Pricing and Retail Strategy Lucky Brand® established in 1990 in Los Angeles California, is an apparel retailer with focus on jeans, casual wear and accessories. Lucky Brand® currently has 251 retail stores, as well as locations in select department stores and is thriving online at Luckybrand.com. This company operates as an exclusive distributor, a strategy of selling products through one or few retailers in a specific location (Tanner and Raymond.2014). The retail stores sell exclusively Lucky Brand® as does the Luckybrand.com site and within the department stores, such as Macy’s and Nordstrom, they have boutique sections dedicated to this brand exclusively. To maintain this operating model, the company has to stay relevant through the means by which the product line retail strategy and pricing are managed. This paper will review this strategy, primarily through technology strategy investments and how Lucky Brand® has managed to survive the retail industry for almost thirty years. Pricing and Retail Strategy Through 27 years in business, Lucky Brand® has been through changes in ownership and how they conduct business to keep up with changing trends in consumer behavior. In 2014 a private equity firm, Leonard, Green & Partners LP bought the company from New York based Fifth & Pacific Cos. The change in ownership brings this brand back to Los Angeles, where the company originally started. With this change, some changes in leadership and focus of the company took place.
Due to the economy downturn period, Macy’s and many other retailers were suffering. Fortunately, Macy’s has chosen the beneficial marketing strategy to fit the objective of business. This paper will analyze the company’s situation from its financial aspect, industry aspect, the competitive part and Macy’s marketing strategies to conclude that Macy’s could have stable profit in the next three to five years.
In the past, JCP had, on average, one price campaign every day. The stores were full of sale signs and retail rise was getting out of control. JCP partnered with numerous exclusive collaborations which was hoped to bring about an expansion for the firm. However, due to the economic slump, the oversaturation of the market, and an expected lack of quality in the goods from the consumer perspective, JCPenney’s success was degrading in contrast to its competitors. (Sloan, 2010).
Target’s business-level strategy is one that does not strictly focus entirely on one plan to gain a competitive advantage over competition. It encompasses various strategic and meticulous planning and decision making that is implemented in order to position the company at the top of the retail industry. With competition from the likes of Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Costco, Target uses several clever and “out-of-the-box” ideas to attract consumer attention and ultimately increase market share within the industry. Most of the company’s ideas centered more on the differentiation of products and services provided to customers than lowering prices. For quite some time, the company’s plan was to not compete head-to-head with Wal-Mart in terms of lowering prices but instead to provide their customers, who they identify as “guests”, with a special experience every time they visited a Target location. One idea that was implemented was to market and sell upscale, trendy clothing and unique merchandise at discounted prices.1 This strategy, known as the “cheap-chic” strategy, focused on providing good quality clothing from various well known designers and fancy products from high-profile manufacturers for prices lower than their competition. This plan was vital because it began essentially began the concept of customers referring to Target as “Tar-zhay” which according to Patrick Barwise and Sean Meehan, who are university professors, as a “connote its trendy sensibility”. Target
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
This report presents data describing the differences amongst the two department stores, their fundamental visions, and comparative statistics. Macy’s or Dillard’s: Differences amongst these competitors There are several aspects you can analyze from each department store. Major pieces do set each one apart from the other. Brand names carried by Macy’s and Dillard’s from an average shoppers point of view can go completely unnoticed unless price is involved. For trend shoppers brand names can either make or break a retail store. It can easily determine if he or she will walk to Macy’s or Dillard’s because they already know the store does or does not carry that brand. This is consistent with each department throughout both stores and
REI faces competition from numerous retailers who compete for customer dollars within the same market sector, with a similar range of products for sale. The list of REI’s competitors are extensive and includes major companies, like L.L.Bean, Cabela’s, The North Face, Bass Pro Shops, and Academy Sports + Outdoors, to name a few. Given the level of competition, what differentiates REI from its rivals and why is REI successful in a business sector that has seen numerous others failed? The answer is simply. Although numerous factors contribute to the success of a retailer, one element rises above all, namely the customer. A successful retailer needs to attract and retain customers and the optimal way to draw in and capture customers is through
The intensity of rivalry and the threat of substitutes are strong components for J.C. Penney to consider as they continue to strive for increased revenue and market share. Their two primary competitors are Macy’s and Kohl’s, both of whom have fiercely competitive strategies to be strong retail operations. For instance, while Macy’s offers a multitude of promotional deals and is working hard to choose products based upon demographics and geographic segmentation, Kohl’s is attempting to reduce their inventory levels and improve their marketing strategies in order to become a stronger competitor in the department store segment of the retail industry. In order to compete with their competitors, J.C. Penney aims to focus on their previously successful promotions and home department segmentations by bringing in new reputable designers in order to attract a larger customer base. Due to the fact that the intensity of rivalry and threat of substitutes are both moderately strong in the retail department store industry, J.C. Penney ought to be diligent in their implementation of strategies in order to achieve success in the retail business.
