Roots Sweatpants Case

Product
1. Roots sweatpants fulfill the need and want for comfort in the UK. There aren’t any known casual clothing stores in the UK that provide quality sweatpants that are made with integrity by workers that are treated fairly.
2. The target market for the sweatpants range from children 6 and up (with sweatpants from the children’s line) to adults of 45 years. The income of the customers, as well as the gatekeepers of the children, must be relatively high, as these sweatpants cost a minimum of $45 (for children). The family life cycle does not have a grave effect on the target market, since sweatpants are a staple item that everyone should have. The only way that family life cycle would impact the customer base, would be in terms of gatekeepers.
To determine how much inventory is needed to sell overseas, we can use Inventory Optimization. It is important to keep inventory as low as possible and to sell as quickly as possible, of course avoiding under/overstocking. The inventory must be always be stocked to account for late shipments, as Roots never wants to run out of stock for such a high-demand product. The advantage with Roots sweatpants is that they are not a seasonal, but year-round item. In addition, Roots carries signature sweatpants, whose design does not change, which is part of the uniqueness of the product. These signature sweatpants can be ordered in advance and stored for an extended amount of time, to ensure there are no under-stocks. The quantity of inventory can be determined by comparison to past expansions and by estimation. If it is estimated that 10 Roots sweatpants will be sold every day in one store, and Roots plans to open 80 stores in the UK, then that’s 800 sweatpants needed per day. There are 365 days in the year, including holidays. We must account for holidays, which would only be 3 days of the year. 800 x 362 is 289 600 sweatpants a year. However, Roots stores should never be understocked, and therefore each store must have slightly more than 800 sweatpants in stock at all times to account for extra purchases or sales.
14. The only tariff that would apply to Roots Sweatpants would be for cotton, under the European Commission.
15. The sole change in standard would be for measurements;
The distribution channel for Roots sweatpants begins with the raw materials that come from cotton plants from South America (Brazil) or Asia (China). The cotton is exported to the factories in South Asia or Canada, where the sweatpants are made. Polyester is added to the cotton in the making of the sweatpants. Once the sweatpants are made, they are packaged into cardboard boxes and sent to the retail locations. If the retail location is reachable by truck, this is the primary method of transportation used. If the product must be exported to another country, the boxed are transported by truck to the local exporting facility which transports the packages by plane to the retail location. Regardless of where the materials come from or where the product is made, all parties must strictly follow the Roots Code of Conduct to ensure fair labour and safety. In the case of the United Kingdom, the products would be made in the Canadian Factories in Toronto and exported to the United Kingdom. Tariffs in cotton would apply. Once their reach UK, the sweatpants would be loaded onto trucks and transported to regional Roots warehouses, then to individual Roots retail