Charles & Keith Essay Example

the Charles ; Keith International division, strategically guided by its successful franchise model.

Dedicated to trendy shoppers, Charles ; Keith develop a distinctive line of fashion forward designs that cater to market sentiments in fast velocity. Attention to product design and fashion trends is the driving aesthetic force of Charles ; Keith as the brand continues to provide shoppers with a plethora of stylish footwear and accessories to complement and complete their wardrobe.

2.2 Reasons for Choosing Ireland

Ireland may refer to the island of Ireland located in the northwest of Europe and the west of the island of Great Britain. It is now politically divided into: Republic of Ireland, an independent country, under the jurisdiction of the 5/6 area; Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, to govern the north-eastern area of 1/6.

Charles ; Keith’s investment in Ireland will be back-up by Charles ; Keith’s strong financial background, Charles ; Keith’s supply base, advanced chain supply technologies and more than ten years experiences.

Ireland government department has always looking for diversify fashion footwear and accessories. Charles ; Keith, as one of the major fashion footwear and accessories supplier and manufacturing in Singapore, are able to play the role well in fashion footwear and accessories supply for the benefits of Ireland people.

3.0 STEEP Analysis

3.1 Socio-cultural Factors

Ireland is one of the fastest and may suffer the most among European economies from an ageing population; with the average growth in economic output falling more than 40 per cent over the next 25 years. This will affect supply and demand factors of businesses. Therefore it will directly affect the Charles ; Keith’ business in a long run as there will be a

decreasing in demand. In addition, it will be harder to employ young skilled workforce due to reduction in labor growth (Lee, 2008).

Ireland has been hailed as having the best quality of life in Europe. Therefore more people will be able to afford luxury products. This will be positive points for the Charles ; Keith as there will be more demands. In addition, Ireland also emerged tops in being the safest country in Europe therefore it will also attracts more tourist to visit and purchase products (Barker, 2010).

People in Ireland mostly work very hard so as to buy fashion products to fulfill their materialism desire and at the same time to make them feel more superior compare to others. This has positive factors on the Charles ; Keith as it can expect a higher purchasing power from the consumers.

3.2 Political Factors

The European Union has Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with many countries around the globe. This proves to show that Charles ; Keith is strategically located in a trading hub where importing and exporting do not require additional taxes or tariff barriers from those countries with FTA.

3.3 Economic Factors

Ireland inflation is likely to remain on the high side until mid 2013 before easing as slow economy growth. The Monetary Authority of Ireland states that for the whole of 2012, Ireland’s headline inflation rate is expected to be around 5 per cent, with core inflation at 2 per cent (Markides, C. C., ; Williamson, P. J. 2009). And the forecast for 2013 for headline inflation is 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent, while core inflation is expected to come in at 1.5 percent to 2 per cent.

Ireland

has decreased in the price of commodities. In September 2012, the consumer price of clothing increased by 4.6%, footwear and consumer prices of other shoes increased by 3.3%.

3.4 Technological Factors

Rising social media are important for business of Ireland. For example, face book, since its introduction in 2004, has recorded sky high figures of more than 2 million users; penetration rate of 55.37% compared to the country’s population and 71.5% in relation to the number of Internet users just in Ireland alone (Irish Face book Statistics 2012).

With the advancement of internet technology, Charles ; Keith can now tap on a new channel by offering new designs through their website. However, this can also provide a threat to the company as more providers will be available online.

3.5 Ecological Factors

Charles ; Keith is leasing land of housing in Ireland, not the occupation of cultivated land. The construction of various buildings of Charles ; Keith are without construction, transmission lines, and pipelines, and does not change the ground or pave the way for all existing facilities in Ireland. Due to the nature of the land having not changed and no new buildings, the surrounding ecological environment of Ireland has little effect to Charles ; Keith.

4.0 SWOT Analysis

4.1 Strengths

Census data show that the total population of Ireland has reached 4,581,269 in 2011, and is an increase of 256 200 over the previous year. With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, people spend on the shoes of the costs are also rising. Throughout the course of development of Charles & Keith, it has its own unique creation of the road. Ireland has a good market environment. In addition, Charles &

Keith has abundant capital and good corporate image, has a large advantage.

4.2 Weakness

Along with the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the values ??of consumers have structural changes, and consumers show personalized with the trend of diversification. For Charles ; Keith, it is not only for the quality of the shoes but for the rate of replacement of the ever-increasing demands. In order to adapt to this rapidly changing market demand, the production of Charles ; Keith need to be more flexible, and the urgent need is to shorten the cycle of shoes from design, manufacturing to market products to the development of many varieties and small batch direction. Charles ; Keith have just settled in the Irish market, and are not very understanding of the market and the Irish consumer preferences.

