Lululemon

As women have continued to embrace a variety of fitness and athletic activities, including yoga, we believe other athletic apparel companies are not effectively addressing their unique style, fit and performance needs. We believe we have been able to help address this void in the

The brand discussed in this report is Lululemon Athletica Inc. The brand is an athletic apparel retailer, whose main objective is building a community with a healthy lifestyle. Lululemon’s target market is middle/upper class 30-year-old woman. The brand is positioned as a premium high fashion brand for the athletic community. Some of Lululemon’s main competitors include Nike, Under Armour and Gap.

The Canadian economy today is at an all-time high with higher economic growth and rising GDP Canada is seeing great changes in the economy. The GDP increase by 1.1 percent in just the first 3 months of 2017. Canada is quickly recovering from the decline in oil prices that significantly slowed down the growth of the Canadian GDP. Because oil plays such a major role in the Canadian economy this had a huge tole on the overall GDP of this country. But, as the country approaches an increased GDP the energy sector does not seem to be hindering the GDP any longer. With the price of oil and gas going back up this has significantly increased the GDP of Canada due to the large amount of petroleum that Canada produces.

SWOT stands for STRENGTH, WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS. It is a means of assessing any business or company because it covers these four critical aspects which could lead somebody to decide whether a business is a successful one. SWOT can be used by the manager in order to evaluate the current situation and take any decision to improve the business, it also can be used by potential investors in order to see if the business is thriving.

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

Lululemon Athletica Inc., founded in 1998 in Vancouver by Chip Wilson, is a company which designs and produces high-end yoga and technical athletic clothing. They have operated primarily in North America and Australia; their initial target customer was an educated woman who lives an active and healthy lifestyle. They opened their first store in Kitsilano in BC in November, 2000. The first store was intended to act as a community hub where people could learn and discuss about the physical aspects and mental aspects of a healthy life, in addition to selling yoga clothing.

Lululemon, a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company for women and men was founded by Chip Wilson in Vancouver, Canada in 1998. What began as a design studio by day and a yoga studio by night, became an independent store in November 2000 (Lululemon Athletica, 2017).

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

Another social factor is demographics. As Lululemon products are highly prices, it is important to research the social economic aspects of the neighborhood. Moreover, Lululemon faces high rates of obesity and overweight in America and Australia, hence the importance for well-trained “educators.” As Lululemon incorporated e-commerce in 2009, a technological as well as an external factor is to ensure customer service provides the same level of customer services as the face-to-face interaction in the stores, and to maintain the website up-to date. It is important for Lululemon to maintain a user friendly website that would encourage people from all ages to buy Lululemon’s products.

Lululemon is a large company, making clothing for athletic activities, not only are they in the women’s athletic range, but they have hit the men’s market and youth range as well. A SWOT analysis will be used to break down Lululemons strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the business. Strengths which Lululemon have achieved include multi-faceted and community-based approach strategy, making customers feel part of a community through marketing strategies like there “ambassador program, social media, in-store community boards and grassroots initiatives” (Lululemon, 2016 Annual Report, 2016, p. 3). Touchpoints which have been a part of this multi-channel include Lululemons websites www.lululemon.co.nz and ivivva.com which is based around female youth active ware. With Lululemon having 12,500 full-time employees worldwide (Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU), 2017) with 406 stores (Lululemon, 2016), their large market capital of $8.33 billion (Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU), 2017), shows the total value of Lululemons shares of stock. Lululemon having $581.1 million in net revenue, this is an increase of 13% while their gross profit increased by 17% rising to $297.4 million. (Lululemon Athletica Inc. Announces Second Quarter Fiscal 2017 Results, 2017). This shows a steady increase in profit for Lululemon for 2017 which is a strength for them.

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 tries their best to reduce their carbon footprint. Being in the fashion business this is a hard thing to do, however they really take pride in the way they treat the environment. Caring about the environment is something most of their consumers care about as well. Every year they do a break down of all the energy they use to stay aware of their impact they are making on the earth and try to better it every year. In our operations, product shipments make up the largest part of our footprint 51%, followed by capital goods 18%, electricity and natural gas use 14%, employee commuting 7%, and business travel 4% (Lululemon, 2018). In 2014 they opened a new distribution center in Ohio solely for the fact that they can use more grounds transportation

The Lululemon marketing plan for 2010 includes recommendations and goals for the Lululemon brand, as well as goals for the newly proposed male brand Outer Muscle. Main objectives include:

-Company-operated stores revenue rose 8.5% from a year earlier. -Ecommerce revenue rose 29% from a year earlier. 421 stores and 45 showrooms were established so far. -10 New Stores were opened on 3 different continents.

Economics: * Unemployment nationally 10%Recession started in 2008; unemployment is high in record in Canada now. People