Strategic Analysis

Strategic Analysis

Strategic Analysis

Introduction

According to Bäckström & Johansson (2006), fashion is a billion-dollar industry that employs millions of people. Fashion reflects the values of society and culture, and defines how people define themselves. Fashion is equated with clothing and accessories and is found in almost all activities of human beings. For this project our focus will be on fashion companies operating in UK for which we initially need to have information about UK fashion industry. UK is one of the five major European markets in consumer and fashion industry one of the most powerful on the continent (Bang & Joshi, 2008). Innovation distinguishes UK' Fashion weeks from other capitals. There is a creative influence that runs throughout. It is the sixth largest importer of foreign goods. With a current population close to 63 million people, stands as the third largest market among the European Union countries (then only Germany and France) and its population is concentrated by 80% in urban areas and about 19% in the capital. The fashion industry has a direct and an indirect effect in the country is estimated to contribute about 3% of total GDP. It's an interesting market where British consumers spend more than € 900 in fashion, above the average of the EU-27 (of € 700 per year). Research states that fashion industry and clothing in the UK is a very interesting market because of its size and the opportunities it offers. In this paper, the word fashion will be used in reference with clothing and accessories.

The Clothing Retailing industry is on a mature stage in its life cycle. In United Kingdom just like rest of the world the industry is going through very rapid changes. There are so many different issues which are confronted by the organizations which are dealing the particular industry time to time. Over the 10 years through 2018-19, industry value added is forecast to increase at a compound annual rate of 0.9%, while UK GDP is anticipated to grow at a compound annual rate of 1.3%. This indicates that the industry is growing at a slower rate than the United Kingdom economy and this is a clear illustration of a mature market. Industry operators have endured increased competition from supermarkets and pure-play online retailers (Gilligan, 2009, 78). In this paper we are going to analyze performance of two small businesses operating in clothing industry. The purpose of this paper is to let readers know about the performance of these both businesses and how they should change their operations and activities in order to grow and further develop fashion industry of UK.

Organization Selection

The first organization selected for this paper is a small women boutique named as “Shaila Armaan's Boutique” which is working since last eight years in United Kingdom. The second organization selected is River Island.

Company Brief

The organization has although earned a good name in women wear but is currently having a small set up. Shaila Armaan's is a retail company focusing on ...