Why do we need a trend analysis system and how to build it in your shoe retail?
Elena Vinogradova -
Elena Vinogradova, expert in purchasing and sales in the fashion business, more than 20 years of experience in the fashion industry from buyer to commercial director of a retail chain of 30 stores, retail consultant, business coach, speaker at industry conferences.
A commercial fashion trend is trends that are close and understandable to your target audience, those new products that the buyer of a particular brand / store is ready to purchase. Skillful introduction of the trend is the key to success for those who want to grow fast. The “taming" of fashion trends must begin with the construction of a trend analysis system.
The purpose of introducing such a system - ready-made recommendations for buyers, how to make the collection more selling. The recommendations provide an opportunity to decide which trends to optimally implement in your company's assortment.
Sources and technology of information collection:
The general technology for collecting information includes the following elements:
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Source analysis;
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Collection of key information on trends: texts, photos;
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Systematization of information;
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Consideration of trends in terms of the possibility of being accepted by the buyer. The goal is to be attractive, understandable and accepted by your target audience;
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Selecting suitable trends - the most relevant and least risky for customers of the brand/store: for example, for conservative customers, established, proven trends that can be seen in the collections of direct competitors or leaders in your segment will work. And for fashionista clients who are ready to take ideas straight from the shows - new trends that have just appeared on the catwalks or in gossip columns from opinion leaders - celebrities and fashion bloggers;
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Preparation of a final report with recommendations for buyers.
Let us dwell in more detail on the sources of information collection for trend analysis. It could be:
Analysis of various trend indicators:
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Fashion weeks;
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Street-style (street style) is the main source of trends for today;
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Retail stores: trendsetting fast fashion stores (for example, Zara), sports stores (Nike, Adidas);
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Online stores (for example, Asos, Farfetch);
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Advertising campaigns of large brands in the field of fashion and beauty;
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Exhibitions of fabrics and finished products;
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Art, interior and design exhibitions;
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Music videos of the world's leading performers;
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Social events;
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Youth festivals and parties.
1. Analysis of open and / or purchase of ready-made trend forecasts from leading trend bureaus, for example:
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FashionSnoops www.fashionsnoops.com
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TrendStop www.trendstop.com
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WGSN www.wgsn.com
But here you need to understand that the data will be generalized, and it must be verified for your target audience.
2. Analysis of publications by trends in specialized publications of the fashion industry: leading glossy magazines, specialized international magazines such as International Textile and Collezioni, specialized online resources, for example www.buro247.ru.
3. Additional sources of information:
- Publications from fashion weeks, for example, on www.vogue.com;
- Sites and social networks of leading brands of clothing and footwear - Saint Laurent, Prada, Gucci, etc .;
- Leading street-style blogs and chronicle sites (for example, www.thesartorialist.com or instagram accounts @streetstyled and @streetrends);
- Social media accounts from iconic figures in the fashion industry and it-girls.
Important:
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The choice of source for collecting information depends on the brand's target audience. Therefore, you need to analyze trends based on your target audience: their lifestyle and clothing preferences, how the opinion leaders of your target audience dress, what films, music and TV programs your clients watch, what they read, who they follow on social networks.
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Parallel analysis “from above” and “from below”, i.e. street fashion and everyday dressing, on the one hand, and professional events in the fashion industry (exhibitions, fashion shows) on the other. Studying only fashion shows to understand a commercial trend is not enough; today it is street-style that shows the penetration of a trend into society: what to wear and how to wear it.
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Mandatory retail analysis. There are headliner stores in the fast-fashion segment that very quickly introduce trends and, in fact, are the first to test them: in “trial” groups they check whether this or that trend needs to be developed in the next season’s collection. These “test” collections indicate which trend has “entered” the assortment: you will see the style, design, color, print, decor, material.
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Taking into account the compatibility of shoe trends with clothing trends. A shoe trend must be combined with several clothing trends.
Trend Analysis Result Format
The result of analytical work is the preparation of systematic reports with forecasts on trends for a specific season. It is more convenient to prepare reports in ppt or pdf format with ready-made recommendations for purchasing men's and women's shoes, bags and accessories for the next season.
What's included in the report? Things that can influence the level of sales: shoe model design, material, color (prints), decor, style, price. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare a report with forecasts on trends in the following sections:
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recommendations for color schemes;
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recommendations on materials;
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recommendations for lasts: shapes of toes and heels;
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recommendations on types/shapes of shoes: over the knee boots, slip-ons, brogues, etc.;
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recommendations for decorating shoes and accessories (fittings, combination of colors, materials, etc.);
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recommendations on key themes of the season: styles, trends, sources of inspiration, keywords.
The report must contain a meaningful illustrative part that confirms the recommended trends: photographs from shows, exhibitions, stores, street-style chronicles, repetitions of bestsellers from your assortment that confirm the recommended trends.
The optimal ratio of images and text in the report is less than 75% / 25%.
The possible number of pages/slides in a report is at least 30, the upper limit is not limited.
Frequency of preparation of a report with recommendations on trends:
1 once a season:
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no later than January - for purchases of the FW collection;
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no later than July - for purchases of the SS collection.
This article was published in the 149 issue of the print version of the magazine.
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