Apparel Retail Research Articles

RETAILING IN BANGLADESH: EVOLUTION AND EXPANSION

Clothing manufacturers in Bangladesh are known around the world for their low prices. As a destination for clothing sourcing from foreign retailers, it offers low labor costs and a large pool of human resources. This makes Dhaka a sourcing hub for global apparel buyers and retailers. Major clothing retailers in top urban destinations across the Western Hemisphere exclusively display these products in front of their customers.In an effort to develop a theoretical framework to explain Bangladesh's retail industry, three main theories can be outlined. Essentially, these theories propose that as a result of external forces (such as environment or conflict), a retail institution will develop into another type or a new type will develop because of a need, conflict, or other factors. When explaining the international expansion of Bangladeshi retailers, we intended to look at three specific theoretical frameworksie; Environmental theory, Cyclical theory and Conflict theory. The article has gone through available literatures to establish relationships between there interrelated theories and justify their selection to explain the evolution and expansion of retail industry in Bangladesh.

Small Apparel Retailer's Procurement Outsourcing Under Weather-Related Demand Uncertainty

The demand for apparel/fashion products is usually of heavy weather-related uncertainty, which can be solved by the publicly accessible weather information provided by the government. That is because weather information provides a more accurate demand signal, and the key weather indicators fashion brand, the latter determines the wholesale price but usually postpones the price decision to observe the weather information. Alternatively, the small retailer can outsource procurement to a powerful agent, who fixes the fashion brand's wholesale price. In this article, we investigate an apparel supply chain consisting of two competing small retailers (retailers 1 and 2), a powerful procurement agent, and a famous fashion brand. Given retailer 2's procurement outsourcing, retailer 1 decides whether to outsource procurement to the agent or directly procure products from the fashion brand. We identify cooperation and competition relationships in the retailers’ ordering decisions based on the weather information. The different intensities of the cooperation/competition relationships alter retailer 1's preferences of procurement outsourcing because of the mitigated/intensified quantity competition. Interestingly, we show that, when demand uncertainty is high, retailer 1's procurement outsourcing strategy will switch from Turnkey to Consignment and back to Turnkey, as its demand becomes more sensitive to the weather condition.

Segmentation Approach for Athleisure and Performance Sport Retailers Based on Data Mining Techniques

This paper seeks to compare certain customer segments from two sport footwear, apparel, and equipment retailers and to examine an objective market segmentation method, based on the recency, frequency, monetary (RFM) and the decision tree (DT) models. The case study is based on two data sets, aiming to compare the different customer segments, both from sport retail industry, and represents an application of data mining techniques in a business environment. The customer segmentation enables the customer selection for the future direct marketing campaigns based on the previous purchasing behavior. Analyzing the customers' purchasing history can help the company determine the value of each customer and therefore target or not target such customers in the future with promotional materials, based on both the customers' interests and their value. Thus, based on the results, personalized offers can be created for each of the defined customer groups, which may increase the efficiency of the overall campaign, reduce costs, and increase profitability.

The queering of the apparel industry: Exploring transgender consumer needs when shopping for clothing

For individuals who identify as queer, the concept of ‘men’s’ and ‘women’s’ clothing departments is often not ideal and does not align with their values, role or body image. This study explores transgender consumers’ experiences and needs when shopping for clothing and provides suggestions on how apparel retailers can promote a more inclusive apparel shopping experience. Four themes surfaced as participants in this study discussed their apparel shopping experiences: (a) inclusivity throughout store layout and interaction with retail sales staff, (b) gender-affirming clothes that positively influence role and self-esteem, (c) non-restrictive garment fit and compression, and (d) interest in inclusive androgynous styles and aesthetic qualities from queer artists to benefit the queer community. In this study, the concept of trans-inclusive is used as a way of welcoming and implementing the idea of apparel and fashion beyond cisnormative identities, and also as a way to advocate for inclusivity in all consumer markets. This research provides insights for the apparel industry on what is needed for this emerging market of queer individuals and promotes a more inclusive apparel shopping experience.