4.3 Opportunities

Charles ; Keith have good supporting capacity, and can reduce the costs including technology, training, and transportation in the purchase of raw materials followed by industry more obvious role. In addition to bring the whole shoe industry upgrade, Charles ; Keith also give full play to the leading role of the production and export to comprehensively promote the development of the Irish economy. This is a great opportunity for Charles ; Keith settled in Ireland.

4.4 Threats

Charles ; Keith do not pay attention to scientific research, development, and design, and rarely invest the necessary funds for research and develop new products. Threat from others in the industry is also very large.

5.0 Market Analysis

5.1 Bargaining Power of Buyers

The consumers of fine fashion shoes are largely fragmented across geographical locations e.g. UK, Asia-Pacific thus their bargaining power is much lower. The market is more susceptible and

receptive to other varieties of contemporary industry. In addition, switching cost for consumer is high especially for those who pursue fine collections.

5.2 Rivalry among competitors

Retail business in Ireland has experienced slow growth in the past few years. The Department of Statistics retail sales index grew by 3.5% per year from 2007 to 2012. The growth rate mirrors the increasingly competitive environment, a maturing retail market, increasing supply of retail space, rising operating and labor costs, and declining tourist spending.

5.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Bargaining power of suppliers is relatively lower as Charles ; Keith is the sole supplier of its own. Charles ; Keith have their own production facilities while the rest of the retailers are purchasing their productions from both local and foreign wholesalers. With both its design and production team, Charles ; Keith are able to develop unique designs, respond promptly to market changes in tastes and preference as well as have a high degree of control over the quality of the products.

5.4 Threat of Substitutes

Consumers will substitute fine fashion shoes and purchase costume brand instead, especially during the economic crisis period. And consumer might switch brands if competitors offer lower pricing for products.

5.5 Threats of New Entrants

The barriers to entry into the shoes industry are not prohibitive. New entrants are required to be financially affluent in order to enjoy economies of scale (Porter, Michael E. 1985). Charles ; Keith are characterized by its high value inventory and ability to maintain and establish customers’ goodwill. Hence, newcomers may not be able to establish a presence in certain shopping malls.

6.0 Marketing Strategies

6.1 Marketing Objectives

Charles ; Keith is committed to provide the best service for fashion

shoppers in Ireland, by avant-garde and innovative design to meet market demand and lead to fashionable trend.

6.2 Marketing Positioning

Charles ; Keith have been committed to creating a free and convenient shopping environment for the purpose to create a new shopping experience through superior shopping environment. The store in Ireland reflects the consistent style of Charles ; Keith pursuit of the same: exceptional design, useful features, excellent technology and quality material. In a pleasant environment, Charles ; Keith present a wide selection of products such as handbags, shoes, small leather goods and eyewear. The products and the environment reflect the craftsmanship of the famous international brand, fashion style and innovative ideas.

6.3 Target markets

Market concentration Charles ; Keith should select a market segment and concentrate on serve. Centralized marketing makes Charles ; Keith a deep understanding of the demand characteristics of the market segments for product, price, channel, and promotional strategies, resulting in a strong market position and good reputation. Product specialization

Charles ; Keith should concentrate on a product, the sale of such product to all customers. Charles ; Keith sale of high-end clothing shoes to young, middle-aged and elderly consumers, offers a variety of high-end clothing products and services for different customers, rather than the production of other grades of clothing needs of the consumers. In this way, Charles ; Keith establish a high reputation in the high-end clothing products.

7.0 Marketing Mix

7.1 Product Strategy

The product strategy refers to the Charles ; Keith to develop business strategy, first be clear what kind of products and services to meet the demands of consumers, that is, to solve the problem of product strategy. It is the basis of the

marketing mix strategy. In a certain sense, business success and the key to development lie on the degree of product to meet consumer demand and product strategy correct or not.

7.2 Price Strategy

The price strategy is a pricing approach according to buyers own ability to pay and utility, and the combination of product pricing in order to achieve maximum profit( James, S. 1998). Price for the first time, Charles ; Keith need to consider pricing objectives, to identify needs, the estimated cost, selected the pricing method and selected the final price. Pricing objectives is to meet the needs of the market and corporate earnings, and it is to achieve the business the general objective assurance and means. The same time, it is the basis of the pricing strategy and pricing methods. Prices will affect the market demand. Under normal circumstances, the market demand will change in the opposite direction in accordance with the price.

7.3 Promotion Strategy

Charles ; Keith may introduce special promotions and discounted items at a limited time offer or while stock last basis. Charles ; Keith might also issue special coupons and vouchers which buyers can use for future orders. In addition, Charles ; Keith runs loyalty program in selected countries.

7.4 Place Strategy

Location is often referred to as the combination of distribution. It mainly includes distribution channel, storage facilities, transportation facilities, and inventory control. So it is on behalf of Charles ; Keith to make its products into and reach the target market group, implementation of various activities including ways and links, sites, warehousing and transportation.