Swot for Topman Essay Example

have a personal style advisor. Topman is a one stop centre of basics clothing to mix and match, trend setting collections, catwalk inspired clothes, every type of denim to suit every shape and size and collections from independent designers, which is dominating the high street more so than any other store. In short, Topman is a retailer of trendy and edgy clothing that targets a diverse population.In addition, Topman had also won many awards and received a lot of compliments of high end fashion magazines and media press. They have the ability to appeal to funky 16 years old look to the mature twenty and thirty something.

Congruently, Topman unlike many retailers varies each collection every two weeks, instead of every season like the majority of retailers do. Topman and Topshop is the only retail outlet which provide customers with exciting store elements. They allow their customers to feel the unique Topman experience which includes a cafe, radio station, nail bar, a vintage range, Topshop TV channel, VIP changing rooms.Part of Topman’s experience is interacting with a style advisor who works as fashion consultant to those shopping for a more complete outfit.

Weaknesses: Even though Topman has over 300 stores in the United Kingdom and over 50 internationally, they are still lack of experience on international market. Topman has not cracked the Asia division. The whole of Asia is considered to be part of the most important division in the world, and countries like Vietnam is considered to be one of the important ones.Topman has also been in trouble for abuse of factory workers which made them going into the front page news of a

national paper and this does not look great when the owner of Arcadia, known as the person who owns Topman. They are not signed up to the (ETI) Ethical Trade Initiative.

This is a self regulatory body set up in 1998 to improve conditions of workers in developing worlds after increased pressure from trade unions and consumers, and this is an issue that people are becoming more aware of, and could harm sales if Topman do not act in agreement with these terms.With all the problems arise, Topman had given a bad image to the people and this will affect their sales and branding. Furthermore, Topman is lack of presence in the Vietnamese market since it has not cracked the Asia division. Most of the people in Vietnam have never heard of the brand. Therefore, it is detached from the Vietnamese market.

Opportunities: Topman will be opening their first stores in America (New York) in 2008 also a store in China the same year and are currently looking for shop space in Paris. These were actually a starter and its greatly hoping to expand in these countries.Topman’s unique style and flair is reminiscent of their European roots, and offer Vietnamese the opportunity to explore new fashion options which taps into the new Anglophilia fashion craze. Topman could grab the attention of Vietnamese as its clothing line is embedded with strong European fashion feel. Topman is welcome innovations and creativity with open arms. The interest and the support of up coming fashion graduates and discovering the next big thing in talent at the same time as keeps their collections fresh.

Their strong design teams creates new looks

that are not just catwalk lead. Expanding stand alone shoe stores throughout the country their only competitors would be faith and office who sell to a similar customer Topman can also offer their premium range. Expanding their children’s wear, many fashion conscious mothers shop at Topman. They would buy on trend clothing at reasonable prices for their children; this could work and be successful, and would prove a threat to competition including the Baleno and MNG.Topman would be the first to enter the Vietnam market. This could bring a lot of future to the brand because the Vietnamese would have more access to Topman than other foreign brands that enter the Vietnam market.

By conducting proper research and discover how Topman could satisfy buyers needs in Vietnam, the company would have the opportunity to generate a great impact of the brand to its customers. Threats: Topman has also achieved great success in many countries and have brought new ideas to the retail high street.Asia get and want the fast fashion of ever changing looks/seasons like the other country like England are obsessed with, as this is what drives Topman’s sales. There are many stores that are able to sell on trend fashions now at very competitive prices, even supermarkets, stores such as MNG and Baleno are showing as strong competitors, they could take on Topman’s ideas and expand them.

Topman former brand director Jane Shepherdson who was behind Topman whole image change and turn around who also had a talent for trend spotting and creating what it is today. She resigned in 2007 and she was with Topman for 18 years worked her way up.After

she left, Karen Fenn took over her job but after 9 months later, she resigned as well. It has also been noticed that other people have also resigned after Phillip Greens takeover, the finance director and the marketing director have also handed in their notice, and can they move forward from this. Although Vietnam is rapidly developing, the poverty percentage of the particular country is still high.

Topman is considered to offer midrange prices to its customers but the currency of Vietnam is gradually low and unstable compared to the currency of United Kingdom.Therefore, Topman’s product might be considered expensive for most of the Vietnamese when products are converted to Vietnam Dong, which is the currency of Vietnam. As the price of fuel is increasing rapidly, same goes with the logistic expenses. Topman varies each of its collection every two weeks. Therefore, there will be frequent shipment of its products to Vietnam from United Kingdom. The price of Topman’s product will be slightly higher as logistics expenses are added in the cost of the products.