As you get older …….

Yes one of the things you learn as you get older is when and where to pick a fight and another is how to do proper research!

Now I’m nearly 25 years old so not that old but old enough to have noticed my tastes have changed that my view on clothing is changing and I’m not always chasing that disposable outfit with maybe two wears maximum and that I now think of work wear as an investment not as a waste of money which could be spent on going out clothes or more shoes which hurt my feet but look fabulous.

I’m part of Generation Y aka the Net Generation which is the babies of baby boomers the very people retailers are always chasing and altering their range to catch our eye and in turn get our money – but we are a fickle lot and we have loads to pick at. But it has made me think this week with the sad demise of Jane Norman about how retailer are not adapting – I had noticed in the weeks before the sad announcement of their administration they had slightly altered their range to suit an older customer – was this part of their longer term strategy to age with their consumer or was it they had noticed we have got older or they noticed tiny party frocks were not selling as well as before?

So when you’re researching your consumer do you account for them getting older and adapt accordingly or is there always some Peter Pan element in fashion retailing and the bias is always on youth and if so are you adapting quickly enough if you’re a traditional bricks and mortar retailer to the internet and investing in that. I wonder if now we are back to the doom and gloom headlines if some board rooms will look at their consumer and strategy and try and age with them gracefully or just stay in party mood.