Thursday, November 5, 2009, 10:54 PM
Fall 2009 Fashion Trends To Avoid
Double denim fashion trend: JUST SAY NO!
While we weren't kind on the douche-bag neck 2009/2010 is the first season it's been running an 'avoding this trend' section for; and with good cause. You see there's a lot of designers and celebrities trying to bring back history's greatest fashion crime: DOUBLE DENIM
-Kelly
10:16 PM
2009 Fall Clothing Trends
As the world slowly pulls itself out of an economic depression, the Fall 2009 season will largely define what 2010 fashion will look like. There are few key clothing trends:
*Over-the-knee boots / thigh-high boots*
over-the-knee boots are the MUST have item for fall 2009, but those daring enough will find the tops of their boots creeping up even higher with thigh-high boots also making it mainstream. From elegant suedes to darkly futuistic wound-and-bound leathers, the options are many and various.
*Capes, Capelets & Cloaks*
It's been quite some time since the cape has been a major fashion staple. In fall the cape, in it's various forms, will make it to major trend status as many big names of the fashion design world create their own unique revivals.
*Leather Clothing*
Perhaps you're wondering what's so new about leather, given the leather jacket has been such a wardrobe for the past few years? Well, the leather trend is extending far beyond just jackets and in to pretty much every other type of clothing.
-Kelly
9:39 PM
Tattoos
The other day I was glancing through magazines and I see a picture of Daria Werbowy and I think to myself, "What in the world is on her foot?" I take a better look and I notice that it's a tattoo. As a model, you'd think their skin should be flawless and clear with nothing on it, so it actually was a pretty big shock to me.
So I'm thinking, "Well Daria's one of those big famous models, she can get away with it and still not have it harm her career." Just to make sure that she's one of the few models with a tattoo, I check it up online and man was I wrong! I was surprised at how many models had tattoos; Freja Beha, Isabeli Fontana, Gisele Bundchen, Carolyn Murphy - there's just so many of them with them.
I find any girl with a permanent tattoo very brave to commit herself to having something on her skin forever. Just like I wouldn't put bumper stickers on my car, I would never want to decorate my skin in ink. Even if I wanted to express my love towards someone, like Nick Cannon did by putting a huge Mariah tattoo on his back, I still wouldn't have enough nerve to do it. Maybe that's because I was raised to think that it's bad, but I don't think it is really. I just like my skin the way it is. I
However, today I was reading an article in a magazine and it was about removing tattoos. There's actually experts that can remove them, but from the article, it seems like a difficult task. And extremely costly... it's not something you can do in one session. I'm glad that I haven't gotten a tattoo, but I think it really shows a lot about someone, and in many ways it's neat. Just not for me I guess.
--Muna Osman
9:34 PM
How high will you go ??
Known for his $800 haircuts that he
charges in his salon located in New York.
$200. $500. $800. These are all big dollars, but for what exactly? A dress? How about a pair of shoes? Oh wait, maybe a great bag! No. What I'm talking about is the price of a haircut.
The other day I went to a nearby salon for a cut, and I have to admit I'm frugal at times so the bill didn't even go to $20. (Yes, I know, I'm a cheapo!) Anyway, while researching about haircuts, I find out that the average price of one in America is $21. The most expensive cut I have ever gotten was about $80. And to me anything over $100 is pretty pricey which makes me wonder, what makes a person want to spend over hundreds of dollars on a haircut? Better yet, what pushes a salon to charge such expensive cuts?
Stylists battle about prices all the time, some low, some high. One of the fashion industry's most famous hairdressers, Orlando Pita, opened a salon in New York with haircuts for $800. He sticks by his price and explains, "My clients really care about their hair. Maybe they don't pay that kind of money for a pair of shoes or a bag. It's all relative to what we think is important." However, other stylists argue that anything over $500 is outrageous.
In my opinion, those that charge a lot are marketing their name and status which makes prices go up, but really the quality of the cut doesn't change that much when you are comparing expensive ones. As a client, I think you just take pride in who you got your hair cut by and how much you spent on it, which boosts your liking toward your cut. So if you have the money, why not? Many women spend hundreds on shoes that they only wear a few times, so what's the harm in getting a $600 haircut that will last you months?
