E-Commerce and Action Plan towards Apparel Brand Pty Ltd Company in Australia - Case Study Example

APPAREL BRANDS E-COMMERCE AND ACTION PLAN Name Professor University Date Introduction In Australia, the existence of the apparel market is relative small, though very competitive approaches are applied across the companies (The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service 2009). The apparel companies offer products and services that are well embedded to the Australian culture and lifestyles based on the fashion taste and the existing trends. Due to massive competition in Australian apparel industry, majority of the apparel stores advocated for decreasing the products prices, specialization of specific product for sale and selling of exclusive products (The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service 2009). Nonetheless, the diverse use of the e-commerce application is being implemented within the apparel industry as a competitive approach. The use of e-commerce platform is attributed towards local and global marketing opportunities for the company’s products and services (Daly 2012). Due to existing globalization emphasis on the apparel industry, this report showcases creative implementation of e-commerce and action plan towards Apparel Brand Pty Ltd company in Australia which offers unique products and market opportunities for the company. The e-commerce opportunity is adhered toward reduction of the distribution costs while increasing the profits margin for the company. Consequently, the presented action plans are geared towards development of the company own brands and products to be sold directly to the consumers. E-Commerce Value Preposition The value preposition for the Apparel Brand Pty Ltd needs to be based on the target consumers for the company, the benefits attuned towards the consumer preferences and the positioned price for the product. In this context, the value preposition thorough e-commerce for Apparel Brand Pty Ltd will specifically developed for different customer segments, credibility, concise, clear and consistency in long term. Firstly, the value preposition in place will be priced-based for the customers. In this context, the customers will encounter low price possible for the products with efficient online-shopping format. Successful leading companies such as the Wal-Mart are attributed in everyday low price value preposition hence a working strategy for Apparel Brand Pty Ltd (Corey 2009). Strategically, the low priced strategy in Apparel Brand company will be attained by improving on the productivity during the manufacturing process of the sportswear outfits and the business process optimization. Such a technique will showcase the company efficiency in value addition whereby there is an increasing volume and low cost products to consumers. Additionally, the company ability in improving on the product quality will provide an additional value especially to loyal consumers within the sportswear apparel industry. As such, the company will gain market share by tapping vast scope of consumers within the sporting industry. Target Market The target market for Apparel Brand Pty includes the Australasia continent, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific Region, Latin America, Northern, Western and Eastern region. The main reason for the targeted markets is basically on the increasing purchasing power of the sportswear outfit by consumers hence an increasing growth of more than 4% from the year 2013 to 2016 (Spring 2014). Consequently, the increase of purchase power of sportswear is estimated to be on the rise due to increasing health awareness across countries, increasingly sporting activities and the convergence of casual design with athletic performance in fashion tend (Spring 2014). Venture Firstly, the information will be gathered through company self-evaluation. The evaluation will determine if the company has the required experience, level of flexibility, leadership and team qualities, and the needed perseverance into the new sportswear business venture. Secondly, positioning planning strategy is important for the company. The information needs to be retrieved from marketing research findings in sportswear industry, the goals expected by the company and the available organization resources. Thirdly is the development of the marketing strategy. This includes the identification of target consumers, market niche and marketing mix across the sportswear industry. Fourthly, the information will be gathered on how to offer exceptional customers services. This will be based on the company records regarding the customer value preposition in quality of the product and the price of the product. Lastly, regards the new business financing issues. The Apparel Brand Pty Ltd needs to have enough financial resources purposefully for the start-up capital in sportswear and the working capital. All this can be analyzed from the financial statements, business income statements and the cash flow statements. Consultation The team seeks to engage into consultation with the best IT firms in Australia that have specialized in e-commerce in marketing industries. The IT firm needs to showcase exceptional record in supporting new business entrants into the markets, while the business attributes its success from the consultancy firm. Steps for setting up e-commerce 1. Registration of the Domain Registration of the Domain should comprise unique name for the apparel. The domain registration varies between $10 to $ 30 per year based on the hosting services rendered. 2. Building the Site The company needs to hire a web designer in this phase. A good example of a web developer is the Authorize.Net Certified Developers. 3. Hosting the Site The hosting of the site involves making the website accessible via the internet by providing the internet servers, email management, toll-free customer support, shopping cat, storage capacity and the site statistics. 4. Accept Online Payments For e-commerce to run, the site needs to give online shoppers the platform to purchase products and services. This requires both the merchant account and payment gateway account. 