This thesis focuses on product design change in the fast fashion market and its impact on supplier companies. Theorizing from the relationship between product design and suppliers within an overarching framework of the supply chain and product design literatures, the research develops what impact product design changes have on supplier companies and how those changes connect to the performance of supplier companies. The multiple case study draws on interview data with 20 participants from a famous high-street fashion retailer and eight of its suppliers. This research validates that product design changes in the fast fashion market have physical and non-physical impacts across supplier company departments, and shows that these impacts connect significantly to the performance of supplier companies. This research contributes to the supply chain and product design literatures by providing an understanding of how product design changes create chain-like-effects, both internally and externally to supplier companies. This can catalyse supplier company strategy, which mitigates product design change to avoid this chain-like-effect. Practically, this thesis offers guidance for retailers and suppliers in creating solutions for the problems that they encounter during the product design change process by revealing the cause and effect relationship of product design changes and supplier companies. The results are currently limited to the fashion industry, and they are yet to be generalised to other buyer-driven commodity chains. Future research should focus on best practices for management to deal with the impact of product design change and in consideration in other industries.

The concept of "customer perceived value" has been evolving as an essential area within the marketing discipline for decades. Knowing what shapes consumer perception towards a product or service is vital for businesses (Sweeney and Soutar, 2001), especially for fashion products whose trends are ever-changing. Nevertheless, in the technology era, fashion consumers tend to use the spectrum of media platforms to search for information, to compare prices and exchange experiences amongst a common group. According to McKinsey and Company (2014), up to 35% of fashion consumers rely on online recommendations prior to making a purchasing decision. Given the challenges in this area of business, the aim of this study is to develop the multidimensional scale to measure consumer social media involvement. The measurement scale has been tested in the conceptual models by investigating the moderating effect of social media involvement influencing the relationships of customer perceived value and purchasing intention. The proposed scale is also examined within the customer perceived value dimensions against the key consequences. Moreover, the concept of brand love is incorporated within this study. Sometimes, people purchase brand not product itself and brand love construct is recently new concept and limited studies investigated into this area. Therefore, this study focuses on the moderating effect of social media involvement and brand love towards customer perceived value and purchasing intention for fast-fashion products. A quantitative research method was undertaken to collect research data. The self administered questionnaires were completed by Thai consumers at three particular department stores located in central Bangkok. The data analysis was then performed based on the returned, completed questionnaires of 630 respondents. Both exploratory and confirmatory analysis techniques were used to validate the measurement scale of the study. Structural equation modelling was conducted to test the hypotheses of both direct and indirect relationships. The quantitative results show customer perceived value from multiple dimensions (social, emotional, price and quality) towards fast fashion products. It was found that there is a direct causal relationship between the customer perceived value and purchasing intention, influenced by the level of social media involvement and brand love. An individual who has a high level of social media involvement and brand love tends to perceive a greater consumption experience which lead to preceding the positive outcomes. Therefore, fashion retailers should consider these dimensions and maintain a favourable relationship to enhance the consumer perception experience. Moreover, utilising the advantages from social media to connect with customers should not be neglected. However, the results showed that not all dimensions were found to have a positive effect on consumer purchasing intention towards fast fashion products equally; hence, the fashion marketers should deliberately evaluate each dimension of desired customer perceived value prior to applying a particular strategic plan. Moreover, the findings of this study are of the greatest importance to consumer behaviour especially in the area of involvement by extending the further knowledge. Social media involvement measurement scale has been developed from the limitation of exising studies by incorporated multi-facet dimensions (affective, cognitive and behavioural involvement) in the way to capture the complex nature of involvement variables. Furthermore, the model framework demonstrated the motive force behind behavioural intention by investigating the moderating role of social media involvement and brand love within the fast fashion products.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Date: 2008 May 28</p><p>Course: Master Thesis</p><p>Authors: Ka Yu Seto and Olena Zastezhko</p><p>Tutor: Carl Thunman</p><p>Title: How can the Japanese specialty retailers of private-label apparel (SPAs) go into the German fast fashion market?