Background: With continuous developments of AI and digitalisation, the fashion industry has transformed remarkably. In Sweden, as a large fashion export, these technological developments have reshaped various aspects of the industry. The digital shift has also contributed to the customer journey’s complexity. The significance of using AI and understanding the customer journey, both has a growing relevance as they are experiencing changes. However, there is limited research on AI’s influence on the customer journey among fashion retailers. Hence, this study highlights the research gap in how fashion retailers can leverage AI technologies in this context.  Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore how retailers in the Swedish fashion industry can leverage AI to influence the customer journey, from a managerial perspective. Furthermore, to explore Swedish fashion retailers’ perceptions of future possibilities for AI and its influence on the customer journey.        Method: This study is based on a qualitative method with an inductive approach, by combining literature review with six semi-structured interviews of Swedish fashion retailers. It adopts an interpretivist paradigm to ensure quality and depth of the collected data.  Conclusion: The results show that AI is primarily used online and in the prepurchase stage of the customer journey. Implementation of AI tools vary between fashion retailers in Sweden, including tools like targeted advertising. The research presents that fashion retailers have mainly implemented AI tools internally and not directly towards customers. The results highlight factors, like the maturity level of AI, as important for current and future implementations of AI as a fashion retailer. Moreover, Swedish fashion retailers recognise AI’s potential for future implementations to influence the customer journey, especially regarding personalisation and customisation.

The gamification trend has gained tremendous prominence during the last couple of years in many areas of the business environment. Thanks to advancements in technology, there has been a shift in how organisations market their products. Marketing practitioners are analysing the benefits and potential downsides of implementing game-like, interactive and engaging elements in their marketing. This thesis explores the gamification in a marketing context and applies it to brand loyalty in order to find a potential relationship between the two factors. Gamification can be seen as a new phenomenon, but the term has been prominent for a few years and has gained greater attraction with the rapid advancement of technologies in day-to-day life. By investigating areas such as value- creation, engagement, attitude, behaviour, willingness to pay more, word of mouth, and repurchase intentions, the following research question was created:  How does gamification impact brand loyalty in the fashion industry?  Through an extensive literature review by connecting theories and data, a conceptual framework to analyse the relationship between gamification and brand loyalty was created. This conceptual framework works as a tool for readers and practitioners to understand the potential effects of gamification on brand loyalty. Data was collected through a quantitative method where a questionnaire distributed. The questionnaire was built through a hypothetical scenario, where the respondents followed a hypothetical purchase journey, which included game-like elements.  The findings of the research indicate that gamification has a positive impact on brand loyalty in the fashion industry. The respondents answered and reported a higher level of engagement, satisfaction, and willingness to pay more and recommend the brand when the game-like elements are introduced. Indicating that practitioners and marketers should invest more time and resources in strategies related to gamification to increase brand loyalty.  This thesis contributes to the growing trend of gamification and brand loyalty and analyses how individuals act and engage in the further development of game-like and engaging elements. With the help and combination of theoretical frames of departure, previous knowledge through literature, and findings provided by this research, the conclusion is that there is a need for implementing and facilitating resources in gamification. Further research on the effects of gamification is recommended to better understand the short- and long-term effects the new trends might have on the fashion industry as well as other industries.

Loyalty programs are something that have made an appearance in the retail industry, where the retail industries have rewards that can give loyalty for consumers to engage and create long term relationships. With the loyalty programs there is an uncertainty on how Gen Z consumers will engage and keep using these rewards. With this thesis the authors want to investigate how the Gen Z consumers can be more engaged in the loyalty rewards in the fast fashion retailers in Sweden. Where the authors will examine various aspects that will improve the engagement mechanics and rewards for the Gen Z consumers. There will also be a look at how social media influenced the Gen Z consumers on their decision making. Gen Z is targeted in this thesis because they are one of the segmentation groups that are most active in the loyalty programs and fast fashion. The empirical data was collected through individual semi structured consumer interviews, where the data was collected on how Gen Z understands and uses loyalty programs. With the data collected it will be analysed through a thematic approach where themes have been identified to understand perspectives and experiences. The collected empirical data will be analysed using theory where differences and similarities are discussed throughout the thesis.  The conclusion of this thesis has shown that in order to improve loyalty rewards and engage Gen Z consumers, fast-fashion retailers should focus more on four different factors. According to the findings, Gen Z consumers value convenience, personalization, saving money and quality when it comes to loyalty rewards. Although, while the thesis does give insights to Gen Z behaviour and factors influencing it, it does not give a complete solution to how fast-fashion retailers in Sweden should respond to this behaviour. However, this thesis does provide valuable insights for retailers in the fast-fashion sector in Sweden and how they can increase loyalty reward engagement among Gen Z consumers.

