INTRODUCTION

TEAMBEBOPEVAMUNKHZULJACQUELINE

Company Introduction

• Uniqlo Co., Ltd. (株式会社ユニクロ  Kabushiki-gaisha yunikuro), is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer.

• Wholly owned subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. since November 2005.

• Founded by Tadashi Yanai, and he was also the Chairman, President & CEO or Uniqlo.

• The company operates in 14 other countries globally, such as Australia, Canada, Bangladesh, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong & Macau, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, United Kingdom

UNIQLO

• It is a shopping products• Customer will compare it carefully with the same products in other

brands before they buy.• Suitability, quality, price and style will be the elements of comparing of

the similar products• It is less frequently purchased too

Main Customers

• Primary Group DemographicsAge Range: 18-24 years oldGender: Male/FemaleEducation: Undergraduate and above Income Range: $160 - $480 (weekly), $10,000 - $24,000 (annually)Race and Ethnicity: All racesGeographic Location: Urban areas

• Secondary Group DemographicsAge Range: 25-35 years oldGender: Male/FemaleEducation: Undergraduate and above Income Range: $480-$1280 (weekly), $25,000 - $60,000 (annually)Race and Ethnicity: All racesGeographic Location: Urban areas

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION (4PS)

U N I Q LO

Product• Production mix:

-UNIQLO has tactically reduced the number of lines-Focused on its core items such as HEATTECH, Premium Down Ultra Light jackets and Silky Dry.

• each category is available in a wide selection of designs, colours, patterns and sizes so that it is likely to meet the needs for all.

• In response to high demands for its winter items, the brand has particularly prioritized selling HEATTECH by extending its production line from innerwear towards jeans and tights.

Place

• UNIQLO established an SPA business model that brings the entire process from manufacturing to marketing under the brand’s direct control.

• It enable UNIQLO to oversee its Global Quality and Safety Standards are maintained. As a consequence, the brand achieved to reduce the environmental impact and improve working conditions.

Promotion

• UNIQLO’s promotional activities, particularly by utilizing digital tools, are adapted to the new tendency of communication and consumer behaviour.

• They give emotional and personalized experiences that are related to the company’s concept “Japanese high-technology”, and attract more multicultural set of customers despite language barriers.

Price• UNIQLO’s strategies are based on offering good quality at cheap price as well as enforcing

customers the brand image that its products are affordable.

• UNIQLO’S pricing Strategies:-Mass production in Chinese factories helps UNIQLO cut the cost dramatically. -UNIQLO starts pricing at low-margin, and they drop their price even lower at the end of the season, for example, bundling 3 shirts for one.-UNIQLO sets its price points between £10 and £100, and those prices are dependent on the product features such as materials, functionalities and designs.

Production Concept

• UNIQLO has a team of technical specialists, known as the Takumi Team

• These specialists are sent directly to our partner factories in China to offer technical instruction and share their abundant experience. At the same time, the supervisors from the Production Department, based in the Shanghai office, make weekly visits to partner factories to check the quality and progress of production.

Product Concept

HEATTECH• Collaboration between UNIQLO and Toray Industries, Inc. HEATTECH is a unique

highly functional line of innerwear that offers amazing comfort, which has won over a multitude of customers.

Product Concept

• AIRism• Wearing AIRism eliminates the sweaty feeling you get in hot, humid weather.

Ultra-fine fiber technology regulates the circulation of the air between your skin and your outer layers of clothing for a light, cool, soft feel.

Marketing Concept

– UNIQLO Customer Centre receives approximately 90,000 comments from customers annually.

– HEATTECH products: customer feedback about asking for softer fabric, a function to keep skin both warm and prevent dryness and an expanded range of colours.

Product Failures

– UNIQLO does not have any product failures in its history

Is the company offering products/services which are mostly

fads, fashion or style?

Chapter 1,8

– Uniqlo promotes timeless fashion which means everyone can pull off the effortless mix and

match style

– Simple, durable and high quality

– Casual and comfort clothing to Any Person, Any Season, Anywhere which can last for

years

Does the company any loyalty or retention programs?

Chapter 1,8

–No

Uniqlo’s Microenvironment

– Made up of individuals and organizations

– Close to the company

– Produces a direct impact to the business organization’s state

– E.g: distribution channels, suppliers and manufacturers, competitors, customer, shareholders and

partner relationships

Competitors:Zara, H&M, Primark and

GAP

Distribution Channels

Customer

Shareholders And Partner

Relationships

Suppliers And Manufacturers

DISTRIBUTORS Uniqlo has set up an SPA business

(Specialty store retailer of Private label Apparel) to cover the

entire processes from its design and manufacturing to final sale.

COMPETITORS Value market in fashion industry is

becoming tremendously competitive. For example, Zara,

H&M, and Primark are examples of the competitor brands for

Uniqlo.

SUPPLIERS and MANUFACTURERS Uniqlo has

built a strong business partnership with Kaihara Corporation

and Toray Industries. Both are the suppliers of Japanese

technological and functional materials such as HeatTech and

Windproof Jeans.

