RIVER ISLAND SWOT ANALYSIS

 Swot analysis:

 River Island

Strengths:

-        There are over 350 stores across the United Kingdom, Ireland and internationally in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. They also have 6 online sites operating in 4 currencies. This emphasises the how River Island has located itself all around the United Kingdom and are also expanding internationally.

-        They have over 60 years of retail experience and is one of the top best known and adored brands on the high street giving them the advantage of having a loyal customer base spanning over the years.

-        River Island’s motto is ‘Love Fashion. Love River Island’.

-        There stores still feature a retro 1970’s and 1960’s style Chelsea Girl range aimed at the slightly younger end of their customers.

-        River Island has many unique selling points, one of them is that there are always amazing going out looks and occasion wear that makes them stand out from other high street stores.

-        ‘We pride ourselves on being the perfect store to pick up everything you need for a brand new head-to-toe look.’ (River Island website)

-        They have an amazing design team, almost all of their products are designed in house which sets them apart from other high street retailers.

-        River Island has signed the Bangladesh accord. They want to establish a long term plan for improving working conditions in the countries they produce their products.

-        ‘River Island looks to tap into next wave of tech entrepreneurs.’ (retail-news) They have joined with retail and consumer company TrueStart which gains them access to technology start-ups and new tech.

-        Recently there profits have surged on ‘mini-me fashion’ which is a children fashion line that means customers of river island can dress there whole family in river island, this is one of their USP’s. 

-        River Island has a strong customer base, they stock children’s ware which is a big difference in their competitors such as Topshop who do not.

-        In the past they had a celebrity collaboration with Rihanna which attracted customers who were Rihanna fans and may not have shopped in River Island before, and boosted sales. (telegraph article)

-        ‘renowned for stylish, affordable fashion’ (River Island official site)

Weaknesses:

-        River Island do not offer student discount throughout the year like other high street retailers do who are similar e.g. Topshop and New Look.

-        River Islands cloths are not as ‘fashion forward as other brands.

-        Collections and products are not turning over as quickly as competitors such as Zara who’s turnover is every 2 weeks, they need to keep up with the change in retail.

-        River Island have not done a menswear collaboration, they should as this would attract a new type/ wider range of consumers.

-        There supply chain may not cope with seasonal surges in retail which means the likes of Zara have an advantage. (retail week)

-        Not all River Island stores have menswear and kids within them which is a weakness as people may not be able to easily access those collections.

-        River Island do not have a plus size collection which is a weakness as other retailers now are introducing their own plus size collections e.g. New Looks, Boohoo and many others.

-        They also do not have a maternity wear collection which the likes of Topshop have.

Opportunities:

-        They could start up a store point’s card which would be different from what other retailers such as Topshop do, it could be a card you scan when you make a purchase and you get points, could be similar to the monsoon or M and S rewards card.

-        Should start student discount so that they do not loose student’s sales to the likes of Topshop.

-        River Island have many international opportunities to open up more stores and expand, for example they have plans on opening in Australia after launching an online site for down under. (retail-week article)

-        They could start a plus size collection which could be an opportunity as shops such as Topshop do not have one so could be a way into a niche market.

-        They can build on having more USP’s by adding a beauty line in competition with other retailers to boost sales.

-        As they do lots of occasion and night wear maybe add an affordable prom line to increase sales in prom and university ball’s seasons.

-        Do more basics that are cheaper than main lines to boost add on sales?

-        Do more celebrity collaborations as the success of Rihanna boosted sales. Could do someone like Ella Eyre or Little Mix. 

-        Another opportunity is around pay day to start up promotions and new collections so that people are tempted to spend money.

-        If there is a particularly rainy day put coats and umbrellas at the front of the store for example to sell and get people to come in.

-        If there are sudden drastic weather changes make sure to have the correct stock out even if it means changing the Window or bringing forward old stock.

Threats:

-        Political effects such as increasing the minimum wage may affect the likes of River Island as it would mean they would have less money and may even have to reduce stores or staff.

