Retail Marketing Practices of Designer Fashion Studios in Ludhiana City
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Date
2022
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
The present research work was conducted to study the retail marketing practices of
designer fashion studios in Ludhiana city. The study was conducted in various fashion studios
located in Ludhiana. From thirty five randomly selected fashion studios, 15 were further
selected for studying their retail marketing practices through case study method. For this an
interview schedule was prepared to collect data from the managers and sales staff of each
studio regarding planogram, retail and marketing strategies and customer facilities offered by
them. The results of the investigation were interpreted using percentages and mean score. The
results revealed that the designer fashion studios were owned by designers out of which, 46%
were females and 40% were males and 14% percent were couples and majority of them were
graduates. Most of the studios used collaborative method of customisation followed by deep
assortment strategy. Also, the products were displayed on the basis of product type. The store
layout followed by majority of the studios was herringbone and the interior of the studio
included fixtures such as display racks and mannequins whereas the colour scheme followed
by most of them was complementary. The lights used were mostly ambient followed by
functional props, and outdoor signages. The unique selling point for the studios was quality of
the products and well maintained store environment. Also 80 percent of the studios followed
visual merchandising and the frequency of changing the display was after every 15 days and
was mostly managed by designers themselves. The results also showed that most of them
spent less than Rs 5000 per month on marketing. The factors that were considered important
for promotion of a product were fluctuating consumer’s preferences, consistent marketing and
messaging and online marketing being more effective as well as less expensive. Also, various
factors such as dynamic nature of retailing, customer oriented marketing etc. were considered
important. The raw material was sourced by majority of them from wholesalers, mostly from
local markets. The inventory control was done manually by most of the studios and 20 % of
them only faced stock shortage due to variability in demand. Also, the stock was replenished
as and when required. Most of them had in-house activities for various processes and few of
them outsourced some of the activities. Most of them used Instagram to update their
collections and content on daily basis. Very few studios had their own website to update and
sell their merchandise online. Only one of them had augmented reality feature installed in the
studio. Majority of them provided sales staff training whenever required and it was mostly
given by designers themselves. Many customer facilities were also provided by the studios
like free parking, trial rooms and rest rooms. The customer feedback was taken on feedback
booklet. On the basis of the findings, some improvements have been suggested for the studios
to enhance their retailing and marketing skills in order to boost their business and attract more
customers.
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Citation
Narula, Tanisha (2022) Retail Marketing Practices of Designer Fashion Studios in Ludhiana City (Unpublished M.Sc. thesis). Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.