preview

Hart Schaffner and Marx: the Market for Separately Ticketed Suits

Decent Essays

Hart, Schaffner and Marx: The Market for Separately Ticketed Suits 1. Perceptual Map High Versatility1 * Low-quality separates * High-quality separates High-end (Price) Low-End (Price) * Traditional suits2 Low Versatility1 1Versatility refers to the ability to mix-and-match items after the purchase. 2Traditional suits have low versatility as they are expected to be worn as a ‘whole’ suit (or uniform). 2. The traditional suit (TS) customer is different than the target customer for high-quality separates (HQS), as they have distinct preferences and exhibit different behavior. Firstly, the TS customer will require sales assistance, while the target customer for HQS will prefer to shop by …show more content…

A possible solution to this issue is to communicate clearly to the customer that HQS are of a superior quality. 4. This will depend on the position that HSM will take. The separates customer ignores quality in preference to the ability to purchase more garments, and might not perceive any difference between HQS and low-quality separates (LQS). Hence, if no action is taken by HSM, the separates customer might still prefer LQS (since it costs lesser than HQS, and enables them to purchase more garments), and HSM will still face significant competitive threat from LQS. Therefore, HSM must be able to differentiate HQS such that the separates customer perceives distinct benefits in HQS as compared to LQS, which also justifies the difference in price. One example would be to market HQS strategically so as to convince the separates customer that higher quality will equate to higher comfort (since separates customer places emphasis on comfort), which justifies the higher prices charged for HQS. Thus, LQS could cater to the separates customer who prefers having the ability to purchase more garments (and hence, sacrificing ‘comfort’), while HQS could cater to the separates customer who does not mind paying a higher price for more ‘comfort’. Hence, if HSM is able to create perceived value for its HQS and communicate this message effectively, it will be able to

Get Access