Behind the scenes with….

I get to catch up with one Topshop's most valued editors Karla Evans who tells us about her work behind the scene's…

Q:What is your role behind the scenes?

Karla Evans [Twitter.com]

A: My job title is Social Media Writer/Editor

Q:What does your job entail?

A:I'd write up the creative content across the website and other digital platforms. I'm also part of the editorial team where we all conjure up new ideas for features, blog posts and other social media networks. I can either be seen Tweeting, Instagraming backstage at events like London Fashion Week, interviewing our collaborators or writing out copies for emails.

Q:What is the best thing about your job?

A:I think it would have to be the constant changes of environment, i like a new scenery and change. Different projects is what excites me and is hat gets me excited and makes me happy about my job.

Q:How much effort and time does it take to run the different networking sites?

A:We are made up of a very big team, not just located here in the UK but in the New York headquarters too. It is a tough job, it's constant communicating with people back and forth in order to get the right thing published. I hardly ever work on the online website but mostly in charge of the Instagram and Blog. 
If we wanted to publish a look book post for example, it would have to go eight people before it was published online. Eight people who, write it, sub it, edit it, and design the perfect layout to appeal to our target market.

Q:Is your relationship with the customers less direct and more about engaging?

A:We like to engage more with our fan base, our focus is finding out what our target market wants to read and look at when they shop online or look for Look Book ideas. It's like being your handy pocket book right on your Smartphone or iPad, we are there at their every need to answer any questions on Twitter to creating the perfect look on Instagram to keeping up to date about us behind the scenes so you don't get to miss a thing on any of our exciting projects. 

Q:How do all the online platforms benefit the retailer?

A:Well, they are hold an important role for both Topshop and the customers. We like to know what our fan's are interested in seeing. If theres no contact or engagement with the customer, then i don't think our job is being done properly. We are interested in feedback so we can improve or update or networking sites.

Q:What are your views on the future of Topshop's social online platform?

A:So far I think we are doing very well via all our online networks. But i do believe there is always room for improvement. Our customer service is a key example, our aim is to always improve it, not everyone is happy with what they purchase or what they se, we have to be there to do what we can to help.

Online Shopping Q&A

A:Yes

Shopping online has a lot more to offer for me and it's more convenient. I'd rather be in the comfort of my own home browsing than travelling to the store having to walk around.

A:Yes

I hate shopping in stores, it's always a rush for me and i never seem to find what I'm looking for. It's always a safe option because they have more in stock and i can get it delivered to my door, hassle free. I love it.

A:No

I think shopping online is harder to do, they try to make the website more interactive so we can see the image clearer or in video but that just doesn't work for me. I prefer to feel the product, see it and be able to try it on.

A:No

I like to try on the product because not all sizes actually cater to everyones body shape. Shopping online only misleads me, i prefer to shop in store.

A:Yes

It's so convenient and comfortable. Everything i want is literally just a click away. I don't have to queue up or wait in line, i just click buy and the item is mine, instantly. 

Competitor Analysis Topshop V H&M V Primark

It is clear Topshop's key competitors are H&M and Primark. All three retailers have three things in common:

1. They target the same audience base in terms of style and age. 
2. They are all women apparel clothing stores
3. They determine to make the most sales.

However these stores have different ways of advertising and ways they use each of their social media channels to attract their target market. Social media and apps are an important communication channel and is a key operation to have as a retailer/company.

Topshop, being the most popular social media retailer out of the three, has a marketing and selling strategy in the way they attract their customers.

The social media team controls all the networks they have, Twitter, Instagram, Inside-Out (blog) and Facebook. 
Karla Evans is Topshop's Social Media Editor/writer from the editorial team and Topshop.com and explains her job role is "exciting" and "challenging".

It's evident when viewing Topshop's social media networks why they are so popular. It's not only a platform that they see to view their products and to sell but a way for them to befriend their audience. Topshop's aim is to be different from everyone else and engage with their followers. 
Their blog give's the audience a look into their Head Quarters, behind the scenes and gives daily tips on what to wear and how to wear it, what Topshop loves and how to create the perfect look. 

What the social media team is made up of?
It is split into a team of three, Marketing, Public Relations and Media Relations. All three deal with publicising the content, communicating with customers via Twitter and promoting the brand. 

*This graph indicates what the Social Media team consists of, the different sectors of the social media department and how much each sector makes up as part of the company.


Karla Evans commented:
"The social media platform is made up of so many different people, it's not just here in the UK, we all work together as a team from London to our editorial team in New York."

Behind the team's creation is the website Topshop.com which attracts and entice customers and if they cannot get enough of what they see, they read more about it via the blog or follow their Instagram to keep up with their latest feeds and recent styles. These social platforms are also ways in which Topshop advertise their clothing and their appearance's in every year's Fashion Week showcasing TopshopUNIQUE.
With more than 200 million followers it's no wonder why Topshop is so popular.