</p><p>Introduction:</p><p>Japan is one of the largest and most sophisticated clothing markets in the world, and its fashion designs and products quality enjoy high reputation from world-wide. Because of keen competition in the domestic market, fashion retail chains find it necessary to search for new markets Asia’s potential has been already extensively exploited for decades. Thus, in order to further expand, Europe should be considered for the next step in nternationalization. Germany seems to be a good choice, since it has huge population, large market value and is located in the centre of Europe. There has been a number of studies published about foreign retailers entering Japan, however, only few researches consider moves of the Japanese retailers to other countries, to Asia in particular. In order to fill in the information gap the current study was conducted. It focuses on investigating the German menswear and womenswear markets from the perspective of potential for the Japanese SPAs.</p><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose of the thesis is to describe German apparel market and to examine how the Japanese SPAs can enter it. The research is limited to the German menswear and womenswear markets, which target men and women aged 15 and above. Finally, the research is aimed at providing recommendations for the Japanese SPAs regarding planning marketing strategies when entering the German market.</p><p>Method:</p><p>Primary: The primary data was received through conducting three semi-structured interviews with experts in fashion industry in Germany, who can give professional overview of the German fashion market. The aim was to obtain the latest information related to the fashion market conditions, consumers’ expectations and their purchasing habits, as well as factors that are not covered by the previous studies, but are crucial for the current research.</p><p>Secondary: The secondary data was collected mostly via Internet; however a number of printed publications was used as well. Market reports by such marketing agencies as CBI, Datamonitor, ACNielson and Euromonitor became the basis for the research. Other scientific sources were retrieved through electronic databases such as ABI/ Inform, EBSCO, Emerald, ELIN@Mälardalen, Google and Google Scholar. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management and books Fashion Marketing: Contemporary Issues (Hines & Bruce, 2007) and Fashion Design (Jones, 2005) provided latest insights into current trends in fashion marketing, as well as introduced main concepts of the studied area.</p><p>Theoretical Model:</p><p>Existing studies contribute a lot to identifying crucial variables concerning fashion marketing. However, there is no available model that can fulfill the purpose of the current research. That is why a new model was developed in order to achieve the aim of the thesis. Since the purpose is to describe the German fast fashion market four factors influencing it were identified. They are categorized as follows: Market Environment in Germany, Competition, Activities in the Market and German Customers. Within each factor a set of variables was distinguished and analyzed. Market Environment in Germany factor covers macro and micro environments; Competition factor is analyzed in terms of positioning and branding of the major competitors; Activities in the Market factor discusses 4Ps and customer service; and German Customers factor reveals consumer behavior aspects as well as attitudes of Germans to branding and country of origin. German sizes are also covered within this factor. The created model helps identify market situaton the Japanese SPAs will face when entering the German fast fashion market.</p><p>Analysis and Conclusion:</p><p>The study revealed that though the German apparel market is highly competitive it is also an attractive one for apparel companies and there is a place for newcomers who can differentiate themselves from the majority. Since there exist some gaps in the market supply in terms of quality/price and fashion/quality ratios, those Japanese SPAs who will be able to cover these gaps can have good potential in the German fast fashion market. This means that those Japanese SPAs who can supply apparel of good quality, with fashionable designs, but at the same time at competitive prices can find favorable positions in the market. In addition, as new comers the Japanese SPAs need to ensure that they can satisfy quick response requirement which is crucial to the fast fashion industry, and this can become a challenge. Also, the research revealed that the German customers are brand conscious, thus it is important for the Japanese SPAs to build brand awareness and brand reputation among Germans. Moreover, the Japanese SPAs need to identify target segments which they can serve at their best. A set of recommendations provided in the thesis regarding marketing strategies shows how the German market conditions can be used for creating advantages for the Japanese SPAs.</p>

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vad som inom fast fashion har påverkat företagen på den internationella modemarknaden. Världen har förändrats och konsumenter ställer högre krav på modeföretag. Tiden blir en allt mer drivande faktor i och med att leverantörskedjor utvecklar kortare ledtider. Produktionsstrategin inom fast fashion företaget är i leverantörskedjan av stort fokus. Vi vill med denna uppsats skapa uppmärksamhet till det omtalade fenomenet som har tillkommit, fast fashion. Därför har leveranskedjan samt andra utvecklade strategier idag utvecklats eftersom det har en stor betydelse för att överleva som ett fast fashion företag i modeindustrin. Vi har under uppsatsens gång utgått ifrån de teorier som vi funnit vara relevanta inom ämnet för att kunna koppla den till empiri. Studien är därför utförd efter en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod med en abduktiv forskningsansats. Till stor del är uppsatsen baserad på sekundärdata, vi har här utgått ifrån fallstudie av Zara och H &amp; M. En anonym kvalitativ intervju med en anställd inom ett världskänt fast fashion företag är genomförd. Vi har sedan analyserat och framfört empirin emot den valda teorin för att finna samband och skillnader av de valda fast fashion företagen. Slutsatsen är att fast fashion begreppet står för effektivitet, flexibilitet och vetskapen om de rätta trenderna. Tiden, kommunikation och korta ledtider är viktiga faktorer som spelar en huvudroll inom fast fashion. Det visar sig att konsumenternas preferenser idag ändras på ett ögonblick, vilket är skapat av att fast fashion företag visat att det är möjligt att leverera det senaste modet på några få dagar. Slutsatsen visar att den viktigaste strategin inom fast fashion är att kunna reagera snabbt på modemarknadens efterfrågan.

