This blog was published to let me share everything I have learnt through my research and experience associated working with lingerie brand and studying from, a fashion technology college in India, which will Lead towards every possible step of turning people into a smart consumer, whether it’s a teenage girl or independent woman or a mother of a child or a woman who is thriving and wants to live her life at best.
This article may not directly deal with lingerie, but it will surely help you to understand the nature of the retailers and retail store formats.
As lingerie comes under Garments, we can segregate the retail store into four terms.
May or may not have come across these terms as they have more than one name.
MBO- Multi Brand Outlet
EBO- Exclusive Brand Outlet
LFS- Large Format Store
Online- e-commerce store
Let me explain it to you.
MBO-
Multi-brand outlets are the shops at a local market where they sell different brands. For quite a time I and my mother visited such a store at our local markets, as they are the oldest format of retailers in India, now these shops can be founded in Malls too, the only difference will be how they display the products.
Example- local market shops mom and pop stores (family-owned independent business),
EBO-
This is the exclusive brand outlet where they sell all the merchandise of the same brand, we rarely find this type of store in local markets, they will be stationed at posh market areas or will be placed at shopping Malls.
Here, the business is either owned by the brand or someone who takes the franchise/partnerships from the brand.
Example- Enamor, Lasenze, Zivame, Mark&Spencer lingerie
LFS-
Large format stores have different names like departmental stores or supermarkets, but they are dealing with a large space or area where they sell their brand names, or have a partnership with different brand labels and sell merchandise in a particular area allocated.
And if the brand is an external party then it is the responsibility of that brand to display and make the visual merchandising of the products according to them so that the sales are good. And that store does not interfere with the OTB (open to buy).
Example- shopper stop, Lifestyle store, Pantaloons, Central.
Online-
E-commerce platform, this is the current boomed store where it is not present physically cloud space or server, you can surf those merchandise in an online platform or an app, where you choose the product virtually and place an order that reaches to your home after few days.
This can again be any retailer who wishes to sell their brand or have a partnership with different brands to sell their product on their virtual space (website or Mobile App)
Example- Myntra, Zivame, Nykaa, Amazon, Flipkart
There are other store formats like brand factory outlet common in India,
Where you get maximum discounted merchandise.
Let me now discuss their advantage and disadvantages of the mentioned retail stores model, this is my analysis so let me know if you get some points that you have experienced
Advantages and disadvantage
MBO
Advantages-
As they are in the local market, access to such shop is immediate and you buy what you need without getting many diversions from your plan if you are familiar with the shop you can be at ease while buying products especially lingerie as you don’t have to worry about the product quality as they already know your choices are. This type of shop has a lower margin rate but they want to sustain their business so they know the value of trust.
Disadvantages-
If you are not familiar with lingerie shopping to such a place this might not be a great idea as most of the shops will not display their product mostly, very few will be on display so you must know beforehand what you want and be very particular. Might not be comfortable to explain especially when the salesperson is male. Might end up buying product according to the shopkeeper’s choice.
EBO
Advantages-
They are very good with the visibility of products and almost everything will be on display which will make it easier to choose, the sales rep will be there to help you out and you will find these beautiful visual merchandising with good lights and ambiance. Some stores may offer you extra services and the trail rooms can be the best part. If you are a loyal brand customer this can be the best option for you.
Disadvantage-
You might not find these stores easily as they are exclusive stores and are limited in number might require to travel long before reaching a one, there is no option to see other brand products. There is no way of comparison, so you are limited to certain choices.
LFS
Advantages-
One stop and almost everything you want to buy.They give you different brands to compare and trail rooms to see what is the best option for you regarding style color and fit, they offer you much more options as well the provide you sale assistance when you don’t know what to buy this might be the best option for you
Disadvantages-
As they sell a huge number of merchandise with different brands you might get diverted from your real motive, you might end up spending way more than your budget and finally, you end up not buying the stuff you came for. There visual merchandising in such a way that you can get manipulated without knowing, and lingerie section are kept at the end of space or inside so that you have to travel the whole shop to reach there.
Online-
Advantages-
Nothing can beat the feeling of sitting home and surfing your favorite brands, especially when you don’t want to come out from your home, even when you have a too-busy schedule this can be a good option as these stores don’t get time, they can access anywhere anytime only requirement is the internet and the mobile phone or laptop tablets, pc. This Online market has seen a recent boom like never due to Covid, as the best way to avoid people to physical contact and going out of your home. It is like a blessing in these hours.
There are other advantages to retailers and brands. They can sell products at a low price with heavy discounts. There[P1] are a lot of ways to cut the cost of the product as they have reduced a lot of cost factors like floor area, salesperson cost, Visual merchandising cost, and many others.
Disadvantages-
The problem which I face most is the quality and not matching with the picture or the idea I have created in my mind. we have to wait a few days before the package arrives so if you need something immediately then this is not the place. Moreover, if you are a true shopper you will never be satisfied with buying experiences as it doesn’t have the whole process like planning to go out to the shop, the special treatment from the sales rep, or store manager, you can’t feel or touch the products before buying, can’t feel grandiose of the stores.
Hope the points that I have mentioned are something that my viewers and readers feel too, and if I am missing anything feel free to write me and discuss with me, as I believe true knowledge is when you share with others
