Using insights to drive expansion in fashion retail

Right now we see the retail industry – in fashion in particular – facing a unique challenge: how to balance expansion with precision. The opportunity for growth is undeniable – emerging markets offer untapped potential, while established ones still present room for deeper penetration.

However, without truly robust data, decisions around market entry, expansion, and investment can feel a lot like guesswork.

We believe the key to really sustainable, profitable growth lies within your market intelligence. By leveraging primary consumer research, brands can answer some of their most critical questions: Where should we expand? What is the competitive landscape? How do consumer preferences shift by region?

These insights are the foundation of a confident, data-driven strategy.

Understanding market potential – learn where to play and how to win

For retailers in the fashion space, expansion can take two main forms:

1. Entering new markets – Understanding the relative size of the prize before committing to entry.
2. Maximising growth in existing markets – Identifying gaps and capitalising on untapped potential.

Market opportunity analysis goes a long way to providing the answers. An organised and structured approach – combining consumer behaviour insights, competitive benchmarking, and financial modelling- makes sure that expansion strategies are built on evidence, not assumptions.

So let’s take sports fashion as an example.

A brand may start by discovering, for example, that while sports fashion is a £3.5bn industry in a given country, only a small fraction of that is captured by its own stores or online platform. So this is where the real work begins.

Why? Because market sizing is only a starting point. Brands also need to understand what drives consumer behaviour in these markets.

• The total annual spend on sports fashion might be high, but how much of that is accessible?
• Who is spending the most – and where?
• Are there cultural or economic factors that influence purchase decisions?

The ability to segment the market in this way ensures that growth strategies developed are both targeted and effective.

What influences consumer spend?

One key aspect of retail strategy is understanding who is spending, where, and why. Simply knowing the size of a market is not enough – brands must also consider how consumer spend is distributed across different retailers and demographics.

Retailers often focus exclusively on existing customers: their preferences, their buying habits, their loyalty. But understanding the Voice of the Non-Customer (VoNC) is equally powerful and an important part of the bigger picture. VoNC research can identify those who shop within the sports fashion category but choose not to buy from a specific brand. These are potential customers, lost customers – or on a more optimistic note, they are those who could be won over with the right strategy and execution.

By exploring in detail why non-customers don’t currently engage with a brand, businesses can uncover their specific hidden barriers. Is it price perception? Lack of awareness? Limited store presence? A failure to appeal to certain consumer groups?

Critically, the answers may challenge long-held, internal assumptions and help to reveal new paths to growth.

For example, a retailer may assume its core audience is young urban professionals, but VoNC research might highlight significant untapped demand among older, high-spending consumers who feel underserved by the current product range. By helping to break away from initial assumptions, management teams can be empowered to make more innovative decisions centred around consumer behaviour.

The competitive landscape – where can you win market share?

With established brands and new entrants all vying for consumer attention, understanding the competition is as critical as understanding the customer. Solid competitor analysis provides a detailed picture of:

• Brand awareness and purchase consideration levels.
• Customer loyalty dynamics — who is switching brands, and why?
• Pricing and perceived value against key rivals.

Here, a business might believe it competes directly with premium sportswear brands, but consumer sentiment may place it alongside mid-market retailers. That insight has profound implications for pricing, marketing, and even store design.

Equally, if research shows that a key competitor is losing customers due to poor online service, that presents an opportunity to differentiate and capture share.

VoNC research strengthens this competitive analysis further. While traditional research focuses on current customers, VoNC explores why people are choosing competitors instead. The data can reveal whether consumers actively reject a brand – or simply haven’t been given a compelling reason to switch. These insights can be used to inform everything from product development to promotional messaging, making sure that brands compete not just on price but on relevance and desirability.

Use market modelling to predict success before you invest

Market entry and expansion decisions involve significant investment. The challenge? Ensuring ROI before committing resources. This is where bespoke market modelling comes into play.

By analysing multiple data points — category spend, brand penetration, and consumer demographics — retailers can start to forecast:

• The potential revenue uplift from entering a new market.
• The likely impact of additional retail locations in an existing market.
• How consumer segments will respond to new product lines or pricing strategies.

Market modelling not only reduces risk but also enables smarter allocation of budget — focusing efforts where returns are most likely to be maximised.

Making data work for you with strategic investment

While market research requires investment, the potential return far outweighs the cost. A single new store launch can run into the millions, yet brands often commit to expansion with limited data. In contrast, a multi-market study can start from £25k per market, providing a robust foundation for confident decision-making.

For brands with global ambitions, this level of insight is a strategic necessity.

Understanding where the real opportunities lie gives boards and investors confidence that every expansion move is backed by data, not just intuition. It also makes sure that brands aren’t just following trends, but shaping them – and putting consumers at the heart of their strategy.

Build up confidence in decision-making

Growth in fashion retail is no longer purely about being in the right place at the right time – it’s about understanding the market in depth before you act.

By combining some or all of the methods above – market sizing, consumer profiling, competitor benchmarking, VoNC research, and predictive modelling – brands can move away from guesswork towards strategic certainty.

Whether expanding into new territories or maximising existing markets, the businesses that invest consistently in insight and understanding will be the ones that win in the long-term.

Market Measures has been working alongside major retail clients since 2001.  As they reaped clear benefits, we forged a more and more systematic approach to include our proprietary Voice of the Non-Customer research methodology. In particular we now use our unique VoNC Conversion Model model to quantify Non-Customer market opportunities in ££ sales.

To find out more about our retail Voice of the Non-Customer work, please speak to John Gurd or Kim Mason on 023 8046 0910 – or you can start by downloading this explainer & case study.