-        Environmental factors are another threat, environmental factors can affect supply chains meaning that if there is a storm or natural disaster in the country the retailer sources from it can affect the orders and if products would be able to reach the UK. For example ash clouds effect the supply chain in many businesses. (BBC news article)

-        If IT and online stores continue rapid growth it could threaten sales instore and the amount of people who still want to shop in store.

-        Economy issues e.g. a recession may affect people parting with money.

-        Weather is a big threat because if there is a cold summer or hot winter it will effect peoples buying patterns. E.g. if they get coats out in autumn and there is no cold weather it will affect the sales and figures.

-        If the government raises taxes etc. it will effect a retailer.

-        Competitors are a big threat to River Island and other retailers, cheaper retailers such as boohoo and misguided sell similar fashions as River Island but at a much cheaper price as they are online retailers so can threaten River Islands sales.

-        Another threat is the demand of quick turnover, companies such as Zara have a very quick turnover so it may threaten and place high demands on River Island.

-        If a key staff member ever resigned and left for another retailer could reflect negatively on River Island and the brand as a whole.

fashion managmet report

3.1 Evaluate the impact of new technologies on organisational change in a fashion retail organisation

In this report I will be evaluating the impact of new technology on organisational change in the high-street retailer River Island. I will be talking about how new tech is used in River Island stores and how it is used to help KPI’s in store (key performance indicators). I will be writing about all aspects of new tech on River Island especially how it affects organisational change. River Island is a middle-market high street retailer and has 350 stores across the United Kingdom, it sells clothes and accessories for women, men and children. I will be looking at how store operations work as well as lots of other things.

Technology is used for retailers to see what their KPI’s are (key performance indicators). KPI’s are important within retailers they measure how well a company is performing and its makes it possible to compare retailers e.g. river island might be compared to Topshop. Some examples of KPI’s are- sales growth, accounts opened, Foot flow, staff turnover, profit, and stock loss and mystery shopper results. KPI’s can be measured with technology and KPI’s are very important to tell if a store is doing well or not. River Island will use KPI’s on a daily basis to check how well their store is doing. Technology is crucial for KPI’s for example technology is used to work out how much money a store is making and also can be used to see how many accounts are opened as well as any stock loss can be checked with tech and on till systems. Tech can track how many accounts/store cards are used in store which is crucial to seeing how the store is doing. Technology can prevent stock loss by keeping track and count of stock and how much has been sold etc. so it will be able to track how much stock is lost that has not been sold. KPI’s can be used to plan, forecast and replenish stock loss also with the help from technology, it can help to replenish by tracking what has sold and what is needed for a particular store so that head office can be notified and replenish the stock that is needed for a particular branch of River Island. Tech and KPI’s can be used to forecast stock, by figuring out the type of products that sell well in store to know the kind of thing their customers are after, tech can help this by keeping a track of best-sellers and what customers love. It can help ‘plan’ stock by seeing what sells in River Island branches and what customer’s need/like. KPI’s help all these factors as it’s a way for River Island to make sure their stores are performing well and it helps indicate how stores are doing. Stock management is also important to River Island it provides the details about the amount of stock they have and the condition of it e.g. faulty stock etc. River Island and other similar retailers have new stock control systems have improved retailers ability to control and operate better stock control. Having too little stock can affect River Island by the merchandise will not be able to reach its full potential, and the gross margin of the business will be affected resulting in affecting customers perception of the business. The other extreme of having too much stock can also affect River Island, the interest of the stock will end up reducing gross profit/net margins. This is a bigger issue if the stock runs late, the stock will also most likely end up in the sale resulting in ‘margin loss’.

