Understanding the Factors Influencing the Fashion Retail Environment

As the new store manager over the next 12 months I plan to increase the sales by 9% and profit by 12%. I am going to be analysing how the internal and external factors have affected the store. This will enable me to plan how to achieve these goals.

The store location has conflicting reasons why it can be a positive as it is a good location but there is a lot of competition. There are regular trains to and from the local station to London with a reasonable journey of only 40 minutes. This is good news for the store as the proximity to London can mean an increased footfall, as more customers are in the capital of England. The store is positioned within the M25 where the current population inside the M25 is estimated to be around 7,800 people in 2011 (GLA Intelligence Update, 2009 Round Demographic Projections for the London Plan (Revised)). This means that there are a lot of people living locally and they are currently going to the competition to shop. Being located on a high street is an advantage for the store because of the regular footfall as well as the great amount of parking options for customers. The only disadvantage here is that the nearby shopping centre may be taking some customers away from the high street, especially in the UK where our weather may be cold and wet, customers may wish to stay inside the centre if they can purchase everything they require from the competition.

The store has a semi-unique position as a store at a mid-price range, in a town where the other stores are mainly in the lower price bracket. There are no top end retailers in the town other than a few concessions within department stores. This could be seen as a positive because there is less competition within this particular price bracket, although this may be because the customers in this area are unable