Don’t Get Stuck in (general car upholstery) the Middle
No commentsBy Antwan Richardson
In an age of mass differentiation and low cost chic, there has never being a worse time to be stuck in the middle. Consumers are abandoning mid-range products in their droves, often opting for cheaper alternatives and saving up to buy the occasional luxury. At one end of the scale thrifty customers are cutting costs by buying supermarket own brand goods, whilst at the other end easy access to credit makes it possible to trade up to a BMW rather than settle for a Ford Mondeo.
The Low Cost Revolution
Throughout numerous consumer sectors, there are companies specialising in low cost goods and services. Everything from food to flights and cars to clothes can be bought at very low prices. As cost-focussed companies get bigger, they continue to find ways to reduce overheads in their operations and squeeze suppliers for better deals. Consumers are also changing their attitudes to low cost goods. Film stars and fashion models are setting the trend of low-cost chic, happy to wear value clothes alongside their premium brands.
However the low-cost sector is largely driven by economics. Increases in living expenses, debt and taxation are stretching the purse strings of the middle classes and forcing them to abandon their loyalty to mid-range products in favour of low-cost bargains.
Luxury For All
In an increasingly globalised society, consumer aspirations for luxury goods and services have become much more demanding. The ’spend now, save later’ celebrity fuelled culture encourages us to treat ourselves to products that signify individuality, success and status. By becoming more affordable and easier to access, exclusive brands are cashing in on increased consumer demand, buoyed by changing lifestyles and easy credit.
How Should Mid-Range Brands Respond?
Businesses selling mid-range products and services should not be blamed for feeling the pressure — with low cost and luxury brands squeezing from both ends. In certain markets, this pressure will be less extreme, whilst in others it could mean being forced out of business. One option to counter the threat is to decide to trade up and become a premium brand or trade down to become low cost. How effective this strategy is will depend on the market and the company’s ability to change its business model and alter customer perceptions.
Another option is to launch completely new brands into the premium and low-cost sectors, a strategy frequently employed in the automotive and airline industries over recent years. Alternatively it may be more cost-effective to take-over competitors already operating in these sectors.
Whilst the writing is not on the wall for mid-range brands just yet, the outlook is becoming increasingly competitive and businesses will need to be much more innovative in finding ways to differentiate themselves.
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Shop Fitting Solutions
By shopfitting
Shop fitting is a term which is used by manufacturers and retailers. Every retailer wants complete utilization of the space available for storage, so that they can store more stock and save themselves from reloading it after short intervals. Shop fitters provide these solutions and manage the space in your store properly to accommodate more stock.
Shop fitters help you store more stock in less space and thus reduce the need of a bigger shop or space. This in turn helps you cut down on your expenses, and also make the best use of the space you have at present. There are different types of shop fitting systems available that can help you increase the space in your shop and come with variety of applications.
The shop fitting process starts with analysis, by measuring the available space, and finally preparing the design. Shop fitting works best for retail stores, book shops, boutiques and similar stores that have signage, equipment, and retail store displays. Shop fitters usually specialize in merchandizing, retail and interior designs. They help you enhance the look of your shop apart and increase the amount of usable space.
There are several shop fitters working online and offline to provide the best solutions for the retailers. When you are out in the market looking for a shop fitter company, you must make sure you choose the best one with a high level of experience and expertise. The shop fitters must be able to understand your needs, and suggest shop fittings that would offer more space without making you go over your budget.
There are many types of shop fitting systems used by manufacturers, and these are used for a wide range of applications. Some of the common shop fitting systems that you can use for your shops are:
TN9 Shop Fitting: TN9 is an elegant shop fitting kit that fits in a large number of different environments. This shop fitting system provides a great range of flexible and modular applications for merchandising and display. It is best suited for retail outlets needing a large loading capacity. This form of shop fitting is usually preferred by magazine shops, bookstores, school departments, libraries, etc.
Gondolas: This shop fitting offers you the flexibility of changing your display from time to time, and offers many other functions apart from being versatile in nature.
Infinity: Infinity shop fittings are made with metal and timber to offer you design and structure together. In this form of shop fitting, metal is combined with the beauty and versatility of timber for effective and elegant fitting solutions.
Shop fitting not only increases space in your shop, but also enhances its dcor, display and look as well.
Tuprojects develops real retail shopfitters solutions for you in the ever demanding,competitive and changing market. Shop fitters is T Project’s core discipline.
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Friday, April 30th, 2010 at 3:10 am and is filed under retail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