Abstract Date: 2008 May 28 Course: Master Thesis Authors: Ka Yu Seto and Olena Zastezhko Tutor: Carl Thunman Title: How can the Japanese specialty retailers of private-label apparel (SPAs) go into the German fast fashion market? Introduction: Japan is one of the largest and most sophisticated clothing markets in the world, and its fashion designs and products quality enjoy high reputation from world-wide. Because of keen competition in the domestic market, fashion retail chains find it necessary to search for new markets Asia’s potential has been already extensively exploited for decades. Thus, in order to further expand, Europe should be considered for the next step in nternationalization. Germany seems to be a good choice, since it has huge population, large market value and is located in the centre of Europe. There has been a number of studies published about foreign retailers entering Japan, however, only few researches consider moves of the Japanese retailers to other countries, to Asia in particular. In order to fill in the information gap the current study was conducted. It focuses on investigating the German menswear and womenswear markets from the perspective of potential for the Japanese SPAs. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to describe German apparel market and to examine how the Japanese SPAs can enter it. The research is limited to the German menswear and womenswear markets, which target men and women aged 15 and above. Finally, the research is aimed at providing recommendations for the Japanese SPAs regarding planning marketing strategies when entering the German market. Method: Primary: The primary data was received through conducting three semi-structured interviews with experts in fashion industry in Germany, who can give professional overview of the German fashion market. The aim was to obtain the latest information related to the fashion market conditions, consumers’ expectations and their purchasing habits, as well as factors that are not covered by the previous studies, but are crucial for the current research. Secondary: The secondary data was collected mostly via Internet; however a number of printed publications was used as well. Market reports by such marketing agencies as CBI, Datamonitor, ACNielson and Euromonitor became the basis for the research. Other scientific sources were retrieved through electronic databases such as ABI/ Inform, EBSCO, Emerald, ELIN@Mälardalen, Google and Google Scholar. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management and books Fashion Marketing: Contemporary Issues (Hines &amp; Bruce, 2007) and Fashion Design (Jones, 2005) provided latest insights into current trends in fashion marketing, as well as introduced main concepts of the studied area. Theoretical Model: Existing studies contribute a lot to identifying crucial variables concerning fashion marketing. However, there is no available model that can fulfill the purpose of the current research. That is why a new model was developed in order to achieve the aim of the thesis. Since the purpose is to describe the German fast fashion market four factors influencing it were identified. They are categorized as follows: Market Environment in Germany, Competition, Activities in the Market and German Customers. Within each factor a set of variables was distinguished and analyzed. Market Environment in Germany factor covers macro and micro environments; Competition factor is analyzed in terms of positioning and branding of the major competitors; Activities in the Market factor discusses 4Ps and customer service; and German Customers factor reveals consumer behavior aspects as well as attitudes of Germans to branding and country of origin. German sizes are also covered within this factor. The created model helps identify market situaton the Japanese SPAs will face when entering the German fast fashion market. Analysis and Conclusion: The study revealed that though the German apparel market is highly competitive it is also an attractive one for apparel companies and there is a place for newcomers who can differentiate themselves from the majority. Since there exist some gaps in the market supply in terms of quality/price and fashion/quality ratios, those Japanese SPAs who will be able to cover these gaps can have good potential in the German fast fashion market. This means that those Japanese SPAs who can supply apparel of good quality, with fashionable designs, but at the same time at competitive prices can find favorable positions in the market. In addition, as new comers the Japanese SPAs need to ensure that they can satisfy quick response requirement which is crucial to the fast fashion industry, and this can become a challenge. Also, the research revealed that the German customers are brand conscious, thus it is important for the Japanese SPAs to build brand awareness and brand reputation among Germans. Moreover, the Japanese SPAs need to identify target segments which they can serve at their best. A set of recommendations provided in the thesis regarding marketing strategies shows how the German market conditions can be used for creating advantages for the Japanese SPAs.

