Unit 3 Digital Business Assignment

Internet fashion retail is a highly competitive market, the trends in the industry and company’s success relies on customer’s needs, which change constantly. “Competitive advantage is the delivering of superior value to customers and, in doing so, earning an above average return for the company and its stakeholders” (McGee, Thomas & Wilson, 2005, p.207). In order for ASOS to stay on top of its competitors, the trends in the industry have to be monitored, so that further they can be strategically translated in developing new products, to gain customer satisfaction.

Being a multi-billion dollar retailer comes with its perks. JCPenney’s dominance over catalog merchandising has now extended into the cyber world at www.jcpenney.com. This website is multi-functional and easy to navigate, but how would JCPenney’s new e-commerce site stack up against its toughest competitor, Kohl’s, on the web? The answer may surprise you. This is an intriguing look at how varied retail comparisons can be. While JCPenney is struggling with sales on the retail floor, Kohl’s continues to exceed expectations in their stores. Online though, it is a completely different story.

The technology changes affecting REI are not unique to the company. Nationwide, consumers are ‘wisening up’ to new technologies and they are increasingly demanding expanded services from the companies they do business with. While the dot com revolution of the early 2000’s projected the death of traditional brick-and-mortar stores, the reality today is that customers are demanding comprehensive shopping experiences, experiences that seamlessly integrate online shopping with visits to traditional stores. For example, an REI customer might choose to purchase a pair of La Sportiva Rock Shoes in-store, order them online and pick them up from a store, or purchase online and have the shoes shipped directly to their home. Technology is not just

While Target is grappling with the immediate issue of eliminating “show-rooming” in their stores, the more pressing issue is, evolving their business model to fully exploit e-commerce to maintain a competitive advantage (Kinicki, 2013). Analysts estimated that customers would spend $1.4 trillion online in 2015 and yet, as late as 2011 e-commerce only accounted for approximately 2% of Target’s overall sells (Kinicki, 2013). Therefore, Target’s management team must create and execute a strategy that enables Target to adjust to changing customer purchasing patterns, significantly increase internet sells, and lower operational cost (Kinicki, 2013).

Chui, M. (2011, November). Mckinsey & Company. Retrieved June 10, 2014, from Inside P&G's Digital Revolution: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/consumer_and_retail/inside_p_and_ampgs_digital_revolution

Lately, there have been issues of brand management on the internet. The new digital tools require a lot of adjustments at the executional stage. According to Chaffey (2000) Internet marketing success depends on the sites interactivity features. Also added that a brand’s presence online should be conceived in a way that is sympathetic to the technology and the environment. Many brands fail in the execution of different features resulting in customers’ needs and expectations not being met says Hewson and Coles (2001) The consumer still looks up to the luxury brands although the bond is presently being evolved beyond the existing “top-down” model. (Okonkowo, 2009) The percentage of online shoppers and the sales of luxury brands have been on a positive growth. In spite of the growth, it’s not clear that what drives the consumers to shop online and whether they would be interested in shopping if attractive online stores were introduced. Therefore, what factors affect consumers to shop online will be examined here. A framework is necessary to develop the complex system and determine these factors, influences and buying behaviors of the consumer. (Perea, 2004) Affluent consumers use the internet as their powerful source of information about the luxury products and it is necessary that they have an online presence.

Look around you in retail, you’ll see people googling reviews and hitting their Social networks to make sense of the retail options they face. For brands, marketing to respond to this new reality is vital, but it’s messy, often hit or miss, and often takes purchasing online and away from in-store. The struggle to digitally merchandise in ways that align with today’s digitally connected consumers and their need to buy with confidence from brands they trust, like and understand is a huge challenge. It’s a challenge that’s not just about physical environments, it’s also physiological, getting brands connected emotionally and intuitively through physical devices and digital media. So like any smart dad, I turned to my in-house marketing gurus; my 23- and 11-year old daughters for

Growing up with a father that owned a small business, I have learned that it’s hard to make it in a society like today. A couple years ago I became one of his employees, and I’ve noticed that there have been changes made to the business. I was always curious what it was like before I started working there. Owning a small town business in a world full of online shopping can be difficult, but O’Henry’s is continuing to make money because of offering the broader variety of clothing, investing in advanced technology for graphic design, and utilizing social media.

