Industry Overview
The mid-level luxury handbag and accessories industry is slowly growing. This Industry relies on consumers having an ample amount of discretionary income to be able to purchase luxury handbags or accessories because this is a want and not a necessity. The PESTEL analysis showed that this industry should focus on economic and social principals for strategic significance for any future changes. Brand awareness is an important social factor because it allows buyers to recognize your brand and more people will realize who that specific company is. Brand awareness bring customers to a company because they want the latest trend from a specific company that is on the market. This can lead to brand loyalty which intern leads to repeat buyers over time. The external factors which have the greatest impact on this industry’s sales and margins is rivals from sellers and substitute products. Vera Bradley’s chief rivals in this industry are Coach, Michael Kors, and Kate Spade. There’s many more competitors in this industry that offer handbags and accessories that is why competition among rivals are tough because they are all competing for the same discretionary income from buyers. Substitute products are a factor also because people could be purchasing counterfeits or more luxury brands could be on sale and they are spending the same amount of money for a better product. The opposite could be happening buyers could be purchasing non luxury products just to hold their
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.
In luxury marketing, there is a delicate relationship between 4 factors that most strongly influence the purchase of the luxury consumer. They are the exclusiveness of the brand, the reputation of the brand, forms of distribution and price/value affiliation. Exclusivity cannot always be ensured due to immense competition. But by consequence, it is not the key requirement of a luxury consumer. The consumer bases their
For years, Louis Vuitton enjoyed high profit margins from the luxury market in Japan until other competitors such as Prada and Gucci entered the market. Counterfeiting also became a threat to the firm’s brand by satisfying consumer demand at lower prices. Other external global environmental problems included highly priced products, limited availability in stores only, and a heavy dependency on the Japanese market (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Moreover, “the after-shocks of the global recession were a threat to Louis Vuitton’s luxury business in Japan”, and Japanese women became less interested in the brand’s products (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Alternatively, Louis Vuitton could “reinvent itself and regain what used to be its well-attested
The case study Preserve the Luxury or Extend the Brand presents a fictional dilemma, based on a real company, faced by Chateau de Vallois, a prestigious and famous wine-producing estate in the Bordeaux region of France. De Vallois is a family owned and run business; part owners are Gaspard de Sauveterre - a 75-year old majority owner, and equal partial owners: Francois de Sauveterre – Gaspard’s son and the chateau’s CEO , and Claire de Valhubert – Garspard’s granddaughter. De Vallois had fallen into a slow decline under its previous owner, but Gaspard along with Jean-Paul Oudineaux, his estate manager, had restored the chateau and since then de Vallois had been steadily profitable
Michael Kors Holdings is an American company that deals with clothing and fashion accessories, including watches and bags. It has many branches around the world. The fashion industry is a very competitive industry especially because fashion products are subject to changes more than any other consumer goods. People always want to stay ahead of the fashion and these industries therefore have to make more efforts in order to be able to win over customers. Fashion products have a very short shelf-life as compared to other products and sometimes it becomes hard for firms to be able to forecast the demand of these products (Christopher et al., 2004). Michael Kors Holdings being an international company with its branches spread in different parts of the world, means that it has a huge global market to serve. Going international has many advantages but at the same it also has its disadvantages. In the global market, the changes happening in the market and the competition are on a very high level. Competition is very high especially when it comes to those fast moving products or services whereby the products or services are of a short cycle and consumer demand change each day. The fashion industry is such in case whereby the products are of a short life. The industry is also characterized by
The following case analysis will assess Coach Inc. and its strategy in the accessible luxury brand goods market. The coach strategy focuses on its luxury rivals in matching key quality styles while offering it at a cheaper price. The company offers most products at a 50% off discount price less than other brands which gives them a competitive advantage pertaining to its customer base. Coach marketed its products to middle –income consumers desiring taste of luxury, but also affluent and wealthy consumers with means to spend considerably more on a handbag (Gamble, 2012. P.C-73) .The Company also has several other strategies such as to increase global distribution, improve same store sales productivity and continue its multi-channel business model which includes indirect whole sales to third party retailers but also focuses on direct consumer sales. Coach has done well in the luxury goods industry but the companies profit margin is still below the levels achieved prior to the onset of a slowing economy in 2007 ( Gamble, 2012. P.C-73.The Company had experienced a decline in sales as they are unsure if the company recent growth could remain constant and maintain their competitive advantage with other successful luxury lines Michael Kors, Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana.
