Fashion retailing, where and how to purchase

  From the growth of water-intensive cotton, to worker’s low wages and poor working conditions, the environmental and social costs involved in fast fashion business are widespread.   In this situation, consumers in global market are concerned about the vicious cycle of overproduction leading to overconsumption. In particular, they are willing to spend more on quality products than fast fashion products at low prices.   Like large discount marts that have maintained market competitive advantage for a generation, global SPA brand companies have set up a business strategy that sells at everyday low price instead of doing a seasonal sale.   Under the side effects of fast fashion, however, many fashion consumers do not wish to shop at low prices. If the quality is superior despite high price and gives a certain economic burden, consumers prefer such product and are willing to purchase again. In the global market, the behavior of consumers is changing.   I...

  In terms of conceptual differences, entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business venture and assumes much of the associated risk while merchant is a person who traffics in commodities for profit.   This discussion is widely accepted. In Dongdaemun market, however, there are many merchant princes with entrepreneurship.   “We do not trust fashion, but we rather believe in the customer. We think that life is so short that it is difficult to meet the same customers every day.” +   In fact, most consumers often confuse the value of the logo with the emotional value of any fashion product. But fashion products are truly never a logo. Rather, fashion products enhance customers’ preference with the emotional value of images such as silhouette.   With entrepreneurship, Dongdaemun wholesalers do not simply sell fashion products that have already been produced. They work ‘to produce’ fashion products based on the creative behavior of Dongda...

As a pronoun for Dongdaemun market today, Pyeonghwa Market was founded by refugees from North Korea fleeing to South Korea during the Korean war which had occurred for three years from 1950.  Rebuilt on the ashes of a big fire, the market has grown into a unique marketplace for ‘producing and selling fashion clothes’ in the economic crisis and its aftermath that have lost many people’s lives and property during the war. After the financial crisis in late 1997, the Korean economy faced a serious crisis of negative growth. In the midst of the economic crisis, wholesalers in Dongdaemun market, including Art Plaza, were extended their business hours from 8:30 pm to early next morning or 5: 00 pm, providing convenience for local retailers and foreign buyers. Thanks to such market innovation, Dongdaemun market wrote the so-called Dongdaemun myth, which achieved business performance such as increase in sales and expansion of stores. In this way, Dongdaemun market people turned to...

“Designer brands for less every day!”  It is a slogan of advertisement from the luxury discount store Ross (Dress for less). These discount stores are flourishing thanks to consumer preference for luxury fashion products. Similar to a retail business like this, designer products in Dongdaemun market are sold well at lower prices. We have described this shopping behavior as the performance of triangle management of Dongdaemun market merchants such as fast, good and cheap.  As well as, such marketing strategy of Dongdaemun market merchants can be explained by ‘the law of scissors.’ The bigger the scissors, the better it cuts. Likewise, the higher the quality of a designer product, the lower the price of the product, the more it sells. The larger the gap between the quality and the price of the product, the greater the sales volume.   As the rule of scissors, Dongdaemun market merchants have been seeking to increase sales while widening the gap betwe...