Vasquez, Randell C.

MKA 44

1. Describe and evaluate Giordano’s product, business and corporate strategies.

In 1980, Giordano first sold exclusively men’s casual apparel but when they realized that an increasing number of women were attracted to its stores, Giordano changed its positioning, started selling unisex casual apparel, and become a retailer of value-for-money merchandise with the goal of maximizing unit sales instead of margins. They also promoted quality service by focusing on its core items whereas simplicity and focus reflected on their merchandise making it easy for them to react quickly to market changes. They also promoted a customer’s service campaign proving their commitment to service and began training their staff to be more customers oriented to provide excellent services and satisfaction to their customers. They used differentiation, cost leadership and niche as businesses strategies. In addition, as a part of their corporate strategy, they did vertical integration by converting some of its franchised Malaysian stores in company-owned stores to improve store profitability. They also concentrated on retailing by understanding consumer tastes and preferences. In addition, the Asian currency crises made them penetrate other markets that led to their successful outlets on other countries like Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Middle East.

2. Describe and evaluate Giordano’s current positioning strategy. Should Giordano reposition itself against its competitors in its current and new markets, and should it have different positioning strategies for different geographic markets?

Giordano’s current positioning strategy is value for money whereas their main competitors are Hang

Ten, Bossini, Gap and Baleno. Because of other rising brands in the market including local brands with

the same positioning, Giordano repositioned its brand to focus on value-added products and broadening

its appeal by improving on visual merchandising and apparel. They also focused on merchandise that is

relatively mid-priced but offers quality, value and excellent customer services.  So, should reposition

itself against its competitors in its current and new markets? I think that for Giordano, repositioning is

not an entirely a requirement for the whole company because Giordano is current positioning worked

well.  The inexpensive yet trendy clothing appealed to Asia’s frugal customers, especially during the

Asian economic crisis. However, because there are some variations between countries in terms of their

economic, cultural and social factors, they should customized their strategies based on consumer’s

tastes and preferences.

3. What are Giordano’s key success factors and sources of competitive advantage? Are its

competitive advantages suitable, and how would they develop in the future?

Giordano’s key success factors that became the source of their competitive advantage is computerization, a tightly controlled menu, frugality, and value pricing that includes a dedicated workforce in all outlets that provides quality service, simplicity and speed of operations, and a

recognized brand. These factors are suitable and other competitors would be likely to try to emulatethis so they need to continually look for new ways to improve and build its advantage inside and outside its industry. They should also continue to invest in strengthening its brand equity through heavy advertising and excellent customer service.

4. Could Giordano transfer its key success factors to new markets as it expanded in both Asia and rest of the world?

Giordano’s key success factors that can be transferred to new markets are the experience of the employees, inventory controlled system, and the customer service oriented practices but it should be different for each country. For example, the Information technology within each countries may vary, so to be able to have more efficient, cost effective, and secure internal communication platform which will link its many sites in Hong Kong and other host countries, the company needs a comprehensive communications tool that would help Giordano employees conduct multisite management meetings, share documents and collaborate for fast business decisions and quality customer service. In such scenario, Giordano can go for partnership with the IT Company through which they can install a server and software that will serve these purposes. The strategies that are followed by the Giordano for the existing market should not be the same for new markets where the company is willing to enter.

5. How do you think Giordano had /would have to adapt its marketing and operations strategies and tactics when entering and penetrating your country?

Upon penetrating our country, they should be consistent it their service and the quality of their merchandise. They should also consider the trends and the current style of our country and the cultural differences and similarities as well as the economic condition. The strategies regarding product price, price, place and promotion should not be the same for all countries as the market differs in terms of their economic, cultural, social and political environment, but the successful strategies, which are currently used for other market, can be used by Giordano as guides depending on the market situation and customers’ requirement.

6. What general lessons can major clothing retailers in your country learn from Giordano?

Clothing retailers should also learn to adjust to the conditions of the economy. They should always be able to adapt to these conditions. To be able to offer reasonable priced commodity with high quality. They should also consider the preferences of their customers and be able to provide services that will give satisfaction to their consumers and not merely focusing on their profits.