How can you use consumer behavior to target fashion customers?

In my opinion segmented targeting is very important especially for a new and upcoming brand . One should know their market where they are trying to sell their product. Without proper knowledge of the market segment brands energy and resources will be wasted without significant outcome. The entire world cannot be your market. It needs to be focused on the masses who are most likely buy the product , can be challenging task but if done right can prove very beneficial in the long run.

In my experience fashion segmentation means, that one can position your fashion brand according to different parameters, positionings and targetings. Often you see this displayed either in a pyramid or other forms of illustration. When we segment and define target and positioning we do this on the base of e.g. price, quality and creativity. The higher the segmentation level, the higher are those characteristics in this brand. The higher the characteristics (e.g. Haute-Couture), the higher the brand will be strategically positioned. The lower the characteristic (which goes with the price) the more the brand is targeted to mass market. Obviously there are in-betweens like ready-to-wear or cross-overs.

In the retail industry in Mexico, there are two worlds, one is the professional and the other is the empirical practitioner. There are companies with highly trained (professional) personnel and there are many small and medium-sized companies that have not taken advantage of the most basic techniques in customer segmentation. Last year I had a talk with some shoe businessmen and they were very interested in a very popular technique in customer segmentation called Recent, Frequent and Monetary. After explaining the basic percentile criteria, they were very interested in applying such a simple technique in their company. With just a spreadsheet you can quickly analyze your customer database and create strategies for each type of customer.

Loyalty programs have been created in Mexico and around the world. In the footwear retail industry it is not possible, in my experience, to create a solid customer loyalty because nowadays generation Z has abrupt changes limiting the scope of loyalty programs. In addition, the price factor simply takes more importance over any loyalty program because young Mexicans have lost purchasing power and many of their decisions go through the wallet and not through loyalty. In my country, margins are smaller than in other parts of the world. In my country, margins are smaller than in other parts of the world, limiting many businesses from developing good strategies, not to mention that in many cases managers are trained empirically.

Customer segmentation according to socio- and psychgraphic segment is the first step. Where it becomes really challenging is when entering into the future strategy and thus positioning. You can do hundreds of analysis, but the killer differentiation is to find a relevant insight. But what is an insight? An insight can be described as something, which is not obvious or can't be analyzed by market research. An insight is more or less an observation of consumer behaviour of which one has not been aware in the first place. If you find an real insight, it causes most of the time a "oh wow, that`s cool, I haven`t thought about this in this way". An insight is a beautiful and relevant and thus surprising observation of your target and strategy.

In my opinion it depends if you are already an established brand and create new products or if you are completely new to the market with your brand AND product. The latter requires most of the time a completely different entering the market and therefore marketing-strategy in comparison to an established and well known brand with a line-extension. Make sure that this line-extension doesn't stretch to far your core brand value. In some cases it can be a huge opportunity to benefit from positive image transfer. To market your segments requires a strategy (not to be confused with targets). This strategy should tell what you want to BE to your potential clients. Always start with the strategy. Delivery comes next followed by branding.

Double Income, not children, is a segment that has been exploited a lot in Mexico. With the generational change and the current population pyramid, there is a large potential market that allows us to use this segmentation to provide products and services to a large number of people in my country. Currently one of the biggest challenges is not the issue of segmentation or marketing, the biggest challenge is the logistics of distribution. Due to security issues, the logistic issue has become more relevant than ever, making the product more expensive and limiting the possibilities given the insecurity that we live in these days.

I am a bit too free sometimes, because I don’t like boxing people in. Aside from the helpful advice above, I would say do not over scrutinise or over analyse customers too much. Allow for freedom of choice and individuality. A customer may own three of your brands bags, purchased overseas. And randomly buy a purse from you full price for the first time online. Or may have hit hardship and gone for a lower cost item for the first time online. Even though client spend can be helpful, do not over judge your clients or segment them too much. That’s all I’d say, rich or poor. They have their own decisive facilities and personal lives. The fun side I like of consumer behaviour is using character (including age) and style to segment.