I think each person has their own standards, so I feel that there's nothing wrong with sticking under $100 (like me) and I don't find an $800 haircut too outrageous either. As long as you feel comfortable in paying the price, I don't think there's anything bad about it, and hey, maybe one day I'll try Orlando Pita's cut out to see if it's really that great. (Well, I'm sure it'll be much much better than the one I got the other day!)
--Muna Osman
9:25 PM
Shifting to Thrifting
When the economy isn't at its best and jobs aren't easy to find, how does one go shopping and still be fashionable? The first thing that came to my mind was: thrifting! Although I don't go thrifting that much (I really just don't go shopping), I find thrift stores awfully cheap with some items that you could never find at a regular store. Plus you can find some designer items that are worth so much more than the price at thrift stores.
But what about all those other people that resent going to thrift stores? They always tell me, "Someone else has worn that," or "It's not new." Yes, someone else has probably worn the clothes sold at thrift stores, but what's so wrong with that? Or some find thrifting part of the lower class and hate the idea of bargain shopping.
I really wouldn't feel the pressure of going into a thrift store and I don't look over my shoulder to see if someone's watching. Nor do I feel guilty about buying something that I know I could have bought at full price. All I can say is that as long as the clothes are fashionable I don't mind going thrifting for it. Some of the most stylish people thrift, so why not? And this is for all those people that think they need to spend lots of money to look good: You really can't buy style!
--Muna Osman
Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 7:55 PM
shoes shoes and more shoes
Aside from all the clothes that we buy, shoes is an important part of an outfit. You can never have too many pairs of shoes. Every time you go buy shoes an outfit will always come into play when deciding which shoes you should buy.
Working in a shoe store is quite an interesting atmosphere compared to a clothing store. It is so much easier to sell clothes than shoes. Why? It's because there's more varieties of clothes and what you basically wear on your body becomes your fashion statement where as shoes are more like just accessories, you can wear the same shoes over and over again with different outfits that's why it's not really demanded as much as clothes are.
I've also noticed that animal print, suede and leather are this year's favourite style and material on shoes, when a customer walks into a shoe store those 3 styles are the ones that they notice immediately.
-Crizhel-
3:56 PM
SALE SALE SALE!
Who doesn't get all excited whenever they see the word "Sale"? I know I get all hyped up whenever I see that something is on sale. You see a big sign on the store window and for a split second your feet have somehow produced a brain of their own and next thing yenno, your feet are walking towards the store. We humans, can't help ourselves, sales are irresistible. It doesn't matter whether we need the sale item or not. It's about the fact that if you are buying the sale item, you are already saving money because the item is not it's regular price anymore. Impulse buying takes place, just because it's on sale we automically think that we should buy because if we wait, it might not be on sale anymore. But after a few hours of buying, we realize that we'd made a mistake and we want to return it back but because its on sale, its a "final sale."ain't that a sucker? yenno what they say,"think before you act."
- Mary Reyes
1:15 PM
merchandising : Face-outs
Next time you go into a store, take a look at the layout of the store. Notice that all the "hot and new" items are usually on a faceout. Face-outs are positioned at the very front so when customers are going in the store its the first thing that they see. Face-outs are meant to be on the spotlight. Clothes on faceouts are usually layered with additional items so that customers see the whole outfit rather than just one piece of clothing. The layering lures the customwer into buying the whole outfit. Needless to say, it is a very good stategy for upselling.- Mary Reyes
1:14 PM
Re: Customer Service
As Crizhel mentioned, customer service is one of the most important factors that decide whether a customer is going to buy merchandise or not.Most stores really try and get their employees to push their sales by adding on more and more merchandise towards the desired item. Retail stores have zones to which sales associates are assigned to. There are greeters so that customers are aware that they are people that will help them with whatever they need. The fitting room is also assigned to one or more sales associates so that most of the adding-on and selling-up is achieved. Sales associates have to compliment whatever item the customer is buying from their store.