This study shows that the supply chain management of a company                                    using the fast fashion strategy is where the company combines their traditional supply chain with the modern demand driven Quick Response and Agile supply chain. In theory so far fast fashion is described only in terms of demand driven supply chain management however according to this research the fast fashion strategy is shown to be applied by fashion companies characterized by a mix of the traditional and modern demand driven supply chain.

Fashion is one of the most profitable industry in the world, Sweden has been seen as a fashionable nation, thanks to the big fashion brands that consumed by most of the Swedish of all segment. Scandinavian fashionbrands which is analyzed on this thesis is H&amp;M, Kappahl, Ginatricot, Dressman, and JackJones. All of these fashionbrands are analyzed based on their marketing strategy, then compared to the result from the quitionaires about these brands. From the questionaires, it can be found which kind of marketing strategy profitable for their segment. The result of this research show that most of the company know much about their customers, they do the right thing especially with the product design. Sometime the companies do the unuseful marketing that's wasting money because the customers don't react on the desirable behaviour

Problem – The essential problem being analyzed in the research paper is the methods of improving supply chain flexibility under certain circumstances and constrains that are imposed on the company. Purpose - The paper aims at providing suggestions on improvement of supply chain flexibility for ICA AB (Clothing) based on comparative analysis on sub-case study of ZARA. The major part of analysis is based on investigation of the relationship between supply chain characteristics and firm performance of both companies that is crucial for finding out areas for improvements for ICA supply chain. Design, Methodology and Approach – The research is based on qualitative analytical approach using two basic case studies on Northern Europe’s leading retailer ICA AB and the largest international fashion retailers ZARA. The main idea of comparing these two retailers is that they have different supply chains in terms of its set up, responsiveness, postponement and level of flexibility. The main method of the research is comparative analysis of two supply chains based on literature review, personal interviews with companies’ representatives (Director of Logistics and Supply Chain Department, Supply Chain Manager – Operating and Category Manager Non-Food) and provided internal materials of the company. Frame of references – Based on various sources of literature concerning supply chain flexibility, enablers for flexibility management in global supply chain, value chain flexibility, manufacturing flexibility, comparison between flexibility and adaptability in supply chain and flexibility as a determinant of supplier selection. We, as researches, also included in the analysis how flexibility relates to company’s performance in the supply chain context. Research questions and Limitations – In order to solve the problem in the research there are certain questions to be answered and supported in empirical study. The first question is how the supply chain looks like for the same products (textile products) in two different companies in terms of its flexibility. The second question is connected to enablers of the supply chain flexibility improvement in specific business environment, namely retailing, after comparative analysis of the aforementioned supply chains. The research provides limited number of suggestions in certain supply chain aspects for ICA AB. As concrete case studies were analyzed, wider and broader range of solutions of increasing supply chain flexibility could not be provided. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the focus company has its own position in the market, strategy, mission, financial strength and available resources. Conclusion - The research paper includes the analytical review of theoretical base on supply chain flexibility and focuses on further understanding of it in textile industry. The paper provides suggestions on improvement of supply chain flexibility for fundamental case study of ICA AB (Clothing). These suggestions are given for improving the flexibility of supply chain in four areas after conducting the comparative analysis based on Model of Supply Chain characteristics and Firm Performance. The analysis was grounded on model modified by authors. While conducting the analysis the authors realized the necessity of dividing Firm Performance into two main types, such as Financial Performance and Non-Financial Performance. This can be considered as authors’ academic contribution and also has its practical implications. The comparative analysis was grounded on the main case of ICA AB and sub-case study of ZARA.