With over 3,000 stores in 6 countries and a network of over 16,000 vendors in 60 countries, TJX is able to offer consumers deep discounts on many top names in fashion apparel and home goods merchandise. However the Company does not like to be labeled as a “discount store.” Instead, TJX’s vision is to be a “global, off-price value retailer” with a mission to deliver the same brand name value and
Uniqlo is a retail industry which sells high quality casual wear at cheap and affordable prices under the company name of FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. It dominated the world with its presence and as of 2015 it has opened over 1’400 stores in 16 markets worldwide including big economy countries like China and The United States. Other than its flagship stores, they have delved into E-Commerce websites bringing in more profits. Due to the number of stores opened and popularity it has gained it has a big group of workforce of over 30,000 employees. (uniqlo.com, 2015)
The financial data will support the strategy as the ratios and numbers show that Macy’s has resources and capital available for the implementation. Evaluation of external and internal factors positively presenting an opportunity for Macy’s to use designed strategy to and keep competitiveness in the industry. Summarizing Macy’s is a well-established organization with over 150 successful years in business that still has an ability to compete with leaders in the industry if the right
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
The product life style of the department store is in the mature or declining phase of its product life style, because of the declining sales. Furthermore, according to estimates, market share has eroded away to 7 per cent, as of 2010, and is far below the desirable rate 15 per cent (Johnson, 2011, p. 3). Also, the brand image is being heavily relied upon and the bottom line is not showing significant increase in the years presented in the journal article. Macy’s is afloat due to a strong management team and the aggressiveness to deal with problems as they arise. For example, continuing to adjust its portfolio of stores, focusing on fashion, and developing private labels in bedding, outerwear, ‘tween’ clothing, increase national advertising and using celebrities. Additionally, Macy’s advertising is combining the national department store image with July 4 and the Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which appeals to the American citizen. Solution
Zappos.com, established in 1999, has rapidly become a strong competitor in online apparel and footwear sales. With the original corporate vison of offering the absolute best selection in shoes; the vision has evolved over the past several years to include the goal of being the retailer that “provides the absolute best service online -- not just in shoes, but in any category” (Zappos, 2014). The online retailer stocks millions of reasonably priced footwear products; carrying thousands of hard to find brand named shoes, handbags, apparel and accessories via the company website and 7,000 affiliate partners. In recognizing their rapid success, Zappos credits it to their commitment to the customer, stating,
Part A: You have been asked to develop an effective pricing strategy for a brand launch. Describe the sequence of steps, along with key questions to ask the client company.
UNIQLO is the abbreviation of “Unique Clothing Warehouse”, a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer which provides consumers with the business philosophy of " low price, quality assurance ", and achieved remarkable results as world's top apparel retailer. UNIQLO plans to have 100 fresh stores annually in China while many other retailers have retarded store openings on account of China's slowing economic growth (Doland, 2015). This report, therefore, will set out to evaluate UNIQLO's marketing strategies in China, with a particular focus on the importance of pricing, development of product and the need for precise positioning.