FSP Retail Blog

Fashion typically accounts for over 60% of shopping centre floorspace and 70% of rental income. Achieving an appropriate mix of fashion retailers to engage and delight shoppers is clearly central to creating valuable retail assets. Detailed fashion market analysis however, can be confused by overly general lifestyle classifications and is often ignored in favour of easier but less relevant merchandise mix and price position analysis.

In response to this challenge, FSP has undertaken detailed research into fashion purchasing behaviour and developed an attitudinal segmentation system. The research identifies two sets of relevant perceptions or attitudes:

the consumer’s own ‘thinking age’: i.e. how young or old do I feel?
the image the consumers wishes to project with the merchandise they are seeking to buy: i.e. stylish or safe?

FSP has used this research to develop the FISH segmentation. FISH uniquely classifies fashion retailers according to the purchasing attitudes of their customers rather than their chronological age, lifestyle or income. FISH combines five self perception groups (Young, Assured, Family, Classic and Old) with four merchandise perception groups (Fashionable, Individual, Safe and Homely) to create 11 specific market segments for individual fashion retailers. For example, River Island is classified as Young Fashionable, Next is classified as Assured Individual, Marks & Spencer is classified as Family Safe and Hobbs is classified as Classic Individual.

FSP Audits - Floor space Profile by FISH

	Young	Assured	Family	Classic/Old
Town Centres	14%	20%	51%	15%
Shopping Centres	24%	20%	46%	10%
Regional Malls	20%	31%	40%	10%

The mix of FISH categories varies widely across centres, according to role, location and customer profile. The table above shows that the largest group, Family fashion retailers, dominates fashion floor space in all three location types, town centres, shopping centres and regional malls. However, shopping centres and regional malls have a greater proportion of space devoted to Young and Assured fashion than town centres and this specialisation becomes more extreme for more metropolitan catchments.

Success for any retail asset depends on the provision of retailers in tune with shopper demand. FSP has therefore developed techniques using catchment and census data to assess and target local opportunities through FISH. For example, the line on the chart below illustrates that across the country there is a strong relationship between shopper demand and the provision of Young fashion outlets. However, there are towns such as Newcastle upon Tyne, Bromley and Lincoln that fall below the Predicted line. This indicates potential to attract more Young fashion retailers to these towns

FISH is unique to FSP and has been used over many years to identify untapped customer niches and plan sustainable and effective tenant strategies.
The classification of individual retailers' predominant customer group is available through FSP’s SnapShop on-line directory or FSP consultancy projects. For more information, please .