Lululemon Market Research Essay

Over the last 10 years’ gym memberships within the United States have increased from 41.3 million to 54.1 million. The biggest trend over the last few years is becoming fit, more and more each day people are finding ways to live fit and healthier lifestyles. From eating the right nutritional foods, working out and people just wanting to follow the latest and greatest trends. The increase in gym memberships and the amount of people working out leads to the increase in athletic attire. For this exact reason athleisure wear was born, it is the newest fashion trends were people wear athletic clothing regardless if they intend go to the gym or not that day. People are wearing it to the office, shopping, to run errands and other social events. Athleisure wear consist of articles of clothing such as spandex, leggings, yoga pants, sports bras and fashionable sweats. Over the last 10 years an increase in athleisure wear has spread at a rapid rate globally, particularly in the women’s fashion industry. Since 2013 the increase in athleisure wear apparel has grown by 14% and accounts for 18% of the total clothing retail market. With this trend still catching on, active wear is expected to continue to grow at an average rate of 3.3% annually. Due to this rapid increase in purchasing athleisure wear the apparel industry will continue to grow especially Nike because they are the market leaders in active sportswear. For that exact reason I believe that Nike is a

The athletic apparel industry has shown a large increase in popularity. Global sales of sport clothing have increased from 146.1 billion US dollars in 2007 to 162 billion US dollars in 2012(Global Participative Sport as Consumption). Particularly in the United States, sales of sport apparel have increased by 7% from 2013 to 2014 (Wingus). There has been a large trend in healthy living, as “activewear accounted for $33.7 billion in sales and made up 16 percent of the apparel market” (Wingus). The industry is booming, as sportswear, specifically yoga pants, has transformed into people’s daily apparel. (Refer to Appendix Table 1) Huffington post noted, “people are wearing trendy workout clothes all day, every

To develop the innovative and high-quality products required by their customers, Patagonia succeeded in a third strategic area, specifically quality control. Despite being a huge cost for Patagonia, quality control was necessary to enable them to deliver on the two aforementioned strategic goals. To obtain a high level of quality, Patagonia developed long term relationships with reliable vendors for production of goods and procurement of materials, which resulted in a drastically lower defect rate than competitors

Lululemon is one of the Canada’s best retailers of technical athletic yoga apparel. Lululemon’s yoga inspired apparel is marketed under the two brand names Lululemon Athletica for more mature women and Ivivva Athletica for younger girls. Lululemon primary target customers are educated and hard working women, who understand the importance of healthy and active lifestyle. Majority of these women are Caucasian who are mainly urban and have higher income, since Lululemon is an expensive brand .Most of their products are design to offer fit, performance and comfort while incorporating both style and function. On another hand, American Apparel

The rivalry among existing competitors is strong. It is becoming increasingly harder to develop new and unique products based solely around a small niche activity. There are only so many aspects of yoga that can be explored and that products can be developed to accompany. Although Lululemon was the first, new competitors are seeing the profit to be had in this niche market and are entering with the goal of creating new more creative strategies to compete with Lululemon and take part of their large market share. (Morning Star)

When it comes to a social aspect, Lululemon is becoming an increasing trend: a result of consumer approval. The company does take hits though for its return policy and many people feeling that their staff is not very friendly. The media took blows on the company when there was a murder that took place at one of their stores and the conflict was between two of the employees(Lawrence). They are seen as having sustainable development and being environmentally friendly. They are also conforming to demographic changes and developing lines for men and youth. As for a technological aspect, they are praised for their several forms of social media and keeping customers up to date as well as their up keep of fashion trends(MBASkool).

a few percent, in 2012 the gross profit margin is the highest it has ever been

The company plans to launch stand-alone men's stores by 2016 and expand their business globally. That same day, the company announced plans to quit the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) due to a lack of trading on the Canadian exchange, stating that the expenses associated with having a dual listing were not justifiable(Nichols, 2016). The one remark that sent the media in a frenzy was in response to the public criticism of the sheer yoga pants, Wilson explained, “Quite frankly, some women’s bodies just actually don’t work for it. Even our small sizes would fit an extra-large(Nichols, 2016). It’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there.” This statement triggered massive social outrage that was felt throughout many media platforms(Nichols, 2016). With this media “fire-storm” it was clear that Mr. Wilson needs to be reprimanded in the sense of being taught to speak to the media. Christine Day has stepped down from the CEO position and corporate will need to select another leader.

Through lots of feedback from the guests, ambassadors and elite athletes, Lululemon now designs for yoga, running, cycling, workout and most other sweaty classes for women and men.

Lululemon Inc. has a strong history of making quality fitness clothing for yoga and other athletic purposes by the founder of the company. Dennis “Chip” Wilson in 1998. After becoming “overwhelmed” by the company’s success in Vancouver, Wilson transferred management of the company to trained managers (Nicholes, 2016, p.6). During this time, Corporate CEO Christine Day’s leadership was put into question due to the low level quality of material used to make the Luon Pants, which had a “see-through problem” due to the extreme sheerness of the pant material. More so, in 2013, corporate leadership had a lawsuit brought against the company directors, including Christine Day, of massively raising the

In the United States of America, being fit and active is an important value of the culture. Many employers give out free gym memberships or encourage their employees to take a longer lunch to go be active. According to Business Insurance, many companies in New York have been organizing midday dance parties to give their employees some time to get out from behind their desks and move. Feeling good about the way one looks can be an important part of exercise because it promotes higher self-esteem. There is no longer a need to wait until you get into shape to look good when companies like Lululemon are now producing exercise wear that is fashionable. An industry professional was quoted as saying “Our customers desire clothing that they can work out in and then head out into the world.” If clothing fits well enough, then people are going to want to wear it all the time. Although fashion trends are ever changing, Lululemon is always creating new products to keep up with them. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the retail industry is considered a high growth industry. The retail trade sector is the nation’s largest employer. The growth rate of real output for the retail trade sector of the economy is 4.6% annually. From 2004 to 2014, the real output grew from 1.1 trillion dollars to 1.8 trillion dollars. This can be attributed to new apparel companies always entering the

The industry that Lululemen operates in is the Women`s Apparel industry which is a mature, large and fragmented market that has highly sensitive to the economic conditions and trends.

3. What do you see as the key success factors in the market for performance-based yoga and fitness apparel?

This paper commences by defining the problems that were faced by Lululemon Athletica Inc in 2013. After, the author explores the causes of the issues that the company was experiencing and the effects that they had on Lululemon Athletica Inc. The next step is to look at ways in which the issues could have been addressed both for the short-term and long-term. When all is said and done, the audience will fully appreciate why “Lululemon Athletica Inc should revert to its fundamentals – that is, to concentrate on the needs of the consumer”.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. was incorporated in the month of November 2005, and is a manufacturer and vendor of practical strapping rendering attire for men, women and female adolescence. The objective of the attires is for healthful situations such as running, cycling, general fitness exercise and yoga. In the attires, it comprises aptitude britches, shorts, tops, jackets and other fitness related products like underwear, bags, bras, socks, yoga mats, yoga instruction discs and water bottles. They primarily operate in North America and Australia.