Inside A Retail Business

I did a week’s worth of work experience in Fenwick Canterbury to learn about all the different aspects of working in the retail business. I did many things ranging from the shop floor to behind-the-scenes.

Monday: Today I had an induction explaining all of Fenwick’s background; this helped me understand the business I was working for. The reason I chose Fenwick Canterbury was because it is the closest store that has its own head office in each location, this helps the company focus on their customers more by having separate fashion buyers, visual merchandisers, media and advertising in each area. I was also intrigued by the many different designer/brand names working with Fenwick such as MaxMara, DKNY, Armani, Joules, Betty Barclay, Barbour, Brax etc. I began my day working on the women’s fashion floor to learn about the different products, brands/designers, see the customers and do the everyday tasks that would happen in any other store (fitting rooms, tills…). Later I helped with the marketing team, I got to walk around the shop floors choosing new trends to use on the Instagram account, and the picture we used was one of Kendall Jenner showing the new Estée Lauder fragrance.

Tuesday: Stock take was the main event of today; all the staff were counting their stock in their departments those out on display and in the stock room. I was in the stock room doing the counting, making sure it was correctly ordered and priced. In the afternoon I was given the job of collecting the new season deliveries from designers making sure the invoice was correct with the right styles and sizes of each product. I had to add price tags, write in the figures of how much was ordered, how the products were selling so the buyers could see the percentage of sales to determine whether they would continue to buy those products or not. I managed to talk to the stock room staff and learn about how they calculate profit margins, price tag everything, correct orders, sort out deliveries, organise the different department stock and do all the calculations for buyers on each product.

Wednesday: Today I was on the shop floor focusing on the contemporary section, I got to look at the new seasons see the trends of top brands such as MaxMara (the weekend), DKNY, Armani Jeans and more. These high end brands helped me understand the customers we receive in Fenwick Canterbury, the ladies who look for clothes are more into the style and uniqueness rather than trends, also the contemporary sections are more staple items that have good quality that can last a lifetime. The women who shop in this area are very glamorous and fashionable; the personal shoppers are there to help choose the best outfits for all occasions.

I was also allowed to be creative as I did some visual merchandising and managed to do three stands 1. I thought of a 70’s look, so I added the trends of suede, denim, flowery scarf and colourful patterned t-shirts, 2. I added bright colours to catch the customer’s eyes of the last season, 3. I added blues and reds for the summer. Later in the day I spent some time with the fashion buyers of the store and learnt about how they analyse their figures of sales, decide on the clothes they want to purchase for each season, visit trade shows and exhibitions (travel), working on the shop floor to know the customers, doing orders and visual merchandising to help improve sales.

Thursday: I had some manual handling training this morning, I was happy that the company was focused on their employees making sure that they don’t injure themselves at work or at home, this training was very important for health and safety of the individual and others. For the rest of the day I learnt all about visual merchandising, I was able to see the shop windows, of how the buyers helped show the new seasons to then help style the manikins, the theme for this season was called “the gallery” focusing on the home department with patterned rugs hanging in the background and the manikins in front which gave off an edgy look to catch the customers eyes as they walk past. Today we chose accessories for the manikins to give off that finishing touch and then we starting making price tags to put in the windows.

Friday: Today I was on the shop floor I loved working on the women’s fashion floor in the lifestyle, contemporary and European departments because I could see the new seasons and trends of each of the designers such as Joules, Seasalt, Espirt, MaxMara, DKNY, Sahara, Armani, Gant, Barbour etc. I then managed to get a glimpse of the new clothes for the Autumn/Winter 2015 which was very interesting to see before it launched in Fenwick.

Overall I had an amazing experience and have an idea of what I want to do in the future.

Lastly, I would like to thank Fenwick Canterbury for this amazing opportunity.

Here are some pictures of my visual merchandising: