Classification of distribution channels of textile and apparel retailers in Turkey

Abstract

Abstract Being one of the most important textile and apparel producers for years, Turkey began to become active in terms of retailing. Although retailing industry is in its growing phase, the social and economic influences caused the customers’ tastes and demands to be more distinctive and segmented in parallel with the advancement of the retail industry. Therefore, the retail industry began to develop in more fragmented way where clear boundaries between different types of retailers were established. In this study, the apparel retail market is overviewed and analyzed within the context for determination of the current situation and future prospective. To this aim, the textile and apparel companies that are active in Turkey were classified into groups based on the type of distribution channels they used. Then, the performances of the groups were established using the secondary type of resources. Finally, the findings were summarized, by showing the similarities and differences between different channels. Keywords: apparel, retailer, classification, distribution channel