards etc). However, once Topshop have created the new face of their brand, they will firstly have to remove the lines directed at younger audiences which will likely make them more money than they loose through revenue from sales to get rid of the old stock. Secondly, they will need to start bringing out directed lines to their new target audience which will involve design and production costs to Topshop. Strategy 2: The growth of Topshop’s sustainable line ‘CONSIDERED’ will hold costs in the promotional campaign and the Research & Development for new lines as well as production which may come at a greater cost as creating products with completely different material bases may require a new manufacturer. R&D for this line will be greater than that of other ranges as they must ensure products are as sustainable as they promise. The ethical side of this line must be up to scratch as getting it wrong could bring a lot of bad publicity. Strategy 3: Development of the loyalty card should be relatively minimal other than the creation and production of the physical cards, all other costs are directed at advertising, meaning this strategy holds the least costs of them all. Strategy 4: The plus size range will hold minimal costs as it will consist of just producing the same items in larger sizes. Initially there may be production costs to ensuring sizing is accurate for the styles they sell, as if the sizes aren’t true to standard UK sizing, they may receive backlash. There also will be costs involved in having the same suppliers producing more and of course the promotion of this strategy.
MEASUREMENT In order to measure the success of each individual strategy, more than monetary terms should be taken into account. Each strategy should be measured in relation to the objectives. Strategy 1 can be measured through looking into Topshop’s target audience in a year’s time, this can be done through in-store surveys, taking details as consumers subscribe to email promotions and online when consumers are shopping, include a survey before checkout. The objective is simply to narrow Topshop’s target audience, aiming for 25-34-year-olds. Strategy 2 should be measured through online polls. The objective for this strategy was to improve public opinion of Topshop from recent events where positive opinions of Topshop were just 38%, Topshop should aim to increase this by a minimum of 12%. Strategy 3 the success of the loyalty card scheme can be measured through the number of customers that subscribe/ sign up for a loyalty card by the end of the first launch year or within 6 months of release. Strategy 4 The success of the plus size range can be measured through the number of plus size items sold within a time period such as the first year of launch. This strategy may also be measured through public opinion polls as the objective was to increase inclusivity which through social media should also grow positive public opinion.
GANTT CHART
This Gantt Chart has been created in order to show the timeline of each individual strategy and how they should play out through the first year of launch. The chart includes development, release and promotion of the strategies throughout 2020, showing when each part of the strategy should start and finish throughout the months.
CONCLUSION In conclusion, Topshop is facing some issues in its current climate such as overly populated market, growth in consumers’ ethical opinions, new ways of shopping, competition coming from unexpected directions (e.g. supermarkets) and uncertainty in the political and economic environment. Topshop is also facing some self-inflicted problems such as its lack of inclusivity, its bad reputation through its parent company, competing against its own brands (e.g. Miss Selfridge), low public opinion ratings and its limited promotion of the good things they have done. In order to solve some of these issues, get back on track and gain a larger share in the market Topshop should follow the strategies mentioned above and carry them out as stated.
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