River Island will use technology to gain sales within the store, I will be talking about the type of technology River Island uses to increase their sales in stores. River Island stores employees have head-sets on at all times to be able to communicate to each-other. For example if a staff member on the shop floor had a customer ask for something that is in the stock room and there is already a staff member in the staff room, they can radio them to get the stock for them to ensure time effectiveness and the customer is happy. Also head-sets enable staff members to communicate when the store needs replenishing to ensure there is the upmost chance of getting sales. The use of I-pads are also common in stores now, I-pads can enable River Island to be able to check stock levels quickly and help customers with query’s quickly and efficiently to ensure the loss of service in stores. Also I-pads can be used for in-store orders to enable sales stay within stores. Technology is also used for them to get their information into store to use, for example tech could be used for stores to see how other branches are doing so that there is a sense of competition within stores to get stores to increase their sales. Also it can be used to track how many people come in and out the store, to see how many people that come in end up purchasing something compared to people leaving without making a purchase to ensure River Island can try and entice customers to purchase. Technology can also track what products are selling well in store and which ones aren’t selling very well and then the store can try and figure out why.

Stock loss is a KPI as it affects the profit. Stock loss is the loss or shrinkage of products that are lost either through damage, theft or human error. The loss of stock is a cost to River Island, the more losses the less profit that particular store will make. River Island could reduce stock loss using tech and other things e.g.

-        Tagging

-        Fitting room controls

-        Aware staff

-        Staff trained to be confident when dealing with thieves

-        Security

-        CCTV cameras

-        Mirrors

-        Alarm system

River Island should do certain things to reduce stock loss in their stores,

-        Take care when storing stock

-        Return faulty lines promptly

-        Conduct necessary stock admin

-        Regularly check faulty rails.

-        Keep accurate records of stock movement (recalls, off-site and sale prep)

-        Query any anomalies with head office.

Sales is another KPI (annual turnover, transaction history, basket spend, footfall). Sales as a KPI can help River Island to increase sales. Sales per hour can be tracked and statistically compares one sale person to with another and determines who is efficient at selling so it sees who is ideal at selling. Sales growth is important to River Island they need to track it and it tracks the retailer’s performance.

‘Accounts opened’ is another KPI River Island need to track the number of new store card holders they get. It is a KPI because customers that obtain store cards are loyal to the brand and spend lots of money in River Island stores. The more customers with store cards, the more sales your store will potentially make. River Island stores should strive to promote store cards to their customers and may set targets for employees to obtain for getting store cards.

ATV and ATQ is another KPI in retail,

ATV= is the average money spent per transaction

ATQ= is the average number of units sold per each transaction

They are KPI’s because the more a store sells to each customer, the better the sales assistants are at selling and the higher your sales are.

ATV (total sales divided by total number of transactions)

ATQ (number of items sold divided by number of transactions)

Foot flow (how many customers enter the store) is an important KPI as it indicates how popular your store is and how effective your store window is at attracting customers into the store. It can be monitored by manual counting or software such as sensor devices.

Conversion rate compares the foot flow of a store with sales, the amount of browsing consumers that end up buying. It is an important KPI because the more customers that are persuaded to buy, the better the sales team are performing and therefore the higher the sales at the end of the day. (100% if everyone buys, 10% if one in ten buy)

Staff turnover is another KPI that businesses need to keep an eye on. It is the number of employees to leave per annual year as a percentage of the total number of workers. It is a KPI as it is important that River Island has a stable team that likes their workplace and does not want to leave. If the staff turnover was high it could mean that they struggle to keep staff due to management practise etc.

It is important for River Island to keep stock levels in check, too much stock can cause just as many issues as too little stock, if there is too little the customer feels they are not getting what they require so their opinion of River Island will change. Whereas too much stock shows that the goods are not selling which may give customers the perception that they are not doing well. They also need to make sure there is a good availability of products, River Island will use systems to monitor stock loss, and the system will have a ‘PAR or ‘DISPLAY’ per products, per each store. Having availability of stock is key to retailers as it keeps consumers interested, if they didn’t have much availability it may lose sales and customers, retailers now have ways for customers to check availability before they go in-store they can do this online to save wasting time. River Island can use technology to know when to replenish stock/what to replenish.

