Open AccessSmall Business Apparel Retailing in Jamaica: An Exploratory Investigation into Product Development Processes and Practices
Author(s) -
Natalie Johnson-Leslie,
LuAnn Ricketts Gaskill
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2006.1661
Subject(s) - clothing , product (mathematics) , new product development , business , marketing , quality (philosophy) , product management , exploratory research , fast fashion , process (computing) , sociology , computer science , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , epistemology , anthropology , history , operating system
While the process and practices of retail product development in developed countries have been documented, avoid exists in descriptive analysis regarding retail product development in an international setting. The primary purpose of this study was to explore small business apparel retailing, and specifically the retail product development process and practices in Jamaica. Using the case study approach, five apparel retailers in Jamaica who engaged in retail product development are profiled. In- depth interviews, observations, and documents were used to collect data and results were presented after analysis. The findings revealed that the process of product exclusivity, training of workers, modern technological devices, networking, and product quality were of major concern to apparel retailers in Jamaica, which is shown to be very similar to the retail product development process carried out in the U.S.A.