The Athletic Shoe Industry Is Made Up Of Companies That Produce Footwear For Athletic Use

Many of the big established shoe brands have seen consolidation and hence they have become bigger and more powerful in terms of competing with the rest.

Since its creation, Nike has proven itself as a popular brand and it has created niches by selling products such as footwear, apparels and various types of sports equipment. This paper will attempt to trace the product development of Nike shoes from its origins in conception and design to the manufacturing and production process located in contract factories in developing countries to advertising and marketing of Nike as a cultural commodity and finally, the retailing of the footwear around the world.

By the use of Porter’s Five Forces model to analysis the athletic footwear market around the world; our strategy is to cut the price of footwear in the Year 11 and 12, and to increase budget of advertisement and to bid celebrity endorsements in order to boost the sales volume in a competitive industry .

The threat of substitutes in this industry is high in my opinion. I say this because there are so many companies in the industry that have varying sports apparel, footwear and accessories. Customers can easily substitute one product by using another similar product of another company.

Nike is the leading and yet renowned supplier of athletic apparel and shoes. The company controls close to 33% of the global athletic shoe market (Dogiamis & Vijayashanker,2009).Nike was founded by Bill Power and Phil Knight in 1962 as a Blue Ribbon Support and then was later on renamed to Nike in the year 1968 (Patrow,2003).The company supplies very high quality product in close to 100 countries with major markets being located in the U.S,U,K, Asia Pacific as well as in the Americas. The company has managed to attain its lead and legendary position via the application of innovative and yet attractive product design which is backed by quality production as well as well crafted marketing strategies.

The trade policies in NorthAmerica are quite liberal when compared to the other areas of operation such as LatinAmerica and Europe.

Market analysis C & J Clarks LtdCONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY1.INTRODUCTION2.COMPANY HISTORY AND PROFILE2.1C&J Clark2.2History2.3Manufacturing2.4Range of Shoes2.5 K Shoes3.MARKET ANALYSISA. MICRO ENVIRONMENT3.1 Market Data3.2Competition3.3Consumer demandB. MACRO ENVIRONMENT3.4Political3.5Social3.6Technological3.7Economic4.SWOT ANALYSIS5.IDENTIFICATIONS OF STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES6.RECOMMENDATIONS6.1Short Term6.2Medium Term6.3Long TermEXECUTIVE SUMMARYI have been asked by C & J Clark Limited (Clarks) to prepare a report which would include a market analysis of the UK footwear industry and to propose a number of strategic recommendations which would ensure that Clarks secures its short, medium and long term future as the market leader in the shoe

sale of Nike’s high-margin products to high-end customers. Regardless of the low cost of the World Shoes, they

Sportsman Shoes has been a leader in the shoe industry for more than thirty years. Sportsman manufactures and sells athletic shoes for all types of sports. The company has pursued a low-cost strategy in order to sustain their success. They sell a limited number of shoe designs and have held costs low through manufacturing efficiency and standardized operations. However, the past five years have been a struggle at Sportsman. The shoe market has seen a rise in the availability of low-cost imported shoes that has threatened Sportsman’s competitive position. As a result, company executives have decided it is time for a strategy shift.

Threat of Substitute Products: Atheletic shoes are designed for comfort, fit and personal safety during periods of iintense or increased movement. The existence of close substitute products increases the propensity of consumers to switch to alternatives in reponse to price increases. The availability of substitutes in the athletic shoe industry, invites customers to make price, quality and performance comparisons. If the athletic shoe is used for a specific sports, there maybe relatively few substitutes. If the shoe is used because of comfortability, they are interchangeable with minimal switching cost. This holds true for athletic shoes worn for fashion. Overall the threat of substitute products is moderate and depends on the motivation for purchasing the product. The impact to profit potential is moderate to high.

Competition is very fierce due to the number of companies competing for sales. Lots of money goes to marketing and promotions using various channels to reach the young demographic group of consumers who spend the most money on Nike’s products. Growth is slowing down in the athletic footwear industry. But new markets are emerging with high growth rates. These markets include extreme sports market and the corporate merchandise market.

The athletic apparel industry is also defined by a moderate threat of new entrants. As mentioned earlier, the industry is extremely concentrated, with large companies (Nike, Adidas, Under Armour) at the top and several smaller companies following. While the costs for starting a local company is low, as the company grows, it will become harder to compete and be profitable in this industry. The incumbent firms in this industry have the advantage of existing production, distribution, and supply chain processes. New companies would consider the large upfront costs of these processes while incumbent firms take advantage of economies of scale due to having the benefit of already securing a large market share. These large costs in turn cause the company to have low profits, which discourages new entrants. Additionally, the threat of new entrants is low because of the brand preferences of consumers in the economy. This industry

Porter’s Five Forces (1980), named after Michael E. Porter, is a critical framework to access the level of risk and degree of potential profitability of each industry in which firms are competing. Specifically, five forces are shown in Figure 1, are includes competition between rivalry, potential of new entrant, threat of substitute products, and pressure on bargaining power of suppliers and customers.

The sportswear industry provides clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise and has now evolved as casual fashion clothing more than athletic wear. In this report I will be talking about Kotler’s macro forces and their effect on the sportswear industry. I will also be comparing two organizations from the industry and evaluating the similarities and differences between them.

Porter’s five forces are used to determine the competitive intensity and attractiveness of a market. These are close forces that affect a company’s ability to make a profit and serve customers. If any of these forces change, a company must reassess its marketplace. The five forces include: the threat of substitute products, the threat of the entry of new competitors, the intensity of competitive rivalry, the bargaining power of customers and the bargaining power of suppliers.