Coach/Tiffany Financial Analysis

This expansion demonstrates how the luxury industry is now run by massive corporations whose focus is only on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and most importantly, PROFITS! With growth and expansion, has come a decrease in quality and rarity. The luxury garments produced are mostly not handmade but are even outsourced to large factories in places such as China and Turkey. Also, to meet quarterly turnover projections, “designers churn(ed) out increasingly trendy collections of clothes, handbags, and shoes.” (Thomas, Pg. 246) With hundreds of new stores around the globe the surplus of designer labeled merchandise is immense hence, the proliferation of outlet malls.

1.) Home furnishings and miscellaneous makes up for only 15% of sales annually. Men’s and children’s apparel makes up for only 22% of sales annually.

Commutronics had not accumulated enough profits and had no sufficient capital reserves. The company’s registered capital was therefore very low. The withholding tax rate of

The consumption of luxury goods in China is mounting sharply. Not only those born to elite families, but also many common people are greedy for luxury brands (China, a Booming

Most luxury brands have been family-owned or -controlled and, consequently, were single-brand firms for the most part. However, mergers and acquisitions have been growing in the industry, with LVMH leading the way. Our strategic recommendation is to follow LVMH’s lead and acquire a multitude of diverse companies to build the Gucci portfolio.

An increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world experiences a rapid cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital. Luxury goods industry, serve as one of the most competitive industry, emerging and developing rapidly all the time. To a great extent, globalization promotes the development of luxury goods industry significantly in spite of the big shock hit by several times of economic crisis.

Limiting the company’s collection of high quality hand bag, purses and accessories, and selecting the products with more popularity, will have a huge influence on their success. The past couple of years the major products from their accessories category were cosmetic cases, eye-glass cases, wristlets, wallets and gifts and paper; on the category of travel and leisure the most popular items were rolling luggage, garment bags, duffel bags, and travel cosmetic cases. Figure 4 shows a reflection of the revenue report on Vera Bradley’s most profitable products and its progress/deterioration of those items through the years.

Coaching is the art of facilitating another person’s learning, development and performance. Through coaching people are able to find their own solutions, develop their own skills and change their own behaviors and attitudes.

Growth has been fueled by Coach’s niche as being ‘accessible luxury’. While Coach does not have the prices of most of its high-end competition, it is regarded throughout the industry, and most importantly by consumers, as being equal in quality to much more expensive brands.

A marketing strategy is important for any product, and a big part of that strategy is the distribution elements and channels (Distribution, 2009; Marketing, 2011; Timberlake, 2012). Coach is very selective about how they distribute their products. They have authorized stores and outlet stores, as well as catalogs and a company website (Coach, 2012). They also allow some department stores to carry their products, as well as catalogues and specialty stores (Coach, 2012). A few duty free locations also have Coach bags (Coach, 2012). This is clearly stated on their website in an effort to dissuade people from purchasing a Coach handbag in a way that is illegal. It can also help prevent people from purchasing something they think is a Coach handbag but finding out later it is a copy or a fake. The target market for Coach is generally upscale, so Coach does not want the less expensive chain retailers carrying its product. There should be some exclusively with the Coach brand, and that can only be created and maintained by controlling what stores and locations can carry the Coach brand. Doing this allows the company better marketability when targeting specific groups or areas of a target market, such as upscale consumers.

This behavior brings competitive advantages to the European luxury brands. Moreover, customers in different countries have different purchase behaviors. For instance, some countries’ customers are willing to move away from common recognized brand, because they want to purchase more exclusive products. Furthermore, because of the increasing speed of globalization, people are more likely willing to travel between different countries. These travelers will buy luxury good during their trips. In fact, Chinese tourists contributed over one third of sales in Europe. The luxury goods industry should notice to adjust the actual demand between local people and tourists in Europe

Coach has many strengths and weaknesses. Coach strengths include its wide range of accessories such as its handbags, watches, accessories, cosmetic cases, key fobs, belts, electronic accessories, gloves, hats, scarves, business cases, luggage, eyewear, fragrance, and clothing. It is the leading luxury leather goods company in the United States, with expansion in Japan, China, and Asia. Coach has developed a respected reputation by providing their customers with quality products and its 70+ years of being in business. They do a great job of advertising through press releases, catalogs, internet, and shopping centers. Coach has a larger range of pricing which attracts lower income consumers and wealthier consumers. They also allow their products to be sold at stores (department and full price stores) and online. Coach prides themselves on creating customer value. However, Coach also displays weaknesses as well. They have a limited selection for men and a poor inventory turnover rate. Coach has no direct announcements to the public about the promotion of new products. Their new products first sell at full price which keeps the lower income

Coach has a very strong brand image. They continue to gain new customers and because of devotion and loyalty they are able to keep repeat customers. Brand image can be considered everything to customers when searching for a handbag. Industries that manufacture handbags must be able to provide what is considered a “chic service”, while continuing a “thriving business” (Foster, 2006). Due to the brand image that Coach has they are able to introduce new and more risky handbags with the confidence that most current consumers will continue to purchase their

LVMH’s brand portfolio is a catalogue of the finest things money can buy. Arnault said, “A Star brand is timeless, modern, fast growing and highly profitable.”[iii] LVMH has positioned its brands strongly in the luxury segment offering more than 50 different brands under their five core competencies. LVMH has been successful through all of their various brands in their portfolio giving them each their independence and creativity. “LVMH is well known for leaving much operational and marketing freedom to the various brands it owns.”[iv] “LVMH has done an excellent job of brand positioning, says Ben Cavender, senior analyst at China Market Research Group. It has succeeded in securing the particularly enviable position of gaining a following among the top percentage of China’s wealthy. As the financial crisis stretches on, LVMH customers in China still have money to spend.[v] “LVMH’s brand imaging, which relies heavily on pushing its European heritage, is so successful that it has benefited other brands by proxy, says Paul French, one of the founders of Access Asia, a group dedicated to tracking regional consumer and marketing trends. “Everyone hangs on the coattails of Louis Vuitton’s brand imaging in China.”[vi]

The last problem we highlighted concerns how to increase the number of customers in the mainland China market . First, we believe that the most relevant issue is a survey amongst customers on the Shanghai Tang brand perception and the 5 luxury brands in their top-of-mind, in order to analyze the competitors that the company has to face in the future.