A Discriminant Analysis Of High End And Budget Stores In Apparel Retail In India Using Retail Service Quality Scale Model

Service Quality is a blend of two words, Service and Quality where we discover accentuation on the accessibility of value services to definitive users. RSQS scale has been used for identifying the discriminant service quality factors differentiating the consumer perception of high end apparel retail stores and budget apparel retail stores. All out 600 surveys were circulated, 300 for high end and 300 for budget apparel retail stores and that we got 548 complete surveys of which 258 were from consumers of high end apparel retail stores and 290 were from consumers of budget apparel retail stores which were utilized for examination. The high end stores included in the study include H&M, Veromoda, ONLY and Westside and budget stores included in the study include Trends, Max, FBB and Pantaloons. The discriminate function revealed a significant association between groups and all predictors, accounting for 64.5% of between group variability, the structure matrix revealed three significant predictors, namely Reliability, Physical Aspects and Policy with problem solving and personal interaction as poor predictors. The cross validated classification showed that overall 76% were correctly classified.

E-store brand personality congruence for multichannel apparel retail brands

PurposeThis study aims at examining the role of the e-store brand personality congruence/incongruence of a multichannel apparel retailer in the formation of consumers' perceived e-store brand fit and e-store patronage intention, based on the concept of image congruence.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted with a US national sample of 458 female consumers (20–50 years old) who had shopped for clothing online.FindingsResults revealed that e-store brand personality incongruence in three personality dimensions had a negative impact on consumers' e-store patronage intention directly as well as indirectly by reducing the consumers' global perception of the e-store brand fit. Further, the retailer's relevance to the consumer moderated the relationship between the perceived e-store brand fit and e-store patronage intention in that this relationship was significantly greater among consumers with a high (vs low) perceived self-relevance of the retail brand.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of symbolically integrated cross-channel brand management for multichannel apparel retailers by clearly identifying their brand personality and carefully crafting it into their e-store interface design and e-store visual merchandising to convey the brand personality.Originality/valueThis study expands the application of image congruence to the cross-channel image congruence phenomenon in multichannel retailing environments by examining the e-store brand image congruence employing both direct and indirect approaches.

Exploring supply chain business bullying of small and medium-sized business suppliers by dominant buyers in the apparel retail sector in Gauteng

Background: Issues relating to dominant behaviour and bullying practices in supply chains are mostly not reported. Some evidence exists of unfair business practices in the apparel retail sector, but the extent and nature of such practices in South Africa, as well as the business implications for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have not been researched. The reason could be the sensitive nature of these issues and possible adverse implications for the SMEs supplying apparel to the retailers in Gauteng. Aim: The primary research objective is to determine the incidence and type of supply chain dominance experienced by SMEs in the retail apparel sector in Gauteng, as well as the business implications of such dominant behaviour and how SMEs cope with it. Setting: The setting for this study was the business premises of SME apparel suppliers in Gauteng. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with seven SMEs that were apparel suppliers to the large retailers in Gauteng, to obtain the supplier perspective. Results: Six of the seven SMEs had experienced some form of bullying behaviour by large retailers in the apparel sector, such as late payments and long payment terms. For some of these SMEs, it had serious financial implications. Meaningful insight is provided into this supplier–buyer relationship between SMEs and large retailers in the apparel sector in Gauteng. Conclusion: This is the first study in South Africa investigating supply chain dominance, in particular supply chain bullying of SME suppliers through unfair business practices by dominant buyers in the apparel sector.

Do Augmented and Virtual Reality Technologies Increase Consumers’ Purchase Intentions? The Role of Cognitive Elaboration and Shopping Goals

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the “virtual try-on” technology (AR) and the “3D virtual store” (VR) incorporated in an apparel retail website on purchase intentions. This study highlights the mediating role of cognitive elaboration in the process through which these technologies influence purchase intentions, and examines the way consumers’ shopping goals (searching vs. browsing) interact with the website technology and influence their responses. The two experiments demonstrated that, for browsers, the website with VR was more effective in increasing purchase intentions than were the website with AR or a regular website with no technology, while for searchers, both the website with AR and the website with VR were more effective than was a regular website. In addition, cognitive elaboration mediated the interaction between a technology and a shopping goal on purchase intentions for browsers, while such a mediating effect was not found in searchers.

