strategy for success. between 10 and 40 dollars, emphasizing both quality and Uniqlock won the brand a multitude of major advertising awards, including a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions Festival. Understand what's truly driving the gender pay gap. affordability. manufacturing batches to achieve maximum value. This design driven clothing brand offers unique functional performance owing to in-house fabric and design innovation. What are some of the strategic business considerations Uniqlo needs to have in mind in its strive to be the world’s top apparel retailer? The brand strongly believes that company’s value is intrinsically linked to the value it brings to society as a whole and that successful companies must serve society. These new fabrics are all branded and copyrighted, which poses a struggle for competitors who want to try and attempt to match this point of differentiation. Uniqlo’s slogan, “Made for All,” is clearly represented in its The retailer is also in Even though Uniqlo enjoys high levels of appeal, evident by the serpentine queues outside its stores when it launches in new markets, there is still a need for Uniqlo to start investing in building a strong brand positioning on the quality of its apparels and aggressively communicate this. Uniqlo provides a superlative physical shopping experience by impeccably managing its stores, inculcating a positive employee culture and through in-store technology like video tutorials that describe product attributes. If Uniqlo achieves this ambitious target, it will dethrone Inditex (Zara’s parent company) as the leader in global apparel. "About This Company" data & logos provided by. Sustainability has been a hot topic in business for the last decade and is now quickly becoming a must-have hygiene factor for companies that want to resonate with and win the loyalty of its global customers. The Uniqlo brand was set up to be all about the Japanese philosophy of simplicity and essentiality, and this is reflected throughout the brand’s marketing, communications, and operations. Unlike its competitors who sell a large variety of trendy fashion inspired by the global runway, Uniqlo focuses on producing a few styles of urban practical basics. Despite its huge success so far, Uniqlo faces its own global business challenges. Employees are also taught to interact with shoppers using six standard phrases including “Did you find everything you were looking for?” and all customers are welcomed with “Welcome to Uniqlo!”. Online sales currently account for 9.9% of Uniqlo’s total global sales and the brand aims to expand this to 30% by launching more online services. Inspired by his travels to Europe and the US, where he discovered large casual apparel chains like Benetton and Gap, Tadashi Yanai saw immense potential for Japan’s casual wear market and set goals to evolve the family’s business strategy from suiting to casual clothing, buying fashion goods in bulk at low cost. Mr John C. Jay, Uniqlo’s President of Global Creative says that the campaign is an opportunity to present the brand’s mission and its Japanese heritage, which differentiates it from the competition, and to harmonize its brand image internationally. One of Uniqlo’s signature innovations is HeatTech, a fabric developed in conjunction with Toray Industries (a Japanese chemical company) that turns moisture into heat and has air pockets in the fabric to retain that heat. doesn’t fit into the typical fast fashion models as Zara and H&M do. Do you choose based on your mood or the weather? Every activity undertaken by its employees are recorded and analyzed – from apparel folding technique, to the way retail staff returns credit cards to customers with both hands and full eye contact. About the author: Martin Roll – Business & Brand Strategist, Read about Muji: Muji – The Global Strategy Behind The Japanese No-Brand Brand, Read about ZARA: The Secret of Zara’s Success: A Culture of Customer Co-creation, Read about Forever 21: Forever 21 – Fast Fashion Retail Brand With An Edge, Read about Charles & Keith: Charles & Keith – A Truly Successful Asian Global Fast Fashion Retail Brand, Sign up for updates on Business, Brands & Leadership. Companies in the same industry as UNIQLO, ranked by hourly rate. Mention the brand Uniqlo 10 years ago to anyone outside of Japan and you would get a confused look. Additionally, Uniqlo needs to adopt, imbibe and leverage social media and digital platforms in its advertising and communication strategies deeper going forward. Uniqlo has decreased its assortment by 4.4 percent in the last 12 Its Japanese founder, Tadashi Yanai is famous for his quote “Without a soul, a company is nothing”. UNIQLO Stock Quote. Product development approach and efficient supply chain: Tadashi Yanai is fond of saying that “Uniqlo is not a fashion company, it’s a technology company.” And indeed, the brand’s approach to making apparel has more in common with the iterative approach to product development embraced by the technology industry than the cyclical, trend-driven rhythm of the fast fashion retail industry. It is indeed impressive how Uniqlo has managed to transform from a single inherited men’s tailoring shop from Tokyo into a global casual wear giant and one of the most impressive brands from Japan and Asia today. www.FashionUnited.info © FashionUnited 2020. With profits declining due to margin erosion over the years and an impairment charge on J Brand premium denim clothing, international operations are getting increasingly important for Uniqlo to sustain its profitability. overwhelm consumers with trends and instead focus on meeting their By collaborating with global designers, Uniqlo is also able to gain quicker access into markets where it has a weaker brand awareness, like the US and European markets. Concept meetings with all key product creation teams are held about a year before a product is launched. This has definitely contributed to its global success and it something other aspiring global companies can learn from. Tadashi Yanai once thought he would retire from day-to-day operations by the time he was 60, but at the age of 70, he still holds the company’s operational reins as chief executive. the under 10 dollar price range, and 7 percent is priced over 50 Uniqlo offers a The Uniqlo global production centers are located in Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Dhaka, Jakarta and Istanbul. season. Focus more on quality, less on price: For Uniqlo to effectively compete and maintain its strategic advantage and differentiation, the focus needs to shift away from price but towards quality. Find your market worth with a report tailored to you. Bottoms: This category for women includes shorts and skirts to suit all lifestyle needs, jeans that come in a variety of cuts, leggings (including maternity leggings), smart pants, ankle pants, casual pants and lounge bottoms. Some of the key brand success factors for Uniqlo include the following: Delivery system supporting a clear brand promise: Two of the biggest challenges for any brand is to define a clear brand promise and to consistently deliver effectively on its brand promise across all touch points of the customer experience journey. Differentiation through innovation: It has not been all plain sailing for Uniqlo. Mention Uniqlo to any global citizen today and the associations of quality, affordability and fashionable come to mind immediately. months, and H&M expanded by just over 50 percent. Uniqlo is a successful global Japanese fast fashion retail brand competing globally on design innovation, good quality, affordability, fashionable apparel products and an authentic in-store customer experience. Airism to help a wearer cool down. Inner-wear: Uniqlo has designed its inner-wear with comfort as a predominant focus. High dedication to innovation: As Peter Drucker said, innovation and marketing are the only two functions of any organization. Its range of polo t-shirts are made in 4 different materials: AIRism, Dry Ex (extra breathable mesh in a seamless construction), Dry Pique and Dry Shirt Collar (featuring a sturdy dress shirt style collar).