5. Promoting the Business Promoting the sportswear in the site while require search engine optimization, pay per click ads, use of email marketing, social media platform and use offline marketing. 6. Managing the Business To effectively and efficiently ensure the sportswear business grows, the management needs to effectively manage the transaction security measures, the financial accounting and product distribution against online fraud. Benefit An increased rate of the production by ensuring an increased volume of sportswear are manufactured, then the cost of the product will be reduced. In this context, both process is embedded towards an added advantage in the Apparel Brand Pty Ltd. Determining the Cost The product cost will be determined by adding the total direct material costs, the total labor used and the sum of the overhead costs incurred by the company. The sum of the listed processes will be divided by the number of the end product produced, to determine the cost of each product. Performance Plan Description Apparel Brand Pty Ltd ventures into a new business by distributing newer sportswear across the globe. The new venture tends to operate under e-commerce platform in offering its core products and services to consumers. Action 1 Implementation of the new technology by setting up an e-commerce site. For set-up to be complement, the management needs to seek services from website developers, thus the Authorize.Net Certified Developers. Action 2 The sportswear e-commerce tends to offer varied quality of products to the consumers at a cheaper price. The outcome will be attained by increasing the level of product production and optimization of the company activities. Action 3 The company intends to have a reduced distribution cost of the product while increasing the profit margin of the product. In this context, the company will develop its own brand while selling the product directly to consumers. Dependencies In the dependencies section, a complete implementation and certification of the designed website needs to be in place. It is through the use of the site that will provide the platform for offering e-commerce services. Action 1 The hosting site need to be tested to ensure that all the intended activities can run without having setbacks. Action 2 Positioning of the data repositories that needs to be scalable purposefully to the intended purpose of the production level. Action 3 Supporting technologies installation and fully licensed for the business to take place. Timeline The timeline is a presentation of when the business is expected to be rolled out and for how long the business will run. In this context, the business is expected to be a long-time. The new strategy is a competitive approach whereby the company expects to gradually grow in the apparel industry. Action 1 Meeting between the management board and the supervisors to discuss and sign the performance evaluation. Action 2 Copy of the performance planning and evaluation method submitted to the employees. Action 3 Employee self-evaluation in information technology management skills. The management needs to approve employees having qualified information technology management skills. The purpose is to ensure that employees are able to communicate with consumers online effectively. Responsibilities The management board have the responsibility to spearhead the employee’s workforce engagement. The outcome can easily attain by creating a working environment for the employees so as to realize the expected outcome. Action 1 Regular check of the goal progression across employee working efforts Communicating with employees by revisiting the employee performance expectations. Use of 360-degree feedback to get employee feedbacks regarding new working environment. Action 2. Coaching of the employees by strengthening two-way communication that will be very beneficial towards customer communication. Board management improve on their leadership skills Advocating employees to be more accountable, hence a means in supporting them through career development. Action 3 Submission of the completed employee review as per the expected deadline. Resources Apparel Brand needs enough financial resources that will ensure the e-commerce business runs effectively. Action 1 Retrieval of financial records to identify available capital to roll out the business Action 2 Calculating the entire production cost to determine the price of the product Action 3 Rolling out new payments for the employees under the e-commerce services. Review Dates The review of the dates is to make sure that the business will run as per the specified date. Contrarily, shortcomings that might greatly affect the business needs to be dealt with, hence the reason to instruct on new dates. Action 1 Evaluation of the entire website. Action 2 Evaluation of the employee’s qualifications. Action 3 Evaluation of the available resources. Measurement The competencies and skills required will showcase the growth of the Apparel Brand e-commerce. Action 1 Accountability: customer satisfaction. Action 2 Target market: Attaining more than 80% new customers in the operating market. Action 3 Increasing the level of customer satisfaction based on varied sportswear quality. References Corey, W., 2009. Perspectives for the Managers: The Customer Value Preposition Should Drive Supply Chain Design, no. 177. Available at https://www.imd.org/research/publications/upload/PFM177_LR_Billington_Nie.pdf. [Retrieved on 25th/January/2016]. Daly, L., 2012. The use of E-Commerce in the Textile and Apparel Supply Chain. Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 2. Spring., 2014. Global Sportswear Sector: Fragmented Sector Creating M & A Opportunities, p. 2-3. Available at http://www.catalystcf.co.uk/research-documents/2014/13-global-sportswear-sector-report-spring-2014.pdf. [Retrieved on 25th/January/2016]. The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service., 2009. The Apparel Industry in Australia. Available at http://www.apparel.ca/_Library/wear_canada/Australia_overview.pdf. [Retrieved on 25th/January/2016]. Read More