Introduction
Yota fashion an organization that deals with textiles and clothing of individuals of all ages. Owing to increased competition, marketers are struggling to expand market share and boost sales of Yota fashion.
According to Kotler (2001), marketers should be creative and persuasive so that they do not only increase consumer awareness, but also increase their willingness to purchase the products. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to examine competitive environment of Yota fashion and explains how it can manage competition in selling its products.
Competitors
The main consumers of Yota fashion designs are usually trendy, dynamic, and gregarious individuals, who are both males and females. However, females exert a higher dominance than males in the fashion industry.
Consumers of Yota fashion designs are always on the lookout for new fashion. Therefore, Yota fashion needs to be alert and conscious so that it remains in the market and produce designs that are in line with the interests of diverse customers. Since majority of our consumers have increased levels of information on issues relating to technology, education, and social factors, they are bound to change their preferences in a manner that reflects the global dynamics.
Goworek (2001) highlights that organizations should understand the needs of their clients so that they can remain in the market and satisfy their consumers. Price, product, design, placement, and promotion are some of the elements that Yota fashion can employ to increase consumer awareness and willingness to purchase their products.
Since competition is one of the external forces, which includes political, economical, social, technological, environmental, and Legal (PESTEL), Yota fashion has no control over it. Competitors of Yota fashion such as Spencer, Marks, Burberry, Topshop, Mulberry, Asos, and Supergroup enjoy large market share in the United Kingdom. These competitors introduce substitute products into the market at prices, which are relatively lower than that of Yota fashion.
Currently, Yota fashion is experiencing high levels of competition. Increased competition in the market increases consumers’ spectrum of choosing desired products. Essentially, Yota fashion needs to be conscious of the dynamics of consumers so that it can deliver the right products to the right segment of consumers (Tungate 2012). Hence, it is imperative for Yota fashion to understand preferences the likes and dislikes of our target consumers, and consequently, aims at delivering products that match their expectations.
To understand the expectations of consumers, fashion designers can employ social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to analyse the requirements of target consumers. Since many of the target consumers frequent these social sites, it is very easy and efficient to understand their expectations using these sites.
One of the main aspects that Yota fashion needs to implement is the conversion of consumer opinions and suggestions into products, as it enables the firm to meet their expectations (Underhill 2009). In addition, Yota fashion, which deals with fashion designs, can creatively pull out ideas and opinions from consumer focus groups and use them to assess whether the products are in line with the proposals from these focus groups.
Understanding consumer expectations enables Yota fashion to deliver products, which are in line with the demands of our clients, is a very vital factor in the quest to outsmart competitors in the market. Moreover, the use of elements like product, design, promotion, price, and placement can be instrumental in ensuring that Yota fashion sustains its market share in the ever increasing and competitive market. According to Easey (2009), production of designs that meet consumer demands is very fundamental in attaining client trust and loyalty. Consumer trust and loyalty lead to sustainable development and growth of Yota fashion. Therefore, effective use of elements like promotion, price, product, and design enables the firm to manage competition and retain its market share.
Managing Competition
In managing competition, Yota fashion will aim at creating brand identity. One way of creating brand identity is to design a unique brand that appeals to the target consumers. In designing unique brand, Yota fashion needs to understand the nature of products that competitors offer in the market.
Essentially, organizations need to understand that products of their competitors so that they can offer unique and advanced designs to their customers (Parsons 2009). Therefore, Yota fashion will design clothes that are appealing and cost friendly to the customers. Extensive marketing of the products is another way that Yota will use in enhancing creating brand identity. Yota will market the product through social sites, newspapers, radio, television, trade fairs, fashion shows, and posters.
In marketing, Yota will consider factors such as prevailing market conditions, consumer behaviour, and purchasing power, since they determine how the products will sell in diverse markets. According to Forsyth (2007), marketing is effective means of creating brand identity. The right choice of words used in marketing can increase consumers’ desire to purchase and consume Yota fashion’s products.
Table 1 shows SWOT analysis
One of the strengths of Yota fashion is that it offers handmade products, which are not only unique and contemporary, but also they have aesthetic value. As other strengths, the products of the Yota fashion are unique and contemporary with aesthetic value because the styles, designs, and colours do not match that of its competitors.
The products are contemporary because they have aesthetic value that meets the interests of the youths who like trendy fashions. The material used in making Yota fashion is of good quality and long lasting thus making consumers to get value for their money. Owing to the nature of the products that Yota fashion offers, it has opportunities in the competitive market because it has a wide range of products that it can offer through segmentation of the market.
The ability to buy online is a technological opportunity that allows Yota fashion to expand its market share beyond the locations of its stores. Moreover, collaboration with other brands is a significant opportunity that Yota can utilize in enhancing its market share in the competitive markets. Since Yota fashion offers sample sales, retail stores are able to attract potential customers and increase sales.
Despite the strengths, Yota fashion has weaknesses and threats that affect its competitiveness in the markets. One limitation of the Yota fashion is that its products are expensive; hence, some potential customers are unable to procure because they are beyond their purchasing power.
The existence of limited designs is also a weakness because customers do not have an array of designs that they can select diverse fashions according to their interests. Lack of physical stores, online stores, and established brand name are some weaknesses that Yota fashion is grappling with as it tries to increase sales and expand market share.
In addition to weaknesses, Yota fashion experiences threats such as recession, tough competition, limited stock, and bankruptcy. Recurring economic recessions tremendously increase the cost of textiles and consequently the cost of production. Tough competition from competitors such as Spencer, Marks, Burberry, Topshop, Mulberry, Asos, and Supergroup threatens to monopolize markets. Limited stock of products threatens sustainability of Yota fashion and makes it run into bankruptcy.
References
Easey, M 2009, Fashion Marketing, John Wiley & Sons, London.
Forsyth, P 2007, Outsmarting Your Competitors: Techniques of Sales Excellence to Build Profitable Business, Marshall Cavendish, London.
Goworek, H 2001, Fashion Buying Oxford, Blackwell Science, New York.
Kotler, P 2001, Principles of marketing, Prentice Hall, New York.
Tungate, M 2012, Fashion Brands: Branding Style from Armani to Zara, Kogan Page, London.
Parsons, E 2009, Contemporary Issues in Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Routledge, London.
Underhill, P 2009, Why we buy: the science of shopping , Simon and Schuster, New York.