-        EPOS system

-        Stock management

-        Reporting and WSSI

-        Planned/forced markdown

If River Island has a poorly performing store they can use KPI’s to improve the store and get it too perform better. For example if the store suffers from ‘low footfall’ the store can monitor the footfall and try to entice people into the store, also if the store particularly suffers from ‘theft’ they can use KPI’s to monitor it and also can improve staffs awareness and keep everything monitored. Overall KPI’s can help monitor a poorly performing store and can help River Island to keep an eye on what the root of the problem is. They can use KPI’s to find out what is causing the store to not be succeeding and can try and figure out what the store can do to improve.

Technology is always advancing and River Island will use lots of tech to improve and also tech and customer service will eventually be affected by technology. In the past just sending and getting information to and from stores was a nightmare. Nowadays tech is constantly advancing for example, River Island now has apps and websites so people can always shop with River Island any time. Also now each product in store is coded with a barcode which can be scanned and is individual to every product. Now almost everything River Island does is doe via smartphone and computers. There are a lot of tech in retail that’s useful to River Island. EPOS- they generate lots of info such as PLU, the ability to store and record sales of items individually, also tills now can automatically send info to head office. EPOS has a load of benefits- labour saving, correct pricing at checkout, automatic replen and better stock flow.  Electronic data interchange is another system River Island will use in store, it enables the automatic replenishment of stock and stops missed sales. It enables retailers to share info with the supply. Bar coding is another crucial system retailers use, it is made up with a series of bars retailers can scan. It enables speed and efficiency.

Systems like the ones above are created to enable speed and efficiency in stores. As technology advances people have more and more option to shop online and use apps, people now can buy anything from anywhere and have it delivered the next day. This can affect stores as it may stop as many people coming in-store. Customer service will also change as there may gradually be a less of a need to have people working in store if there is a lower demand for customers. Social media has also become a huge way for River Island to promote their products and people now talk about brands online so it is important for River Island to have a positive online presence to increase sales. For example River Island has an instagram account which enables them to interact with the brand on a new level. Retailers can use tech to help gain them sales in store and also when stores are shut tech enables them to continue making sales 24/7. Stores are constantly competing to have the latest tech advancement’s in store to outdo each other as technology advances there will be more and more tech in stores so customer service might become less about people facing roles but tech might come into it on a new level.

New advances such as notifications from stores when you’re close to them and virtual mirrors seem to be the future of retail and will completely change the high street and will make marketing and tech a major point in stores.

In conclusion tech is ever-changing and River Island and other retailers need to constantly learn and adapt new tech into their stores and causes organisational change. KPI’s are crucial to retailers and are important for monitoring them and enabling retailers to use them to improve their underperforming stores and overall help their business to thrive, develop and grow.

Fashion environment report river Island

Asignment title: Planning and trading in the Fashion Retail Environment

Written report

Within this report I will be discussing the overall structures and functions of the various retail formats and how these enable competitiveness, efficiency and profitability within River Island.

