Anne Chen

500
500-word Written Assignment

International Advertising & Promotion

9/19/2012

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Brief Company History: What is the UNIQLO brand?
UNIQLO is a Japanese clothing company which describes itself as a modern Japanese company
that inspires the world to dress casual1. Originally established as a division of public Japanese
retail holding company Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., UNIQLOs first store was opened in 1984 in
Hiroshima City. By the October of 2005, the company had 700 stores in Japan and is still
currently positioned as the countrys number one specialty clothing retail brand. That following
month, Fast Retailing allowed UNIQLO to become its own operating entity, named UNIQLO
CO., LTD.2

The UNIQLO Customer: Whos in the UNIQLO market?

UNIQLOs products, which include apparel, underwear, and accessories, are offered to four
categories: women, men, kids, and children. Products are known to be of high quality and
fashionable, as well as basic, casual, and reasonably priced. They thus cater to several
demographical age segments: infants and adolescents, teenagers, and people probably up to 25-
years of age. Both the fashion-focused and the price-sensitive consumer would appreciate
UNIQLOs offerings.

Business Model & Strategies: Whats so unique about UNIQLO?

As a company, UNIQLO functions as designer, manufacturer, and retailer. Its business model
reflects this comprehensive arrangement; the company follows a SPA strategy (Specialty store
retailer of Private label Apparel), which means it controls all stages of the business from
design and production to final sale.3 This setup ultimately provides UNIQLO the power to
oversee all operations, whether it is research and development, sourcing of materials, actual
production and quality control, or inventory management. Also unique to the company is its
dedication to promotional activities in contrast to its Japanese competitors, UNIQLO is quite
marketing-driven, with its marketing department continually churning out new promotional
campaigns every season through a variety of media platforms. The company is also especially
well-known for its winter products, particularly its light-weight, heat-generating clothing
HEATTECH4.
As UNIQLOs operations encompass all of the activities that must be completed in order to
successfully create and sell the latest styles, it can supply its stores in a just-in-time fashion using
the most cost-effective means.
UNIQLO also has many projects that invite designers to design exclusive collections, thus
maintaining the companys commitment to providing its customers with the most current styles.
Famous designers such as Philip Lim and Alice Roy have created pieces for UNIQLOs
Designers Innovation Project, for example. The UT Project features unique, graphically designed
tee-shirts. Other creative undertakings include the UNIQLO Innovation Project, the
downloadable Music-Dance-Clock screensavers available through the Uniqlock Project5 Web
site, and social business endeavor Grameen UNIQLO6.

A Global Company: Where are UNIQLOs stores?

Since becoming its own operating company, UNIQLO CO. LTD. has entered into markets in the
United States, the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, France, Malaysia, Russia,
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the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. As of the end of October 2005, the company
had 8 stores in the UK; 9 in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hangzhou; 3 in South Koreas Lotte
department stores and marts; and one in Hong Kong, with more stores being planned to be built
in that country.7 Unfortunately, e-tailing is only offered to customers located in Japan, China,
Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

UNIQLOs Competitive Situation: Who are UNIQLOs competitors?

In the United States, UNIQLO faces competition from GAP, American Apparel, and global, fast-
fashion retailers such as H&M, Zara, and Top Shop. Many of these brands and retailers also have
a substantial presence Japan. Other direct competitors include Hong Kongs casual apparel
retailer GIORDANA, Malaysian casual apparel retailers PADINI and F.O.S. (Factory Outlet
Store).

UNIQLOs Future: Where are the growth opportunities for the company?
As it only became its own operating company in 2005, UNIQLO still has many opportunities to
continue promoting its name in countries where it recently opened up stores. Also, because of its
focus on winter products, UNIQLO should consider focusing new ventures to colder countries,
such as Canada. It should also work to strengthen its spring and summer lines. This will enable
UNIQLO to not only enhance its overall brand image, but will also assure the year-round loyalty
of its customers. Subsequent promotional campaigns should thus emphasize the companys
introduction of products suitable for the warmer seasons.

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 Appendix

Source: http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ir/library/pdf/ar2011_en_08_n.pdf

Source: http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ir/library/pdf/ar2011_en_11_n.pdf
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Source: http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ir/library/pdf/ar2011_en_11_n.pdf

Source: http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ir/library/pdf/ar2011_en_11_n.pdf

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 Works Cited

1. UNIQLO Business. Fast Retailing Inc., Ltd. 4, Sept. 2012. Web. 17, Sept. 2012.
<http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/strategy/>

2. Company: Brand History. Uniqlo Co., Ltd. 2012. Web. 17, Sept. 2012.
<http://uniqlo.archive.tha.jp/us/company/index.html>

3. UNIQLO Business Model. UNIQLO Business. 6, July. 2012. Web. 17, Sept. 2012.
<http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/strategy/uniqlobusiness.html>

4. UNIQLO Lab Heattech. Uniqlo Co., Ltd. 2012. Web. 17, Sept. 2012.
<http://www.uniqlo.com/lab/heattech/us/>

5. UNIQLOCK. Uniqlo Co., Ltd. 2012. Web. 17, Sept. 2012.

<http://www.uniqlo.jp/uniqlock/season1/>

6. Gramreen UNIQLO. Uniqlo Co., Ltd. with Grameen Healthcare Trust. 2012. Web. 17, Sept.
2012. <http://www.grameenuniqlo.com/en/>

7. Company: Corporate Information. Uniqlo Co., Ltd. 2012. Web. 17, Sept. 2012.
<http://uniqlo.archive.tha.jp/us/company/index.html>