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The UK high street retailer,
NEXT, which has now changed the logo to "next", opened the
flagship store in Omotesando, Tokyo.
The area is Tokyo's huge
designers brand market, and the fame has
grown biger and biger recently, coupled with new
flagship store opening of laxuary brands, such as Polo Ralph
Lauren, Burbery, as well as other impressing big names, such as
Louis Vuitton, Cristian Dior, and Dolce & Gabbana, which have
been existing for years.
Next has been in Japan for
almost 10 years but has not yet gained high consumers'
recognition on the brand
The company who has been in
charge of the NEXT brand is a sportwear and sporting goods
retailer,Xebio.
Although it takes the second
place in the market share of sportwear and sporting goods in
Japan, NEXT is their only one brand it carries. So it is hard to
say that Next UK chose a professional FASHION retailer to make a
business partnership when it came to Japan.
The flagship store stands
behind the mainstreet of Omotesando, which even looks as if Next
wanted to avoid fierce competition with other famous designers
brand.
However, it is not far from the
main station's way outs and other exciting places to visit, and
considering incredibly high leasing price in the area, it is not
bad place, as far as it can attract customers by their goods and
customers find it worth coming.
In coming to Omotesando,
competitive fashion mecca, they emphasized its UK or rather
"London" origin with union jack flag in the ads.
It seems that NEXT has been
inclined to follow the UK way, importing the whole store, which
means the Japanese branches also have a simmilar shop front and
in-store layouts.
Importing or buyeing very
british taste goods can be thriving in the different market,
as it means that it sells something which Japanese clothing
retailers do not deal in.
(However, it has to match
Japanese target cusomers' tastes. FCUK also has not hit the
market at all. Althouh the goods are very exciting and
outlandish here, they are too casual
and sexy, in other words more suitable for night clubbing,
while Japanese drinking and night out culture is completely
different even amongst young people; most people like to drink
where they dine and go home by the final train around the mid
night, i.e. they dont stay up OUTSIDE in general.)
NEXT's goods are relatively
conservative and not so cutting edge nor bringing the latest
fashion from London, compared to its counterparts, Top
shop, whose trial shop in Japan is located 10minte walk
away.
so it caused a littele bit
mismatch between what they carry at shop and the
exiciting London brand image they want to communicate with
new customers.
When you walk in the shop, you
will realise how identical their shop is to the UK one.
First of all, store layout and
environment have problems.
1. very few numbers of staff
attending customers. (even though the store size is small, they
hire only 1 staff per one floor in Saturday afternoon)
Most Japanese fashion retailers
employ the "personal selling" method, not self-service way
like retailers in the UK. So once you pop in the shop, you will
end up being chased by one shop assistant forever till you say
"im just browsing!".
So this NEXT way is very
unusual at least and some customers might feel they are being
ignored.
2. the UK style of product
displaying that only helps self service
first of all, Japanese people
like to shop at department store, where each store space is very
limited and therefore, each brand shop only carries a few sizes
at shop for presentation and customers will be asked to try
on their own size which is kept at and brought for try-on from
the department warehouse, what is so called "backyard".
on the other hand, UK high
street shop carries all the sizes available, on the shop floor,
and if any size is lacking, it means that the size has been
already sold out. customer learnt this though their experience,
so they don't have to bother shop staff. (Actually, when I just
moved to England, I asked shop assistant for my size, and she
headed to the rack, at which I just tried to find my
size a few sec ago and said "no we dont have it anymore", I
just thought "Dont be silly! I know it THERE, that's
why I asked you!"only in my mind. but after few times of the
same experience, I learnt that they are not there to be asked
this kind of thing... so what for are they
there? ops!)
if Next Japan follows the UK
way,
1- this only facilitates self
service, which will not satisfy Japanese
customers who are too much used to personal selling.
2- Rather, the store size
is limited, if you display each sizes available
for one product, the variations in the style,
design and colour will end up going so small.
This will definitetly make the
store look very boring as it does not optimise the floor
space.
Even if each style comes
in 4 sizes (6 to 12), do they have to display them all on
the floor. despite that they are all in the same
design and colour?
They can keep only
size 8 or 10 at store, which is equal to the Japanese Midium
size, and for the style with colour variation, display
one size in one clour (for example, for red, carry size 8
and yellow cary size 10), the nubmer of goods carried on the
floor will be at least tripled.
If a customer shows her
interst, then it is time for shop staff to tell her
"other sizes are available dont hesitate to try- on them!" --
this is what even GAP does in Japan!
-----------------------------------
Yet, NEXT products are not very
far from what Japanese customer wants, very conservetive but
still having some british taste as headings in
women's magagizin are always AGITATING "how to look
prettiest in the office (who cares!! it's office, just work!)" or
" how to look more elegant or look like a rich sophisticated
girl from a wealthy family in a blind date or a
matching party** (I dont want to be considered as a part of
them!!)"
So there might be someday that
NEXT wins the game
** a matching party means a
casual party organised by a friend for the others who are
seeking for thier dates, not the traditional one arranged by
their relatives or parents for their future husbands, that was
out of date decades ago!
This article is quoted from below:
http://yoko-soleil.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart&partqs=amonth%3d11%26ayear%3d2007
This article is quoted from below:
http://yoko-soleil.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart&partqs=amonth%3d11%26ayear%3d2007
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