Bcom 214 Research Proposal

Clothing Item Prediction for 2020 Kyle Ruan YLC

The clothing industry is a continually changing landscape, so it is important to predict the next big thing before competitors do. This report serves to better understand the clothing industry and identify a clothing item that will succeed in the clothing market in 2020. The document is organized by style, target markets, message to customers, seasons, and competitors. Style A casual women’s shift dress is an item that will surely succeed in the future. Not only is it elegant, but it is also very comfortable and perfect for warm weather. These dresses do not fit tight around the waist, allowing a full range of motion and maximum comfort. In addition, shift dresses come in all colors and patterns, catering to women who enjoy florals and stripes as well as women who just want a plain blue dress. Shift dresses extend down to the lower thigh area, which provides coverage while still looking trendy. The company will offer three variations: full sleeves, sleeveless, and frill cap sleeves. The sun dresses will be made of a lightweight cotton. A size 8-12 dress will require 2.75 meters by 1.15 meters of fabric. Sleeves will require an addition 0.5 meters of fabric. Target Markets While most people may believe that shift dresses are only worn by young women such as college students, the company should market the item toward a much broader age range: 1535. Over the past decade or so, teenage girls have shown a trend of wearing clothing with more and more exposure (Pilcher, 2010). Shift dresses are a good alternative for these adolescences to obtain their desired look in a safe manner. The most important demographic is college students, from ages 18 to 23. With social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat being used so heavily among college students, it is essential for women to look stylish in all of their posts. Young Adults have the highest social media adoption rates, exceeding hundreds of millions of users in some cases (Alhabash, 2017). The last demographic is the millennials, ages 23-35. Especially with the tech boom in cities all across the country, women straight out of college work hard, live in high-class areas, and still want to look good. According to Cosmopolitan magazine, millennials are also the easiest to market to because they spend the most money (Keely, 2018). Another target audience that YLC should market toward is plus-sized women. The unique style and shape of shift dresses give women with thick waists a more flattering look as the dress skims the body and gives a slimming illusion. About 66% of women are considered overweight, meaning they have a BMI score between 25 and 29.9 (Kanesarajah, 2018). Message to Customers The best way to get the message to potential customers is through social media advertisements. Social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook will all be very useful in reaching the targeted audience. Users spend more than 700 billion minutes per month in total on Facebook (Alhabash, 2018). Also, 60% of female college students gain product information on Facebook. This is a huge group of potential customers, and that is not even including Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. When including the advertisements done on

these other social media platforms, the company’s message can reach so many people who perhaps have never even heard of shift dresses. For example, a man who is looking to buy a gift for his fiancée may come across the advertisement and decide to purchase it.

This chart shows the number of users that use each social media platform, with Youtube leading the way and Facebook and Twitter close behind. Seasons Shift dresses will be marketed primarily for the summer because it is a dress for warm weather. There are places in the United States that are warm year-round like Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San Antonio, so it provides a good balance between selling year-round and specifically in the summer. YLC should increase advertising in places like these when it is not summer. In addition, YLC’s target selling period coincides with back-to-school shopping, which in 2018 hit a 10 year high 5.6% increase in sales. As Women’s Wear Daily states, “After many years of outsized growth in tech, spending is starting to migrate back to apparel, with more of a balanced picture between the two sectors (Hopkins, 2018).” Because shift dresses are made for the summer and many people are looking to buy clothes during the months of July and August, it works perfectly. It is essentially free marketing for the company. Competitors The company’s main competitors are Lulu Lemon, Charlotte Russe, and Old Navy. Currently Lulu Lemon and Charlotte Russe’s shift dresses are very popular, but they are very expensive and above market price. Old Navy’s shift dresses are also somewhat popular, but the quality is not subpar and they are selling below market price. Because the shift dress market currently only has a couple of big brands, YLC can be a price taker and set its own price, somewhere between that of Lulu Lemon’s and Old Navy’s (Hirth, 2018). If YLC can set a price point somewhere in the middle while still maintaining a high quality product, the company will have the competitive edge.

Summary Based on the clothing trends, YLC should choose to sell shift dresses in 2020. With the targeted audience of ages 15-35 and the free marketing done by back-to-school shopping, shift dresses will surely be a success. In addition, the market for shift dresses is practically wide open because there are so few competitors. YLC should make the right decision and sell shift dresses.

Keeley, A. (2018). Cosmo editor urges travel to target millennials. Travel Weekly (UK), (2450), 14–15. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?di rect=true&db=bsu&AN=133121865&site=ehost-live Pilcher, J. (2010). What not to wear? Girls, clothing and ‘showing’ the body. Children & Society, 24(6), 461-470. Alhabash, S., & Ma, M. (2017). A tale of four platforms: motivations and uses of facebook, twitter, instagram, and snapchat among college students?. Social Media+ Society, 3(1), 2056305117691544. Kanesarajah, J., Waller, M., Mishra, G. D., & Whitty, J. A. (2018). Physical activity and body mass shape quality of life trajectories in mid‐age women. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 42(4), 403–409. https://doiorg.ezproxy3.library.arizona.edu/10.1111/1753-6405.12802 Hopkins, K. (2018). Clothing retailers enjoy strong back-to-school spending. WWD: Women’s Wear Daily, 19. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?di rect=true&db=bsu&AN=131835175&site=ehost-live Hirth, H., & Walther, M. (2018). Strategic effects between price-takers and non-pricetakers. B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, 18(2), N.PAG. Alhabash, S., Mundel, J., & Hussain, S. A. (2017). Social media advertising. Digital Advertising: Theory and Research, 285.