An integrated framework for supplier selection and performance evaluation for apparel retail industry

Supplier evaluation, including supplier selection and performance evaluation, has become a critical issue for apparel retailers within the apparel supply chain dealing with severe competition in the global market. An effective evaluation of suppliers requires considering both the quantitative and qualitative performance aspects and integrating the efficiency measurement. In an attempt to address this issue, this study proposes an integrated framework that can handle supplier selection and overall performance evaluation in a comprehensive but feasible manner. The proposed integrated framework customized for apparel retailers combines the current techniques having specific capabilities: data envelopment analysis (DEA), analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). DEA has been used to make the overall performance evaluation, whereas AHP and TOPSIS have been used in combination to provide the quantitative data required by DEA. The proposed integrated framework was implemented and verified using numerical data gathered from a global apparel retailer. The findings revealed that suppliers can be more successful when they put a balanced effort into improving their performance in regards to the important criteria instead of concentrating on only the most important criterion. Moreover, the overall performance evaluation can be much more convenient and rewarding for apparel retailers in terms of finding out the true potential of suppliers when quantitative and qualitative data and efficiency measurements are taken into account at the same time.

Joint Pricing and Inventory Control Decisions for Fashion Apparel with Considering Fashion Level and Partial Backlogging

Apparel inventories have been crawling up for decades. The fashion level of clothing drops over time, resulting in a continuous decline in market value, a rapid reduction in demand, and unsold inventory. Poor inventory management weighs down the apparel industry. Inventory planning decisions are crucial for a fashion apparel retailer. When the good is highly perishable, the retailer may need to backlog demand in order to market the good at a reasonable price and reduce inventory costs. This study formulates a finite horizon inventory model for fashion apparel under deteriorating fashion level and partial backlogging conditions. This model jointly optimizes the selling price, length of inventory-holding period, and length of shortage period by maximizing the average profit. The conditions that characterize the optimal solution are established and an algorithm is proposed to search for the optimal solutions. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the algorithm and the solution procedure. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis of the key system parameters is carried out and some interesting managerial insights are presented. Findings clearly suggest that the presence of shortage has got an affirmative effect on ordering policy of the fashion apparel retailer.

M-Commerce, Sales Concentration, and Inventory Management

The mobile commerce (m-commerce) channel is poised to be the future of online markets. It offers search features distinct from conventional personal-computer-based (PC) e-commerce channels. Its easy accessibility extends the time available for customers to search, although its shopping environment constraints (e.g., small screen size, single-tab browsing) may inflate search costs. Collectively, these competing features cause ambiguity about the mobile channel's true effect on sales concentration – a key criterion in managing retail operations. The focus of this study is to understand the net impact of the mobile channel on driving sales concentration. Our study extends the empirical literature focusing on online retailers' channel strategies and their implication on operations practice. It examines differences in primary online channels – mobile and PC – on shaping sales concentration across products and the cost of ignoring such a difference on inventory management, a core decision for operations managers. We collaborate with a large online apparel retailer to access customer-level transactional data. We identify the mobile channel's effect on sales concentration using a difference-in-differences strategy that leverages a quasi-experiment stemming from the retailer's decision to discontinue its PC sales channel. We find that the mobile channel increases the share of popular products by 6.4% as compared with the PC channel. We also identify scenarios where ignoring this significant sales concentration difference will yield suboptimal inventory stocking by 4.2% to 12.9%. Our paper highlights that the mobile and PC channels have different sales concentrations because of different search features. Ignoring this difference affects inventory decisions, such as safety and cycle inventory levels. Therefore, it is imperative for managers to revise their status quo strategies, such as on inventory procurement, assortment planning, and product display, when integrating m-commerce with e-commerce.

