3.4 revise the report

In order to remain competitive, fashion companies and especially the fast fashion retailers should not only develop a commercially successful product, but also deliver it to the right target consumer through the relevant channels and at the right time. This report aims to analyse the product and the Buying Cycle for Cos fashion brand and specifically for its Suits & Tailoring program (Fig.1).

The report would be structured according to the stages of the Buying Cycle as provided on Fig. 2, which include strategy development with regards to primary and secondary research, design development range build, selection, order placement, critical path management, production, delivery, and launch. Future recommendations for the retailer are provided to Cos on how product development and launch could be improved.

Cos was launched in 2007 by H&M Group and was positioned as a mid-priced brand more expensive than H&M and Zara, but more affordable compared to the higher end fashion brands (Salamone, 2020). Its value proposition is grounded on the idea of offering high basics from quality materials and in Swedish elegant and minimal aesthetics at the more affordable prices (see Fig. 3 for example of Cos collections). Cos sells dresses, pants, outerwear and blazers, knitwear and lingerie, as well as footwear and accessories of architectural shapes and silhouettes focusing on the basic wardrobing. While the brand’s sales were growing over the first ten years, it has reported the turnover declined by 2% in 2018, followed and reinforced by the pandemic and challenging times for the fast fashion industry (Salamone, 2020).

Fabric trend analysis should be based on both primary and secondary research. When it comes to the secondary research, Business of Fashion, WGSN, and other specialized companies and forecasting agencies like Fibre2Fashion should be consulted to identify the main directions and the key mega-trends that would dominate the season (Davis Burns and Mullet, 2020). BoF highlights that sustainability would be one of the key fabric trends in 2023 and onwards (BoF Team and McKinsey & Company, 2023), while Vogue highlights that fabrics in 2023 reflected the world around consumer through the choice of simple and sustainable options yet with effects that would redefine the looks, like, for example, fringe and other tactile enhancement of organic cotton, sustainable silk, and viscose (Borrelli-Persson, 2022).

In terms of the primary research, visit to stores and the analysis of the runway shows may provide information about the dominating fabrics along with colors and the categories of styles using certain fabrications. Such analysis is based on digital search and the results of such analysis for Spring-Summer 2023 is presented below on Fig. 4.

For color trend information, several main resources should be consulted. In the first place, Pantone Color Institute presented the colors of the year 2023, which are the key colors to follow (see Fig. 5) (Pantone, 2022a).

Additionally, the Pantone Color Institute outlined the major colors for the Fashion Weeks for SS’23. In particular, the main colors of SS’23 in New York Fashion Week for the Core Classica category which is relevant to the Suits & Tailoring program of Cos included ultra-calm tints and tones, as provided in Fig. 6 below (Pantone, 2022b)

Additionally, the runway shows’ analysis allowed identifying the key colors of the season for the suiting and tailoring category (see Fig. 7) and develop the color palette for Cos SS’23 (see Fig. 8).

Working with fabrics in combination with the color direction might be helpful as well (see Fig. 9) to identify the color stories which are further used by Cos in its Suits & Tailoring program development (see Fig. 10).

Additional research on styling and details for the specific category, like Suits and Tailored Pants for Cos could be conducted online by reviewing the SS’23 fashion shows and through the physical stores visits. The results of such research are presented on Fig. 11 which combines the initial sketching, store research, and online search for the details and styling trends. Examples of how the trends were used by Cos are provided on Fig. 12 yet it might be argued that the brand remains limited in terms of the interesting details use in its Suits & Tailoring program.

As Salamon (2022) explains, Cos targets the more fashion savvy audience who value simplicity rather than trends and appreciate craftsmanship and high-quality materials at relatively affordable price, compared to other mass market brands. Suits & Tailoring program is specifically and more narrowly targeted at working professionals, since it presents the office and smart casual suiting styles. The target customer profile might be also analysed by the “tagged” photos on the brand’s Instagram page as such photos are posted by the customers and give the idea of women purchasing the brand (see Fig. 13).

The customer profile for Suits & Tailoring program of Cos might be summarized in the table 1 below:

Table 1 Cos Suits & Tailoring Customer Profile

Competitor analysis is an important stage of product development for the fashion brand as it allows identifying and reinforcing the positioning of the brand in its market segment (Hines and Bruce, 2007). Competitor analysis include multiple indices which include but are not limited to pricing, sizing, quality, design and styling, and range size. For Cos and its Suits & Tailoring program, the main competitors include Reiss, Abercombie & Fitch, and AllSaints. The analysis is provided in Table 2 below.

