Fashion Conscious Shopper
Fast Fashion, Fast Thinking, Fast Changing
Demanding a change in culture, fast fashion requires businesses to respond rapidly to the consumer demand, and plan new market strategies.
People are getting exposed to different way of lifestyle. Accordingly fashion trends also keep changing. The question is how can one adjust with the fast changing trends? As buying fashionable clothes requires an investment, the customer is more focused on the trends in which he would be investing the money. Fast fashion comes in panorama here
The term Fast Fashion refers to the term of clothing collection that is based on the most recent fashion trends, especially of the West. They facilitate the main stream customer to buy stylish Apparels with matching with the current trends, and at an affordable price. In the current scenario, fashion industry, and to be more particular, the fashion apparel segment proves to be very volatile in nature. With new trends springing up every now and then, consumer’s preferences keep changing in the wink of an eye
Why Fast Fashion Currently business environment is going through a phase of unprecedented changes. Businesses have to respond to changes in the market, and changing consumer preferences, to remain successful and to sustain their share in the pie. Majority of the population belongs to the middle, and upper middle income category. Consumers are fashion conscious, and at the same time expect affordable prices as well. They want to adapt themselves to the changing fads, and simultaneously do not want to feel the heat on their budget. This has motivated them to go in for fast fashion apparels
Key Players Need for drastic changes in consumer demand and fashion trend is more apparent for retailers. The main strategy to do a fast fashion business is the ability to respond very quickly to the fast changing needs of the target customers, identify the trends in advance, and meet the market requirements in a rapid speed. Fashion retailers like H&M, and Zara, Forever 21, and Primark are famous for their fashion labels
Is the style going obsolete One of the constraints for the retailers in responding quickly is the combination of inflexible systems, and lack of timely information. Adding to the pressure, merchandisers and buyers keep juggling their plans several times in a season
The main focus of fast fashion is its sustainability. Apart from financial, there are social, and environmental concerns associated with it. Maybe, the latest trend clothes are available at affordable prices. But what if they fall apart after a couple of washes? Are these apparels manufactured using a sustainable model? Some critics do argue that rather than buying clothes that look trendy to match with the latest fads, it is wise to buy a classic outfit with long term appeal
Todays shopper seeks to buy clothing in a way that looks fashionable, and does not break the bank as well. Fast fashion raises the value of fashion designers. But still, it is always better to give a second thought about the cost involved, and the long term benefits before one goes for a buying decision regarding fast fashion apparels. It these apparels do not cripple the wallet of the shopper in the long run, then it is good
About the Author
need help on economics question?
Two past hnd students , astid and hussain have decided to setup a business in reading, offering their services as a personal shoppers for fashion conscious people in the town.
They intend to undertake searches for age appropriate, funky clothes for their clientele using a variety of sources, ranging fro traditional outlets like department store, to car boot sales, charity shops such as oxfam and Designer outlets.
They imagine that their potentail customer list will come largely from the universities in the town, but also hope to capture trade from office workers and general public
question 1: explain 3 factors that may influence the demand for Astrid and Husain’s services
question 2: would you describe the demand curve for their services as fairly elastic or fairly in elastic(explain why and include the appropriate diagram)
i don’t understand this. can you help me please 
Well Top_gear, firstly the duo Astid and Hussain have to do a lot more than just imagining their potential customers. Their primary goal should be to do a thorough analysis of the STP i.e. Segementing, Targeting & Positioning of thier product. This would be the most important factor for the success of the product to start with. This is not an Economic theory, but is essential.
Segmenting is nothing but narrowing down your search for buyers in order to find the niche or even a small group of people who can bring in business to the firm.
Segmenting could be Geographic i.e. urban , suburban, density ,climatic , terrain etc.
Segmenting could be Demographic i.e.Age-age groups & generations , Gender , Income , occupation , social class- professional or working calss or housewives,
Segmenting could also be Psycographic i.e. Lifestyle, Personality etc..
The next factor would be the desired Positioning of the product by the buyers.
THis is how the duo or the firm would like the buyers or customers to position their product in their mind, whether they would like the customers to look at it as price effective, or quality centric or style icon etc…you know what i mean.
It is also primary to study the positioning of the competing brands using atributes important to existing and potential customers.
Coming to your second question , firstly it is important that we understand the definition of elasticity , then you will be able to answer the question yourself.
well , Elasticity in general means %age change in one variable resulting from a 1% change/ increase in another variable.
hence, Price elasticity of Demand means, %age change in the quantity demanded of a good resulting in a 1% change increase in the price.
Because, when the price of the good inceases, the quantity demanded by the consumers decrease, thats why the co-effecient of PED( price elasticity of demand) is usually negative.
co-eff of PED could be 1, 0 or -1.
if PED is +1, then the demand for the product is said to be PRICE ELASTIC because %age change in quantity(decline) is more than %age change in price(increase) , in simple words small change in price would result in much larger change in the demand of the product.
if PED is -1, then the demand for the product is said to be PRICE IN-ELASTIC, as the proportionate change in demand isnt too high with percentage increase in price.
NOTE: PED= +1 happens when there is a close substitute..because the price increase wll cause the concumer to buy less if the good abd more of the substitute.
Well, with this information , I hope you will be able to start analysing the scenario and who knows may also become an expert…
Keep challenging yourself..
All the Best..
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