This analysis examines the economic strategy of Vera Bradley. I took a closer look at the strategic moves of this Luxury goods manufacture. The owners going from making colorful patterned duffel bags and suitcases, has now become a household brand. Their decisions to differentiate ultimately shaped the growth of their business. With a declining fiscal year, Vera Bradley decided to implement a new strategy that will be sure to revamp growth. To further explore the challenges that continue to occur throughout this case, I analyze those challenges and suggest tools and techniques that would help improve the economic strategy of Vera Bradley.
Fashion Range Co. is a clothing retail company in Canada that offers great quality clothing for teenagers and adults. We are small independent company that compasses of 80-100 employees stretching across Canada making environmentally friendly materials for our fashion trend clothes while emphasizing the importance of sustainability. Our fashion trend is more demographically targeting young men & women aged 13 to 45. Our customers are part of a generation constantly looking for that next best thing. Our stores are mainly located inside shopping malls for our customers to best reach and online store at www.fashion-range.com. With a focus on the latest fashion trends, our customers can be confident in knowing they’ll receive
Luxury fashion items can be acquired via several different avenues, as well as at several different price points in today’s market. Previously, the only options consumers had for the acquisition of luxury fashion goods was to purchase directly from the retail store; however, now there are an enormous amount of resources for consumers to opt for a used product at a much lower price by shopping on websites like eBay, or by purchasing from the growing amount of high-end consignment stores. Another option that luxury fashion consumers can easily utilize is to buy the item new and at a cheaper price by shopping at outlet stores or discount department stores like Nordstrom Rack and T.J. Maxx. Finally, these consumers have the option to borrow. Websites like BagBorrowOrSteal.com have created hugely profitable businesses by making the latest luxury accessory available to be rented at a cost that is a fraction of what the item would cost if purchased new from the retailer. These options have granted a much larger array of people the opportunity to experience aspects of the luxury lifestyle and the luxury image than ever before.
The Satchel Company’s leather products have a better effective brand. The Satchel brand competes with the other leather products in the UK market and the worldwide market. When evaluating, it might be seen that the market trend is based on the product differentiation. The company products are exclusive, therefore the customers who are willing to buy in this product. According to this scenario, the Satchel’s products are mostly consumed by the Hollywood models.
Consumers’ tastes and preferences along with fashion trends influence the products in the marketplace. The ability to provide a compelling value proposition
Executive Summary: Luxottica Group Luxottica Group is a major player in the modern business world and a prime candidate for a marketing case study. Dominating the luxury eyewear market, Luxottica employs several notable marketing strategies in its highly profitable business model. To understand the reasons for the success of this company, several factors relating to marketing must be examined in detail. This case study will examine several of Luxottica Group’s sustainable competitive advantages, including market dominance, vertical integration, and luxury/brand recognition.
Degree of Rivalry: The degree of rivalry is moderate in the global personal luxury goods industry. The industry is very concentrated and occupied by few large players. These companies do not need compete with price; however, they have high overlap of products’ category. Most of companies have several common characteristics. They have long history and start business in Europe areas; they all provide exclusive products and services backed by their brands; and they all served few amount of wealthiest customers over the world.
Burberry, founded in 1856, is a leading international luxury brand. Burberry designs, manufactures and licenses apparel and accessories for distribution through its own stores and network of prestige retailers worldwide. In early 1998, the new management team at Burberry set out its strategy to reposition and revitalise the brand, which resulted in significantly improved results and strengthened the base to build the business. With continuous growth since last five years, Burberry has faced new challenges of brand sustainability and positioning in a volatile industry (fashion) where customer behaviour is unpredictable. Thus, it requires a strategy that lays foundations for long-term growth and addresses the issues
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