The Future is Online for Apparel Retailers
Euromonitor International 26 October 2011
Coming up with innovative ways to harness the huge potential of the internet is the biggest retail challenge facing the apparel industry over the next five years. And at the core of the challenge is the need for a fast, efficient and hassle-free returns service.
A tipping point for online apparel retailing
The practice of waiting in line for an available changing room to try on new clothes might one day become a novelty rather than an unavoidable nuisance as apparel internet retailing enters a dynamic new era of growth. Over the 2005-2010 period, global online sales of clothing and footwear generated US$32 billion of incremental value, with
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For example, H&M and Zara posted CAGRs (by US dollar value) of 12.5% and 11.8%, respectively, over the 2005-2010 period. In contrast, independent apparel specialists have been losing share as their smaller economies of scale are less able to absorb the negative pressures of rapidly rising commodity costs and higher inflation. Even big-name fast fashion retailers have seen their sales growth run out of steam in a number of developed markets. As a result, store-based investment in the post-Lehman Brothers operating environment has focused heavily on building stronger positions in China and other first-tier emerging markets.
Department stores face fierce competition from grocers
Not all chained apparel specialists have performed well over the recent period. For example, apparel companies that run wholesale operations, as well as their own stores, have been vulnerable to the sluggishness of department stores in developed markets. Esprit and Benetton, notably, have lost market share ground. And Esprit in particular has been weakened by its overdependence on developed markets.
Although department stores returned to growth globally in 2010, according to Euromonitor International, the format remains vulnerable not only to the growth of fast fashion chains but also to the growing apparel penetration of leading grocery retailers. For staple apparel items and increasingly for on trend fashion styles too, the grocery
Substitutes: The threat of substitutes is high. The threat of online apparel stores has the potential of destroying the traditional retail industry business model (Bandt, 2000). The ecommerce platforms allow retailers expand their consumer base across national and global markets with lower capital requirements and improved efficiency.
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
US faced a major recession during the year 2007 and this created a major pre-recession impact and post-recession impact on various retail stores. Customers started looking on for deals in retail market as they had less money to spend. The following document is all about the growth of four major retail giants namely the Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, and Macy’s whose growth over the period 2003 – 2013 are compared and contrasted. Walmart was the only company to increase in sales from the all the above companies as they targeted the lower end customers.
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 or Sears. As such, the company occupies a unique
The department store industry has managed to survive many economic ups and downs, moreover they have found the way to remain in the top choices of consumer for shopping. Furthermore the technological advances represent a big challenge for this industry because the increased tendency for online shopping have forced
The apparel and clothing accessories industry, a subgroup within retail, reached sales of $32 billion in 2016. Given the industry’s highly competitive and rapidly evolving nature, Canada Goose Inc. (CG) and Roots Corp. (Roots) must focus on creation of innovative designs to remain relevant. Retail sales are forecasted to decrease, however, the luxury segment of retail stores and e-commerce segments are predicted to expand. This suggests CG and Roots have the capacity to remain competitive due to their high-end product offering and online sales presence.
By the 21st century, the advancement in technology has forever changed the way clothing is made. “The impact of CAD software on everyday clothing is becoming more prevalent as the software is linked to 3D printing technology.” This saying, clothing has come to be an easy thing to come by and still is advancing. “Machines for home printing are becoming more affordable… the ability to create customized clothing is becoming more of a reality as technology evolves.” As technology evolves, it will impact the way people shop for clothes and how their clothes are
Garments are one the crucial needs of all humanity, and design dress are dependably on request all through the seasons. At an early stage when beginning a discount attire business, one ought to remember some vital particulars before beginning an online discount apparel exchange.
My interest began to grow, and I started shopping online with Ebay and Amazon, trying to find prices under retail. After getting so many pieces of clothing from Nike and Jordan, I began to get tired of the style and decided to move on to another brand, and change my style completely. That brand was Ralph Lauren, which I now own a shirt in almost every color from them. I then decided it was time to move on from him as well. This is when I started to find more and more sites and apps dedicated to selling and buying designer clothing. “But it was the slew of second-hand clothing startups that launched at the end of the 2012 that really made a point in 2013. From digital clothing swap Bib and Tuck to online consignment store TheRealReal, there
The retail fashion sector is an enormous industry in the UK and there are many branded fashion retailers having
For most fashion retailers, what is the best corporate strategy to follow based on the content of this report? Why?
Banks remain Relevant. In (Kell 2017) the author discusses how sports clothing company Lululemon is expanding their business not just with brick and mortar stores but also by expanding their e-commerce by 20%. Through the internet companies can reach more people worldwide than they can from their stores. Many companies are feeling a lot of pressure to close store due to the fact that e-tailing is becoming more and more popular. Companies can use websites to track consumers and get a better idea of what they are buying, this would be important for Joseph A. Bank because when they bring in new products they could have a better representation of consumer interest in it. Although it is more convenient to the consumer to shop online it does have a few drawbacks, from a retailer stand point e-tailing is all self-service. A specialty retailer like Joseph A. Banks may lose customers looking for help with selection if the focus too much on e-tail. Also another problem that can arise is the increase of competition with lower prices, due to the reach of the internet Joseph A. Banks will have to compete with stores worldwide to get
It shows that between 2004 and 2007, total retail growth was only 4.6% while online retail was increased by 130% (The Times 100, NA) (Table 5). With no doubt, it seems more difficult for retail shops to survive, but Lindquist (2002) stated that shoppers prefer to integrate internet shopping with other forms of shopping (Lindquist et al., 2002). The supply chain of Topshop and its changes can help us to understand how retail shops nowadays adjust its position in the
Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft stated, “ If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.” Shailesh Nigam, and six of his entrepreneur friends founded DesiFirangi.com in India, which is an online women’s fashion apparel, operated in 2014. They introduced the world wide web to the massive brick and mortar Lingerie business that has generated over billions of dollars. Mr.Nigam saw the transformation that was going on with e-retail lingerie industry and wanted to provide a quality the people can trust while also realizing how e-commerce could solve availability and distribution challenges. Five out of the Seven founders are women, thus playing a role in making a splash into DesiFirangi.com. Through this website, the founders tailored the focus “to the fashion needs of the modern Indian women.” (Niche E-commerce Portal)
Travel agencies, newspapers and telecommunication providers have all suffered severe competition from internet- based substitutes (Grant, 1991). However, in-store apparel shopping is less substitutable by online shopping. On the one hand, it is a product of high risk; on the other hand, the apparel shopping trips to the city center can be more enjoyable.