Face to face interview

Today, i had done the interview at Dorothy Perkins, Pavilion, Bukit Bintang.

The following are the transcripts of interview. This is basically to find it out the view of the interviewee on Dorothy Perkins in fashion market. 

Date: 3 August 2015
Time: 16:47 pm
Location:  Dorothy Perkins, Pavilion, Bukit Bintang

Interviewee: Ms. Madhuri A/P Subramaniam
Age: 29
Work status: Supervisor

Q: I’m fashion student from TAR UC. May i do a short interview with you under my Fashion Buying and Merchandised study?
A: Yes.

Q: What is your income level?
A: It’s about below RM3000

Q: How long you been working here?
A: It just 7 months.

Q: Do you think the price in DP is expensive or just right?
A: Just okay (Smile)

Q: Do you think which categories of clothing should bring into DP?
A: Anything. I’m not a fashion merchandised, so anything could be bring into and sale under this brand, as long as it looks pretty.

Q: Which ranges in DP is the most sales?

A: Formal tops.

Q: What is the maximum pieces been sale for a customer?
A: It could be 6-8 pieces. Just like that customer had just bought 7 items in total.

Q: For your personal opinion, who are the DP’s competitors?
A: Mango and Forever 21

Q: Okay. Thank you for your times. Have a nice day.
A: You’re welcome. Thank you.

Plan range and feedback from the S&Q

I had plan to get back my responses from my digital and physical survey questionnaires which been pass through this week.

Furthermore, i had find out some clothing for my range planning through out the link of http://www.farfetch.com/my/shopping/women/dresses-1/items.aspx?ffref=hd_mnav#ps=7&pv=60&oby=5

I also had change the colour of the outfit by Photoshop CS6 according to the colour trend and target audience need.

Digital survey questionnaires

This week, i had set some questions for the survey and questionnaires about Dorothy Perkins.
The questions had been seen and approved by my tutor.

1.  What is your age belongs to??

o <18  

o 18-24  

o 25-35  

o 36-45 

o >45

2.  What is your work status?

o Student  

o Working  

o Self-employed 

o Retired  

o Others: 

3. Please rate your income level?

o <RM1000  

o RM1001-RM2000  

o RM2001-RM3000

o >RM3000

4. What is your 3 main favourite colours?

5. How often do you shop for apparel for yourself?

o Once a month or less 

o 2-3 times a month 

o More than 3 times a month

6.How much would you spend on clothing?

o RM10-50  

o RM51-150 

o RM151-300 

o >RM300

7. Where you shop for apparel normally?

o Department store  

o Online shopping

o Boutique  

o Budget/Second-hand  

o Others:

8. What kind of clothing did you spend most?

o T-shirt/Tops

o Dresses

o Jackets/Coats

o Pants/Shorts/Skirts

o Playsuit/Jumpsuit

9.What are your favourite styles? (You may choose more than one)

o Sportsgirl  

o Street style  

o Casual

o Vintage 

o Others:

10. Do you follow the latest trend?

o Yes o No

11. Which following features is the most important of a shopping experience to you?(5 is the most important, 1 is the most unimportant)

o Price:  

o On-trend: 

o Brand:  

o Convenience location: 

o Product quality:

12. Please rate how relevant factors to you when choosing clothing brand.(5 is most relevant, 1 is most irrelevant)

o Advertising:

o Styles:

o Online shopping options:

o Prices:

13.Please rate these shops in order of personal preference. (5 is most like, 1 is most dislike)

o Dorothy Perkins:

o Topshop:

o Miss Selfridge:

o Wallis:

14. Do you know on Dorothy Perkins?

o Yes  o No

15. How do you know on this brand?

o Print media(Magazines/Newspaper) 

o Fashion Labels 

o Online media(Facebook, online forum etc)  

o Word-of-mouth 

o Others:

16. Do you ever shopped at/visited Dorothy Perkins?

o Yes o No

17. How often do you visit Dorothy Perkins?

o More than once a week  

o Once a week 

o Once a fortnight 

o Once a month  

o Rarely 

o Never

18. How often do you purchase from Dorothy Perkins?

o More than once a week  

o Once a week 

o Once a fortnight 

o Once a month  

o Rarely 

o Never

19. Please rate how attractive the following features of Dorothy Perkins are to you. (5 is most attractive, 1 is most unattractive)

o Latest fashion trend:  

o Quality:  

o Customer service:

20: Which ranges in Dorothy Perkins do you usually purchase from?

o Basics  

o Denim

o On trend pieces  

o Outerwear

o Workwear 

o Nightwear 

o Others:

The digital survey link is https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14kIFDCsOuwMjCGP4G4ojnDvTOk8dGdTw6S1lEl0UL1k/viewform
Please help me fill up the form if you are possible to. Thank you for your participant. 