When a brand is created, many will ask the questions that haunt all of us trying to start a company. Will it work? Should we stay online or launch a brick-and-mortar store? Will I make profit or fail? These questions arise even more when the company is to start only online. Because of this, e-commerce fashion brands must constantly evolve and expand their styles to maintain the interest of their target customers. Fashion Nova is one fashion brand that manages to stay relevant among its consumers because of their edgy style and quality priced clothing. Fashion Nova was first established in 2010. It gained its popularity from celebrities promoting it on their social media platforms and the fact

In this paper I will discuss Forever 21’s retail market and financial strategy. I will examine the company’s sustainable competitive advantage that upholds the company’s edge over its competitors. I will explain how the company’s fast fashion retail is becoming a threat to other companies with the same type of products such as Zara and H&M. These companies should be worried because Forever 21 is faster and cheaper, it 's expanding its consumer base, and it 's fighting with the competitors head on. I will discuss exactly how Forever 21 is planning on being the number one fast fashion retailer in years to come, and how the placement of the stores is an important factor for it’s success. Forever 21’s expansion strategy is to increase the amount of stores currently in the US and also to add locations over seas. CEO Don Chang plans to double the size of the company in the next three years by expanding it’s total retail footprint. In this paper I will also explain how Forever 21 compares financially to its competitors and I will discuss the net sales for the company in 2014 as well as the competitors net sales in both dollar and percentage amounts. I will describe the controversy behind the trends of Forever 21’s future sales, and depict the current trends in both negative and positive light due to opposing views of the company. I will determine these strengths and weaknesses of the company and explain them in great detail to show exactly how well the company is doing

The digital revolution has been instrumental in reshaping entire sectors, categories and industries- one of the most heavily affected is the retail sector. In the changing digital landscape, new opportunities to innovate through the embracing of e-tailing have meant that retail stores are no longer geographically limited, but the rise of e-tailing provides it’s own set of unique challenges to bricks and mortar retailing. This literature review will succinctly analyze and evaluate the effect that e-tailing has had on traditional bricks and mortar retailing, by looking at the ways in which the bricks and mortar retail stores have had to develop their retailing strategy in an increasingly digital world. Across the extant literature three themes were consistently detected around the effects online retailing has had on traditional bricks and mortar retailing, in the forms of the responses of physical retailers to this digital shift in the sector; fight it, use it or embrace it by fully integrating it into an ongoing strategy. Each of these themes is discussed below.

Given the low cost of H&M apparel, H&M can easily take advantage of emerging markets and boost its revenue. Uniqlo occupies a greater market share in the Asian market with the support of expertise; in addition, it can quickly respond to variable customer demand and attract new customers with the products as described above. In the digital transformation of an era of big data, the digital marketing strategies of H&M become more effective.

As Austin Carr of “Fast Company” writes, “…the retail apocalypse is upon us” (Carr, 2017). Most shoppers are doing their browsing online as opposed to in stores. Amazon’s online e-commerce has taken the country, and world, by storm, and has now taken 5% of all U.S. retail sales, Credit Suisse has even predicted a quarter of all malls will close within the next five years. And “By the end of this year, more than 8,600 stores will have shuttered in 2017, the worst year on record” (Carr, 2017). Although these predictions and statistics show less than ideal circumstances for retail stores, most are trying to fight back and win back the customers that have transitioned to e-commerce to do their shopping. Retailers are looking for what separates and sets them apart from big online websites, such as Amazon. Rebecca Minkoff was one of the first to incorporate serious technology upgrades into her stores, encouraging customers to try out the new system. An interactive fitting room set up by a sales associate with an iPad is able to display the items a customer is bringing into the fitting room, what it is paired with, and the option to switch sizes. “Need a different color or size? Want to get a sense of how that dress will look in the evening? You tap the magic mirror in your dressing room to let it know. Not sure if you want to purchase it yet? A list of all the items you’ve tried on in this “session” will be saved and sent to your phone…” (Dishman, 2015). This new and intriguing

This report was commissioned to inform and emphasise the importance of how your staff and clients can benefit and obtain value from the use of technology. Through research, it is stated that 86 percent of buyers who have had a great customer experience will pay more or come back which is an important factor in maintaining business growth. The importance of a business having great customer satisfaction is crucial for your business to grow, as it promotes customer loyalty- what you lack. As you know, customer loyalty is extremely important in making sure your business flourish. Therefore investing time and energy in promoting customer energy is important. Even though you have a small fashion store, it is still saturated with many different customers who are extremely attracted to your products. With the lack of staff, it can be extremely hard to focus on every individual customer thus; some customers can leave unsatisfied and never coming back. With the lack of information for the customer themselves, it makes it extremely difficult for them to find what they need. The report finds that customer’s aren’t getting their full satisfaction because of the lack of information from the products. However, research from google illustrates that 80 percent of Australia smartphones users use their smartphone in-store. Therefore combining the use of their smartphone/technology with the business will be extremely effective. It can help aid customers with a

IKEA is a world renown brand and one of the world’s most successful retailers thanks to their constant will to improve and connect with their customers.  Currently, the global retail space is in complete flux, and as online shopping continues to grow at the expense of store visits, the key to successful international retailing in the future will be to create unique brand-defining experiences that keep customers coming back, no matter through what channels.  IKEA exemplifies the importance of maintaining relevance in the marketplace by continually updating their marketing plan to reach and sell their furniture and homeware products to customers across all platforms.  IKEA recognises the recent need to connect to the new ‘connected’ consumer by working through a technological channel.