Bradey Graves

Fashion Product Development Spring 2013

Company History Unique Selling Point Marketing Mix Swot Analysis Target Customer Pen Portrait Market Positioning Map Gap Analysis New Look Product Gap Trend Research Product Range Overview Range Product Level Accessories Range Price Architecture

The production of this report involves both primary and secondary research, in which comes from analyzing research and personal observations of New Look stores in the UK. Secondary research has been performed from many different sources such as Mintel, WGSN, and Fashion Snoops. New Looks target market and market place were researched and those findings were analyzed and conclusions were drawn up on a new business opportunity. This new business opportunity in product development stays true to the New Look s view on offering fashion forward merchandise at an affordable cost.

New Look has become a brand that can be recognized for its highly trend right clothing. Be the Trend is a slogan that New Look heavily promotes. New Look guarantees to deliver fashion forward merchandise, thus inviting their customer to buy their clothing. This idea of Being the Trend is reinforced by New Looks merchandise offered and the way in which they promote it. On their website and in their stores they group certain trend merchandise together so that the customer can easily find new trendy merchandise without to much effort. By having this unique selling point, New Look can attract trend conscious customers and assure those individuals that the merchandise they he or she is buying is fashionable and trend right.

Product
New Looks offers trend forward merchandise that appeals to wide range of youthful customers. New Look offers womens and mens wear, maternity, plussize, teens (girls), label lounge, shoes, and accessories. Within the these product categories New Look has various different ranges. For example within womens wear (based on summer 2013 collection) New Look offers ranges such as Mexican Trail, Festival, Bleach Out, and many more. New Look always focuses on young and fresh aesthetics and this is shown throughout the product they offer.

Price
New Look uses market-oriented, penetration, and psychological pricing strategies. The price of New Looks product vary from one product category to another, but these items are priced at an affordable price for the item being purchased. When talking about price of clothing (focusing on womens) can range from 2.99 GBP for a basic scoop neck t-shirt to a 300.99 GBP Halterneck dress. Footwear prices range from 6.99 GBP for a pair of ballerina pumps to 149.99 GBP for a pair of stiletto sandals. Accessory prices range from .99 GBP for a simple pair of hoop earing to 109.99 GBP for a snake print clutch bag. New Look offers seasonal sales, student discounts, 2 for 10 GBP deals, and 10% off last chance to buy items

Place
New Look has 1,100 stores world wide. Stores are located in the UK and Republic of Ireland, Europe across the Middle East, Singapore, Egypt, Poland, Serbia, Indonesia, Montenegro, Croatia, Morocco, Romania, Ukraine, Malta and Russia. New Look stores are located in various different places. There are New Look stores on high streets, in shopping malls, and even stand alone stores. New Look merchandise is also available on their website and through their mobile application. Merchandise is shipped worldwide.

People
New Look employees are typically males and females around the ages 20-28 years old. Depending on the location of the store employees are virtually unrecognizable due to the fact there is no uniform. Employees are quite quiet until approached. Once approached they are very informative.

Promotion
New Look advertises through their website, blog, social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), seasonal adverts, window displays, press releases, and email alerts. Promotion is one of New Looks strengths.

Process
New Looks customer can access their products through their online website, in stores, in-store click & collect, mobile application, and scanning QR codes.

Physical Environment (Interior Design)

New Look stores have a fairly simple store layout. Black and White color scheme is used. Merchandise is arranged into different departments. Within those departments, merchandise is distributed by different trends and/or articles of clothing. Depending on the location of the store, New Looks can tend to be a bit crowded.

Physical Environment (Window Display)

New Looks store windows are eye catching and effective. Their windows display the current seasons trend and display many different types of merchandise. Depending on the location of the store, the visual displays of the store windows will vary.

Strengths
Fashionable product for low prices Good manufacturer relations Applicable to a wide range of customers (plus-size, maternity, teen, and more) Always improving shopping experience Reputable within younger market Effective and informative online websites Ethical values for their employees and suppliers

Weaknesses
High dept burden Heavy stock inventory No distinct difference between teen and woman ranges Weak interior design (ex: Marble Arch)

Opportunities
Establish a concrete womans range Create a cosmetics range (ex: perfumes, lotions) Expand on the mens range

Threats
Competitors (ex: H&M, River Island, Topshop, Next, and Primark) New outlets with quicker reaction to trend changes More accessible retailers (location and interior design)

The New Look customer are males and female aged 16-35 years old. Their female customers are keen and expert shoppers who have a passion for fashion. They are very knowledgably when it comes to the newest fashion trends. Being trend right is a must for the New Look customer. They enjoy the thrill of a great quality fashion find and like getting a great bargain. Their male customer loves the idea of Looking Good, Feeling Good. They like to look fashionable and feel good at the same time. The New Look customer wants to feel comfortable in his clothing. Good quality clothing at a low price is what they love.