River Island is a retailer on the UK high street and is also starting to expand outside of the UK. River Island is a high street retailer and is renowned for ‘stylish, affordable fashion’. Almost all of their products are designed in house and they pride themselves on having one of the largest design teams on the high street. They have been around for around 60 years and started off with the name ‘Chelsea Girl’, then changed it to River Island but they still have a Chelsea girl collection within the stores. River Island are a chain store and have 350 stores across the UK and are starting to expand globally. They are a middle-market high street retailer which is the most common within retail, it means it is reasonably prices and readily available. River Island is designed with mass market I mind and is priced accordingly. I will be comparing River Island to a luxury retailer, for example, a Boutique that sells designer brands. A luxury retailer will normally have a small team with only around one or two buyers, one merchandiser and one or two designers, whereas River Island will have a full buying team with buyers, designers, merchandisers and QA. Buyers within the luxury market will usually buy from stock ranges and if they are a large luxury department store, e.g. Harrods they might ask a brand to offer a particular range only to them, but if they are an independent boutique they will be buying in small quantities. River Island sells to mass market whereas a Boutique will be a one off store so has a more limited consumer base, a boutique will also be more exclusive and will be able to pick and choose what they want in their store, whereas a middle market retailer like River Island has a huge team in charge of what goes in store and what is designed to be sold. Boutiques/ luxury retailers find it hard to manufacture their own brand ranges due to small volumes they require and will not have the option of the best factory sources like River Island do. Due to the sheer size of river island they can almost guarantee their will be suppliers interested in producing for them and they will want to keep to strict delivery agreements. I will now be comparing River Island to a discount store, TK Max is a good example of one of those. They also have a full buying team like River Island but their quality standards are a lot less than River Island, there is also a difference in the stores they are a lot more basic than River Islands store layout. Also discounters are able to place mass volumes and thereby work with large ‘auditable’ factories. River Island will have new stock and ranges every season and will constantly churn out new stock, whereas discounter’s don’t usually have new-season items as they buy end of range/ faulty items. Also discounters buy stock as seen so it means that when it comes to replenishing they cannot guarantee the product will be there.

Most retailers try to be socially and environmentally aware, I will be looking into River Island and what they do and what they say about being aware of the environment and people around them. According to River Island’s website this is what they say- ‘At River Island there is an underlying and long standing commitment to ethical trading based upon the belief that business can be both profitable and responsible. We have always believed that building meaningful long term relationships with employees, suppliers and communities is good business practice for us and is what our customers expect of us. This is, and always has been, the founding principle of our commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.’ This is what they say about the environment on their website- ‘In all River Island stores, offices and warehouses we are committed to operating in a way that is mindful of the demand on our planet's limited resources. We have incorporated the use of renewable energy sources into our operations and reduced the levels of product packaging. River Island also recycles and uses biodegradable materials whenever possible.’ River Island also released this statement in 2013- “Following careful consideration and on-going discussions with the relevant parties, River Island has reviewed the principles of the Bangladesh Accord and has signed the agreement. Our objective throughout has been to establish a long-term framework for improving working conditions in the countries that we produce in. We feel the Accord is the best vehicle to bring about significant changes to the region. The final details of the Accord are still being established and we look forward to working closely with the Accord members to put the plan into action.” By what their website says they are very aware of things going on around them, by signing the Bangladesh Accord it shows the willingness to improve the environment and working conditions of the people making the clothes in the factories they use. In June 2008 River Island became a member of the ETI (ethical trading initiative) which is about initiating change and tackling difficulties involving global manufacturing today. By joining this it shows the companies willingness to make a difference and shows they are staying true to their ethical policies.

This is the ETI base code initiatives that they follow: 

- Employment is freely chosen.

 - Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected.

 - Working conditions are safe and hygienic.

 - Child labor shall not be used.

 - Living wages are paid.

 - Working hours are not excessive.

 - No discrimination is practiced.

 - Regular employment is provided.

 - No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed.

This code means River Island are following guidelines to be ethical and make sure their company is not involved in any inhumane and negative practices. The new 5p carrier bag charge has also come into effect in retail, River Island and the majority of most retailers now charge 5p for a carrier bag to try and get people to re-use bags, the money also goes to charities which also increases River Island environmental image to be positive. The charge does effect retailers though as it is compulsory to all big companies. River Island seems very environmentally aware and are big on joining schemes and promoting ethical and environmental issues and policies. River Island also supports lots of different charities, this is what they say on their website- ‘With over 300 stores, River Island has a place in the hearts’ of communities across the UK and the world and we’re proud to support the charities and organization’s that strive to improve these communities. Our approach is to provide funding to charities to allow them to use their expertise to provide the greatest benefit possible to those in need. Sometimes there is a clear link with what we do, sometimes there isn't, but there is always a clear need for what they do. Here are some of the charities we currently support…’ underneath is a list of many charity’s here are a few examples of the charities they support- chickenshed, sightsavers, young epilepsy, British red cross, magic bus and new life. There is a big range of the types of charities they support lots are within communities of where their stores are based and are very close to people’s hearts. They are also big into promoting recycling they have a whole segment of their site on recycling and promoting the recycling of electrical goods. As a whole River Island has a very positive image when it comes to being environmentally friendly and aware of what goes on around them.