Dorothy Perkins SWOT Analysis

As far as i research. I had done the SWOT analysis for Dorothy Perkins.

Strength

• Numerous options in collections, sizing and styles.

• New collection every week.

• Stylish and new fixtures.

• Good space and amazing location.

• Good reputation among the customers.

• Excellent customer service.

Weakness

• The price for some products considered too high compared to different similar brands in the mall.

• Weakness in window and store display.

• Low stock on certain department.

• Small market presence.

Opportunities

• Targeting young customers- very fashion-cautions group that will spend on fashion more.

• Association with celebrities- creating fame and attachment to brand.

• Increase diversity (targeting customers from other areas)

• Strong presence on social media and website.

• Charity work provides opportunities to target a grater range of potential customers, those who wouldn't normally shop at Dorothy Perkins.

Threats

• Competition from Miss Selfridge, Topshop, Mango etc who cooperates with top designers and fashion icons too.

• Competition from new entered foreign brands that offer very fast fashion styles at even more affordable prices.

• So many brands have same level and it is hard to compete with all of them.

• Shifts in tastes of customers.

• Change in market demand.

• Political and economic climate (unsustainable).

Market Positioning Map

This week, i would like to study about the market positioning for Arcadia group and Dorothy Perkins.
I would like to know the competitors for Dorothy Perkins.

MARKET POSITIONING MAP

Dorothy Perkins is high in prices but the styling is not that great enough compared to the others retail brands under Arcadia Group. The clothing of Dorothy Perkins is mostly aimed at young working women. (Moore, 2014)

Dorothy Perkins Timeline

1909

Dorothy Perkins begins life as Ladies Hosiery and Underwear Limited.

At the tail end of the Edwardian era, fashion is very segmented. Society ladies favour the glamorous 'Belle Epoque' look with it's S shape silhouette, corsets and voluptuous long skirts. The middle classes wear long skirts and high collared blouses with pins or ties, and the less well off wear shawls and simple, homemade clothes.

1919

Dorothy Perkins expands to 12 shops. The impressively priced five-shilling (25 pence) blouses and range of knitwear are introduced, laying the foundations of the Dorothy Perkins value for money proposition.

1920

The 'roaring twenties' or 'jazz age' begin. So too does one of fashion's most glorious decades. The Flapper girl is born - hair is short and sleek as are dresses. Now the bra has been invented it's worn mostly to flatten the chest, giving wearers the fashionable boyish shape.

1930

Hollywood arrives! As the movies take off so too does our enduring obsession with film stars and their wardrobes. Dresses become more streamlined, elegant and reach the floor as we try to emulate Hollywood icons such as Mae West and their hourglass figures.

1936

Edward VIII abdicates to marry Wallis Simpson and they go on to become one of the most stylish couples of the decade. Wallis is credited with the adage 'a woman can never be too rich or too thin’.

1939

The trading name 'Dorothy Perkins' is adopted, suggested by the wife of the director and inspired by the name of the classic rambling rose.

At the outbreak of the Second World War Dorothy Perkins is trading from 75 shops.

1940

Wartime fashion brings with it a more practical, masculine way of dressing as women take on men's jobs. Trousers, flat shoes, plain shirts and pinned back hair take over from the glamour of the last two decades. Due to rationing clothes are now mostly homemade.

1947

Fashion begins its recovery from world war fabric rationing with the advent of Christian Dior's decadent 'New Look' - tiny waists and big skirts that celebrate women's curves.

1950

The fifties bring with it a previously unknown invention - the 'teenager' is born. Jeans become hugely popular as do prints, polka dots and ponytails! Twirly skirts become the only thing to dance in to the new music, known as Rock 'n' Roll.

1960

Mary Quant introduces the miniskirt which becomes so loved that the British Society for the Preservation for Mini Skirts is formed. Op Art black and white patterns are big, as too is the flower power hippy look. The only real style choices for men are the designer suits of the mods or the leather look of the rockers.

1966

Dorothy Perkins opens its 250th shop, and there is now a Dorothy Perkins on most British high streets. Cash registers are also introduced in all our stores.

