Comparative V Directional Shop

Comparative Shopping

Buyers usually carryout regular Comparative Shop reports (aka Comp. Shop) in order to understand and keep up-to-date with the competition as well as allowing you to spot opportunities, which perhaps your competitors have failed to explore or your company is missing itself.

The first step is identifying who exactly your competitors are. In order to achieve this you will have to examine your own brand by looking at the type of products sold, price range and target consumer; these will be some of the main similarities you share with competitors. There may also be other factors needed to be considered depending on the type of business and what your feel is an important element to consider.

As an example, below is a table with five competitive department stores in the UK retail market place as a simple demonstration of their likeness to one another.

	Product	Price Range	Target Age Group
Primark	Men, women, children and baby clothing, lingerie and home ware.	Low	Under 35 years
BHS	Men, women, children and baby clothing, lingerie. Home ware, electrical and wedding.	Medium	30-50 years
Marks & Spencer	Men, women, children and baby clothing, lingerie. Home ware, electrical and food.	Medium	25-50 years
Debenhams	Men, women, children and baby clothing, lingerie. Home ware, beauty, electrical and wedding.	Medium	35-55 years
John Lewis	Men, women, children and baby clothing. Home ware. Beauty, electrical, sport and leisure.	High	30-50 years

The table above is just a simple example highlighting the main common issues between competitors. Between these particular brands we can see the product range and age group of the target consumer is what seems to connect these department stores.

When it comes to creating your Comparative report, you will begin examining competitor’s current merchandise as well as inspecting the price ranges of the specific products you are looking at, which will give a better insight into the cost your competitors are charging consumers. Noting the price of certain products will be used within the report along side of sketches, fabrics and colours. This process will also help to identify any particular trends and styles your own brand may be missing.

Once the final Comparative Shopping report is completed an analysis will need to follow, underlining your findings, and it is during that this stage that you can make note of the products that are lacking in your own brand. A conclusion of how competitors merchandise compares with both other competitors and your own brand will also be added to the final analysis.

Directional Shopping

Directional shopping consists of trips taken to gain design and concept inspiration. Depending on a company’s travel budget and the type of merchandise being sourced, buyers will visit cities such as London, Paris, Milan and New York to search for upcoming trends. These visits are usually pre-planned to utilise the time and deciding which areas of the cities will be the most effective area to look within.

 This job can be very exciting, but also tiring, as buyers absorb all the information and make notes regarding key colours, fabrics, shapes and details from opening times till closing. Visiting stores around the city is commonplace, where buyers will continually spend there days searching and referencing findings until and key trend theme begins to show. Once this is achieved, and strong key trends begin to formulate, buyers will purchase key products which best demonstrate the final trends found.