Over the last decade, loyalty programs have been emerging more and more and the demand for better offers in exchange for loyalty has been increasing given the rising prices throughout the society. With this, an evolution is required in how brands should design their loyalty programs to retain their customers as well as to attract new customers in fast fashion retailing. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how loyalty programs can be strategically designed to strengthen brand loyalty with Gen Z by examining various aspects such as program structure, rewards and engagement mechanisms. This is because Gen Z is one of the demographic groups most active in the use of loyalty programs and fast fashion. Empirical data was obtained through individual semi-structured consumer interviews, to collect data on how Gen Z perceives and uses loyalty programs. The collected data was analyzed through a thematic approach where different themes were identified to explore experiences and perspectives. Furthermore, the collected empirical data is analyzed using theory where similarities and differences are discussed. The conclusion of this thesis showed that in order to develop brand loyalty among Gen Z using loyalty programs, developers should put a strong focus on the financial benefits included in the programs. However, many of the interviewees preferred personalized offers and rewards shaped by their personal data. The thesis did not provide specific answers on how loyalty programs should be designed, however that they should be tailored to the customer using them and that brands should make use of the customer data they collect.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T19:30:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anthoula Fyskatoris.pdf: 81083710 bytes, checksum: b4e5d552f36a58b7de9cdc28fa9182ff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-27 / Considering the lack of historiographical studies on the fashion retail, the more competitive sector with a growing importance in the Brazilian economy, and also recognizing the significant progress in the purchasing power of low-income classes once in recent years, the increasing consumption potential of emerging classes has sustained the economic expansion in Brazil -, this study aims to demonstrate that historically the retail sector has not been immune to the potential consumption of the low-income population. Either by the expansion of commercial areas, either by changing the retailing format, either by offering new and more affordable products, they tried to meet this growing demand. Thanks to the major fashion retailers, the street commercial points, the planned commercial centers such as malls, our research intended to reflect on the more democratic fashion offers, particularly products for women's clothing. This way, the retailing policies and strategies that approach the broader layers of the population have been revealed. Thus, the second half of the twentieth century was highlighted in the research. Also, by examining the retailing formats, sales techniques, products marketed, points of sale, and advertising campaigns, our work intended to demonstrate that the retail sector envisioned the social inequality inherent in the development of the country and found ways to meet the successive demands of low-income consumers. In this sense, there are questions intrinsic to this study: how the low-income population has access to fashion products? Has the insertion of the low-income consumption been made by means of sales policies? Or by means of financing options? How do prices become more affordable? Which changes have been promoted in products and retail outlets? Is there a popular aesthetic? What was the role of advertising in encouraging the consumption of fashion? It is possible to perceive that the democratization of fashion in Sao Paulo reflects the peculiarities of social and economic life of its in habitants / Tendo em vista a carência de estudos historiográficos sobre o Varejo de Moda, setor dos mais competitivos e de importância crescente na economia brasileira e reconhecendo os expressivos avanços no poder aquisitivo das classes de menor renda nos últimos anos, o crescente potencial de consumo das classes emergentes tem sustentado a expansão econômica no Brasil , este estudo tem por objetivo evidenciar que historicamente o varejo não ficou imune ao potencial de consumo da população de baixa renda e seja pela ampliação das áreas comerciais, seja pela alteração dos formatos varejistas, seja pela oferta de novos produtos com preços mais acessíveis, procurou atender a essa crescente demanda. Por meio dos grandes varejistas de moda, dos polos comerciais de ruas e dos centros comerciais planejados, como os shopping centers, pretende refletir sobre a oferta mais democrática da moda, particularmente os produtos de vestuário feminino, revelando as políticas e estratégias varejistas que vão ao encontro de camadas mais amplas da população. Assim, a segunda metade do século XX mereceu destaque na pesquisa. Igualmente, examinando os formatos varejistas, as técnicas de vendas, os produtos comercializados, os pontos de venda, as campanhas publicitárias propõe desvelar que o varejo visualizou a desigualdade social inerente ao desenvolvimento do País e encontrou meios de atender à sucessiva demanda dos consumidores de baixa renda. Nesse sentido, são indagações intrínsecas a este estudo: Como a população de baixo poder aquisitivo teve acesso aos produtos de moda? A inserção do consumo de baixa renda deu-se por meio de políticas de vendas? De opções de financiamento? De que forma os preços se tornaram mais acessíveis? Que alterações foram promovidas nos produtos e nos pontos de venda? Há uma estética popular? Qual a participação da publicidade no incentivo ao consumo da moda? É possível perceber que a democratização da moda em São Paulo traduz as singularidades da vida econômica e social dos paulistanos

