Chapter 8

Ralph Lauren is headquarted in New York and not only recently decided to expand in North Carolina creating over 500 new jobs for locals, they are continuing toe expand and flourish globally. Ralph Lauren products can be purchased in over 9000 stores globally including stand alone stores, outlets, as well as stores within stores. They have recently expanded their e-commerce into Europe totaling over 30 different country websites. They have also expanded stores in Asia and Oceania recently. Ralph Lauren has opened many stand alone “Rugby” label stores internationally as well.  Over the past several years Ralph Lauren has been able to successfully sustain stores in cities such as London, Milan, Tokyo, Moscow, and Paris.

Chapter 7

Ralph Lauren uses diversification to appeal to customers of all different levels of income. Customers can purchase higher priced clothing on the website or in the Ralph Lauren stores; there are also outlet stores that carry lower priced, previous season clothing, and even stores such as T.J.Maxx and Marshalls that get overstock for an even lower price for consumers. Ralph Lauren has also extended their brand to accommodate these customers as well. Their brands range from the more expensive Black Label, Blue Label, and Lauren, to Polo and Ralph Lauren Childrenswear, to the less expensive Chaps, American Living and Club Monaco lines. Utilizing this strategy helps them to keep a larger more diverse customer base with different income levels without giving up the prestige of the Ralph Lauren label. 

Chapter 6

There are several threats to Ralph Laurens competitive advantage including competitive interaction, and technological change. There will always be new entrants into the market creating a competitive interaction. Ralph Lauren has increased its technological advancements to keep up with the ever increasing technological world. They have updated their website to allow customers to purchase clothing directly online and are continuing to increase their technological advances. This can define them as a first mover. 

Chapter 5

Ralph Lauren already has solid loyal customer base and therefore chooses to concentrate on growth strategies. They are expanding their markets into Europe as well and introducing new products into current markets. They focus on differentiation over low cost leadership. They are known for their elite status and have loyal customers who will pay more for to wear the Ralph Lauren label. Some examples of drivers for Ralph Laurens differentiation are their premium brand image, their ability to allow customers to customize their product (you can choose the color of your shirt as well as the color of the pony logo on their website when you purchase), unique styling, and convenient access (they are continually increasing the number of Ralph Lauren stand alone stores and outlets stores).

Ralph Lauren- Chapter 4

Ralph Lauren’s opportunities include “extending the brand and specialty retail”.

Polo Ralph Lauren is a globally well known brand known for its status and value. Retail stores are among one of the largest elements of extending the brand. Polo Ralph Lauren is continually debuting new products as well as new extensions of the brand. Polo Ralph Lauren also offers some elite products that are only distributed to stores in limited amounts keeping the demand high. They are not only opening over 50 stores in the United States, but they are expanding their global presence by opening over 20 new stores in Europe over the next five years.

Polo’s largest competitors are Tommy Hilfiger, Jones New York, Liz Claiborne, The Gap, Lacoste, and Express. “Jones New York filed a law suit against the company worth $550 million for a breach of a licensing agreement”.

Polo Ralph Lauren has been able to keep a competitive advantage by continually coming out with new fashions as well as new products such as home décor.

Ralph Lauren has many different suppliers of packaging and fabrics competing to provide their goods for the best price.

Ralph Lauren has many loyal customers and they are willing to pay a slightly higher price knowing they are getting the quality and affluence that the name Ralph Lauren emulates.

There is some threat of substitutes because competitors are making clothing which imitate Ralph Laurens designs as well as bringing out new fashions that Ralph Lauren must compete with.

There will always be new designers, but the threat of new entrants to the level that Ralph Lauren has sustained is low.

References:

Johnston, S., Watkins, T., Wright, C. Business valuation of Ralph Lauren Corporation. Retrieved from http://mmoore.ba.ttu.edu/ValuationReports/PoloRalphLauren.pdf

Ralphlauren.com

Ralph Lauren- Chapter 3

 Ralph Lauren has several internal drivers of strategy and competitive advantage. When conducting a SWOT analysis, their strengths include: brand image, history, and financial strength. Ralph Lauren, as well as Polo, are both highly well known brands. Their high brand loyalty keeps profits afloat during times of recession.

Several distribution centers in Europe have been combined due to their slight growth, in order to raise effectiveness and expansion. The company will use internets sales in the future for growth.

Resources include $671,000 in cash, $841,000 in inventory, $884,000 in property, plant, and equipment, and 997 stores with a total of 269,410 square meters of selling space.  

Weaknesses include global sales which means buying and selling in different currencies can affect cost margins, and the fact that they are dependent on department store sales for 1/3 of overall sales, and this can be low during times of recession.

Return on assets  are 13.09% according to ycharts.com. Ralph Lauren ranks 4 out of 28 in the textile clothing industry.  This shows they are very efficient at using their assets to yield a return.

Ralph Lauren differentiates its products based on image and quality over price.

References:

Johnston, S., Watkins, T., Wright, C. Business valuation of Ralph Lauren Corporation. Retrieved from http://mmoore.ba.ttu.edu/ValuationReports/PoloRalphLauren.pdf.

Ralphlauren.com

Ycharts.com

Ralph Lauren ~ Chapter 2

Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) opened his first store in 1971 and over the years has grown to a global company with presence in thousands of stores worldwide.

Ralph Lauren's mission is to ‘redefine American style, provide quality products, create worlds and invite people to take part in our dreams’.

Ralph Lauren products include: apparel, home, fragrances, and accessories that offer a high quality with classic elegance.

Brand names include: Polo, Polo Sport, Lauren, Polo Jeans, Chaps, American Living, Black Label, and Club Monaco.

Their business model includes wholesale, retail and licensing.

Some essentials of their strategy include: continuing to grow and expand markets, expanding their exclusive specialty retail products, as well as expanding internationally.