Vanessa is 17 years old, and currently on her last year of high school in London, where she lives with her parents and pets. Her interests differ from hanging out with her friends, art , and shopping. Vanessa enjoys reading magazines such as Glamour occasionally reading her mothers Elle and Vogue for fashion ideas. She is connected through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, in which she keeps herself updated on celebrities and social events. Vanessa studies art in school, therefore follows a number of art and fashion blogs. Vanessas spending habits all depend on her parents; usually shops seasonally. When shopping for a special occasion (ex: an night out), Vanessa always brings a friend with her to chose an outfit, to get a different opinion. Her favorite stores vary from Zara, H&M, Topshop and New Look, in which she has purchased their product both online and in-store. Vanessa does not find It difficult to shop online, frequently ordering from Amazon and other online store for bargains. When shopping in New Look, Vanessa focuses on its accessories, looking for cute necklaces, scarves and shoes to create multiple looks. When looking at the clothing range, Vanessa usually buys delicate shirts, dresses, as well as basics. Vanessa enjoys shopping in New Look because the product not only is fashionable and varied but is also affordable.

Price When looking at trendiness and price of all the brand listed, New Look is in the middle of most of its competitors. By being in this location, New Look has a lower price point than River Island and Top Shop but can be considered almost as trendy as them. This means that New Look can offer trendy merchandise at a cheaper price point. Trend

According to Mintel, The childrenswear market is profiting from the shift towards smaller and wealthier families. Mintel explained that Women are delaying motherhood until their thirties, when they are financially secure and better positioned to splash out their new arrivals. This means that mothers are less likely to send a high amount of money on their children's clothing if they happen to have children before they are financially stable. One thing that must be recognized when talking about childrenswear is the fact that children grow so quickly. If children are constantly growing there is no need to spend outrageous amounts of money on clothing that they are going to grow out of in less than a year. In todays society, Mintel talks about how children are becoming more brand-conscious and fashion-aware at an earlier age than ever before. If children are becoming more brand-conscious, then society needs more retailers with fashion forward childrenswear. There is a lack of brands with fashion forward clothing for children because the childrenswear market is heavily dominated by supermarkets. After Mintels research was conducted, the research had shown that both children and adults agree that comfort is the most important factor when choosing garments. Another thing parents look for in childrenswear is high quality clothing that will last. By knowing this retailers must make fashionable clothing that is comfortable and durable because children want to look good and feel good at the same time.

New Look offers tons of different products such as mens and womens wear, teens, maternity, plus-size and many more. By knowing this information the next step for New Look to expand their company would be to create a collection for children from ages 3-8 years old. Most of their competitors have childrens clothing lines so, New Look being a fashion forward company that offers trend right clothing at an affordable price could profit from this childrenswear line. According to Mintel, the majority of adults (68%) say they decide which retailers they are going to shop in. Therefore it is essential for young fashion retailers to gain the trust of parents, with their clothing offering, quality and price points. By having a childrenswear line, New Look would be in a sense giving their customers who have children the opportunity to have a one stop shopping experience. The fact that New Look offers quality clothing at an affordable price can really encourage parents to shop for their children in the same store they do for themselves. New Look could benefit from this introduction to a childrenswear line because according to Mintel by 2016 childrenswear shall increase to 5,704,000 . Due to New Looks high level of debt, this could potentially bring them out of the debt that they are in.

New Look Kids will launch summer of next year. It will feature trends from both WGSN and Fashion Snoops. After looking at trends forecasting for summer 2014, I decided to feature a trend that has an amazon feel to it. This trend includes large and bold graphics featuring objects in nature and animals. This idea of having fun and outgoing prints and graphics will be a great choice for a childrenswear line because children love animals and often childrenswear lines incorporate animals into their collections. This trend will fit right into New Looks existing brand image. New Look often has bright and bold colors, as well as many fun and crazy graphics within their other collections. This childrenswear line will be a continuation of this idea of having trendy, fun merchandise that New Look already has.

I attended the Pulse Trade Show on May 14th 2013. After going to this show I was very inspired by a few things. I was inspired by all of the different graphics I saw throughout the show. All of the graphics that I saw were very vibrant and fun. The idea of layering the same image over and over was very eye catching. Most of the graphics I saw related heavily to animals. This idea of layering animals will go great with the amazon trend I chose to feature in my childrens wear collection. Throughout the trade show I saw many ideas for children's accessories, but there was one that stood out to me. It was this backpack in the shape of a monkey that could be used as a backpack, toy, blanket, and a pillow. The backpacks came in different animals. This would be a great accessory to having the New Look Kids collection because the idea of having rainforest or safari animals goes along perfectly with the trend that I chose.

