One of the most recent businesses to enter the garment market is ZAALMA
which focuses on chic women's hats. It was founded in 2016 by XXX with the main objective of upending the apparel sector by producing the best women's headwear in comparison to their rivals. Zara, Mango, and Aldo Accessories are the main market rivals. The abbreviation for the three competitors is ZAALMA. The company's goal is to provide women of all social classes with the greatest headwear at fair prices. The casual and beach woman cottages are the company's top brands. For now, the company has its headquarters in New York, the United States with a goal to extent its brands to other parts of the globe especially Spain that is the hub of fashion. However, to grow successfully in the international market and beat its competitors, the company needs to position its brands in the global marketplace.
Competitive analysis
Just like any other markets, the apparel industry is a very competitive one. In regards to ZAALMA, it faces stiff competition from other established brands such as Zara, United Colors of Benetton, H & M, Aldo Accessories, and Mango. Those firms have been in the market for a long time compared to it. However, the late entrant advantage of learning from the weakness of the companies in the past years is the main advantage of ZAALMA. Likewise, compared to competitors ZAALMA products are more fashionable than all the other competitors, and they are priced less.
Market Entry
As a late entrant in the market, the company will face various challenges. To best analyze The Challenges Porter analysis was applied.
Porter analysis
It is a model used to analyze the level of any completion within a sector and to develop a business strategy. The competitive intensity and the industry attractiveness analysis and results were as follows.
Porter Analysis diagram
Medium
- Potential new entrants
Medium/High
- Power of suppliers
- Power of buyers
- Rivalry among existing competitors
- Threat of substitute products
High
From the analysis, it can be seen that new entrants in the market like ZAALMA have medium chances of succeeding. That is because the power of buyers and suppliers are medium. However, there is a high threat of substitute goods. Nonetheless, the main threat is rivalry among existing competitors.
Brand Positioning
To be ahead of the competition in the market, the company will use a differentiated strategy. After thorough market research, the company created brands that have the best features from the competitors combined and additional features that are unique to their products.
The objective of the company is to build fashion democratization. It will, therefore, offer fashionable products at affordable prices to meet all the requirements of the customers. Likewise, it will open more stores in strategic places across the country to make its products readily available. The company will deliver high-velocity fashion often to remain ahead of its competitors and to stay relevant. Unlike the competitors, the company understands their client who is differentiated regarding age, gender, and place. That knowledge has enabled the business to come up with a stylish hat that has specific features not found in other brands.
The brands of the company have distinct features which make them unique compared to other brands in the market and ahead of the competition. First, the hats are waterproof, making them suitable for protecting women's hair and head in general. Second, most hats do not always allow sand to pass through when using them on the beach. The hats, therefore, have sand holes to allow sand to go through when using them on the beach. Third, they are made of an individual fabric to make them light and prevent sweating. Finally, with all those features, the brands are affordable.
Similarly, the brand ZAALMA will target a broad gap in the market for retail. It will target mostly customers who are interested in going to the beach and have a high affinity for fashionable hats, but they are unable to afford the most expensive ones provided by other brands. It will, therefore, launch outlets in the most crowded beaches before launching in other places.
Conclusion
For the company to be successful in the competitive market of apparel, it must implement all the above positioning strategies. It must also produce high-quality hats at affordable prices to make them accessible to all. That is because most fashionable hats available are expensive for the ordinary citizen.
