Market Opportunity and Competitive Advantage for Gap Inc - Paper Example

Introduction

The Gap Inc. is an American global company which focuses on clothing as well as accessories at the retail level. Notably, the in-depth analysis indicates that the company since ten had registered a tremendous increase in the sales thereby generating massive profit until the millennium when the sales began to decline. The GAP Company whose market opportunity lies with the culture consumers suffered a gigantic the casual business wave in the millennium.

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What Is the Problem or Need the Company Aims to Solve?

The massive decline in the sales which amounted to the closure of several stores linked to the introduction of several stores which sells more fashionable clothes as compared to the GAP(Worley & 2010). On this account, GAP Inc. The company suffered a significant loss due to the inability to cope with trending, market conditions. It is imperative to note that, branding as well the emergence of the major competitors in the market significantly contributed to the massive decline of the company. On the other hand, the inability to forge a lasting customer relationship strategy such as the failure to identify the taste and preferences of the customers has rendered an annual sale in the company within a stipulated period. For the effective sustainability in the market, Gap Inc. The company must remain relevant in the market by ensuring supplying the demanded design of clothes ate reasonable price which meets the taste of the consumers which keeps on shifting with time. Besides, the location of the several retail stores which are not accessible ultimately contributed to the collapse of the company (Worley & 2010)

Potential Customers That Have the Problem or Need the Company Aims to Solve?

The single fashion design adopted by the Gap Inc. Company did work for quite an extended period until the millennium period when the shift in the fashion drifted the sales leading to the decline in the sales. The customer whose cases needed redress by the company is the working class who for a long time influenced to a specific design and fashion. The young and the middle-aged customers who are massively influenced by the style ought to be the targeting point for the company to regain its full potential. On the other hand, the couples who are fond of acquiring trendy and more expensive clothes must also from the companies targeting point that needs a complete address (Worley & 2010).

What Strategy Would You Use for Quantifying the Number of Potential Customers?

For the active customer base, the Gap Inc. The company ought to adopt some realistic strategies to attain the full potential of customers. The company should re-ascertain and identify the ideal clients and focus on increasing the customer's support response to provide pleasant surprise attracting most customers. Besides, the company ought to challenge the customers with a new way of thinking by rebranding on the clothes to fit the modern design which seems on demand. On the same note, the company should develop a strong partnership with other related companies to allow exchange programs and inculcate new dimensions on the attaining the full customers in the market.

How Are Potential Customers Segmented?

The consumers to the products by the Gap Inc. A company divided into various segments due to the similarities in the marketing trends such as age, gender interest spending habits among others (Tedeschi & Inc's 2005). The division in the business market results in the emergence of the subgroups of the consumers based on the commonly shared market behavior. The Gap Inc. segmentation entails targeting and positioning the relevant practices which focus on gaining the appropriate fashion and accessories retailers to specific groups within the population. The principal aim of segmentation is to increase the attractiveness of the products to the particular pool of buyers. The gap multi-segments aimed at exploiting more than a single customer with different brands within its portfolio. It is imperative to note that Gap brand primarily targets the individuals interested in the casual American style as well as fitness-minded women whose fashion keeps on changing with time. On the same account, the company incorporates specific luxury clothing brands such as Ralph Lauren Louis Vuitton among others (Tedeschi & Inc's 2005).

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

The Gap Inc. has been competing with the fashion industry for some years, and their strategy has been cost leadership (Smith, Ansett, & Erez, 2018). Fundamentally, the company offers fashionable, trendy, and the stylish products and services at considerably competitive prices. Ideally, the company prices, in this case, may experience variation regarding the brand they offer. However, the brand is not associated with the price, but the quality. A closer look at the customer base of the company shows that it is diverse and integrates nearly customers of all ages and income groups. Considering the affordable prices through which these products are offered, this strategy contributes to the organization's primary competitive advantage.

The company further demonstrated success in the development of its iconic products with exceptional quality and utterly distinct from those designed and offered by its competitors. Undeniably, the company increased its image and fame upon the introduction of the iconic logo and then began to associate, identify and connect with the brand. Notably, the iconic jeans and shirts designed have 'GAP' words written on them. In this way, the company succeeded in increasing its brand awareness as both the existing and new customers began to associate themselves with the brand as depicted by the company in their marketing initiatives. The development of a strong and a well-known brand name across the globe emerged as the company's sharp edge over its rivals.