Table 2 Competitors' Analysis (by author)

As it follows from the competitor analysis, Cos is positioned as a High Street Value brand what dictates certain pricing strategy, which still should be also defined by the willingness of the target customers to pay such money for the products. In other words, the pricing strategy combines the elements of customer value-based pricing and competitive-based pricing as it reflects the desired positioning and the financial consideration of the brand (Denault, 2018).

The retail price might be set approximately at the same level as the competitors or lower/higher depending on the determined generic strategy and the goal of differentiation. However, it should include the target production cost and the target gross margin which for the fast fashion retailers is around 55-65%. Hence, it starts from the question of “how much is the consumer willing to pay for it?” and then calculating the production cost and the margin. If the margin is low, the production cost might be adjusted by choosing the cheaper materials of simplifying the styles’ design (Damen, 2022). For Cos, the low or entering price point for its Suits & Tailoring program should not go below £70 for the basic items like shorts of simple skirts, and the higher price point can go up to £300-400 for the selected “trend” styles made of the luxury materials like silk or leather. In such a way, it would differentiate from the fast fashion and high street brands but will be more affordable compared to the luxury fashion brands.

For the purpose of this report, the selling phase for Cost Suits & Tailoring program is defined as 20 weeks from the end of February 2023 till the end of May 2023, as the part of its Spring-Summer Collection ’23. All products’ development and delivery to stores should have been finalized by the start of sales in February 2023.

Design process consists of several essential stages that commence from the previously outlined research and trend analysis that further translates into moodboards and then continues with sketching, range building, sampling, prototyping, and adjusting costing (Stephens Frings, 2014). Design process is not necessarily linear as design teams may come back to certain stages thereof to edit or change the range based on the new costing details or the technological issues in production (Davis Burns and Mullet, 2020). Hence, it is important to ensure effective communication between teams within the company and with production partners and factories to follow the deadlines and ensure that the final product meets all the necessary requirements and expectations (Stephens Frings, 2014).

Moodboards are the special collections of inspirational photos that may include the color palette, the key silhouettes, design details, or even the lifestyle images to show the target consumer preferences (Werner, 2019). For Cos and its Suits & Tailoring collection, the possible moodboards for SS’23 are presented below on Fig. 14 Moodboards are further used to develop the concepts and color stories (Werner, 2019).

Once the research is completed and the moodboards are developed, sketching becomes the next stage of product development (Geršak, 2022). Initial sketches might be performed by hand, as illustrated on Fig. 15 with the use of the relevant colors of the season and styling/details.

The initial sketches are further translated into the technical sketches where all the details, such as the exact measurements, placement of the trims, the number and the types of stitches and seams are displayed (Granger, 2012) (Fig. 16).

Technical sketches are then included into the Teck Spec sheets and transferred to the production partners to build patterns and prepare the first samples of the products (Granger, 2012). Examples of the tech specs are provided below on Fig. 17.

The range development is based on consideration of several critical factors such as the trends and trend reports, best sellers from the previous season, special programs and categories of items depending on design and functional properties (for example shorts and pants), competitors’ range, lines, and programs, color balance, VM merchandising capabilities at the store, previous inventory, and costs of production. For Cost and its Suits & Tailoring program, the main goal was to create the range of suiting style that would position the brand as a “go-to” destination for the suiting shopping. At the same time, the styles should have been offered at the value price points and higher (exit) prices. For this aim, the range might be divided into three categories such as Basic, Update, and Trend each corresponding the relevant price points of £79-99, £100-150, and £150 and higher (see Fig. 18). Additionally, the Promo category might be outlined as the range of products that would be promoted within certain seasons campaigns.

The product range of Cos would also include the specific combination of knit and woven tops and bottoms, that might be also further categorized by style (for example, single-sided blazer / double-sided blazer, shorts / pants, skirts / skorts). This should be determined by the Assortment Plan (AP) that is created either by the buyers or by the brand’s internal planning and sales team to clearly define for the design team the number of styles that should be developed in each category and at each of the price points. The example of the AP and the product range as it is presented in the PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) system are provided on Fig. 19 and Fig. 20 respectively.

Range development should be related to costing and the overall price architecture of the line, as the task is to develop a product that would be in demand by the customer and would sell at the price that the customer can pay. As explained by Goworek (2007), the value of product is determined by two critical types of information such as the previous sales information and the average market price referring to the prices that the competitors are selling their products at. Hence, the willingness of customers to pay certain price and the target cost of how much the production would take should be taken into account. The example of costing for the suiting program of the fast fashion brand like Cos is provided on Fig. 21 where the Average Unit Retail (AUR), Initial Markup, and total revenues per style category are calculated. When negotiating costs, the estimate number of units to be ordered per each style is also determined and then the fabric level-up might be made to ensure that the Minimum Order Quantities for the bulk fabric ordering are met.

