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The future of fashion retail

by Petra Mücke , 13.08.2015

The continued rise of online shopping and the consequential sales decline on the high street demand a fundamental rethink and new, visionary shop concepts. German fashion retailers are responding to the changing situation on the basis of trial and error. This has resulted in the spontaneous emergence of new shop concepts such as pop-ups, stores with multimedia game platforms or fascinating architecture and much more besides. The success factors of these concepts have not yet been explored.

What needs do consumers actually have? What demands are they placing on fashion retailers? What are the pioneering trends and requirements? Which shop concepts are emerging for German fashion retailers as a result?

The core question in the current situation is: Which innovative concepts can fashion retailers use to successfully position themselves in this retail landscape in future?

To answer these questions, GfK Fashion & Lifestyle conducted a study on behalf of the GfK Verein focusing on the following topic: Future Fashion Retail: relevant consumer trends and shop concepts for the future of in-store fashion retail. This involved developing visionary fashion trends and shop concepts for the future of high street fashion retail in collaboration with 17 trend scouts. The shop concepts and approaches to consumer behavior were subsequently evaluated by consumers in workshops and then quantified in a GfK Textile Panel survey (16,800 respondents). The Future Fashion Retail study is the most comprehensive survey that has ever been carried out on this topic. The results show that eight distinct consumer types are currently shaping the fashion market in Germany. These consumer types have been classified in such a precise way that they could be used to define individual, pioneering concepts that are relevant for the fashion industry.

Based on the study and our “Market opportunities & innovation” research tools, we can create future-oriented, viable shop concepts for your fashion retail company. Read the first preliminary results from the “Future Fashion Retail” study.

For more information please contact Petra Muecke at petra.muecke@gfk.com.