Report


Lessons learnt


The student market can be tricky to crack, but with half a million new undergraduates starting every year it’s lucrative. Rebecca Thomson finds out how to do it


F


or many retailers, students are an attractive set of consumers. Not only are they young, impressionable and ready to form the shopping habits of a lifetime, they’re likely to be upwardly mobile and the big earners


of the future. Retailers in every sector would be wise to target them. But while they’re good to target strategically, students are


facing the same difficulties as every other consumer group and it’s not always easy to get them to spend. Prices are rising and times are tight and, even without the current economic malaise, success should never be taken for granted. Students need careful marketing and a specific type of attention, and it’s possible to get it very wrong. But the potential future gains are significant, so while it might take some effort, it’s likely to be worth it. Meg Lustman, managing director at fashion retailer Warehouse, says students are of strategic significance for its brand: “It’s about getting the brand on a customer’s radar so that when she does become our true target market we are there.” It’s all about the messages you send them, and getting


them interested in your brand early on in their shopping lives. Students are as complex as any consumer group, but fortunately there are ways of targeting them that have proven effective over the years. Not only are students open to new messages and ideas because it’s their first time away


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