Primary Research In Newcastle:

As there were not Dolce & Gabbana stores available, I tried searching online for any stores (like Harvey Nichols) near home that had a Dolce & Gabbana section. I managed to find a store called ‘Fenwick’ in Newcastle, however, there wasn’t a D&G section in the Newcastle one. Fortunately, I was able to find a place near by called Cruise Fashion, an outlet store, where they sold all kinds of luxury brands. Although there weren’t any D&G products in Fenwick, there were other brands like Burberry, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Ted Baker, Moschino, Calvin Klein etc., I observed the department store to see what brands or products people were going for and who were they. Quite a few were looking at bags and trying on heels/shoes. Most of them were generally in their early 30s to 50s. As I was looking around in Fenwick, I noticed a group of Chinese students around in their early 20s to mid 20s wearing mostly Gucci shoes, sweater, jacket and bag. This proves how popular the brand has become in the Asian Market.



Cruise Fashion Store:
The Cruise website stated, “there are currently 8 Cruise stores in the UK, each with their own personality and tailored brand mix to reflect the individuality of its city and the customers who shop there”.

There were 2 Cruise fashion in Newcastle which one store had the luxury brands and the other store opposite had slightly more affordable brands. Both places were quite small, therefore there weren’t as many customers as before in Fenwick. Unfortunately, I was not able to do a customer review as there weren’t a lot of people in the store and others refused to do it. Luckily, I had the chance to interview one of the staff members. As I was waiting for the staff, I had a look to see there were brands like Gucci, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino and Saint Laurent that were sold here. In one room, they sold children wear, mainly sweaters, hats and shoes. More people came into the store later, which I realised there were around 12 Chinese customers, most of them looked like university students, from the ages of 18 to 25 and a few locals in their late 20s to 30s. They mainly looked at the Gucci and Balenciaga section as they sold more trendy streetwear to which clear reaches for the younger demographics. I noticed one man in his late 20s to early 30s, searched for a pair of Balenciaga for his partner.


Interviewing a retail assistant at Cruise Fashion Store: 

Staff: Age 25. Retail Assistant. Worked at Cruise Fashion Store for 8 months.

Questions:

  • Who are the current consumers? 
  • Who are they wanting to target?  
  • Are consumers mainly shopping online or in-store? 
  • Have D&G sold many of their products? 
  • What are their best-sellers? 
  • Any competitors who are doing better? 


Dolce and Gabbana have their own audience who are more middle aged, high class people. – Unlike other brands who have been expanding their target market. Customers who often shop for brands like Gucci, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent have a larger demographic. On the other hand, not many people shop for D&G as they do not have a lot to offer unlike their competitors. Depending on the brand, a few like Louis Vuitton are only sold in store as people prefer to purchase their luxury goods there. Other brands have products which are sold only online, therefore, that is when consumers tend to go online shopping. As a retail assistant for women’s wear, they mentioned that the best-selling products are genuinely handbags, accessories and shoes. Not many actually go for the clothing section.





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