The Future Of Fashion Retailing

H&M has always enjoyed a leading position in the global ‘fast fashion’ and apparel market. With threat on its radar it now must evaluate the sustainability of competitive advantage with regards its strategic capabilities. As part of this assignment we shall take a look at four primary areas of importance.

Topshop is a British chain of clothing stores that operates in more than 20 countries. It is part of the Arcadia Group, which also owns a number of other retail outlets including Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Wallis.

The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic

In this segment, the retailer J.C. Penney will be analyzed against the department store retail industry, with particular emphasis placed upon their competitors, Macy’s and Kohl’s. The major components to be discussed will include the general external environment (i.e. demographics, economics, politics, legal requirements, technologies and global expansion), the industry environment, the competitive environment, the driving forces and the key factors for success within the industry. In terms of the general external environment, the retail industry is a multi-trillion dollar business in the United States alone and maintains operations primarily due to consumer spending. Such purchases rely upon the disposable income of

Threat: Forces shaping the Nordstrom’s strategy is that it is operating in highly competitive environment, where apparel sold by it is not only competing with large organized departmental chains but, also from small independent boutiques in the U.S. As a result competition has become very stiff in retail

Corporate-level strategies are liable for market definition; they address the entire scope of the business. This strategy helps a business to diversify its service. It gives them direction in which geographic region they should operate and which service markets to strive in. “Thus, an effective corporate-level strategy creates, across all of a firm’s businesses, aggregate returns that exceed what those

Business level strategies identify the company’s overall competitive theme (Hill & Jones, 2013). In addition, business level strategies evaluate the ways a company

Macy's is one of the premier retailer franchises within the United States. To begin, Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isadora, 2011).Other competitors who cater specifically to the middle class consumer have also lost significant amounts of market share as consumers trade down due to the economy. Macy's, with its ride array of assortments and products continues to grow as it attempts to capture market share from failing competitors. Macy's is also unique as it operates in a unique market demographic. It is upscale, but not to the extent of Saks Fifth Avenue or a Nordstrom. It is also not as low scale as a JC Penny or Sears. As such, the company occupies a

This marketing plan examines the case of TOPSHOP as a UK’s fast-fashion retailer. The following marketing plan is structured according the SOSTAC framework. Topshop is operating under the parental Arcadia Group. Over the latest years, Topshop has been one of the most popular UK’s fast-fashion retailers. The company is a multinational Omni-channel fashion retailer. Topshop is well-known for its high-quality products in medium low prices. The company’s portfolio owns a wide range of products and services. According to the Situational Analysis, the UK’s macro environment has changed over the latest years. The UK’s fast-fashion industry is becoming more and more cluttered with competitors from both UK

In this paper I will discuss Forever 21’s retail market and financial strategy. I will examine the company’s sustainable competitive advantage that upholds the company’s edge over its competitors. I will explain how the company’s fast fashion retail is becoming a threat to other companies with the same type of products such as Zara and H&M. These companies should be worried because Forever 21 is faster and cheaper, it 's expanding its consumer base, and it 's fighting with the competitors head on. I will discuss exactly how Forever 21 is planning on being the number one fast fashion retailer in years to come, and how the placement of the stores is an important factor for it’s success. Forever 21’s expansion strategy is to increase the amount of stores currently in the US and also to add locations over seas. CEO Don Chang plans to double the size of the company in the next three years by expanding it’s total retail footprint. In this paper I will also explain how Forever 21 compares financially to its competitors and I will discuss the net sales for the company in 2014 as well as the competitors net sales in both dollar and percentage amounts. I will describe the controversy behind the trends of Forever 21’s future sales, and depict the current trends in both negative and positive light due to opposing views of the company. I will determine these strengths and weaknesses of the company and explain them in great detail to show exactly how well the company is doing

Merchandising centres on the buying and selling of goods within a market place and a good merchandising system is essential to the success of any retail business. I intend to focus this merchandising report on Zara, a ladies fashion retailer and HMV, an entertainment megastore. These two companies have specific buying and merchandising strategies, which are tailored to the needs of their products. This report will explore the similarities and differences within each company 's strategies, and identify factors that determine them.

Given Uniqlo’s successful human resources management, most of the experienced employees are willing to stay in the company. They deliver higher service standards and productivity than H&M employees. Hence, it leads to an increase in overall customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, together with the sales revenue.

This section analyzed and shown the existing significant strength of competitive forces within the apparel industry in Europe. The collective strength of the existing forces defines the profitability of the incumbents and the new player in the industry (Mann & Byun 2011).

The overall apparel and retail industry appears to be growing strongly even though a closer looks reveals that there are specific sectors that are doing better than the others. According to a research published by the Harris Poll, retailers seem to have a more positive outlook on the economy especially when it is close to holiday season. “Cautiously optimistic outlook for current and future finances” is a term used in the research (1), as more retailers are willing to describe their financial situation as healthy and they expect increase in total sales to be significant from the last year. According to a recently released Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Trend Tracker, similar optimism was also reported as retailers in North America continue to remain hopeful that their retail businesses will continue to thrive. (4). The retail industry as a whole has been growing strong as opposed to wholesale. Apparel sales are not only profitable but also very seasonal, allows for seasonal surges and promotional opportunities for more sales during certain seasons and the holiday times. More specific to our company, Abercrombie and Fitch is situated in the apparel industry with brands named Abercrombie and Fitch, Abercrombie Kids and Hollister. The apparel industry has been faced with somewhat of a slump because of the economic downturn. However, according to a very recent report on WWD, the apparel industry is now on an upswing, seeming a financial comeback after

I am very interested in the clothing retail industry so I interviewed an entrepreneur who is in this field. She is Natasha McKnight who owns a boutique named Sapphire Nine in Hollidaysburg. It is around twenty-five minutes drive from Altoona Ivyside campus. Natasha was new in that she opened the store in August this year.