The term ¡§Fast Fashion¡¨ has been under the spotlight since the Zara Empire emerged. Zara is one of the clothing retailers under a Spanish textile design, manufacturing and distribution group, the Inditex Group. Zara accounts for 70 to 80 percent of Inditex¡¦s retail sales on average. The founder, Amancio Ortega, has become the richest man in Spain and also one of the world¡¦s richest people. Inditex has 3207 stores located in 63 countries all over the world up to the fiscal year 2005. Zara has made elite fashion accessible to the mass market and has decreased the lifetime of clothing by providing customers new clothes to pick out every five to six weeks. In other words, Zara has made trendy clothing become disposable stuff. Studies and the garment industry call this phenomenon-- ¡§Fast Fashion¡¨. This study aims at clearly defining ¡§Fast Fashion¡¨, and analyzing Zara¡¦s positioning strategy and business model. By analyzing Zara¡¦s unusual structure, this study comes to a conclusion that clothing retailers would need some resources and core capabilities to implement fast fashion positioning strategy. However, fast fashion positioning strategy is not necessarily a competitive advantage for every clothing retailer.

Med en allt mer mode och trend inriktad marknad där kortare ledtider efterfrågas för att kunna tillgodose sina konsumenter med mode inriktade och trend riktiga plagg i rätt tid och på rätt plats så har dagens klädmarknad utvecklats till en allt mer dynamisk affärsmiljö med ett snabbare affärsklimat. Denna marknad kan idag refereras som ”fast fashion” marknaden. Samtidigt som brand loyalty och återkommande konsumenter blir allt viktigare och viktigare i dagens affärsklimat så blir det i den allt mer dynamiska fast fashion marknaden allt svårare att upprätthålla lojaliteten bland konsumenterna. Mot denna bakgrund undersökte denna studie hur konsumenterna inom fast fashion marknaden agerar utifrån brand loyalty konceptet. För att genomföra denn ställdes följande forskningsfråga för att besvaras: Hur framstår konsumenters brand loyalty genom deras agerande och köpbeteende inom fast fashion marknaden?Studien använde sig av Aaker och hans modell rörande brand loyalty som teoretisk utgångspunkt för genomförandet av analysen av studiens empiriska material. Studiens metod utfördes med fem stycken semi strukturerande intervjuer med utvalda personer där alla respondenter var aktiva konsumenter inom fast fashion marknaden. Studiens slutsats fann att ett flertal konsumenter inom fast fashion marknaden var mindre lojala på grund utav att konsumenterna var benägna till att byta till ett annat varumärke om priset hade en bättre relevans till plaggets design och kvalité. / With an increasingly fashion and trend-oriented market, where short lead times are demanded to be able meet consumer’s expectations and demands of fashion oriented and trendy garments at the right time and in the right place. Today's clothing market has evolved increasingly towards a more dynamic business environment with a fast changing business climate. This market can today be referred to as the "fast fashion" market. While brand loyalty and recurring consumers are becoming more and more important in today's business environment, the dynamic fast fashion market have difficulties retaining the loyalty among their consumers. Based on this background, this study examines how consumers in the fast fashion market act based on the concept of brand loyalty. To carry out the study, the following research question have been answered:" What emerges consumers' behavior regarding brand loyalty within the fast fashion market?"The study used Aaker and his model on brand loyalty as a theoretical basis for the implementation of the analysis to the study's empirical material. The study's methodology is claiming five semi structuring interviews with selected persons where all respondents were active consumers in the fast fashion market. The conclusion of the study are that the majority of consumers in the fast fashion market were less loyal because consumers tend to switch brands if the price where relevant to the garments design and quality.