Social Media Activities and Its Influence on Customer-Brand Relationship: An Empirical Study of Apparel Retailers’ Activity in India

In this digital era, the internet, and Social Media (SM) has had a radical impact on the shopping behavior of “costumers” The SM provides a platform where “costumers” are exposed to the best product with the best price along with reviews and opinions about the merchandise. So, we can turn our heads and look at a brand in a way as if the brand is speaking to us. This study was an attempt to explore the Social Media Marketing Activities (SMMA) that are being used for the marketing of fashionable products like apparel and to what level the SMMA activities of brands truly strengthen the relationship with customers and motivate purchase intention. Moreover, SMMA has a robust application in developing a marketing strategy for business. It has become a significant tool that collaborates with businesses and people. It is concluded that the “costumer”-brand relationship does have a positive and statistically significant impact on consumers’ purchase intention through SM.

Los Angeles Apparel: Locally Made in a Global Market

This case takes place during Los Angeles Apparel’s second full year of operation. Manufacturing fashion basics such as tee shirts and leggings, the company’s operations are located entirely in Los Angeles, eschewing the typical international apparel supply chains. The central figure in the case is founder and CEO Dov Charney. A nationally known figure, Charney was previously the founder and CEO of American Apparel, an apparel manufacturer and retailer, which at its peak reached annual sales in excess of $600 million and operated almost 300 stores across 20 countries. Charney’s controversial management style made him both famous and infamous and his tenure as CEO came to an end in 2014 when he was ousted by the company’s board. In 2016, Charney founded Los Angeles Apparel with a desire to recreate what he saw as the best aspects of American Apparel – local and ‘sweatshop free’ manufacturing. Following the same trajectory as the earlier company, Charney began by focusing on wholesale B2B channels. He had recently added a B2C ecommerce channel and was considering opening brick-and-mortar stores in the near future. But much had changed in the two decades since American Apparel’s initial success. Which path forward was best for Los Angeles Apparel in current environment?

Stay or switch? Investigating lock-in effect in multi-channel apparel retailing

The emergence of new sales channels, the irruption of new technologies and changes in personal and professional lifestyles have transformed purchasing behaviors throughout the shopping process. Prior research has addressed the effect of these changes in each channel separately, neglecting the study of such effects in multi-channel environments. This research investigates the relation between channel preference and spillover effect—and more particularly, lock-in effect—in apparel multi-channel retailing, with data collected from a survey of 432 Spanish shoppers. The results of the study facilitate further understanding of spillover effect and help companies improve their omnichannel strategies.

Consumer decision-making in a retail store: the role of mental imagery and gender difference

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to investigate how mental imagery evoked from sensory in-store experience influences consumer anticipatory emotion, perceived ownership and decision satisfaction which eventually impact positive consumer responses such as behavioural intent. In this study, gender difference is proposed as a moderator to completely understand the role of mental imagery in the in-store decision-making process.Design/methodology/approachUsing a market research agency in South Korea, an online survey was employed to collect data. A total of 455 useable respondents (men = 224 and women = 231) largely living in the two most populous provinces in South Korea (i.e. Seoul and Gyeonggi provinces) completed the survey. A number of path analyses were conducted to test hypotheses.FindingsThe results of the study showed that mental imagery evoked from sensory product experience played a critical part in facilitating the consumer decision-making process by influencing anticipatory emotion and perceived ownership. The relationship among anticipatory emotion, perceived ownership, decision satisfaction and behavioural intent was significant except for the relationship between perceived ownership and behavioural intent. This study further indicated that the way mental imagery influences the in-store decision-making process differs between men and women.Originality/valueThe effect of mental imagery in a physical retail context is largely ignored. This study addressed the crucial role of mental imagery in a physical apparel retail setting and examined its impact on consumer decision-making processes. By exploring how to enhance consumers' in-store sensory shopping experiences through mental imagery to influence their positive shopping outcomes, this study offers vital insights into how retailers operating physical stores can successfully utilize their stores.

