Urban Outfitters Executive Summary
U06A2 – Company Analysis
An Overview of Urban Outfitters
Tiffany Forte, MBA Student Capella University
February 17, 2013
Table of Contents Title Page 1 Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Company Overview 3 S.W.O.T Analysis 4 Recommendations and Justifications 7 Industry Growth 9 Competitors 10 Product Costs Analysis 11 Competitive Advantage Analysis 13 Conclusion 14 References 15
Executive Summary
Urban Outfitters Inc. is a pioneering “lifestyle merchandising company” that operates specialty retail stores under the Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People brands. It was founded in 1970, near the University of Pennsylvania. It is a high end apparel and furniture manufacturer in the …show more content…
Multiple year contracts do not always result in lower costs. A smart company policy is not to have the life of a contract exceed one year.
Ask your customers. Annual planning sessions with customers have many benefits. By discussing costs holistically up and down the combined supply chains, customers often can recommend ways to reduce costs.
Match terms with turns. Each item in your inventory moves at a different rate. And yet suppliers normally apply a one-size-fits-all approach to payment terms. You can reduce your working capital to zero if payment terms were matched with the inventory turns of each item. By negotiating this into your contracts it incents the suppliers only to sell the best moving items and to work with you to improve inventory productivity. The results will free up cash that can be deployed elsewhere in the business and improve profits.
Ask vendors to own “their” inventory. Better even than matching terms with turns is to have the vendors keep title to their inventory until sold. Normally inventory acquired from a vendor is held in your warehouse for use in manufacturing conversion or resale to your …show more content…
It is important to note that product differentiation lies in the mind of the consumer. In fact, two products may be identical, but are presented in such a way that one is superior to the other. In order to create such distinctions, firms have created image differentiation based on branding. Differentiation strategies allow for products to command brand loyalty and a corresponding reduction in price sensitivity. Brands are of increasing worth since they are intangible assets that are difficult for competitors to understand and
An Overview of Urban Outfitters
Tiffany Forte, MBA Student Capella University
February 17, 2013
Table of Contents Title Page 1 Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Company Overview 3 S.W.O.T Analysis 4 Recommendations and Justifications 7 Industry Growth 9 Competitors 10 Product Costs Analysis 11 Competitive Advantage Analysis 13 Conclusion 14 References 15
Executive Summary
Urban Outfitters Inc. is a pioneering “lifestyle merchandising company” that operates specialty retail stores under the Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People brands. It was founded in 1970, near the University of Pennsylvania. It is a high end apparel and furniture manufacturer in the …show more content…
Multiple year contracts do not always result in lower costs. A smart company policy is not to have the life of a contract exceed one year.
Ask your customers. Annual planning sessions with customers have many benefits. By discussing costs holistically up and down the combined supply chains, customers often can recommend ways to reduce costs.
Match terms with turns. Each item in your inventory moves at a different rate. And yet suppliers normally apply a one-size-fits-all approach to payment terms. You can reduce your working capital to zero if payment terms were matched with the inventory turns of each item. By negotiating this into your contracts it incents the suppliers only to sell the best moving items and to work with you to improve inventory productivity. The results will free up cash that can be deployed elsewhere in the business and improve profits.
Ask vendors to own “their” inventory. Better even than matching terms with turns is to have the vendors keep title to their inventory until sold. Normally inventory acquired from a vendor is held in your warehouse for use in manufacturing conversion or resale to your …show more content…
It is important to note that product differentiation lies in the mind of the consumer. In fact, two products may be identical, but are presented in such a way that one is superior to the other. In order to create such distinctions, firms have created image differentiation based on branding. Differentiation strategies allow for products to command brand loyalty and a corresponding reduction in price sensitivity. Brands are of increasing worth since they are intangible assets that are difficult for competitors to understand and