Best collections will carry read to wear casual and designer accessories and apparel for women. Women online clothing business has been considered one of the profitable ventures in the fashion industry. The key to success in this kind of business is deciding what type of products to be sold to the customers to maintain their reputation (Katz, 2009). Best collections will offer facilities such as style assessments, personal shopping and alterations special ordering.
Technical and Entrepreneurial Skills Required
There are essential skills that are required in running online business entrepreneurship. Some of these Entrepreneurial skills include Customer service, sales, marketing, accounting, resourcefulness, and adaptability. Expertise in a given niche is essential in building trust with the audience to demonstrate experience and knowledge in the industry. Running an online business will need the following technical skills since there are a lot of technical aspects in running an online business. The ability to create value-added and quality and search engine optimized content is important in running a successful online business. Content builds trust, drives traffic and attracts new customers and leads to the business.
Business Environment
SWOT
These are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that an online business might face during their operations. Ideally, the importance of SWOT analysis is to examine the current situation of the business environment (McKeever, 2016).
Strengths
Global market – Global market reach has been one of the biggest advantages of the e-commerce industry since there is less boundary limit. It will enable the company to expand into global levels through which the company will widen the geographic retail markets that may facilitate the development of global retailers.
24/7 Availability-E-business has reduced the time constraints since the website is accessible at any time thus reducing the constraints of time. Online transactions can be carried on at any time with which it is time-saving through reducing the physical movement for the customers (Narang and Arora, 2016).
Ease of communication-The customers can be able to communicate with the retailers easily and give their reviews and opinions on what they find should be improved. With this, the business is able to improve its services through the fast exchange of information with the consumers.
Fast purchasing procedures -Buying in E-business has been made easier since it’s just a click away from the retailer. There is no need for the physical movement to access the products. Relatively, there are no hunting right items at the correct price is done by the consumer thus making the buying process more efficient.
Weaknesses
Security-One of the biggest challenges with the E-business is security. Customers have felt insecure more so on the issue of online payment. This is because the financial and personal details for the trading purpose have been misused by hackers for their personal interest.
High shipping Costs-Long delivery timing has led to increased shipping costs for products to reach their customer. The fact that the task of shipping is highly outsourced thus caring less about the timing of the retailer poses a great challenge to the business. This is because they offer services as per their preference and convenience.
Absence of direct interaction with the customer– Lack of personal contact with the consumer has caused difficulties in customer interaction. For instance, products that require a personal touch to examine the physical condition of the product before selection are not appropriate for the E-business.
Opportunities
The global expansion-The fact that internet usage is increasing the current world, there is a great opportunity for the E-commerce business that demands to capture more customers and expand globally. This is because the internet has enabled better access and opportunity for more customers to view the products online. Relatively, the internet has enabled marketing thus creating more awareness to customers about the products.
Changing trends-In the current business market, consumers have become very brand conscious. Most pay attention to n buying a brand that will appeal to them and satisfy their customer needs. The fact that E-business is fast and has efficient financial businesses that can be done globally, publics feel more contented to purchase products online rather than brick and mortar business.
Reaching mobile users- Increased number of mobile users has improved the number of customers for the online business. This is because the customers are able to access the websites thus feeling more comfortable to purchase online. Relatively, E-commerce can be operating via mobile from anywhere and at any time with less interruption.
High availability- The fact that the E-commerce business is a click of the mouse business transaction, customers who are busy in day time have a chance to shop at their suitable time even in the late-night times.
Threats
Heavy competition by the large players– Both local and global competition have posed great challenges in the operation of E-business. Competition is on the rise each day due to the fact that there is an increased online business and the fact that big firms have entered the business. This has made it difficult to beat big companies since they attract customers with their costs at the firms.
Privacy concerns– Most frauds have misused private information thus creating a burden for the E-business. This is because their customers tend to pay more attention to privacy of their details submitted to the business.
Competitor analysis
The direct competition in the online women clothing business has increasingly become a critical issue. There is high competition from big players such as Zara, Hermes, Ralph Lauren. The growth in the apparel and clothing industry has been greatly influenced by such companies with better resources thus gaining a competitive edge in the market. On the other hand, there are indirect competitors which are a small sized online business that has also caused vast competition in the business (Jones and Kim, 2010). As the competitors are chasing after opportunities where they are able to find a competitive advantage, Best collections should be able to improve their marketing tactics and strategies on a regular basis since competition can leave the business behind due to increased competition within the business.