The expansion of the GAP Inc. to different international market boosted the company to sell its brands even more. Based on the fact that GAP had previously reached to a level whereby it had established its brand reputation, it substantially became easy for it to penetrate and conquer the international markets and compete with the local brands regarding the competitive pricing, products quality, and the high level of customer satisfaction (Worley, Feyerherm, & Knudsen, 2010). Recent reports have shown that GAP is determined towards constant development in terms of increasing it's the portfolio of its products, entering new markets, satisfying the fashion needs and demands of their clients and provision of a capable online selling platform whereby the customers may be able to make orders for products and delivery at their convenience. All these strategies contribute towards the success of the company, in addition to a tremendous growth its brand.

Major Gap Inc. Competitors

Gap Inc. competes with local, national and international organizations. These companies are mainly the discount store chains, independent store chains, the online businesses and the retail stores within the same market and offering similar lines of merchandise. Based on the Gap's Definitive Proxy Statement, the Gap recently disclosed the companies it felt providing similar products like them. These companies include Walmart, TJX Companies, Children's Place Retail Stores, J. Crew, Levi Strauss, Macy's Ross Stores and Target among others. Being aware of its rivals, Gap further developed various strategies that included Competitive Scope, Broad Target, Narrow Target, and Cost Focus Differentiation. Through this strategy, the company opted to offer standardized products with features that were acceptable to its customers at the lowest competitive prices. Additionally, it considered its value chain of primary and secondary activities, economies of scale and consequently linked these activities to implement a cost leadership strategy.

While it is evident that Gap's major competitors such as Walmart and Macy's focused on similar techniques, this Gap was able to increase its customer's base and thus succeeded in penetrating into the unsaturated markets (Smith, Ansett, & Erez, 2018). For the past few years, Gap has been facing challenges concerning maintaining its US and the global market share to ensure steady growth of revenues. These challenges contributed to a massive fall in the company's sales as well as the gross profit. To deal with this issue and maintain its competitive advantage, various plans and initiatives were implemented (Worley, Feyerherm, & Knudsen, 2010). Primarily, the Gap opted to focus on its core products that previously contributed to its global success. Additionally, the company began selling its products on Amazon. Finally, the increased international expansion and the opening of retail stores outside the United States in nations such as Mexico, China, and Japan continued to improve its global image, and reputation, thus giving it a sharp competitive advantage.

According to Smith, Ansett, & Erez (2018), the Eastern Expansion has been termed as Gap Inc. key strategies to remain competitive both in the United States and around the world. Through this strategy, the company is determined to establishing its product and revenue momentum in the previous years, which were achieved through focusing on ways of becoming the globe's favorite for the American Style (Henkle, 2017). Besides, the company is focused on pushing the competition further through making shopping seamless to the customers through its digital strategy, while seizing the opportunity for the Old Navy within the numerous unsaturated international markets. It would be further achieved by maintaining strategic relationships with its more than 1000 suppliers with factories located in more than 40 nations across the world. Ideally, Gap Inc. visits nearly 1000 clothe manufacturing companies that make its products. Such visits help it to assess and fix the issue that may lead to the loss. In this way, it not only increases its capabilities but also maintains its competitive advantage over the rivals within the same industry.

References

Ansett, S. (2007). Mind the Gap: A journey to sustainable supply chains. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 19(4), 295-303.

Henkle, D. (2017). Gap Inc.'s journey toward corporate social responsibility. In SA8000: The First Decade (pp. 65-75). Routledge.

Smith, N. C., Ansett, S., & Erez, L. (2018). 11 How GAP Engaged with Its Stakeholders. Managing Sustainable Business: An Executive Education Case and Textbook, 29(1), 217.

Tedeschi, B., & Inc's new Web, A. G. (2005). The new approach from Gap to cut down on clicks. The New York Times, 1-2

Worley, C. G., Feyerherm, A. E., & Knudsen, D. (2010). Building a collaboration capability for sustainability: How Gap Inc. is creating and leveraging a strategic asset. Organizational Dynamics, 39(4), 325-334.