Customer service is the key to increased sales. Without it, most customers would be dissatisfied with the store itself and it could possibly lead to lost customers in the future.
- Mary Reyes
1:04 PM
Different Kinds of Shoppers
There are 5 different kinds of shoppers: Loyal, Discount, Impulse, Need Based and Wandering Customers.
Loyal Customers: Makes up a minority in the shopping business. These shoppers are the ones that will spend a whole lot of cash in your business once you gain their loyalty. Developing loyal customers is a very important asset especially in a growing business. They will most likely shop at the store that have a good cutomer service and are always satisfied with the products being sold.
Discount Customers: These are the customers that will base what they buy on how low the markdowns are. They will most likely go straight to the sale section once they enter the store. They will look for those red tags and if they don't see it, they will most likely not buy it.
Impulse Customers: These customers go into a store not having a plan on what to buy. They act on impulse on what looks good, even when the price goes over their budget. They have the tendency to go into one store and must come out with at least one thing to satisfy their hunger for new and nice things.
Need Based Customers: These are the practical consumers. The opposite of an impulse shopper, they go into the store with a plan ahead of time before buying something. They only buy what they actually need.
Wandering Customers: Customers that just go into the store just for experience, they don't really have the need or want to buy something, they usually just walk around the store and look at the things they are selling.
-Crizhel-
10:04 AM
"Malling" is a new form of consumption trend where a variety of leisure and cultural activities can take place at one shopping mall as 'one-stop'. Malling has already become a common trend in other advance shopping culture such as the US, Japan, and Hong Kong.However, the malling trend has been recently popularized upon the launch of two massive shopping complexes consisting of department store, movie theaters, theme park and restaurants.
consumers these days are not solely fulfilled with a shopping place simply providing the act of shopping itself. They seek to fulfill their cultural desire at the same time. Large shopping complexes' success comes from grasping and meeting their demands.
-Kelly
9:26 AM
Product Trend - Increase in Sports Apparel
Increasing awareness of health and beauty has led to the popularity of indoor exercises such as yoga, pliates, kick boxing, aerobic, and latin dance. New products and clothing such as yoga mat/block, fit ball, rubber bands and yoga/dance outfits have been developed. Meanwhile, more childrens are taking part in sports classes. Thus, formely a traditional domain of males, sporting goods extended its clientele to include more females and children.
Crossovers of casual design and athletic design have become more evident. Young people now days wear athletic apparel and footware even though they are not doing exercise. Therefore, sporting goods companies such as Puma and Adidas joined hands with famous designers Jil Sander and Stella McCartney to introduce seperate lines of fashion sportwear to target the youth market.
-Kelly
Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 5:07 PM
Bargain Shopping
Bargain Shopping is a very common trend in the shopping world, many are looking for sales when it comes to shopping. When people sees buy one get the other half off, or buy one get one free, people are not going to pass this opportunity because they could buy lots of items for a cheap price. I think this is a very good marketing strategy because it helps with profitting huge numbers for stores and people don't mind paying large sum of money when they get lots in return. Also this helps highly expensive stores, I find that people go into highly expensive stores when it's has a discount of 50% or more off regular price items. Many people wants to buy from these stores but they are not going to pay 500 for some dress. What bargain shopping aslo helps stores to get rid of clothes that have been backstocked so that new materials could come in. In retail, many stores have clothes that didn't do well in sales so they backstock them, these backstock clothes are what goes on for sale. Many people don't complain when these clothes go on sale, they just buy them. Bargain shopping is the way to go when you didn't make enough on that one pay cheque, with bargain shopping you can buy as many products for a cheap price.
-----Narvie-----
Monday, November 2, 2009, 9:21 PM
customer service.
Have you ever walked into a store where none a single person that worked there acknowledges your presence?
Where you have to go in the store and find them and be the one to approach them first?
Now what is customer service? “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation."
I think customer service is a very important part in a company, especially when you want to increase revenue. A salesperson can easily influence the buyer to buy their products with the right approach and techniques.
Good customer service consists of:
- Greeting the customers once they enter the store or when you spot them right away.
