Uniqlo report – Business Model The Japanese brand’s success relies on its business model, that – Studocu

1)

Business Model

The

Japanese

brand’

s

success

rel

ies

on

its

business

model,

that

promotes

innovation.

The

brand

opts

for

a

diffe

rent

strategy

to

different

iate

itself.

Uniqlo’

s

value

proposition

is

s

trengthened

by

the

large,

diverse,

original

and

“

life-changing”

panel

of

items

displayed.

The

brand

focuses

on

offeri

ng innovative and unique

garments rather than following current

fashion trends. Indeed, the

T

okyo-based

brand

jointly

developed

with

the

textile

manufacturer

“

T

oray

Indistries

”,

a

revolutionary

fa

bric,

made

of

rayon,

polyester

and

acrylic,

called

HeatT

ech.

This

original

material

transforms

kinetic

energy

in

to

heat

to

keep

the

customers

warm.

This

product

had

a

great

success

and

a

number

of

130Million

unit

H

eat

T

ech

products

were

sold

in

2012.

Uniqlo

launched

two

other

innov

ati

ve

collections:

the

AIRism

(breathable

fabric)

and

Lifewear

collections.

The

complex,

innovative

aspect

of

the

brand

is

supported

by

its

unified

design,

production

and

sales process.

Indeed, Uniqlo’

s business

model relies on th

is very unification. The design of

their

garment is strictly focused on quality and practicality

.

Their clothing items are describe

d as

“high-quality

,

performance-enhanced,

basic

and

casual”.

The

Japanese

brand

knew

how

to

design

and

produce

such

innovative

garments

at

a

very

low

cost

since

i

t

has

complete

control

over

all

processes

s

uch

as

product

planning,

design,

manufacturing

and

distribution.

This

suggests that the firm is applying and adapting its “SP

A” business model in order to do so.

The

brand

starts

the

process

in

their

“Research

&

Development”

centers

located

in

T

okyo

and

New

Y

ork,

where

detailed

and

relevant

information

are

gathered.

These

types

of

information

could

be

for

instance

related

to

social

aspects

tha

t

might

impact

the

brand’

s

strategy

,

such

as

global

trends,

lo

cal

news,

and

l

ifestyl

es,

etc.

Group

subsidiary

stores

and

other

business

clients

are

key

actors

to

this

data

collection,

tha

t

will

allow

the

U

niqlo

branding

and

design

team

to

determine,

and

create,

a

suitable

concept

for

the

season,

for

each

individual

market.

After

the

designing process is done, comes the production step.

They

started

outsourcing

thei

r

product

ion

to

Chin

a

but

still

managed

to

keep

their

premium

quality intact.

Indeed, J

apanese expert engin

eers (T

akumi team)

are dispatched

to the

factories

to

help

enhance

product

quality

as

well

as

the

production

process

itself.

It

definitely

allowed

the

brand

to

lower

their

cost

without

harming

their

quality

product

nor

creating

major

negative

externalities

with

thei

r

ethical

way

of

producing.

Uniqlo’

s

stress

on

sustainability

clearly

shows