The purpose with the thesis is to identify, analyze and present the problems micro companies in the Swedish fashion and sport industry are facing when using social media as a communication tool in their marketing activities. Also relevant digital communication channels have been investigated and presented. Two case studies have been made with two Swedish micro companies in order to fulfill our purpose and answer our two research questions. The result from the interviews showed that micro companies, overall in the industry, could benefit from using social media as a communication channel, but they struggle to know how they should use it. We answer our research question through creating and presenting our own constructed model that companies should use in their business for planning their social media strategy and overcome the found problems. The thesis is a qualitative research with an abducted approach. We did an active research with a case study on the two companies Kask of Sweden and Gococo. Through deep interviews, we got much information about how they work today and what problems they face when using social media. We have worked with four themes during the entire process; present, relationship, problems and future, to facilitate for the reader and for us. The study has high reability for the investigated companies, and we also argue that it could be of interest for other fashion and sport micro companies at the Swedish market. An theoretical framework was conducted through researching the specific area and finding relevant theory and published material concerning marketing and communicaton, as well as digital marketing theory and publications about social media. The chosen material is presented in the theory chapter where an own constructed model is presented as a guideline for the reader. It will help the reader to find the theories and their elations to each other. We believe it to be a good way of ease the understanding and the relevance of the chosen theories. The research shows that micro companies in the Swedish fashion sport industry faces different problems using social media as a communication platform for their company. Thus micro companies often have a very limited amount of resources and neither have the money, the knowledge or the time to manage a large marketing and communication social media can be beneficial if used properly. Though it comes with a few struggles. The main problems concerned around knowing who their real customer is, how to handle the relationship and create stronger connections with customers, difficulties in knowing which channels to use and how to handle them properly. They also found problems in knowing what how to communicate the right image and get the desired result of the published materials. Lastly the companies sometimes lacked a clear strategy in managing their social media platforms and raised questions about the language use, time consumption and who should run the activates. With our ”Four step-from likes to commitment” model we want to put attention to the most relevant steps a company needs to be aware of before starting and during working with social media, as well as be a strategy to handle and overcome the problems the previously struggled with. / Program: Textilt management, fashion management

This study investigates the supply, distribution and use of haberdashery wares in England in the late sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with especial reference to the paired counties of Cumbria and Lancashire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, Hampshire and West Sussex. A brief comparison is also made with London. Through examination of documentary evidence and extant examples, it aims to set the provision and use of haberdashery for dress into the context of the Early Modern period, and challenges widely held assumptions concerning the availability of wares through the country. The purpose of the argument is firstly to demonstrate that haberdashery, being both a necessity and a luxury, was an important, and historically traceable, part of traded goods in the early modern period, and secondly, with particular reference to the response of retailers to changing needs and demands, to show that the widescale availability of haberdashery for use in dress made it significant in the expression of personal identity and appearance for individuals of all social strata, while its manufacture and distribution provided employment for considerable numbers of people.

In today's competitive business, information technology (IT) is undoubtedly an irreplaceable part of the business. Introducing different types of IT within companies is almost always proceed in a project form. Today, there are well-developed strategies, models and tools for a project manager to use for IT projects, but in spite of that, previous research points to a relatively high error rate. But what do you really mean by a successful and failed IT project? In fact, specific IT projects are often limited to being assessed and followed up only against three parameters: time, budget and results, but fail to follow up on the expected business benefit that may affect the impact targets (impact targets are the objectives that specify the effect of the project expected to give). If the follow-up is not implemented, an uncertainty is created and the expected effects that IT projects will generate are lost.   Another factor in the problem of previous research in IT projects has been found in the perspective of the user. Those who run and manage IT projects must take into account the user's real IT system challenges to optimize the usage. Looking at the specific ease of use of system implementation, the existing literature indicates that it is the biggest challenge in IT projects. Users can resist using the system, which can cause more problems than that the IT project's performance goals are not achieved. Many reasons and factors for failed IT projects are not yet identified.   The purpose of the study is to identify success factors and obstacles to the effective deployment and use of a new product management system within Fashion Retail. The study has been conducted as a qualitative study where a Fashion Retail Company was studied. The Company is considered relevant to the study as they currently carry out one of the largest IT investments in recent years. The Company will introduce a new product management system for two different concepts. The study results in three concrete success factors as well as an identified area where obstacles arise.   Three success factors: • The project management strategy Practical Project Management (PPS) Parallel with a change-friendly climate, creates an optimistic view of the introduction of the Product Management System, as well as releasing time to the project manager to eliminate any obstacles along the way. • Having users of the Product Management System in most phases through IT projects enhances and optimizes user-friendliness. • Let the supplier be seen and treated as a participant in the projects, it can free up time and improving communication between customer and supplier.  Area of Obstacles: An important but out-priority activity in IT projects (mostly due to lack of time) is to follow up and learn between projects as project managers. Here you lose important information and knowledge. How to identify success if follow-up does not happen? In an industry like Fashion Retail, characterized by major seasonal variations, high availability and external factors such as environmental and social responsibility, you depend on IT to share the information. If follow-up is more frequent and carefully, IT projects can be streamlined on time, but also economically with routines and the right actors.

Background: A sustainable economy becomes more and more important for most parts of the society. Especially the fashion industry is being criticized for wasting resources and being non-sustainable. Therefore, some textile producers started to implement programs that are aiming on a reuse of garments. Aims of research: The purpose of this research is to discover how customers can be motivated to return unwanted garments, also considering possible hindering factors. To gather this information it is necessary to build a theoretical framework with customer-based theories. The thesis explored how a second hand multi-brand retailer can take active action in encouraging customers to return unwanted textiles. Method: This research was conducted as an inductive qualitative research. The data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with several second hand retailers. The analysis was carried out following the Giogia method. Results: The thesis revealed that the garment disposal behavior is affected by various influences. Influences on the disposal behavior of garment consumers are personal values and believes. The dispose of unwanted garments is often influenced by an ease of handling and the same behavior is followed over the years simply because individuals are used to a certain garment disposal behavior. The largest hindering factors why customers do not return garments to retailers are caused by a lack of information as well as insufficient transparency. This behavior can be affected by second hand retailers by providing improved communication and a motivation to return garments by offering benefits for the customer. The size of the company does not play a major role.

Background – Circular economy (CE) is gaining more and more importance in research, based on the great desire to change the linear fashion economy to a circular. A Product Service System (PSS) can contribute to the achievement of CE, as PSSs, such as take-back or repair services, bring back the garments to the fashion retail company into the CE. Regarding, closed-loop goals have been created from which the third goal needs to be recently achieved by the fashion industry. Closed-Loop Goal 3 deals with the cascading flow of garments, which sends a garment into multiple usage loops. To accomplish the cascading garment flow, this method connects several PSSs to close the loop, and fewer garments end in landfill. To achieve that, the involvement of customers and business partners is essential as they are purchasing and repatriating garments and materials into the cascading loops. Purpose – The research purpose is to offer new knowledge regarding how fashion retailers can implement cascading loop systems in the textile Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) and narrow the research gap of cascading loop creations. The study aims to investigate how to involve customers and business partners in PSSs through the digitalisation of cascading garment flow. By doing so, the cascading garment flow intends to achieve improved sustainable performance by allowing used garments to enter a cascading garment flow system.  Methodology – This thesis is a single case study that has been conducted through an abductive approach. The research is built on different customer and business partner involvement theories and the triple bottom line theory. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted as primary data collection. Additionally, the data has been supplemented by secondary data in the form of company documents such as sustainability reports. Afterwards, the data has been analysed qualitatively by thematic analysis and by the SDG assessment tool.  Findings – The results have shown that a mixture of smart service tools, stakeholder and customer communication can achieve customers and business partners' involvement in creating a cascading garment flow. Additionally, the findings offer an insight into the potential contribution of the SDG goal achievement, which is showing that the digitalised PSSs involving customers and business partners in the cascading flow can potentially obtain sustainable performance.  Practical implications & Research limitations – The cascading garment flow as the Closed Loop Goal 3 in CE is still a relatively unexplored area. However, the implementation is essential for sustainable performance and development. Therefore, it is suggested that other issues within the cascading garment flow should be investigated. Additionally, this research was mainly districted by the smaller selection of literature of former research, which did not offer much support.