Uniqlo’s Macroenvironment

– Cannot be controlled because of its size

– E.g: political, economical, social and technological forces

POLITICAL A territorial dispute within China, Taiwan and Japan. Besides,

Uniqlo conforms closer partnership economic arrangement and textile memorandum of

understanding. In 2005, the Japanese Ministry of Environment started an energy

saving campaign known as cool biz campaign to allow more casual style at work.

ECONOMICAL As for the dramatic growth of Chinese economy, the

expenses spend on manufacturing and labor in China are increasing. Besides,

Uniqlo reported that their stores in New Jersey closed because of the

worldwide economic downturn and investment drifts in the USA.

SOCIAL Customers nowadays are more aware of ethical and environmental

issues. Therefore, UNIQLO has dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility activities

through ensuring the safety of workers, collaborating with communities and reducing its

environmental impact. Besides, Japan have to deal with a serious problem of aging

population as the percentage of youth is decreasing thus Uniqlo must change target

customers and their buying behavior.

Provide a newspaper article for one of the factors you chose for the macro

environment

Chapter 3.

If you were a manager of this company, how would you obtain information on your customers for the development of future products/services? Explain the last two

ways !

Chapter 4.

Focus Group

What are Focus Groups? And why we use them?

Most people love to be asked their opinion and they're generally not shy about voicing it. A focus group is basically a way to reach out to your potential users for feedback and comment.

How to begin? 1. Prepare questions or a discussion guide about

the given product or service.

2. Select a random sample of representatives from target populations. Each focus group should be made up from 8-20 participants. ( Teenagers, elders, women, men etc)

3. To encourage customers to come in, you can put on a free lunch and offer some free training on your products/services or offer some free consulting.

This way, your customers get something out of it, and you don’t need to reach into your pockets and pay anybody.

4. So since our customers are already there, we just bring them together for a quick 30 minutes to discuss some interesting questions and topics. This way we’re getting customer feedback, but it’s not costing us too much, and it’s not inconveniencing our customers.

Monitor Social Media

Social media is the ultimate fast way to listen to your customers. Customer feedback is a plenty when it comes to sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. The challenge is how to monitor it effectively and use it meaningfully.

Tools like Sprout Social and SocialBro can help you keep a finger on the pulse of social media mentions.

What Sprout Social does then is notify you whenever your keywords are mentioned on social media sites.

It can then pro-actively engage customers that are talking about you, and either solve their problems or provide answers to their questions. While doing this, you are gathering customer feedback, indirectly.

Do you think this company has a strong brand?

Explain

Chapter 8.

Yes, uniqlo has a strong brandBecause…

First, Uniqlo has a clear vision of its brand to provide high quality, performance-enhanced, basic casual wear at the lowest prices. Uniqlo provides “made for all’ clothing that can be worn whenever and wherever. It is not, like some competitors, a firm that sells copies of the latest runway fashions.

Second, Uniqlo brands its innovations. One of their signature innovations is HeatTech, a fabric developed in conjunction with a material science firm that turns moisture into heat and has air pockets in the fabric to retain that heat.

Third, their operational strategy gives them both a cost and agility advantage. Their low cost operation is based on their ownership of product planning, design, manufacturing and distribution

Fourth, the driving force is a charismatic owner-founder. Tadashi Yanai is a hands-on leader who supports a strong, unique culture that is hard to duplicate.

Fifth, the emphasis on the in-store experience is over-the-top and involves hiring, training, and micro-managing all touchpoints.

Finally, the firm thinks big. Yanai wants to move beyond the primary mission to enrich people’s lives by providing truly great clothing to offer customers everywhere the world’s best stores, service and products.

In 1994 it had approximately 100 stores in Japan. In 2015, it will have 840 stores in Japan

and 1,170 stores outside of Japan, 820 of which are under the Uniqlo brand.

In 2016 it will continue a sharp sales trajectory with sales around 14 billion dollars

becoming a top five global “own brand” clothing retailer.

Did the company use any line extension strategy, brand

extension strategy or multibrands ?

Find picturesChapter 8.

Line extension strategy

What is Uniqlock ? Brand extension strategy

Multibrand

In 2010, Uniqlo partnered with Grameen Healthcare Trust in Bangladesh to promote social businesses.

If the company would collect the information in the way you describe it under 1. Would you as a consumer be concerned? (each group member stating his/her opinion

Chapter 4.

Munkhzul – I wouldn’t concerned that much because I think these two ways as a my way to help this company to improve. But monitoring social media thing can get little creepy.

Jacqueline- This sample collecting sample group is too often to be seen nowadays, so it’s nothing that will make me concerned very much. But I will be slightly concerned about the 2nd method, because it’d my privacy that I don’t really want to share sometimes.

Eva - I wont be concerned both methods too much because there's nothing to hide. Besides, I love giving an opinion on a product to help particular company to improve.

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