1969

BBC studio manager Susannah Simons changes television fashion history by removing her trousers in the studio when told, as a woman, she shouldn't be wearing them. Trousers become instantly acceptable!

Beginning a six year working relationship with Biba, Dorothy Perkins buys a controlling stake in the famous clothes company. Dorothy Perkins sells Biba make-up from it's own stores and funds the opening of 'Big Biba', an iconic store on Kensington High street complete with it's own roof gardens and pink flamingos!

1970

Lots went on in fashion during the 70's: hot pants, wedges, maxi dresses, kaftans, Afghan coats, bell bottoms and punk all came and went. And let's not forget John Travolta's white suit in Saturday Night Fever.

1977

Dorothy Perkins acquires its first store on the most famous shopping street of them all - Oxford Street, London. At 7,500 feet this store is now the largest Dorothy Perkins.

1979

Dorothy Perkins is bought by the Burton Group.

1980

The decade that taste forgot becomes the decade fashion refuses to get over as we continue returning to things like leg warmers, T shirt dresses, and power dressing. Big hair and New Romantics take off as does Diana mania as the princess becomes an international fashion icon. Glitz is everywhere...and the bigger things are, the better!

1987

The 'Secrets' lingerie and nightwear range is introduced in Dorothy Perkins and is an instant hit.

1988

The Dorothy Perkins Account Card is launched.

Thanks to boy band Bros, the Brosette look explodes - ripped jeans and puffa jackets with the band's logo on the back are everywhere.

1990

Fashion is significantly influenced by music - from grunge, to acid house, to 'Madchester', all the genres have their own distinctive looks. Combats temporarily take over from jeans and Minimalism, 'The Jennifer' (Aniston) haircut, Wonderbras, Chinese style dresses and shirts are all popular.

1993

The Dorothy Perkins 'Maternity' range is rolled out in selected city stores. The range offers expectant mothers fashionable, affordable and comfortable maternity clothing in sizes 8-20.

1994

We are one of the first companies to harness the power of celebrity by choosing Helena Christensen as the 'face' of Dorothy Perkins. Our strapline at the time is 'where you can afford to look good’.

1997

Yasmin Le Bon joins Helena Christensen as another 'face' of Dorothy Perkins.

1998

The Burton Group Plc becomes Arcadia Group Plc. Dorothy Perkins is now part of the same family as Burton, Evans, Hawkshead, Principles, Racing Green, Topshop and Topman.

The 'Petite' range is introduced into selected stores, offering women 5ft 3in and under a collection to fit and flatter them.

1999

An online shopping facility is launched at www.dorothyperkins.com where customers can shop Dorothy Perkins 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

2000

The noughties have been all about revivals. Vintage clothes are enjoying an resurgence, and trends as diverse as Boho, Military, Preppy and Tailoring have all been huge. Plus we've celebrated the return of the all-conquering jean!

2001

A 'Tall' range is launched in selected stores for women 5ft 8in and over, made up of specially designed pieces for the taller woman, as well as adapted trends from the core Dorothy Perkins range.

2002

Sir Philip Green, owner of Bhs, purchases the Arcadia Group Plc.

2003

The Dorothy Perkins 15,000 foot flagship store opens on London's Oxford Street above Bond Street tube station.

2007

Today Dorothy Perkins has over 600 UK stores, 52 international outlets in countries including Spain, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Turkey and Singapore, as well as our largest store dorothyperkins.com

Dorothy Perkins

This week i will study about the history of Dorothy Perkins.

Dorothy Perkins is a women’s fashion retailer based in the United Kingdom. Primarily aimed at 25–35 year old women, Dorothy Perkins sells both its own range of clothes and branded fashion goods.

1909:  It was founded under the name H. P. Newman. 
1919:  It changed its trading name to Dorothy Perkins.
1960s: It was controlled by the farmer Family who used to own Winster Hosiery.

The best known for its lingerie, tights, and sleepwear collections, its other clothes had a hard time competing with the more trendy Lewis Separates, now owned by River Island Clothing Company Ltd, and Peter Robinson.

One newspaper advertisement for management trainees asked: 

'Will curls come in? Will maxis make it?' 

However, the stores never really got to grips with sixties boutique culture. Author Margret Geraghty who worked there for a while in the late sixties remembers that all the sales staff had to wear nylon uniforms: 'They were cerise with a zip up the front. Forget dolly birds. They looked more like canteen assistants.' There were also blue nylon ones with zips down the back and turtle neck with bow, which were exceptionally hard to zip up, and the assistants used to have to zip each other up. The exception was the store manageress, who was permitted to wear her own clothes.

