Customer Experience in Fashion Retail: Merging Theory and Practice

This text provides a holistic, integrated and in-depth perspective on the growing field of customer experience (CX), in a fashion context.

Merging three core perspectives - academic, creative agency and retailer - the book takes a chronological approach to tracing the evolution of customer experience from the physical store, to omnichannel through channel convergence to consider the future of fashion retailing and customer experience. Beginning with the theoretical perspective, customer experience evolution in a fashion retail context is traced, considering the definition of customer experience, physical retail, the digitalisation of customer experience, omni-channel retail, in-store technologies and envisioning future retail CX. The retail creative agency perspective looks at how to locate and design customer experience journeys, designing harmonised CX across retail brand environments online and offline, responsible retailing and taking a human-centric approach to create visceral, wellbeing-based experiences. Finally, the retailer perspective explores real-life case studies of great customer experience from international brands, including Zara, Nike, Ecoalf, To Summer and Anya Hindmarch. Pedagogical features to aid understanding are built in throughout, including chapter objectives and reflective questions.

Comprehensive and unique in its approach, Customer Experience in Fashion Retailing is recommended reading for students studying Fashion Retail Management, Customer Experience, Retail Design and Visual Merchandising, Fashion Psychology and Fashion Marketing.

Bethan Alexander is Reader in Fashion Retailing and Marketing and Research Coordinator at the Fashion Business School, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London. Bethan’s scholarly research interests span Multi-Sensory Fashion Retailing, Customer Experiences Online and Offline, Innovative Retail Formats, Retail technologies and Future Retailing. Results of this research have been published in various academic journals and books in the fashion, retail, marketing and business disciplines. She champions research informed teaching and leverages her extensive networks in collaborating with industry and academics internationally. Bethan is a published author, mentor and thought leader. She wrote Part 1 (chapters 1 and 2) on theoretical perspectives of customer experience, as well as the Anya Hindmarch and Loanhood case studies.