- Ask if they need any help or if there's anything in particular they're looking for.
- Ensure them that they have your full attention.
- Check on them from time to time if they need anything else
- Start a conversation with them.
- Make them feel welcome.
- Thank them for coming buy to your store.
- Crizhel-
Sunday, November 1, 2009, 10:18 AM
Knockoffs
The above pictures shows a knockoff of a top designers work. The top row of the picture is a cheap knock off while the bottom is the original. Can you see how these article of clothing don't vary in designs. While the knockoff store is benefitting from making sales at a lower cost, the orignal store designers are losing the money they could have been making if their designs weren't stole and profitted at a lower cost. Why is it that knockoffs are become more popular in the fashion industry? One suggests that it is because people who aren't like the rich and famous are demanding for it. Who could afford the originals these days when designers are selling a pair of jeans at $300. Knockoffs are becoming so popular that some says that it's hard to tell the original from the fake. Though it's wrong to copy to steal, many cheap stores are benefitting from original designers. Some people would say it's wrong and they won't support it but you have others who don't care. They don't care because they could afford these cheap prices and they believe they aren't hurting the original designers. One has to understand that it took these original designers hours and hours to come up with these designs. Isn't it better to do your own material then to copy off another's work, more people would appreciate it more if it's a original then a copied version.----Narvie-----
Sunday, October 25, 2009, 7:52 PM
Rihanna: Fashion Sense Becomes Her
R & B singer Rihanna, who recently graced the stage at the American Music Awards with her sophisticated fashion sense and cute bob haircut, revealed in an interview with Seventeen Magazine that it doesn't take as much planning as one would think to look that good. "Well, I love playing with fashion. I'm very spontaneous - the best outfits from me come from not thinking about it. When I was growing up in Barbados, I actually learned about fashion from reading magazines and tearing out stuff that I thought was hot." The pop star,Rihanna, who released her third album "Good Girl Gone Bad" this past summer, is featured in Seventeen's December 2007/January 2008 issue. When getting ready for the red carpet, it's all about having fun for Rihanna. "I always turn the music on. I just blast it. And it's always fun when my girlfriends are around! You do each other's makeup and each other's hair, and you help each other pick out clothes. That's the fun part. It's more fun getting ready than actually being at the party."
--Muna
Thursday, October 22, 2009, 3:44 PM
Shopping Tips :)
Shopping with mother is quite an amazing experience. We don't just walk around, try things on and say, "Oh, that looks nice" to one another. No, no, no. It is strangely efficient, fuelled by intutition and coffee, and everything is dissected, analyzed, pored over - from the shop display to the sales assistants, from the clothing construction to the way the garment looks on.
* DON'T JUST BUY IT BECAUSE IT FITSJust because you can slide those jeans over your hips does not mean you should own them. When looking at clothing, always take your bldy shape into account. Why would you want to make yourself look bad just so you can be "in fashion". Look in the mirror and assess your image before buying ANYTHING :D
*LISTEN TO THE SALES ASSISTANT AT YOUR PERILIt is just like when choosing a hairstylist or manicurist, sometimes it pays to judge a book by its cover. A hairstylist with mile of roots and split ends are not who you want to touch your tresses. Similarly, a girl who looks like she just crawled out of a dumpster is probably not going to be able to assist you much when it comes to putting an outfit together, judging the size of a pair of pants etc. Definitely be open to suggestion, but if you're not sure, do not buy it. You can always come back later :D
- Kelly
Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 8:35 PM
Clothing Price Comparison
Do you ever go into a store, look at the clotehs and you noticed that it looks like the same piece of article of clothing that you bought two stores down. You look at the price and noticed that this ons is cheaper that the one in the other store, this dissappoints you because it's exactly the same; same material and same style. Now you wish that you should have looked elsewhere instead of buying the one in your hand. This happens to most of us and we don't even realized that mostly every store that we go into sells the same things. Clothing stores studies each other when determining the price because they want you to shop at their store. Many people these days wants the lowest price possible and lowering the price on the same article of clothing one store has make consumers come to their store. Many peopel who are bargain shoppers do this. they compare prices before making a purchase, while there are some who go into a store and end up buying the thing in their hand without realizing that two stores is the same article at a lower price. If you want the lowest price possible then compare before buying, this will save you a couple of bucks for some coffee.-----Narvie------
Monday, October 19, 2009, 4:35 PM
Mystery Shopper: Someone hired by a company to pose as a customer in order to evaluate the quality of its service
These are paid shoppers that are hired by a certain company to do specific tasks to evaluate the quality of retail service without its employees knowing. They are trained to shop for products, ask questions to the employees and file complaints or if the staff is behaving in a certain way that may be inappropriate to the customers. They then provide feedback and evaluation on customer service, the store set-up, the cleanliness, how long it takes for someone to greet the mystery shopper and many other things.