Middle market retailers who produce and design large quantities of goods like River Island use a critical path to manage their stock and the whole process from designing the clothes to having them on the shop floor. The critical path is a sequence of events in a journey from the concept to the garment being on the shop floor, it is also used to track progress and draw attention to critical times and events where decisions and things are under pressure to ensure everything runs smoothly. The critical path is a key management tool. River Island will use a critical path to make sure all the deadlines and key dates are met to ensure everything is running smoothly. The path is key to any retailer especially retailers as large as River Island, if a key approval is not given to a supplier the factory might lose its place at the printers etc. they too have other clients and customers so River Island has to be aware of that to ensure they get their garments finished. There are set timings allocated for different countries, retailers have to stick to these time frames to ensure their garments are made on time, these are the timings-

           UK 4-6 weeks to exit

     Europe 8-10 weeks to exit

China 12-16 weeks to exit

India 12-16 weeks to exit

Bangladesh 12-16 weeks to exit

All the timings above are also dependent on the speed of the approval process. So River Island need to make sure they are on the ball with timings and approvals to ensure everything runs with no problems. Retailers will import their stock from many different countries depending on the type of garment it is etc. for example basics that are used every season may be made in china or Bangladesh as it is a bulk buy and it is not fashion orientated so it is very basic every season whereas high fashion item such as coats and detailed tops might be made closer to home. River Island use a range of suppliers in different countries (from the list above) and also use the UK for some products. River Island will manage their critical path by making sure everyone is doing what they are meant to be doing, and by making sure timings and approvals are kept to and not postponed. In a critical path it shows the activities that must be completed and is put in a specific order that it needs to be completed in. River Island will progress through their critical path by meeting deadlines and getting everything done in time within the time frame, it is all crucial to getting the stock onto the shop floor by the deadline the path sets. Retailers these days are under more pressure to deliver more goods to different destinations faster, “retailers need to know where things are at all times so they can redirect shipments, rebalance inventories and respond to new demands on the fly”. If there is a problem with River Islands supply chain it can risk them being unable to get their products into stores which ultimately will lose them customers. Lots of things can affect the critical path and supply chain, for example if there is an air strike it can affect goods from further away countries reaching stores also things like fires in factories can lose River Island lots of stock which will affect their critical path, overall retailers need to be on the ball when things like this happen to be able to resolve and overcome as quickly and efficiently as possible. Getting products made in Asia can also be problematic as it is far away and there is less control for the retailer due to the length of the process, this is why it is not typically suitable for fast fashion, River Island use countries in Europe such as Turkey for fast fashion.  Also social issues can affect stock getting into stores, for example the recent Paris terror attack can affect sales and trade as it may put off shoppers from visiting major cities as they may be put off going due to fear. Also borders will be a lot more controlled and regulated so may affect how quickly deliveries can reach stores. Critical paths enable companies such as River Island to have effective time management and to be able to get stock into stores on time and makes them be able to keep to set time frames and goals. Previously retailers would only re stock stores with new merchandise every season whereas these days retailers turn out new stock every few weeks. Customers have become very demanding and fashions and styles change constantly. Customers want fashion and quality along with the product being socially responsible and cost effective, which makes managing the critical path increasingly harder due to the high demands, and with different time zones and working hours globally River Island have to be very careful to make sure everything stay well organized and the critical path is kept within time frames and is prepared for large demands as well as River Island being socially responsible.

