Burns (2011) found that SME’s generate around 59.2% of employment within the UK. However, these statistics show that 73.9% of all firms in the UK had no employees which indicates they are very small businesses. Within the European Union small and medium enterprises represent 90% of all business (Europa, 2015). In the UK 's private sector SME 's accounted for 99.3% of the 5.2 million private sector business and 15.6 million employees were SME’s. (FSB, 2015). SME’s in 2014 had a combined annual turnover of £1.6 trillion. (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2014).
Online clothes retailing is defiantly on the increase. According to Fashion united (2014) more than 16% of SME’s in the UK are planning to launch into actual stores in 2014. In addition to this another 15% of SME retailers have planned to expand using marketplaces such as EBay and Amazon (Fashion united, 2014). According to Mintel (2015) the online clothing market is expected to increase by 14.5% and reach £10.7 billion in 2015.
Figure 1: Online as a percentage of total spending on clothing and accessories, 2013-15 (Mintel)
2.3 Competition within the …show more content…
A key factor which is likely to affect the success of the business is gaining an insight into the market and potential competition. Investigating the target market and ensuring up to date knowledge of the newest trends is critical in the success of online clothing retailers. (Legge and Hindle, 2004). To increase chances of success, as on online clothing retailer you will need to understand customer’s needs and expectations. In order to do this market segments should be examined and you should evaluate competitors marketing methods, gain an insight into their products and identify any possible benefits your product has over the other competitors (Lorette,
Online clothes retailing is defiantly on the increase. According to Fashion united (2014) more than 16% of SME’s in the UK are planning to launch into actual stores in 2014. In addition to this another 15% of SME retailers have planned to expand using marketplaces such as EBay and Amazon (Fashion united, 2014). According to Mintel (2015) the online clothing market is expected to increase by 14.5% and reach £10.7 billion in 2015.
Figure 1: Online as a percentage of total spending on clothing and accessories, 2013-15 (Mintel)
2.3 Competition within the …show more content…
A key factor which is likely to affect the success of the business is gaining an insight into the market and potential competition. Investigating the target market and ensuring up to date knowledge of the newest trends is critical in the success of online clothing retailers. (Legge and Hindle, 2004). To increase chances of success, as on online clothing retailer you will need to understand customer’s needs and expectations. In order to do this market segments should be examined and you should evaluate competitors marketing methods, gain an insight into their products and identify any possible benefits your product has over the other competitors (Lorette,