Posted: April 9th, 2015

Buying & Merchandising

Buying & Merchandising

Order Description

This individual assignment requires students to produce a 2,500-word investigative report comparing the bricks-and-mortar environments of, and the merchandising strategies employed by, two competing fashion retailers. Students may use the same store/retailer/business from assignment one – comparing relevant material with that obtained from an identified competitor – or can examine any two retailers operating at a similar market level.

As the practice of merchandising is concerned with transactions of products appropriate to the retailer’s target market, the goods stocked are determined not only by fashion trends but also by the type of customer the store caters to. Accordingly, students should mobilise academic theories regarding consumer behaviour alongside consideration of the clothing offer made by each the two outlets. In addition, the following aspects should be addressed: store layout, interior design and architecture, window displays, promotional imagery, atmospherics, product presentation and service culture.
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Further guidance

This should be presented in an essay-style format featuring:

Introduction: scene-setting for the reader – what does the essay do (compares two brands…etc). The historical information about the two brands selected should appear here. (c. 300 words)

Discussion: this is where you present your research findings, make your comparisons between the two brands and introduce theory into the discussion. This theoretical component may be constituted of ideas, concepts or models that featured in the lectures, listed as the directed readings in the handbook or have been identified during your own private study. Marks will be awarded, in equal part, based on the comprehensive of the material gathered, the persuasiveness of analysis and appropriate application of theory. You may find it useful to divide the discussion into sub-headings, each one addressing one of the categories suggested for examination, but this is not obligatory. If including images – whether integrated into the text or appended – these should be relevant to the topic and captioned. (c. 2,000 words)

Conclusion: Summing-up for the reader what it is that the essay has demonstrated – in broad terms not by repeating the detail of the main text (c. 200 words)

References: Harvard-style for all books, articles or websites mentioned in the essay

MC5014 Buying & Merchandising – Assignment 2

This individual assignment requires students to produce a 2,500-word investigative report comparing the bricks-and-mortar environments of, and the merchandising strategies employed by, two competing fashion retailers. Students may use the same store/retailer/business from assignment one – comparing relevant material with that obtained from an identified competitor – or can examine any two retailers operating at a similar market level.

As the practice of merchandising is concerned with transactions of products appropriate to the retailer’s target market, the goods stocked are determined not only by fashion trends but also by the type of customer the store caters to. Accordingly, students should mobilise academic theories regarding consumer behaviour alongside consideration of the clothing offer made by each the two outlets. In addition, the following aspects should be addressed: store layout, interior design and architecture, window displays, promotional imagery, atmospherics, product presentation and service culture.