Introduction of Plus-Size Juniors in Abercrombie and Fitch - Research Paper

Introduction

Abercrombie and Fitch-Plus Size Juniors is a high-end company known for its high-quality merchandise in the United States. The company was incepted in 1892 and it is one of the biggest and most successful apparel companies today (White, Flemming & Thacher, 2). The company has four brands; Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, Abercrombie, and RUEHL 925. The brand portrays itself as youthful and consequently targeting the youth segment. It has stores in the US, in London, and in select European Union countries.

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Abercrombie and Fitch (A&F) aimed at being as "cool" since the early 90s and all the products it stocked had to fit this particular criterion. Investments in in-house models found in every outlet retail and sensual advertisements are a testament to this. As such, the stores have not always stalked plus size clothes. However, Nike has overtaken A&F as the youths' preferred apparel brand. The company needs to reevaluate their business model and in the process be inclusive to all people, regardless of their 'coolness'. Plus-sized clothes for the juniors are one market that the brand has forsaken and which it needs to reclaim before its main competitors take pole position.

Current A&F marketing

The brand target market is the upscale and lifestyle young crowds. The sensual adverts and in-house models easily influence these crowds. A&F, A&F kids and Hollister brands cover the whole life cycle of a child to his young adulthood. The A&F mission in the marketing strategy is to focus on high-quality merchandise that compliments the casual American lifestyle.

One of A&F's main strengths is its global presence. It has over 400 stores in the US and 1100 stores globally. Secondly, the stores have a unique retailing recipe. The stores have real models as attendants and brand representatives to offer their insight to consumers. Thirdly, the brands are known for their unique and excellent designs. All the three brands are specially designed for their targeted consumers. In addition to being great designs, A&F products are known for being premium quality. This means that its consumers are assured that whatever product their buy from A&F stores will be value for their money. The new layouts for their stores allow window-shopping and the website that the company employs to keep up with online buying.

The main weakness of Abercrombie and Fitch is the controversies it has been involved in. employee management has been a letdown for the company. Apart from forcing to purchase their working attire in the store, the company was in the limelight for refusing to employ people who did not fit the 'A&F look'. The company has also lost the quality of its brand. More youth associates with Nike instead today. The company has to address those issues to become a major force in the market again.

Opportunities and Abercrombie and Fitch Plus-Sized Junior wear

Abercrombie and Fitch have potential if it starts penetrating into the plus size children. The store has the resources, brand trust, and technical expertise to run this expansion. To achieve this, the company will use the existing company structure as it offers a competitive advantage over new entrants and other competitors. While new entrants can compete at the local level, they cannot compete in global level as the giant apparel companies will always triumph on margins.

When introducing the new plus-size junior wear, should continue using models from the stores. This is because the models have been proved to make a connection between the store and people who come to buy in the stores. This will be especially important as the company starts on rebuilding the brand image.

When introducing the new product to the market, the company should pay special attention to meeting the specific demands of the juniors. This ensures that the product becomes the best among all the competing products. The company should maintain design differentiation in order to keep up with the clothing and lifestyle industry.

With the high competition, customers are switching brands more often than they were doing at earlier times. The company has to ensure that the plus-sized junior wears are fashionable, the prices are customer friendly and the marketing is done right to build brand loyalty.

The company will also have to improve its distribution channels. A&F have no strong presence in developing customers and this has had an impact on its revenue. When the company starts stoking plus-sized junior wear, it should seek to expand to developing markets and take pole position in their distribution. This will not only have a positive impact on the revenues of the company but also improve A&F brand popularity.

Conclusion

The company's sexual appeal policy was not very popular among parents. To encourage more parents to tour the stores and purchase clothes for their children, the stores should tone down on their yuppie clothing and focus more on decency. This way, more parents will purchase plus-size wear for their children.

References

White, B., Flemming, P., And Thacher, T. strategic report for Abercrombie and Fitch Co.2007 online. http://economics-files.pomona.edu/jlikens/SeniorSeminars/gotham2007/reports/af.pdf

Bhasin, H. SWOT analysis of Abercrombie and Fitch. 2018. Online.https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-abercrombie-fitch/

Bhasin, H. Marketing strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch - A&F Marketing. 2018. Online https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-abercrombie-fitch/Reichert, Tom. "The prevalence of sexual imagery in ads targeted to young adults." Journal of Consumer Affairs 37.2 (2003): 403-412.

Arnett, Dennis B., Debra A. Laverie, and Amanda Meiers. "Developing parsimonious retailer equity indexes using partial least squares analysis: a method and applications." Journal of Retailing 79.3 (2003): 161-170.