I will be analyzing how buyers and merchandisers roles affect and differ in different types of retail organizations. In a middle market high street retailer (River Island) they will have a full team of buyers, merchandisers, designers and quality assessors. Whereas a boutique might only have one person that does everything to do with buying and merchandising due to it only being a small company/ store. A boutique/ luxury store will find it challenging to make their own range/brand of goods due to the very small volumes they require and will find it hard to use the best factories and sources. River Island will have a full team so all the teams can work together to create a range for River Island to certain sizing and quality dictated by River Island and what they think their consumer needs are. In middle market retailers buying and merchandising only differs when the store format changes, for example a department store the buying volumes become greatly reduced so, it means so does the supply base. Retailers who buy from other labels and designers ‘ready-made goods’ have less control when it comes to the goods and the critical path so a Boutique who orders in other labels and brands will have a lot less control than a retailer like River Island who designs their garments will have a lot more control overall. Discount stores and lower priced retailers such as TK Max also have a full buying team, but they work in a slightly different way than the middle market retailers. The buyers usually train as merchandisers so do both jobs and are always out and looking for stock, the stock they get in is usually not the latest season stock as they are selling it on discounted, their quality is not usually very on the ball opposed to other retailers. Supermarkets are another retailer with a different variation on buyers and merchandisers, they have a full team just like middle market retailers and their QA standards are extremely high. Due to the amount they buy/order they can always be quite in charge of their supply, and their terms and conditions of their company are extremely tough. Supermarkets prices are low due to the bulk of the orders they make, and most supermarkets aim for very high mark ups due to the fact clothing does not make them as much money as other retailers. A majority of retailers these days work with a team format of buyers and merchandisers and other roles these are the main roles within any store layout/ model but what they focus on is dependable on the retailer itself and what their aims are. The part of the process/ team that is set aside/ignored the most is the QA aspect due to retailers mainly relying on the buyers and merchandisers within the company as they are the one that produces the money for the business at the end of the day. Overall buying and merchandiser roles are crucial to the mass majority of the retail business. River Island will depend hugely on their team of buyers, merchandisers, designers and QA to keep everything running smoothly within the critical path and buying cycle.

(Example)

In conclusion I have looked at the structures and functions of various retail formats and how these enable competition, efficiency and profitability within organization such as River Island. River Island would not be able to function and make a profit without a successful critical path and buying cycle as well as a full team of talented buyers, merchandisers, designers and QA to be in charge of meeting deadlines and approvals. The critical path and their role in the company is crucial to turning out goods on time and keeping up with trends and consumer demand. Critical paths also create competition within retailers as some may have a quicker turnover and production of stock, for example Zara has a very quick cycle and always has new goods and products so retailers are constantly in competition with each other and all aim to deliver quick, affordable fashion for the mass market especially in the high street sector whereas boutiques and discounters have a different aim in mind. River Island relies on efficiency and speed to make a good profit and enable sales and turning out new stock on time.

Bibliography-

CBX software. (2015). Improve Retail Supply Chain Decision Making with Critical Path Management. Available: http://www.cbxsoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/CBX-White-Paper-Critical-Path-Management.pdf. Last accessed 29/11/2015.

Jennifer sciff. (2015). 4 ways retailers can improve. Available: http://www.cio.com/article/2932207/supply-chain-management/4-ways-retailers-can-improve-supply-chain-management.html. Last accessed 29/11/2015.

River Island. (n/a). Corporate Social Responsibility. Available: http://www.riverisland.com/inside-river-island/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility. Last accessed 29/11/2015.

River Island. (n/a). Recycling. Available: http://www.riverisland.com/inside-river-island/about-us/recycling. Last accessed 29/11/2015.

River Island. (n/a). Charity support. Available: http://www.riverisland.com/charity-support. Last accessed 29/11/2015.

River Island. (n/a). Ethical trading initiative. Available: http://www.riverisland.com/inside-river-island/about-us/ethical-trading-initiatives. Last accessed 29/11/2015.

Refer back to my River Island PEST and SWOT documents

Store concept