Market trends
In the past 15 years, it is evident the women’s wear has become a billion-dollar place within the clothing and apparel business. Considerably, the attractiveness of the internet has contributed to launching an amount of Ecommerce stores for women’s wear (Laudon and Traver, 2010). The key to gain more customers for women clothing online business has been marketing to the target consumers in the old-style advertising channel for fashion such as the Fitness journals and magazines for women. The nature of the women clothing business is that consumer preference tends to change over time (Jones, Comfort, Bown & Hillier, 2010). So, with the fact that there are increasing trends and changing needs for the customer, the women clothing business needs to focus on developing of new and innovative designs as well as fashion trends to fulfill the demands and needs of the consumer. Women’s ware competitive advantage for a business comes from having a world-class supply chain with the ability of re-engineering and management of the clothing supply chain (Jansen, 2017). The supply chain for women’s clothing business requires a strategy of flexibility and speedy in order to shorten the life cycle to a point which services and quality of products are efficient.
Business Model: Strategy and Implementation
Startup capital
To create a website, the business will buy one which averages around $200 one-time fee with a monthly platform subscription of about $100 per month. The business will require $2000 in inventory since there is a need for a minimum number of items to have a legitimate looking site where people will gain trust. Another $300 will be required for the store supplies that will be essential for shipping. The total amount of capital required for the business is $2600 for the startup.
Target market
The target market for the business is professional women at the age of 30-35 with a household income of over $100,000 and college educated. Their psychographic needs include; looking for negotiations and cyclical fashion but will to pay for quality and essential items. They spend time accepting what clothing is right for them. They also want to look finest since they want to feel decent about themselves in the workplace.
Competitive edge
The competitive edge of the business will emphasis on the development more than the manufactured goods to increase quality (Storey and Greene, 2010). The website can be considered as platform for the entire marketing drive to lead customer attention in the product. Building on the road to the website will boost the attractiveness and quality of the products (Patel, Goyal and Agarwal, 2018). For instance, the website will have a new size measurement feature that is interesting to use thus increasing customer satisfaction on how well the clothing will fit. This will reduce their confusion and as well increase their confidence in the products.
Joint venture
Best collection plans to have a joint venture with Magic Granger which will be in control of the apparel design group. Magic Woman apparel which is a senior designer will boost the competitive advantage for the business. The main aim of the joint venture is to produce quality design team which will facilitate product efficiency and meet the planned demand and needs for the customer.
Marketing strategy
The marketing strategy for Best collections is one of the most efficient and simplest ways to market in fashion and apparel industry. This is marketing in ladies’ fitness magazines such as strive and Shape, Best collections will familiarize buyers into the business’ website and products.
Pricing approach
The pricing tactic for Best collection is to offer most of the products to the customer at a cheap price for clothing. This benefit will have a positive impact on sales and profitability since the markup cost will not be passed to the consumer. This will also captivate the original cost of giving discounts to the consumer for the first three operational months.
Personnel plan
The personnel will be paid competitively and be offered in-depth training to on online store management. The in-depth training will include education on the products and services being provided, designers, systems and procedures that will follow for the operations. There will also be an employee’s manual that will enhance their training and great customer service.
Operational Issues and Risk Factors
Online security is one of the greatest operational challenges. This is because there is a whole range of security threats that one needs to be aware of such as phishing attacks, malware, spam mail and hacking (Chaffey, 2015). System reliability contributes to operational issues since the Internet service provider may cash and the online payment system may have errors (Coviello, 2010). Privacy issues on the customer data and personal detail can lead to mistrust if once compromised and used for identity theft or spamming. Credit card fraud has increasingly led to issues on the stolen credit card being used to purchase items. These are some of the risks that the business might face by operating online.
Feasibility
Women online clothing business has enabled a number of brands to sell their products faster as compared to the physical stores. With a good financial plan, marketing strategy, web plan, management plan and a good understanding of the market trends and analysis, Best collections will be able to capture the consumer segment guaranteeing a constant consumer group for the business.
Recommendations
While starting an online business, it is important to follow a sequence of step that is essential for the success of the business. These include finding and filling the need for it, strategy and implantation planning, designing and building an easy website, relying on the search engine to increase traffic on your website, following up with customers and creating awareness of the business through marketing.
