Contents
1 INTRODUCTION 2 2 OVERVIEW 2
2.1 The Market 2
2.2 The Company 3
3 ANALYTIC TOOLS 4
3.1 PEST - Analysis 4
3.2 SWOT - Analysis 7
3.3 Competitive Analysis 9
4 CONCLUSION 12 5 MISSION STATEMENT 13 6 OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES 14
6.1 Good quality and price 14
6.2 Relationship between Next and its environment 14
6.3 Shopping as en event 15
7 BIBLIOGRAPHY 16
1 Introduction This Report should give the reader an overview of the clothing retail market in general and an in-depth analyse of NEXT Plc in detail. The main emphasis in this essay are the Retail and Directive division of NEXT Plc because they are the cash generators. Furthermore it shows the current situation of NEXT, its environment and the recent development of the company. The report also provides a mission statement and strategies how to be more successful in the near future.
2 Overview 2.1 The Market The UK clothing market is a declining market. The clothing industry is beset by competition from companies which have invested in hi-tech machinery leading to greater efficiency or have moved their production to factories in cheap labour cost countries to produce their products. However, most companies in this sector make only moderate profits. To expand the market share in this arena is not easy, and therefore it needs a great deal of endeavour, knowledge, as well as energy and money.
Clothes retailers fall into two broad categories: firstly, those selling own-brand clothing and, secondly, those selling third-party wear. Major retailers such as Marks & Spencer and the Arcadia Group are good examples of the first group, as are chain operations such as NEXT and Gap. The second group includes the major department stores and the majority of independent retailers in the UK. Clothing retailing is a highly diverse industry. The retail sector ranges from low-cost and discounts retailers through to independents, sportswear, formal wear and highly exclusive
Bibliography: Books Lynch, R (1997), Corporate Strategy, Financial Times Management, London Wilson and Gilligan (1998), Strategic Marketing Management, 2nd edition, Butterwoth Heinemann, Oxford Doyle, P (1998), Marketing Management and Strategy, 2nd edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall, Harlow 3. Porter, M (1980), Competitive Strategy, Free Press Papers Anonymous, (October 14th, 2000), `Next forges ahead with expansion plans′, The Guardian Anonymous, (September 6th, 2000), `M&S in drive to expand e-commerce′, Financial Times Arlidge, J (May 14th, 2000), `Britannia′s brand-new start′, The Guardian Finch, J (October 18th, 2000), `Debenhams fight back′, The Guardian Finch, J (March 24th, 2000), `Shopping unlimited′, The Guardian Hassan, M (1988), Starting and operating a new small business, Cabrillo College, Watsonville Milne, S (October 27th, 1999), `M&S target of child labour claim′, The Guardian Miscellaneous