The proposed product development for New Look Kids collection will include childrenswear essential with a fun modern twist. It will include tops, bottoms, jackets, dresses, shoes, accessories. The clothing will be highly fashion forward (for childrenswear) in the graphics, colors, and silhouettes used. This collection will be targeted for girls ages 3-8. It will provide the childrenswear essentials such as, jeans, t shirts, and skirts but will be put into a more fashionable way. The New Look Kids collection is aiming to be a comfortable line. Since children are more picky in the sense of comfort, comfort will be a big key factor in this collection. It can be considered to be point in which where fashion meets comfort. This collection will fit into the New Look store perfectly because it is quite fashionable. The silhouettes used compliment what New Look already produces in their other lines. The colors and graphics used also compliment New Looks existing colors and graphics. Those being fun, energetic prints and colors.

New Look Kids will be heavily tropical. The colors used throughout this collection are quite vibrant. The colors vary from cherry red, lime green, pineapple yellow, tangerine, cerulean, and grape just to name a few. It is inspired by the rainforest, animals, and other objects found in nature. These colors are represented the clothing itself and the graphics that are used.

Denim

Cotton

Viscose

Polyester

Jersey

The graphic featured throughout this collection are bold and outgoing. Since New Look Kids is heavily based on a tropical theme, the graphics will be tropical as well. Some of the graphics will give off a busy feel to it due to all of the overlapping of the graphics, while others will be fairly simple. Most of the collection will feature some sort of graphic in it but not all because if every piece of clothing had a graphic on it, the collection would be to overwhelming. All of the graphics shown will not be featured in the collection, they are here to show the general idea of what the graphics will look like.

High Fashion 5%

Moderate Fashion 40%

Core Fashion 55%

New Looks childrenswear product level will slightly differ from New Looks normal product level. New Looks typical product level consists of 45% core fashion, 35% moderate fashion, and 20% high fashion. The Childrenswear will be 55%, 40%, and 5%. This is because there is a very high risk having high fashion childrenswear so there will not be to much high fashion. The majority will be core fashion because childrenswear consists of many variations of similar items. The moderate fashion will include the trendier more fashion forward pieces

Risk

New Looks Kids will offer many various accessories. These accessories will include things such as sunglasses, bags, shoes, and a few others. The sunglasses will come in many different shapes and colors. Shoes will include the basic essential with types such as sandals and trainers. The bags will vary from simple small handbags to a stuffed animal 4 in 1 Backpack.

 17.00 Dresses & Jumpsuits

12.00 Jeans & Pants

8.00 Basic Tees & Tanks

After analyzing the current market for childrens fashion, New Look has the opportunity to introduce a new range aimed toward children from ages 3-8 years old. This introduction can bring New Look more brand loyalty to their current customers and potential customers as well. New Look prides itself in providing trend right clothing at an affordable price. Childrenswear today is becoming more fashion forward, and because of that the basis of this new range will fashion forward clothing. Comfort is the most important aspect to a customer when buying childrenswear and as a result this new range will concentrate heavily on comfort ability. This will be done by using fabric that are soft and do not irritate the skin. The combination of fashion forward childrenswear that is durable, comfortable, and affordable is a set up for success.

Clifford, E. (2012, January). Childrenswear. Retrieved April 2013, 2013, from Minel: http://academic.mintel.com/display/590005/?highlight=true Finding Universe. (2001). New Look Group pcl History. Retrieved April 21, 2013, from Finding Universe: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/new-look-group-plc-history/ Hunter, B. (2013, April 6). Drapers , p. 35. Kleinman, M. (2013, April 19). New Look Seeks Deal To Tackle 1bn Debt Pile. Retrieved April 22, 2013, from Sky News: http://news.sky.com/story/1080299/new-look-seeks-deal-to-tackle1bn-debt-pile New Look. (2013). Retrieved April 22, 2013, from New Look Group: http://www.newlookgroup.com/newlook/en/home New Look Help. (2013). Retrieved April 22, 2013, from New Look: http://www.newlook.com/furniture/help_centre_faq.jsp?pageName=Delivery New Look. (2012, December 21). New Look Half Year Update. Retrieved April 22, 2013, from New Look Group: http://www.newlookgroup.com/newlook/en/investors/reportspublications New Look Retailers Ltd - Our Ethical Aims. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2013, from New Look Group: http://www.newlookgroup.com/newlook/en/sustainability/ethicaltrading Norval, E. (2013, April 6). Hit or Miss - Regent Crescent. Drapers , pp. 25-30. Norval, E. (2013, April 20). Hit or Miss Manchester. Drapers , pp. 62-67. Smithers, R. (2011, November 11). Store Wars: H&M and New Look. Retrieved April 22, 2013, from The Gaurdian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/poll/2011/nov/11/store-wars-hm-newlook/print www.wgsn.com www.fashionsnoops.com www.newlook.co.uk http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/new-look-group-plc-history/ http://gavinaldred.com/?page_id=7