H&M too holds their own social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with their blog on the home page of their online website HM.com. They are undoubtedly still popular online via their social networking sites, however plans differently compared to Topshop. They market their clothes more than interacting with their customers. Social media Editor Sophia Diane Banoori explains, "The team makes a lot of effort in keeping all sources of networking detailed and up to date. We are very hardworking as a whole and aim to appeal to our target market".

*Strengths & Weaknesses of Competitors

From being online for just 4 years, H&M are building a good social media platform with trying to engage with their customers to dealing with their problems and being able to offer them a 24 hour service online via Twitter if need be.






Primark is the only retailer out of the three that doesn't offer an online shopping service but rather a website that showcase's their products which they have in store, their new collection on Primark.com . They do however have a page called Primania where Primark fans can upload their favourite "Primark Look" and show it off to the world. This is one way that they market to their customers, using Primark fans to promote their look to their audience to bring up their ratings and sales in stores.

*Strengths & Weaknesses of Competitors

They do offer social networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, however they don't perform as well as H&M and Topshop in terms of marketing. The networks aren't as popular and do lack a strategy. Though in terms of the company as, Primark has proven that it doesn't need an online website with the high sales and a 22% revenue jump from the previous year. 

Survey Results

When looking at how many people shop online and in these stores it's obvious who the retailers target and why.

*100 Total responses. 100% were submitted. 

*100 total responses. 100% were submitted.

Due to Primark's interactive only website, there were no responses to that particular retailer.

*100 total responses. 100% were submitted.

It's obvious that all three retailers appeal to people of ages 16+. Most of the people that were asked were students.

Topshop seems to be the most popular retailer throughout my research than the other two. I subjected to only asking females as all three retailers shop cater to mainly female customers. It was evident in my research that most of the people that answered this survey were students. The three retailers appeal to the student market more than the non-students. This is due to the student deals and discounts that are offered, giving them a chance to spend and save.

HM & Primark's Online Profile

H&M

H&M's online profile isn't as strong as Topshop's. They both may have the same social media networks but in terms of popularity Topshop wins the online war.

The online website is easy to navigate and use, however purchasing the content and the delivery service has always been an issue for H&M customers.
H&M online has been a growing investment for the retailer since it launched back in November 2010. Their online sales have been an area that the company wishes to improve, as the sales mostly wreck in from the highstreet stores.

The H&M store owned by the Persson family, wish to expand their online operations but however are struggling with meeting their targets with the countries they currently exist in. The Swedish company's e-store is already present in these current locations, Sweden, UK, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria and USA. However the sales do not reflect upon the stores.

It was said in the Financial Times by H&M's Chief executive Mr Karl-Johan Persson, that the companies forward investments may affect their budget as the online sales have recently decreased.
"Mr Perrson said H&M planned to open four new online operations this year; in France, Spain, Italy and China. Taking into account investment in stores and online expansion, he said that operating profit would have increased 14 per cent rather than 9 per cent. H&M does not break out the number for it's online operations but it's operating margin fell slightly over the period, from 11 per cent to 10.6 per cent".

This statement describes the company's current opine state. It seems as if the company performs better on the high street rather than online.

Why is this?
H&M is a retailer that have mostly focused on pleasing the customer physically rather that digitally, their online presence is still a work in progress. The company currently has more than 2.900 stores in 48 countries and have reported to making sales £2,992.16 in the financial year of 2013. However their online sales for the last financial year dropped by 6 per cent making the highstreet perform better in sales. 

H&M continue to focus on the retail market side of their company rather than the online operating functions, which reflects in their sales growth. 

How much do they profit from online sales?
In the recent year the company has seen an increase in sales and profit rising by 13%. In terms of their operating (Online and social networking sites) profit, H&M are slowly rising in sales. From the recent drop of 0.7 per cent, the company rose from £3,130 to £3,401 million, slowly climbing it's way back up. 

With the companies upcoming online expansions around the world H&M should hopefully soon see a healthier profit in the next financial quarter. 

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PRIMARK
Primark is a private listed retailer known by selling clothes at a low budget price, with other clothing retailers such as Topshop and H&M is it's competitors on the highstreet. However, Primark does not operate an online shopping and delivery service but a website showcasing it's products in store more effectively making it more interactive for the customer fan base. 

"Primark relies on low costs, economies of scale and efficient distribution to maintain its competitive market position." (http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/primark/#axzz2xMXk4GtZ) - About Primark.
Being a low budget retailer, Primark has the issue of facing the price of the delivery cost V the cost of the item which depicts its "Look Good Pay Less" slogan by the increase of the item making the customers value more.

