Introduction To The Fashion And Retail Industry

This subject is available under ICMS undergraduate degrees, please click the button below to find an undergraduate course for you.

Subject Code:

FBM101A

Subject Aim:

Retailing is the process of selling merchandise to consumers that offer value and engagement through a successful exchange of goods and services.

The retail industry has transformed and evolved over the last several decades, spearheaded through technological development. This encompasses traditional bricks and mortar stores, e-commerce and online retailers. The fashion retail industry shapes and influences what we wear, what we look like and how we live, with its increasingly sophisticated consumer demanding more.

Fashion retailing activities need strategic planning, and analytical methodology viewed from several perspectives; the consumer, the competition, the category and the retail company. Across these four perspectives, we examine the functions of retailing, consumer buying behaviour, external influences affecting retail operations as well as the key thinking needed to be a successful player in the industry.

The aim of this subject is to provide students with an overview of the nature and scope of fashion retailing.

Topics covered include; types of retailers, fashion categories, operations and management, retail pricing, inventory, corporate social responsibility (CSR), along with the elements required to develop and maintain fashion retail operations that are critical in this constantly evolving environment.

Learning Outcomes:

a) Describe the nature and role of retailing from a social, economic and supply chain perspective.

b) Detail the principles of the fashion consumer, category, competition and factors that affect retailing strategy.

c) Describe the retailing strategic planning process.

d) Discuss the principles of merchandise management and fashion brand management in relation to strategy implementation.

f) Identify the future of the fashion category and how to build sustainable global brands.

Student Assessment: