Getting a Greater Say in What Stores Sell

If you’re a clotheshorse, a new garment may conjure up notions of designers, seamstresses, fabrics draped over mannequins. That jacket you’re wearing is, after all, a creation.

But the reality of the creative process is not always so romantic.

Reeling from the effects of consumer resistance and the recession, retailers, designers and manufacturers are scrambling for new ways to entice shoppers.

And some companies--from Escada’s upscale Apriori line to Fruit of the Loom to JC Penney--have embraced traditional tools of the business world: focus groups and consumer research.

“Women are no longer lemmings,” says Ira Ostroff, marketing research manager of women’s apparel for Penney’s, one of the leading retailers conducting in-house research.

“What designers turn out will sell only if the public wants it. And while it’s true that people don’t always know what they want, they do know what they don’t want. If we can just get rid of the bombs, we improve profitability.”

Other companies are reluctant to discuss their research, either for competitive reasons or because they want to protect the image of designer creativity.

The sophistication of the market research--and the makeup of the focus groups--varies greatly.

Apriori, based in New York City, began using the groups more than a year ago, shortly after its start-up. The initial questionnaires about quality, price and styling went to 26 women, all graduate students at Columbia University.

The line has since added 35 female executives, ages 30 to 35, to its regular focus group.

Dallas-based JC Penney divides the thousands of women it polls into three categories, according to their spending habits.

“Updated” includes fashion-forward customers. Prudent spenders belong in the “conservative” group, and those most concerned with the longevity of merchandise are “traditional.”

Fruit of the Loom, which uses an outside research firm to conduct its studies, will reveal only a few details.

A typical consumer test consists of about 500 people, who might, for example, be given a sweat shirt to wear and compare with a competing product for a three- to four- week period.

A team of 150 cabdrivers and bus drivers recently tested underwear--briefs with a new waistband--for the Bowling Green, Ky., company.

(Fruit of the Loom reports that 50% preferred the “improved” briefs to other products.)

These testers are truly shaping fashion, fit--even price. Penney’s Joey Lee Dobbs, who manages the retailer’s Satellite Research Co., says that if surveys show women will not pay more than $100 for a jacket the chain’s jackets will be priced less than that.

At Apriori’s first session, participants said they wanted a versatile jacket to wear to work and to pair with jeans on the weekend.

The jacket Apriori designed to reflect that research was so successful that the company has offered similar jackets in subsequent collections.

The jacket, in navy wool with a crest on the breast pocket and zipper details, sells for $470.

JC Penney began its consumer testing in 1988 at five sites: New York City, Huntington Beach, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas. Today, 16 cities are involved in the research program.

A typical test seeks to rate the salability and appeal of designs one or two seasons ahead.

A Huntington Beach consumer group last March looked over women’s casual sportswear, some of which is now in stores.

During an hourlong session, five women used computers to record their opinions of 80 garments, focusing on color, style and price.

Details were also put to the test: Does a skirt sell better when a belt is attached? When it has triple or double belt loops?

JC Penney moves forward with a style if 30% or more of the participants say they would buy it.

Any finding more than 20% is strongly considered, and lesser results are judged on a case-by-case basis.

A tuxedo shirt tested last year earned only an 18% approval rating but quickly became the chain’s No. 1 blouse.

Black stirrup pants that garnered a 28% rating became the most popular item in the women’s casual sportswear department. But a cotton twill skirt with a 34% approval is “only doing fair,” says Jim Maginness, merchandise manager of casual sportswear for Penney’s.

Critics charge that retailers and manufacturers that rely too heavily on market research run several risks, particularly if their consumer testers are already customers.

“Retailers and their customers can get too comfortable,” says Peter Fressola, director of communications for Benetton.

“Customers aren’t always accustomed to looking to the next new thing. To be successful you have to constantly be leading the customer. If not, they might miss a trend,” he says.

But market research has meant better profits for many companies.

One of the greatest success stories at JC Penney, for example, is the Bart Simpson T-shirt.

Before “The Simpsons” premiered, the retailer tested the shirt with kids and it did well. By the time the show had its 30-minute slot on Fox, the shirt’s popularity soared and the chain enjoyed remarkable sales.

And what do test participants get for their time and trouble?

The opportunity to voice opinions; perks and financial rewards are minimal.

“It’s nice to have a voice,” admits Joan Beatty, 57, of Huntington Beach, who has participated in two JC Penney consumer tests and fills out every survey that crosses her mailbox.

“When I go to stores, I see so many things I don’t need or want and I sometimes wonder who’s buying all that stuff. But if people like me speak out in a constructive way, instead of just complaining, maybe there will be more things in stores that people really want and need.”