You can register online to be a mystery shopper and receive payment for this work.
Company's do this to test the knowledge and service skills of their employees.
Learn more about mystery shopping at http://www.mysteryshoppingcanada.com/
- Crizhel -
Sunday, October 18, 2009, 10:56 PM
Retail Sales Rise
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100802521.html?hpid=topnews
The above link is an article about how people in the US are spending more even though there is a recession going on. Some reported that in same-store sales there has been a 0.1% increase from the previous year. Many are attributing this to the Labour Day Sale that happened in September. The reason for this is because of back to school sale and many stores were offering high discounts on many of items. Many analysts are wondering why many people are spending even though the unemployment is high, salaries are being cut or still frozen for some. Analysts are saying that retail spending is making its comeback this season. Discount stores like Target has increased by 0.5% in September while in July it decreased to 4.1% and in August a 1% drop.
---------Narvie--------
Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 7:34 PM
Online Shopping
Recently, the online shopping world has grown to more 43% from the previous year and a hundred million more are expected to join this craze. The busiest day for online shopping is Monday due to people going back to work and having that high speed internet connection.
According to a survey by National Retail Association an estimated 61 million people will shop online.
The downside for shopping online is that you don't know if it's a secure site, and studies shown that 40% of people that shop online have gotten their identities stolen, and some can just be a scam and some items take a whole month before you get what you ordered. The good part, you don't have to wait in a long line, the items are easily attainable and the stuff they sell online might not be available in stores near you.
Before shopping online, make sure the site from where you're ordering is credible and safe.
Happy online shopping :)
- Crizhel -
Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 2:26 PM
Wow! It's colorful!
This is good. The only thing that I don't see is how the title of your blog relates to the posts that you have so far.Friday, October 9, 2009, 4:25 PM
What complels a shopping addict to buy?
What compels a shopping addict to buy?
What forces a shopping addict to buy? This video talks about the factors that cause shopping addicts to buy.The speaker talks about how addicts do not really crave for the objects that they choose to buy. The thrill and the process of shopping is what addicts are looking for. Shopping is like a drug to shopping addict. They do not think of the exchange between the object and the money that they spend but rather just the process of shopping itself. Shopping addicts generally see the process of shopping an escapre to what they are feeling; if they're in a bad mood, then they will shop so the feeling goes away.
Mary
4:04 PM
Return and exchange Policy
Return and exchange policy
In-store credit is another method of exchanging. When a customer returns a merchandise, they can get either a giftcard or store credit that can only be used in the store that they bought the merchandise from. It's a good business for the company, but customers are unsatisfied with such policy.
As customers, we should be able to make our own choices especially when it comes to our own money.
- Mary Reyes
3:11 PM
Shopping Trends
Shopping trends is the biggest marketing deploy to happen in the shopping world. If a store knows what is in right now then they'll have the advantage of outselling the competetion. Since everyone wants what the other person is wearing then the company will be able to sell more stuff because they have the advantage of having the trend/clothes first. Company leaders are smart because they look through fashion magazines and go to runway shows, this allows them to get inspiration on what they should do for their line and they'll be the first to get it to the customers who are always looking for the new styles.List of trends:
Biker Jackets
Acid Wash Jeans
Shoulder Pads
Layers
--------Narvie-------
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