How Does E-Commerce Impact the Type and Variety of Products Consumers Purchase in Non-Digital Goods Markets? Drivers of Long Tail Effects in Fashion Apparel

With the fast-paced growth of e-commerce, it has been essential for both academicians and practitioners to understand how the ongoing shift to the online channel will impact the type and variety of products consumers purchase across the channels. Most of the literature examining the impact of e-commerce on the concentration of sales has focused on examining digital goods markets (e.g., book, music, or video sales) and has predominantly shown that growth of e-commerce leads to long tail effects (i.e., decreases the concentration of sales) due to consumers buying a greater variety of products online compared to offline. However, the magnitude of the observed long tail effects, the explanation behind them, and the mechanisms driving them might be different in categories where some products might have important non-digital attributes and thus require physical examination before purchase (e.g., apparel or grocery sales). In this study, using detailed individual and transaction level panel data from two multichannel specialty apparel retail brands, we show that while the shift to the online channel results in a decrease in the concentration of overall sales for both brands, this change mostly results from consumers buying very different products online compared to offline rather than consumers buying a greater variety online compared to offline. We also show that the long tail effects observed in our data are not driven by either of the two mechanisms commonly suggested in the literature (cross-channel assortment differences and customer heterogeneity), but are driven by consumers sorting their purchases into channels based on the types of products they will purchase. Our results are important for practitioners in setting cross-channel assortment strategies (i.e., deciding how much variety and what type of product mix to offer online versus offline). Our paper also provides a new way of interpreting and resolving conflicting results in the long tail literature.

Need for touch and haptic imagery: An investigation in online fashion shopping

Previous research has found evidence that, due to the lack of sensory experience, shoppers are reluctant to purchase a garment online. Despite the importance of identifying possible compensatory cues for touch information, a lack of attention to this issue has been recognized in the literature. On this premise, this study addresses this research agenda to explain the mechanism by which information presentation influences customers' cognitive evaluations and behavioral responses and the role of individual differences in terms of need for touch (NFT). Specifically, drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S–O-R) paradigm, the study hypothesizes a model investigating whether verbal and pictorial information presentation affect haptic imagery, which in turn is supposed to influence behavioral responses (purchase intention), through a customer's cognitive evaluation (perceived product quality). To validate the research framework, a task-based online experiment was performed. Participants were requested to simulate a purchase experience on an online apparel retailer, after which they completed a questionnaire; 264 valid responses were received. The results support verbal haptic rather than pictorial information as a mechanism influencing haptic imagery and consequently behavioral responses. With regard to NFT, however, the expected moderating effect between haptic imagery, perceived product quality, and purchase intention was not supported.

Acculturation and apparel store loyalty among immigrants in Western countries

ABSTRACT Western countries have experienced a steady increase in the number of immigrants since 2000 and these immigrants appear to be a sizeable market segment for apparel retailers in Western host countries owing to their acculturation. This study investigates how acculturation of immigrants drives their loyalty to apparel stores in Western countries. Three hundred and sixty usable responses obtained from South Asian immigrants living in Australia were analysed using PLS-SEM, non-linear variance-based SEM, and fsQCA. The results showed that immigrants’ acculturation enhances their loyalty to Australian apparel stores, whereas immigrants’ ethnocentrism reduces their loyalty as well as mediates the impact of ethnic community participation on their store loyalty. Ethnic community participation further weakens the association between acculturation and store loyalty. This study contributes to consumer behaviour literature and retailing in the context of immigrants’ acculturation. It provides implications for retailers interested in creating a loyal customer base among immigrants in Western countries.

Employee Retention strategies adopted by organizations in the organized apparel retail sector

Employee Retention strategies adopted by organizations in the organized apparel retail sector

Social Capital on Instagram: Application for Small Apparel Retailers

The purpose of this study is to investigate consumer’s perceived benefit and development of social capital in small apparel retailer’s Instagram pages that ultimately lead to purchase intentions for the retailer, applying Social Capital theory. Using a field survey method, 200 complete and accurate responses were collected and used to run multiple regression analysis. The result revealed several insignificant relationships, contrary to our initial expectation. The ad hoc multiple regression analysis found several other significant relationships between the social capital dimensions and perceived benefit dimensions on brand identification, trust, and purchase intentions.