At Last! The Seller! - September 22nd

Avenues for the Seller:

Public Relations, Buying, Retail Management, Marketing, Advertising, Color Forcasting

BE THE BUYER! 

Color

One of the major difficulties in coming up with a good catalog of color psychology is the influence of cultural difference, both international and interpersonal. For example, in modern western cultures, red is the color of the devil. However, in the Middle Ages, the devil was often represented with yellow or green. Green is also believed to be very lucky in the Irish culture. I prefer the Blue Devil. We see that things can get mixed up pretty easily. For this reason, I’ll try to stick to the more universal interpretations, with the disclaimer that I am a male U.S. citizen living in the 21^st century.

Black: Black often symbolizes power or control. It’s widely regarded as a formal color (e.g. black-tie affairs). In contexts, it can mean mourning or death (funerals), or submission (priests). For our purposes, black is a weighty color that signifies power and commands respect.

White: White represents light, purity, and innocence. It is notably clean and light in weight. Other connotations include simplicity and reverence. Very much considered a summer color (via the “rule” don’t wear white after Labor Day), though it can also be very formal (especially when paired with black) as in weddings, or from the fact that the most common shirt worn with a suit/tuxedo is white.

Red: Red is likely the heaviest of the hues. Its color is very bold to the eye, though not necessary displeasing. A range of meanings include love, anger, fire, power, respect and leadership. One of the most noticeable colors, even a small amount of red is easily noticed. Photographers are rumored to carry red soda cans with them to add a flash of red to pictures. Studies have shown that red actually has a physical effect, increasing heart rate and breathing rate.

Blue: Blue is one of the most popular colors, both in and out of the fashion world. Important meanings include calm, cool, cold, confident, and loyalty. The last of these is an oft-cited reason to wear blue to job interviews. Blue can, however, be interpreted as cold (in a sad/emotional way), so we should be careful to ensure that enough energy is present in the color to avoid this (if we wish to avoid it, that is).

Yellow: We often think of yellow as a happy color, associated with sunlight and optimism. However, its hue is the most “annoying” to our visual system. This may be the reason that yellow is actually the color which makes people angriest. In general, this effect can be tempered by reducing how striking the yellow appears by choosing lower values and saturations.

Green: Conversely, green is the easiest color for the eye to accept, likely due to the abundance of it in nature. This color is associated with growth, relaxation, fertility, and vigor. Of course, we also know it can symbolize jealousy, though I think this is more figurative than literal.

Purple: Often symbolizes royalty, ergo, wealth and success. Can also refer to delicacy in light shades (high value), or sensuality in darker shades with high saturation. Given its relatively infrequent appearance in the natural world, which accounts for its connection to wealth and rarity, purple can also seem unnatural or artificial.

Orange: One of the least used colors, orange is a tempered red in terms of intensity from a purely physical perspective, but its rare use also makes it easily noticeable. Similar ties as red; anger, desire, fire, danger, autumn, earth. People often connect “brown” most closely to orange.

Brown: Element of the earth, related to nature, stability, simplicity and tradition, and dependability. A very nonoffensive color, making it a common safe choice for fashion, especially with men.

Pink: Despite being technically red, pink, which is just red with very high value, is viewed very differently. Often represents femininity, softness, spring, flowers. Emotionally can represent love, admiration or gratitude. A very peaceful color, unlike the powerful and sometimes angry “red.”

Gray: Often viewed as a lack of color like black, when in reality it is just a lack of saturation. Commonly, gray will actually be a red or a blue with very low saturation. The difference is noticeable in some cases if you hold up the gray to some red or blue items. Depending on the underlying color, there are additional “readings” of the gray, but in general it represents wisdom, respect, neutrality, formality, or balance. Also interpreted as dull or boring." - From the fashionablemathmetician

 

Retailing is the service business of selling products directly to the consumer.

 - Retailing is America's second largest industry, both in number of establishments and number of employees.
 - if the retailing is not effective, all levels of the soft goods pipeline are effected, because products are not sold.
 - To encourage sales, the presentation of items in the store must educate the consumer on how to wear and buy articles of clothing.

BASIC STEPS OF RETAILING

1. Planning the types and quantities of goods to sell
2. Buying the goods from suppliers (vendors)
3. Receiving the goods
4. Arranging the goods to sell
5. Selling the goods to consumers

FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF FASHION RETAIL

• Merchandising

• Financial Control

• Store Operations

• Personnel

• Sales Promotion

 

MAIN TYPES OF APPAREL RETAILERS

• General Merchandisers

 ie Sears

• Specialized Merchandisers

ie William Sonoma

Department Stores

• large scale general merchandisers, often with a variety of catagories and price points

Branch Stores

• branches off one main or "Flagship" store. i.e. Saks Fifth Avenue

Chain Stores

• Chains with no main store.  i.e. JC Penney

Discount Stores

 

• sell merchandise at lower than market level prices, i.e. Target, Walmart
 "Wheel of merchandising"
• frequently force down prices in conventional dept.  stores
• offer minimal services, minimal setting
• high volume buying and low profit margins reduce cost

Off-Price Discounters

• Focus on high fashion goods at reduced prices
• do not place advance orders, instead sell production overruns, surplus stock, discontinued items and seconds

Factory Outlets

• manufacturer owed and operated discount stores
• stocks overruns, cancelled orders and discontinued items
• sometimes located in malls in outlying areas so as not to compete with full price retailers selling the line

Warehouse Wholesale Clubs

 

• often 20-40 percent less than discount store prices
• volume sales
• membership fees
• bare-boned warehouse type buildings
• little customer service

Dollar Stores

• very low prices, excitement but limited stock

Specialty Stores

• carry large selections of limited classifications of merchandise - i.e. children's, maternity, books

Specialty Chains

Boutiques

 

• small, stand alone stores that sell unusual or few-of-a-kind items
• strong editorial presences and personalized customer service

Licensed Merchandise Stores

• sells branded items - sports teams, movie, industry i.e. Sports Authority, Disney Store

Airport Retailing

Non Store Retailers

Kiosks

Mail Order Retailing

• merchandise through catalogs (direct mail marketing)
• sometimes dual merchandising - both catalog and store  i.e. Victoria Secret

E-retailers

• exclusively online, i.e. Amazon

Telecommunications Retailing

• i.e. QVC, Home Shopping Network

Personal Selling

• i.e. Avon, Amway