I’ve visited Urban Outfitters on Commercial street for my store observation. This store retails garments, lifestyle items, homeware and accessories. It is located nearby Spitalfields market, a highly visited spot by tourists and locals. This pertinent location makes the number of customers higher.
Store window.
Strengths: The colours used for the display window are adequate to the season, they’ve used autumn colours (reds, greens, oranges and yellows). The store window displays both women’s and men’s clothing and accessories which enables the customers to see the whole range of products. The side of the shop that is situated aside the homeware area has its store window and reflects the diversity of the goods that the store has.
Weaknesses: Even though the display window gives us an insight into their latest collection, for me, it stays quite bland. The background is missing something, and they didn’t display any promotions in store.
What are the current promotions in-store? The only promotion I was able to see at that moment on their store window was their bottle customisation offer. They sell Chilly’s hydro flasks in-store and they offer a free customisation if you buy one at their store.
They also had a sale rack, with their previous collections. This promotion is made to get rid of stocks.
Why do you think these promotions are taking place now? This is a short-term promotion (two days), which enables to sell quickly a precise product and maximise profits. This product may be hard to sell by itself, because of its pricing (25 pounds a bottle) which has maybe led them to do this customisation promotion.
Which key Autumn/Winter 19/20 trends are being sold in-store? Urban Outfitters offers items that represent the Eighties trend, with their glittery clothing and shoulder pads. They also sell Check printed items (Trochu 2019).
They also had a Vintage selection in a separate area, which became a trend lately as well. It is called Vintage Renewal, and it consists of selling vintage garments that have undergone a repair or have been “re-made”.
Select one of the trends in store and describe the garment shapes/fabrics/print/patterns/colour/of manufacture that make up this trend.
I chose the Eighties trend, more precisely the diamante/glittery materials. This trend is being applied to all kinds of garments and accessories, so the shapes may differ. In this case, the trousers I’ve found are high-waisted and flared at the bottom, with slits. They are made of Nylon, metallic fibres and spandex. The colour of these trousers is black, but the layer of metallic fibres gives it a dark grey colour.
Analyse your findings, what impact could they have on the brand/store? They will higher their profit by doing promotions and having trendy garments and accessories in their shop.
CONFUSEDARIA 