At the stage of cost negotiation and range building several risks and opportunities might emerge. Outlining the potential risks, the major issue that can emerge relates to the wrong interpretation of design due to the incorrect tech specs preparation and the relevant cost miscalculations by the factories and production partners which could lead to significant cost increase and the need to reduce the product range or select the cheaper fabric to meet the margins at the established retail price. This could also affect the volume of buy and reduce the possibility to meet the demand and thus generate the forecasted revenues (Boardman, Parker-Strak, and Henninger, 2020).

However, the opportunities to save the costs or to select the better quality of fabric emerge where the design is simplified, like it is in the case of Cos or where the product range is quite narrow and allows ordering larger fabric quantities and unit numbers (Boardman, Parker-Strak, and Henninger, 2020). In this context, it would be reasonable to assume that Cos uses such benefits and this is one of the reasons why it is keeping its product range in Suits & Tailoring line quite small and focused.

Critical path refers to a series of processes, stages, and events that take place between the order placement or the rang approved by in-house design and development team and the actual product launch (Lowe, 2023). The timeline and the key deadlines are crucial for the good critical path, as well as the allowances for delays and unforeseen events in order to ensure that the processes are completed before the sales start date. The critical path would typically include such elements and stages as the fabric reservation, sample ordering in the selected fabrics and colors, lab dips submissions and approval, selection of prints and approval of the strike offs, sample review and improvement, prototyping, bulk fabric approval, garment product, attachment of the labels, packaging, sending the products to the distribution centers or to the stores, and delivery at the stores by the determined launch date (Nayak, 2022). The main issues that could go wrong are related to the potential delays due to the longer process of lab dips approval or transportation disruptions, and such challenges might be prevented by planning time allowances to cover the possible implications and missed original deadlines. Besides, the special software such as PLM and other production control and monitoring solutions could help tracking the processes while the design teams are working on several seasons simultaneously and have them at different stages of development process (Lowe, 2023).

Once the colors, styles, assortment, and pricing are negotiated, and the fabrics are selected, the prototype is made as a first garment that would allow testing the design and construction and that would be further improved to develop a production sample (Carr and Newell, 2014). Production sample is presented to the buyers or to the internal selection team before approving it for the line/program/collection (Carr and Newell, 2014). Production sample should be produced from the final fabrics and trims and with the use of the same equipment so that it could be further adjusted at the fittings and proceed to the second proto that would be approved for bulk production (Carr and Newell, 2014). Example of fittings of the sample is provided on Fig. 22.

As it is provided on the website of Cos, their factories and production facilities are located in Turkey, Portugal, Romania, and China, what means that such outsourcing model of production requires for the tougher quality control (Cos – Our Suppliers, 2023). Quality control in this regard consists of several important processes. Manufacturers are obliged to perform certain quality tests such as peeling text, tear strength, or abrasion test and share the certificate that prove that such tests were conducted and were passed (Hu, 2008) (example provided on Fig. 23 below).

At the same time, quality is controlled throughout the entire process of product development by the brand. For instance, the quality of the bulk fabric is controlled through the bulk samples submissions during the fittings and samples’ review, and eventually when the Top of Production (TOP) proto is sent to the design department as the first item produced from the bulk fabric form the units to be delivered to stores (Jackson and Shaw, 2004).

Delivery and packaging are tightly shaped by the cost limitations, timing and scheduling, as well as by considerations of sustainability (BoF and McKinsey & Company, 2022). As provided by Nayak (2020), with reference to the report by Quantis International, only 3% of the fashion industry’s impact on environment is due to transportation, since it is only 8% of the products are shipped through the air and 92% are delivered by ground and water. When opting for the ground and water delivery, the considerations of cost also come into play as such methods are cheaper compared to the air delivery, while shifting even 1% of products to air delivery would increase carbo emissions by 65% (Nayak, 2020). This means that planning and adhering to schedules is important not only from financial but also from the environmental perspectives.

When it comes to packaging, as provided on Cos website, the brand has redesigned and reconsidered its packaging approach to ensure it reaches the goal of using 100% recycled, reusable or compostable packing by 2025 (Cos – Our Packaging, 2023). The company has introduced a new signature Cos carrier bag made of 100% recyclable material FSC-certified paper featuring less than 10% print coverage and using only the water-based ink, to reduce the resources waste (Cos – Our Packaging, 2023). Specifically to the Suiting program, the suit carriers are now produced from 100% recycled polypropylene and without using any hardware to ensure it is fully recyclable (Cos – Our Packaging, 2023). At the same time, the packaging still has this signature minimalist and upscale design what differentiates the band and appeals to its target audience (see Fig. 24).

