challenges of apparel retail

There are many problems and challenges that retailers face in the fashion industry today. These can range from trying to figure out retailing strategies and distributors, to deciding initially what type of retailing that company want to have. A few of the types of retailers include department stores, specialty stores, warehouse retailers, supermarkets, or discount retailers. As you can imagine, a lot of challenges have to be overcome for the retailer to be successful!

According to the textbook The Business of Fashion: Designing, Manifacturing, and Marketing, retailing can be defined as "a business activity of selling goods or services to the final consumer". This means that retail has a lot of components to it since it has to appeal to the consumer, and there are many different types of potential buyers. The retailer has to target certain groups of people and every season needs to be up to the consumer's standards if they want the items to be bought.

The distribution process is also important for retailers, and plays a key role in the process of selling to the consumer. Quick Response, supply chain management strategies, and product lifecycle management are a few of these components. They tie the company and the retailers together, and provide the success that they each require. If any part of this process goes wrong, then the outcome with be problematic and the results could be disastrous.