Fashion market research is an essential tool that sharpens brands' understanding of the ever-evolving trends and consumer behaviors in the industry.
In our work, we've seen fashion businesses, from startups to well-established brands, leverage market research to stay ahead.
That's because, analyzing data and details gives insights into the preferences of target markets, the strategies of competitors, and the overall direction of the industry.
Companies looking to grow or maintain relevance in the fashion sector often turn to market research as a guiding resource. It benefits not just the brands and designers, but also investors and suppliers who are part of the larger fashion industry network.
Why Fashion Brands Should Conduct Market Research
As a fashion market research company, we've seen firsthand how crucial it is to deeply understand the market.
Conducting market research equips brands with the knowledge to make informed decisions, stay relevant, and maintain a competitive edge.
Let's dive into the key reasons market research is important for fashion brands.
Identifying New Opportunities & Audiences
Through market research, brands can discover untapped opportunities and new customer segments.
For example, they might uncover a growing demand for sustainable materials among young adults, guiding them to adjust their product lines accordingly.
There are tons of ways that brands can expand their reach, products, and revenue using market research.
Even with current or existing products, it’s possible to find a new audience segment based on new marketing angles or pain points that already exist in the market.
Surveying potential customers or a target audience about the product or brand can help reveal those.
Discovering Industry Changes
The fashion industry is dynamic, with frequent shifts in consumer preferences.
Brands that conduct ongoing market research are often the first to act on insights related to emerging trends. This allows them to capitalize on changes ahead of their peers.
This is especially true when new brands come into the market and take up a piece of their own market share with trendy ideas or products.
Trends that other brands can follow or make a version of their own, are ones that are critical to catch early. Market research helps keep brands active and alert when it comes to the market and its changes (at least some of them).
Spy on Competitors
Observing competitors gives brands an overview of the market landscape. It's not about copying; it's about understanding their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies.
Similar to keeping a pulse on the market, it’s also a great idea to keep checks on competitors.
This understanding can then inspire a brand to innovate and improve upon its offerings. It can also uncover issues where products/services may fall short.
Recommended Reading: Ultimate Guide to Conducting a Competitor Analysis
Types of Market Research Brands Can Use
Primary or Custom Market Research Data
Primary market research is data collected straight from the source.
This means directly engaging with people through surveys, interviews, or observation. Custom market research is similar in the way that it’s collected - which is direct from the source.
There’s not much difference between primary and custom research, just that the owner of the data may be different.
By collecting straight from data sources (usually customers or a similar target audience), brands gather fresh insights tailored to specific questions they have.
For instance, a brand might conduct a poll asking what styles customers prefer for the upcoming season. This can help answer any questions that the brand has about their products or services.
Getting this data can be like having a conversation with the market itself.
In our experience, custom data is crucial when you're entering a new market or launching a new product line. It can help save money, cause a bump in revenue, or save time by helping change a project to be more successful instead of starting over.
Secondary or Syndicated Market Research Data
Secondary market research involves using data that's already been collected by others. This might include reports from market research companies, industry stats, or published studies.
Syndicated data is also included in secondary research, since it is typically collected by a market research firm to be then sold to the market.
Brands use this data to understand broad trends and the performance of whole sectors. It's often more affordable than primary data because it's available for use by anyone. However, it might not address specific questions a brand has.
In the work we do, this type of data complements our custom research by filling in the broader landscape.
It’s great for anyone just starting out in market research, looking for general answers, or for anyone on a budget. Otherwise, you may need custom market research.
How To Conduct a Market Research Project For Your Brand
Step 1. Decide on Your Goals & Objectives
In our experience, it’s crucial to clarify what the project should achieve with market research.
This could include understanding the impact of influencers on shopping habits or measuring customer interest in new product lines. Whatever it is, ideally it helps your business get closer to its revenue goals or something similar.
It's not just about gathering data; it's about aligning this data with specific, measurable goals. The data received from a project or study will help get closer to the end goal, especially with added insights for even more knowledge.
Step 2. Determine Your Audience
Research is all about knowing who you're talking to. It’s best most of the time to segment the audience into groups such as loyal customers, potential customers, and even competitors' customers.
Figuring out the audience you want to target should be related to your goals. That’s what makes it the highest quality data possible so that insights at the end of the project can be related to the objectives from the beginning.
Step 3. Collect Data & Clean It
Data collection is a critical step. In our experience, methods like surveys, interviews, and focus groups provide valuable insights into consumer behavior.
Collecting it with ease, meaning easier on the respondents or participants, will give higher completion rates and in the end - higher quality data.
Once collected, the data must be organized and filtered to remove any errors or irrelevant information.
We typically start the data cleaning process during collection and continue it through all the way to the end to ensure the highest quality is being used and analyzed.
Step 4. Analyze Data With Insights
Analyzing data is where numbers transform into strategies. Our team looks for patterns, such as spending habits related to fast fashion versus luxury brands.
The end analysis helps gain a clear view of the market issues, changes, or opportunities (or whichever your goal is).
Insights from experts can help give brands more ideas to use the data for since the raw data analysis can sometimes be confusing.
Our team always gives expert level insights at the end of a project that helps clients make the best decisions with the data collected. It’s the easiest way to boost revenue or make other data-driven decisions that affect the business.
Step 5. Use Your Data With Insights
Finally, it's about turning those insights into tangible business decisions.
Whether it's tailoring marketing campaigns or developing new products, the data directs our course of action.
The end goal is to make informed decisions that will resonate with the target demographic.
The insights gained are not just numbers; they are navigational tools that guide a brand towards a prosperous path in the ever-evolving market. That’s why figuring out your goal for market research is the most important.
Contact Our Fashion Market Research Company
Drive Research is a full-service market research company specializing in qualitative and quantitative methodologies for fashion brands. Whether it be a customer survey or a new product development focus group, our market research team can help.
To learn more about our services, contact our team today.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Austin Parker
Austin has an extensive background in SEO as he's been blogging since 16 years old back when the internet was in its infancy. As fitting, he holds a Bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in creative writing.
Learn more about Austin, here.
