Studies on existing clothing library models (physical stores) suggested that one of the main barriers preventing consumers from joining and existing members using it more was the location (Pederson et al.). As you can imagine having to visit a certain location every time you wanted to borrow or return a certain item of clothing would be a bit of a hassle especially for todays busy society.
Therefore, we made the decision to launch our model online. We believe that this will make it easily accessible for our target market as most of them will be on their smartphone/laptop daily. Additionally, with the fast growing online shopping model this shouldn’t be too much of a behavioural change, as we plan to have the rental garments delivered to the customers door and picked up via a courier service. To check our assumptions we have done some research.
Key findings and trends:
Unfortunately the most comprehensive research was done in 2015 – but I think its safe to say these statistics would have only increased since then.
- 96% of 18-34 year olds in NZ own a smartphone. (our target market) (Research NZ)
- Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of all adult New Zealanders now own or have access to a laptop or notebook for their private use (up from 66 percent in 2013). (Research NZ)
- Reflecting the lifecycle of the market, approximately two-thirds of all adult New Zealanders now own or have access to three or more devices (64 percent). (Research NZ)
- A clear preference is emerging in favour of smartphones, with 59 percent of those with a smartphone and at least one other device, preferring their smartphone. This appears to be at the expense of laptops and notebooks. (Research NZ)
- 86 percent of those who are using their smartphone more often, are specifically using it more often to connect to the internet. (Research NZ)
- Access social networking sites (78 percent, compared with 68 percent who access social media through their laptop) (Research NZ)
- When it comes to shopping, New Zealanders are increasingly digital, with two-thirds shopping online in the last 12 months – up from 37% in 2006 and expected to hit 83% by 2026. (Boyte)
Graphs from Research New Zealand.
Conclusion:
From these results we have confirmed our decision to launch as an online platform. We have also made the decision to launch as an App with an online landing platform before expanding to a website as our business grows. This is based on the clear preference for using mobile devices as it makes sense to take advantage of this – especially as it suits as business model, we can send notifications when garments are due back etc.
Sources:
Research New Zealand. “ A Report on a Survey of New Zealanders’ Use of Smartphones and Other Mobile Communication Devices 2015.” 2015.
Pedersen, Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum, and Sarah Netter. “Collaborative Consumption: Business Model Opportunities and Barriers for Fashion Libraries.” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 19, no. 3, 2015, pp. 258–273., doi:10.1108/jfmm-05-2013-0073.
Boyte, Tony. “ONLINE SHOPPING SEEING HUGE GROWTH IN NEW ZEALAND.” Https://Www.nielsen.com/Nz/En/Insights/Article/2018/Online-Shopping-Seeing-Huge-Growth-in-New-Zealand/, 2018.
Refresh Fashion Library 