Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

I would start by figuring out what clothing retailers benefited from the recession, and what retailers experienced a downturn. Basically, get what numbers you can for every clothing retailer in the UK. Perhaps you can then categorize the retailers based on some value. This would then give you an idea of how you can segment - whether a single company or a group of companies.

I suspect you will find the lower price, high value chains benefited, where other higher priced chains did not. If this is so, this could be the segmentation you do.

It's pretty broad to say "clothing retailer" because no one just markets clothes anymore. Most everyone has multiple categories like watches, shoes and accessories.

And, there are different categories of retailers. The category is key. Some luxury brands have done well. Many have not. Overall, everyone has taken a hit but how have they been affected?

You could focus on the few bright spots but it's a gross distortion to look at the bright spots. Retailers who've sailed along for years, closed up completely or trimmed the fat or halted expansion plans. But to stop bankruptcy or failure, what did those successful retailers do? That's a good question.

You've stated the topic as though it's an either/or choice. What if it's both? For some it's a downturn (or worse), while for others it has been a real and valuable opportunity.

I would pick just a few major clothing retailers -- 2 or 3 perhaps -- and look at how they each responded to the economic challenge and how it worked out for them.

I don't think you want to start with a hypothesis that it's one or the other (i.e., either downturn or opportunity). Start instead by looking at how a few retailers dealt with the situation, and how it worked out for them.