The Arcadia Group, then doing business as the Burton Group, purchased Dorothy Perkins in 1979.

Dorothy Perkins product lines included

*Dresses

*Jersey Tops 

*Knitwear 

*Coats 

*Tailoring 

*Denim 

*Shoes 

*Accessories

*Jewellery 

*Lingerie 

*Maternity 

*Petite

*Tall. 

Dorothy Perkins offer sizes 6−22 in most lines and have short, regular and long leg in most of their trousers. In shoes they offer UK sizes 3−8, and also 9 in some styles.

The company has an account card which offers incentive and reward schemes to customers, including vouchers for customers on their birthday and several 20% off VIP days per year. Credit is provided by Santander UK. The card can be used at any store within The Seven Network. The online website also allows customers to purchase clothing securely online. Furthermore, the company also offer student discount other than the account card.

Dorothy Perkins supports The Woodland Trust and have raised enough to plant nearly 100,000 trees since May 2007, through selling limited edition clothing ranges.

Its parent company Arcadia Group has a training programme, which offers financial incentives to employees to expand their responsibilities and knowledge of company and business affairs. The program has three levels: Standard Level, Advanced Level and Top Level.

You may read more on the https://www.arcadiagroup.co.uk or http://my.dorothyperkins.com/?geoip=home

The Differences Between Marketing and Branding

In a recent conversation with a very senior person at a financial institution my colleague was told, “I think private wealth managers will have a hard time seeing the value of branding—they see marketing as a cost center, not a driver of sales.”

Hold it.

How did we go from branding to marketing in one sentence like that?

What is marketing? What is branding? How do they differ?

There is a spectrum of opinions here, but in my view, marketing is actively promoting a product or service. It’s a push tactic. It’s pushing out a message to get sales results: “Buy our product because it’s better than theirs.” (Or because it’s cool, or because this celebrity likes it, or because you have this problem and this thing will fix it, etc.) This is oversimplification, but that’s it in a nutshell.

This is not branding.

Branding should both precede and underlie any marketing effort. Branding is not push, but pull. Branding is the expression of the essential truth or value of an organization, product, or service. It is communication of characteristics, values, and attributes that clarify what this particular brand is and is not.

A brand will help encourage someone to buy a product, and it directly supports whatever sales or marketing activities are in play, but the brand does not explicitly say “buy me.” Instead, it says “This is what I am. This is why I exist. If you agree, if you like me, you can buy me, support me, and recommend me to your friends.”

Branding is strategic. Marketing is tactical.

Marketing may contribute to a brand, but the brand is bigger than any particular marketing effort. The brand is what remains after the marketing has swept through the room. It’s what sticks in your mind associated with a product, service, or organization—whether or not, at that particular moment, you bought or did not buy.

The brand is ultimately what determines if you will become a loyal customer or not. The marketing may convince you to buy a particular Toyota, and maybe it’s the first foreign car you ever owned, but it is the brand that will determine if you will only buy Toyotas for the rest of your life.

The brand is built from many things. Very important among these things is the lived experience of the brand. Did that car deliver on its brand promise of reliability? Did the maker continue to uphold the quality standards that made them what they are? Did the sales guy or the service center mechanic know what they were talking about?

Marketing unearths and activates buyers. Branding makes loyal customers, advocates, even evangelists, out of those who buy.

This works the same way for all types of businesses and organizations. All organizations must sell (including nonprofits). How they sell may differ, and everyone in an organization is, with their every action, either constructing or deconstructing the brand. Every thought, every action, every policy, every ad, every marketing promotion has the effect of either inspiring or deterring brand loyalty in whomever is exposed to it. All of this affects sales.

Back to our financial expert. Is marketing a cost center? Poorly researched and executed marketing activities can certainly be a cost center, but well-researched and well-executed marketing is an investment that pays for itself in sales and brand reinforcement.

Is branding a cost center? On the surface, yes, but the return is loyalty. The return is sales people whose jobs are easier and more effective, employees who stay longer and work harder, customers who become ambassadors and advocates for the organization.

Branding is as vital to the success of a business or nonprofit as having financial coherence, having a vision for the future, or having quality employees.

It is the essential foundation for a successful operation. So yes, it’s a cost center, like good employees, financial experts, and business or organizational innovators are. They are cost centers, but what is REALLY costly is not to have them, or to have substandard ones.

