Holey Soles Case Study Essay

If a company decides to help differentiate its branded footwear by offering buyers 500 models/styles to choose from, then company managers should evaluate the merits of trying to reduce the $14 million annual costs for production run setup costs associated with producing 500 models/styles at each plant by

Athletic footwear cannot be designed to cater to a large group as in general. It has to produceits products with a distinct difference keeping in mind the age groups or usage groups it isintending to target.

Such shoes coupled with good marketing strategies can be a huge success as according to

· The threat from buyers to integrate backward and produce the industry product themselves: Since barriers to entry for automotive industry is high, this threat seems to be difficult to happen, therefore lowering the buyer’s power.

The Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Moderate): Most of the industry’s products are sourced and manufactured by a network of third parties. The supplier group is diluted compared to the industry; KMD alone has over 45 suppliers. There is credible threat of suppliers adopting forward integration resulting in loss of major suppliers and emergence of new competitors for the industry. Highly effective and specialised products will pose high supplier switching costs for industry firms.

Obviously, there is a big number of driving forces in the athletic footwear industry. Each of these driving forces has different impacts—some of them can have a more considerable effect than others on figuring out how much cross-company differences influence market shares and a number of units sold. The first line of most influential factors includes comparative prices, S/Q ratings, and a number of models offered among the footwear competitors. These three most important competitive forces affect customer decisions of which athletic footwear brand to choose. Furthermore, the decisions of customers whether to purchase one brand or another are also influenced by such forces as advertising, celebrity endorsements, the number of independent retail

In Forward integration involves company to develop strategy to control the firm product distribution either through distribution centers or retailers. It is a necessary action when companies have potential benefits from handling, shipping of their own products directly to customers, or the retail selling their own products in brand stores.

The suppliers get the advantages of making their products be showcased for the consumers thru these retailing outlets. A wider scope of retail outlets could mean wider scope for the brand recognition of the seller’s products, that is why these retailing giants has more power than suppliers. But when it comes to distribution, having a strong supplier is important, the company be better over competitors when it comes to qualitative factors such as on time deliveries on their branches and wider network of

Rejection rate from manufacturing process ranged from 15 to 18 per cent; if could be exceed especially in the first few production runs of a new style.

According to DSW Inc.’s March 2016 10K filing, “Our growth strategy is to continue to strengthen our position as a leading footwear and accessories retailer by: expanding into new markets with the right banners and store format, extending our customer reach through new categories, and acquiring new strengths to compete in ways and places that are relevant to the customer, such as our recent acquisition of Ebuys, Inc. We will also continue expanding our physical and digital presence in relevant markets through existing and new formats, investing in our infrastructure, and utilizing our financial strength to invest in key initiatives.” (DSW Inc.10-K filing, 2016) The use forward Integration to gaining control over retailers by opening more than 40 stores in 2015 and made changes to their website to be able to offer products in store and online taking control over other retail stores. (DSW Inc., 2016) The use backward integration to gaining control over suppliers by not agreeing to work with any supplier that does not have the same values. Each supplier is responsible to sign a code of ethic and follow the code or DSW will discontinue using the supplier. (DSW Inc., 2016) DSW Inc. uses horizontal integration to gaining control over competitors by offering low prices, convenience of a one stop shop for shoes instore or online, and they value from the loyalty program. (DSW Inc., 2016) The are using market penetration to seeking greater market

Backward integration is a type of vertical integration in which a company takes control over its suppliers. It is a form of acquisition of the intermediary players involved in supplying the raw materials used in the production process of the firm. Raw materials, intermediate manufacturing and assembly are controlled by the firm whereas distribution to the end customer is done by a third party company. In this way, company increases production efficiency and gains a competitive advantage by lowering its production cost.

Many of the big established shoe brands have seen consolidation and hence they have become bigger and more powerful in terms of competing with the rest.

The use of substitutes in the footwear industry is very high because of the large number of companies and similar products in the industry. There is a great deal of rivalry and the customers’ bargaining power is high. If the store experiences a large demand for unusual small or large sizes not kept in stock and cannot fill these request within a reasonable time frame customers could stop patronizing the store. If competitors with similar business models locate in the same area this could pose problems for the shoe store. If Johnson’s misjudges the path of current fashion and over stocks shelves with the wrong products, this could cause problems in moving merchandise.

There are many different suppliers for the different types of product lines. This makes it easy for companies in the industry to secure a supply. As Corning is a large company, it is able to negotiate good prices from suppliers. There are many suppliers that are willing to cooperate with Corning because they can earn substantial profits from Corning’s businesses.

In the clothing industry there is a threat for substitute products. With the wide variety of brands and quality of goods provided by the companies consumers can easily substitute the one company’s clothes or goods for another company’s. The preference of the consumers for the brands and quality of clothes or goods they are looking for increases the threat of substitutions in the