Urban Outfitters Case Study

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Competition Locus

The specialty retail, direct-to-consumer and the wholesale apparel businesses are each highly competitive. Urban Outfitters says its retail stores compete on the basis of, among other things, the location of their stores, the breadth, quality, style, and availability of merchandise, the level of customer service offered and merchandise price. Although they feel the eclectic mix of products offered in their retail stores helps differentiate them, it also means that Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People and Terrain stores compete against a wide variety of smaller, independent specialty stores, as well as department stores and national specialty chains. Comparing the results to its competitors, Urban Outfitters Inc reported Total Revenue increase in the 3 quarter 2014 by 5.22 % year on year, while most of its competitors have experienced contraction in revenues by -0.08 %, recorded in the same quarter. With net margin of 5.79 % Urban Outfitters Inc achieved higher profitability than its competitors.

Competition stores

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for young consumers, and is headquartered in New Albany, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. It has over 400 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally. The company operates two offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids and Hollister Co., in addition to two brands, Ruehl No.925 and Gilly Hicks, that closed in early 2010 and 2012. A&F is for college-age men and women, Hollister is for 12- to 18-year-olds, and abercrombie—with a little “a”—is for those under 12.According to CSIMarket.com Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has a total market share of 1.46%. Return on equity has greatly decreased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Specialty Retail industry and the overall market, Abercrombie & Fitch’s return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. Sales at established stores have fallen in five of the past seven years. Profits for 2014 were expected to be about $106 million, less than half of what they had been in 2012. A Piper Jaffray survey in fall 2013 asked teen girls what brands they no longer wear: A&F and Hollister ranked second and third. (Aéropostale was first.) By the end of 2013, a year in which same-store sales dropped 11 percent at Abercrombie, the company had closed at least 220 mall stores. Another 120 stores in the U.S. would be gone within two years, it said. (ghsituationanalysis.wordpress)

The Gap, Inc.

The Gap, Inc. commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap, is an American multinational clothing and accessories retailer. It was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company operates six primary divisions: the namesake banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Intermix, and Athleta. Gap Inc. was surpassed by Spanish-based Inditex Group as the world’s largest apparel retailer, based on the total numbers of international locations, however it remains the largest specialty retailer in the United States. As of September 2008, the company has approximately 135,000 employees and operates 3,076 stores worldwide, of which 2,551 are located in the U.S. According to CSIMarket.com The Gap, Inc. has a total market share of 6.12%. (ghsituationanalysis.wordpress)

Conclusion

To conclude, UO have a strong online presence across both platforms. They use multi channel marketing to drive sales from one platform to another successfully. Through engaging attention to its core consumers lifestyle and integrating music, fashion, and decorating advice, they have a strong brand identity as well as relating to and attracting their desired consumer and demographic of 18-30, whilst still opening their website up to a broader range of consumer. Mobile optimization of the site and integrating further sizing options likewise to ASOS could further engagement with consumers.