You may read more on the following links: http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/marketing-strategy/branding/branding-and-marketing-what-s-the-difference- or http://microarts.com/launchabrand/whats-the-difference-between-marketing-and-branding/

Branding

This week i would like to know and study more on branding.

According to the Business dictionary, Branding means the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers's mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/branding.html)

However, in fashion, branding is fundamental to business success and is a tool used by buyers to strengthen product assortments that attract customers into the store, whether the store is brick and mortar or online. Buyers need to understand and harness the power of brands to compete in today's retail environment.

A good brand name should do all of the following:
i. Be easy to pronounce.
ii. Be easy to remember.
iii. Be easy to recognise.
iv. Be easy to translate into all languages in the market.
v. Be protected under trademark law.
vi. Attract attention.
vii. Suggest usage/ Suggest product benefits


Furthermore, there are two major types of brands:
Natural brand: These brands normally their products are associated with the designer of the product or the manufacturer of the product. They are easily identifiable by consumers and have a wide geographical distribution. These brands are recognised by cues, like symbols, colours and typography.

Private brand: private branding is when a retailer buys from a manufacturer in bulk and puts its own name on the product. The product may be designed in-house by a team of buyers and product developers, or it may be designed through a buying office or by a staff of designers who work for the manufacturer. Normally, the retailers that carry private brands have more than one brand in their stores to distinguish between categories of merchandise.

You may study more of types of brand in the following links
http://www.slideshare.net/khunchao/types-of-brand

If you are very interested on the types of branding, there are 18 different types of brand in this link, http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2015/01/18-different-types-of-brand.html#.Va_Pp3hUQUs

Simone Rocha

During this week, i had researched on some young fashion designers. One of them is Simone Rocha.
Simone Rocha was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1986. She is the daughter of Hong Kong-born, Dublin-based designer John Rocha. Odette, her mother is John's manager.While she follows her father's footsteps in becoming a designer. She had graduated with a BA in Fashion from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin continuing in 2010 to graduate from the acclaimed Fashion MA at Central Saint Martin's College, London. At the same year of September, she debuted at Fashion London Week.

Rocha has made name for herself with her unique aesthetic that is shaper and more minimal than her father's, and often incorporates clean colour palettes and experimental fabrics like wrapped cellophane and heavily embroidered lace.

Her collections have gained her some of the most prestigious stickiest in the world including Dover Street Market, Browns, Ikram in Chicago, Bergdorf Goodman and 10 Corso Como in Milan, Seoul, Shanghai and Colette in Paris, who featured her Autumn/ Winter 2011 collection in their front window during Couture week.

Furthermore, she had launched a 6 piece capsule collection with high street retailer TOPSHOP, and has gained support from big names like Rihanna and Rita Ora, who have been sporting her label.

Simone Rocha has quickly become the hot new design star to watch when she became the winner of the 2013 British Fashion Award for Emerging Talent in Womenswear. She also had received Best Future Fashion Wallpaper Award 2013, being a finalist in the inaugural LVMH prize, Young Designer of the Year at The Harper's Women of the Year Awards 2014 and 2014 British Fashion Award for New Establishment Designer.

In November 2014, Simone Rocha has launched her collaboration with US based denim label J Brand, being stocked in her key stockists and receiving press coverage worldwide. She has achieved editorial coverage from top publications including Vogue US, Interview, Purple, Dazed and Confused and CR Fashion Book.

In conclusion, she is a young talent fashion designer and you will fall in love with her design collections too.

Here is the link that i found about her informations. You may take a look if you are interested too. http://simonerocha.com or http://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/simone-rocha

About The Blog

Good Morning everyone.

Firstly, I'm a fashion student from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College. This blog actually is my working daily as a reflection to my assignment for fashion course (FASHION BUYING AND MERCHANDISING).

The assignment title is

"BRAND DEVELOPMENT IN RETAIL BUYING-CLIENT PORTFOLIO"

This assignment will helps me to understand more the principles and concept of buying and merchandising practises in fashion industry. I can explore more the importance of a fashion buyer in a company and how is the range of collections been developed in the fashion company. The assignment is allowing me to apply knowledge on the core concepts of fashion marketing namely on concept of retailing, advertising, budget management, sales promotion and customer care.

Furthermore, We are asked to find out minimum of 30 items for one line to be developed in the company according to the needs of target audience. The items will be fit into 3 categories, core, classic and basic. In other words, i would like to produce a mood board for range planning for a retail store.

I hope it will be much fun and enjoy for the processing :)