Students get creative with Retail 247 for fashion sustainability project

Retail 247 is a digital retail consultancy business that focuses on technology and operational process transformation in the retail sector. The BA (Hons) Business and Management students were tasked with thinking of innovative solutions and designing initiatives to help solve the problem, considering both the retailer and the customer perspective.

Rebecca Golds, a student involved in the project said,

“The project allowed myself and my group to get creative with ideas to put forward to Retail 247. This project allowed us to assess a real-life issue and think of how we could use emerging technologies and innovative ideas to contribute to solving a real-life matter. 
Our idea tapped into the circular economy – something which we strongly believe should be looked at by retailers to encourage consumers to find, reuse, share, repair, or refurbish their existing items. 

We came up with our brand ‘Tikaoo’, which walked away with top place in the competition Retail 247 ran alongside the assignment! As a serial-online-returner, this project surprisingly impacted me, as it opened my eyes up to the damage I was contributing to. The knowledge I gained from the extensive research I conducted to create our brand made me realise I was part of this issue. Our solution considered our own spending and returning habits, meaning we could approach the problem from all perspectives. We presented our idea in a dragon den style presentation for extra effect. 

I really enjoyed taking part in this project, connecting with a real business to help them in their quest to conquer these issues. It was a great feeling to know that myself or the people who work beside me have the ability to be the creators of a solution to solve a global issue!”

Pavanpal Digpal, also a student who took part in the project said, 

“As a group, we really enjoyed this project, working with Retail 247 to find real-life solutions to an important issue within today’s society. Firstly, we carried out research to find out why so many items have been returned. We then picked a few issues to brainstorm solutions for from the results. It was an eye-opening project and we learned a lot from it. 

One of the highlights of the project was how realistic it was and that we had to consider both the consumer side and the retail side, which was a challenge to target both.”

Alan Morris, Non-Exec Director of Retail 247 said,

“At Retail247 we are always looking to innovate. Working with the Business and Management students at Leeds Beckett University we were delighted to see how their new ideas connected with an existing problem for retailers, and how they created the basis for solutions that could make a real difference when it comes to reducing internet returns. 

Retail is more defined by technology than ever, but there is a need in the industry for people who understand that whilst some poor historic business decisions can’t be unmade, there is no reason to keep living with the consequences. The future success of the retail industry will depend on the people it employs and from our work with these students, there is definite cause of optimism.”