Hi Maryls,

I second Nichole's enthusiasm for WGSN. It's heavily used by students in our Fashion Design and Design & Merchandising programs. Faculty love the design and layout of the reports, using them as models for student work. It's very easy for students to navigate to what they need, but also encourages browsing.

Like Nichole, we only have access to WGSN Fashion though I'm curious if others are subscribing to the WGSN products Insight or Instock (we will have an online retail master's program starting next fall). Most likely, money will be the deciding factor.

Best,
Shannon

Shannon Marie Robinson
Liaison Librarian, Media Arts & Design, Drexel University
shannonmarierobinson.com
Twitter: @artistlibrarian
Tumblr: MA&D Librarian


On Sat, Oct 29, 2016 at 10:29 AM, Nichole DeMichelis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Marlys,

We currently have WGSN Fashion, and we're putting in a capital big to get Instock. I've also seen a demo of Insight.

WGSN Fashion is the GO TO for fashion forecasting in the UK. They break every season down by month, trend, demographic, style (ie active, accessories, footwear, women's wear, menswear). They cover all the big Fashion Weeks, and provide great pictures and insightful analysis. They also cover visual merchandising trends, which is one of our biggest programs, so that's a great bonus. Our curriculum is very much designed for visual learners, and the students are always on the hunt for great images. I recommend WGSN highly for the huge amount of sourced, licensed fashion images they have available.  

I think their biggest strength is that it's a very user-friendly interface. Our younger students in particular are drawn to it because of how easy it is to use. It's definitely conducive to exploration and discover, although it can be a bit clunky for answering specific queries if you don't know how their reports are structured. I heard that they are moving certain reports over to Insight, but I'm not sure about the details there.

We also have Fashion Snoops and Fashion Monitor, but every year WGSN is by far our most used database. It's nice that they allow students to access it off-campus, as well. We are so impressed with it, that when Verdict (a retail business database) raised their price out of our budget range, we started looking into investing into WGSNs other dbs. We had a recent demo, and the faculty were particularly excited about Instock. Having up-to-date information about inventory, sales etc is hugely beneficial to a fashion retail programme. They also liked Insight, but thought it may be better suited to more advanced students (HE or Post-graduate), because it's more text and report-based. However, if your students are writing papers more than designing moodboards or other visual projects, it will be a great asset. While moving from Verdict to WGSN's services will require revamping the curriculum, the faculty seem keen!

I recommend asking for a demo from the staff, if possible. Even if they can't send someone out there physically, they will do an online demo to show you how WGSN works and allow you (and your faculty) to ask questions. They've been really helpful throughout this process. 

Best of luck! Let me know if you have any other questions. 

Cheers,

Nichole DeMichelis

Learning Resource Manager
Fashion Retail Academy
15 Gresse Street,
London, W1T 1QL
Charity No.:1119540

On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 7:01 PM, Marlys Mc Guire <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi ARLISers,   We are considering purchasing the WGSN Database for 
our apparel design and retail merchandising  undergrads and graduates.(along
with our Minor students in Fashion design and retail merchandising, also for our
apparel studies grad students.

WGSN (Worth Global Style Network) is expen$ive and they don't offer a trial
subscription.  There are 3 modules: WGSN Fashion ; WGSN Insight and WGSN Instock.

I'm looking for comments from those that have subscribed to this database:

1. Which module(s) have to subscribed to?
2. How useful is it for consumer forecasting, consumer insights, brand strategy, etc.?

Thank you !

--
Marlys McGuire
Magrath Library
University of Minnesota
1984 Buford Ave.
St. Paul MN 55108

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--
Nichole

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