With Primark making it onto the online retailer ASOS, showed a good indication of the retailers financial strength in the market and popular reputation. Although Primark has been very successful in its previous financial years with highstreet sales up at £4,273m in revenue which was 22% ahead in their previous year. However, the retailer operating online only lasted a few weeks; Primark's Finance Director, Jason Bason commented "Primark has avoided selling online because its budget pricing means that handling returns and deliveries could make the operation unprofitable. Bason said that Primark was focusing on store expansion instead." (http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/fashion-news/design/asos-to-stop-selling-primark-2013091118486) - Fashion United. Through my research i suspect that the company were battling the cost of delivery against their item which contradicted their Low value concept and seeing as their performance was so high in stores, the company are better off selling on the highstreet stores.

During their online operation on ASOS, Primark's sales jumped to 22 per cent making their online sales £1.6m in profit for the company online.

Topshop Online Profile

Topshop.com launched its online profile in 2000, as well as its social media pages Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the blog Inside-Out.
Topshop have made their online website extremely easy to navigate, therefore encourages more people to shop online. Everything is pretty much available online apart from the vintage collection, which only features in the Oxford Circus store making, shopping online with this brand entirely hassle free. International customers can also shop online free by selecting the country they wish their goods to be delivered to. This shows how Topshop is expanding their target market around the world. This shows the popularity and excellence of the British brand and creates a higher sustainability. This could then lead to future plans of the store opening up new stores around the world as Topshop will already have a customer base and popularity in sold locations sue to shipping orders internationally. 

It's obvious how successful Topshop has become as a company to this present day and their figures have shown that for the past years. Online is a big part of the brand, as well as the store online is just as important. 

From the launch in 2000 Topshop's online profit has been growing and the profit has been increasing.

Topshop Store

Topshop Online

How many customers are buying online?

Customer's are attracted to how the clothes are presented online, and how they can view the item they wish to purchase. They use their social media sites to attract customers and increase online sales. Topshop attract most of their audience by using bloggers to promote their most popular clothes. For example they would publish a popular Topshop fan blogger on their website or blog showing off their most popular or newest items. The audience or fans would view the post and would want to re-create the look, giving them a direct link to the website to buy the popular item. 

How much profit does Topshop make from online sales?

Topshop has been one of the highest and most profitable retailers in the past few years and most of its popularity is owed to it's online profile. Topshop play a wealthy part in the Arcadia group, being one of the strongest brands along with Topman. 

The store online has seen an increase of sales and profit of 15 million sales within the UK and internationally. The company saw a 3.5% profit bringing the company up from £172.74 million from 166.90 million in the previous year.

What are they doing?

With their strong online platform and strong store sales, Topshop are able to use to money to invest in bigger things. Sir Phillip Green comments that Topshop along with Topman now have clear strategies and this is a time for the brands to get better and become "Major global players".

  

Why H&M, Topshop & Primark?

These three retailers were chosen specifically because of the many differences they hold in how they market and advertise their brand. All these retailers aim to target fashionable customers from the ages of 16-25. 


However I've decided to focus on how their online performance, how they're growing as three separate retails and whether or not online is a benefit to their company or a struggle that’s a work in process.


I’ve chosen Topshop as my main focus area as it is one of the biggest retailers that is doing well online and on the high street. Topshop is part of the Arcadia business group that consists of different brands such as, BHS, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Outfit and Wallis.  Topshop claims it has the fastest growing social media page compared to most brands worldwide and the biggest high street retailer following online. Following its successful social media pages, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and their blog Inside-Out. All these pages are viewed and followed each day by millions of fans that are interested in the latest Topshop trends and fashion. 


H&M is my second interest purely because it's just as successful as Topshop, however online is still a work in progress. With their website that launched only four years ago, H&M's focus is more on the high street than their social media content and their online website. Through my recent research I discovered that H&M customers are more likely to shop in-store rather than online because of various reasons such as, poor delivery service, poor customer care service and false advertisement. It is seen to be a lot more difficult to shop online for H&M than Topshop.


Primark is my other interest as one of Topshop and H&M's rivals or competitors. Primark appeals to the same audience but lacks the same online profile, as it's two competitors. They have an online website, that showcases products more efficiently making it more interactive but they can’t be bought. Their online presence seems to be the weakest out of the two, which is why I’ve decided to research into why Primark hasn't expanded their online presence and what is stopping them from creating a shopping website.


I will research on each of the retailer’s different social media pages:


-What makes them successful online

-Why do people prefer shopping online and what draws their attention

-How many people shop online

-Each of the retailer’s online presence 

-How each of them try to create the perfect shopping experience 

-Online sales v high street sales

-Role of the social media - Who controls their online presence.