When the products are delivered to the stores, they should eb displayed in a way that would allow for the comfortable shopping for the customers while also communicating the “themes”, color stories, and the value to the clients. All that should be part of the visual merchandising strategy, which is an important element of the buying cycle stage (Shaw and Koumbis, 2017). Cos is known for its aesthetically and commercially relevant visual merchandising ad interior store design as the brand positions itself as a minimalist and smart basics shopping destination. As it might be seen on Fig. 25 below, Cos presents its collections based on the color stories and the wardrobing suggestions. It also integrates the elements of the natural designs into the store interiors what sends the message of sustainability to the customers and goes along the visual merchandising trends, according to the Visual Merchandising Forecast Trends (2023).

When the launch date comes, the sales of Cos collections commence at its physical stores and online store. In this regard, as Salamone (2022) fairly notes, the brand is facing its biggest challenge as it relies on physical stores too much. With the number of Cos stores reaching 291 worldwide, the brand struggled with overproduction and the need to frequently launch discount campaigns what was lowering the brand quality. This was due to the wrong inventory planning and could have been addressed by enhancing online retailing channel that requires less operations support and costs compared to the physical stores maintenance and operations.

As the present report shows, Cos adopts the full production cycle similar to other fashion brands with focus being paid on ensuring consistency in brand positioning throughout the stages of product development and up to the launch. The trends are analysed and interpreted, the color are used in accordance to the basic tailoring color palette with the injection of the trendy colorways, and the representation of its Suit & Tailoring program at stores follows the trends of visual merchandising while allowing for presenting the key themes within the very focused tailoring drop. However, there are several issues that could be addressed to enhance the efficiency of product development at Cos and eventually increase the revenues.

The pricing architecture of Cos is one of the issues that can be improved in order to ensure that the retailing price does not go higher but the margin increases to the level of the fast fashion brands. To this purposes, given the style and design of Cos products are mostly simple and minimalistic, so no further simplification is possible, and the quality of the materials is one of the points of differentiation, the recommendation might be using the same fabric and materials across more styles in collection to increase bulk materials order and thus reduce the price of fabric and trims instead of ordering the MOQ.

Another challenge for the brand is to align its inventory and production to the capacities to sell through the existing retailing channels. In particular, the larger focus on e-commerce could be recommended to catch up with other brands that have expanded their online presence since the pandemic instead of opening the new physical stores.

While working on this paper, I had the opportunity to learn about each stage of the buying cycle and to better understand how the process of fashion product development and launch happens. While the writing of the paper was exciting and very interesting, I have faced several challenges that I need to recognize and reflect on.

In the first place, it is important to summarize the buying cycle model by arguing that it is not a linear but rather iterative process and model that reveals how interconnected all the process in designing and production are in fashion industry. Trend research underpinning the strategy development is also a crucial part of the design development and range build, while selection and order placement also tie back to the market and competitors’ activities. Production and delivery processes are very complex and specific to each retailer, and here I should admit, I struggled the most. In the first place, since I selected Cos as the brand that I discussed, the information about the roles of byers was less relevant, as the brand exists as a part of the larger fashion group and is not produced by the outsourced fashion company for the external brand. Hence, I should have figured out how the designing and selection processes take place at Cos before production starts, and this was challenging as not much information is available on this topic in the open sources. In this context, I mostly grounded my assumptions on the experience that I got while doing an internship at the fashion company and with regards to the common practice and theoretical explanations about the way the industry works.

Another challenge was to develop the visual materials expected and needed for the purposes of this work. This was very time consuming and I was not sure if I am generating the new information or just follow what I see already displayed on the Cos website in its Suits & Tailoring program for SS’23. To me, the designing process went into the opposite direction by trying to figure about what was the strategy process,t he range solution and the colors selected by the brand based on what products were launched for this season and what were the forecasts and the market studies a year ago. Though it was challenging, I still believe it was a useful exercise as it allowed me comprehending the relationships among all the stages of the buying cycle even more when moving backwards and having the real examples from the real brand as an implemented buying strategy.

Finally, the last insight that I got while working on this assignment, is that each stage of the cycle takes place simultaneously with other stage for the other season or product line development. Hence, using the special software like PLM systems is crucial at every stage of the cycle to track and monitor the developments, progress, and potential issues.