Between a Rock and a Hard Place

A June 2017 report for Canadianbased IBISWorld published a market research report on

children's and Infant's clothing market in Canada. The results were less than rosy. Overall, the

industry was riddled with poor sales due to competition from alternative retailers. In such a

climate, the report concluded, "many industry players have exited the industry."

During the same summer as the IBIS report, two retailers, both targeting girls in the youth and

tween market either closed down or significantly curtailed their offerings. On June 2, 2017,

Lululemon announced that its subsidiary Ivviva, which sold girls yoga and athletic wear, would

close most stores and move almost all products online. On August 9, 2017, the Facebook page

for Triple Flip, a Canadian retailer selling activewear to tween girls aged 7 to 13, announced that

the company was closing all of its physical stores and shuttering its website.

Needless to say, the summer of 2017 was not easy on the female tween shopper in Canada.

But, as could be seen from the IBIS report, these developments could not be deemed a

complete shock. The "alternative retailers" seemed to be the culprit, but what did this mean?

Obviously the online options for retailing are well known; for example, Amazon has repeatedly

disrupted retail industries with low prices and convenient delivery. But most companies now

have online options, and as these become easier to use, the digital retail world will continue to

grow.

Interestingly, the other culprit in the "alternative retailers" group was identified as department

stores. This included discounters like Walmart and Winners, but also included a significant

effort by higherend firms like the Hudson's Bay Company to offer good products and prices on

clothing for the young female market. And one feature of both Ivviva and Triple Flip was

expensive products. Ivviva yoga pants, still selling online through Lululemon, can range from

$60 to $80. This can be quite expensive, especially since younger children either outgrow or

wear out clothing in a relatively short amount of time. However, this is still an underserved part

of the market now, especially given the lack of bricksandmortar alternatives for this age group

and their parents.

Tweens cannot be underestimated based on their age. As MKTG 4 states on page 137, tweens

"make up approximately 2.5 million of Canada's total population, have direct spending power

of more than $2 billion and an influence over how their families spend another $20 billion. This

direct and indirect spending is significant, and with the market gap that exists, the gap could be

filled with an offering that meets the needs of the tween market.

Retail expert Neil Saunders noted that "While there is some demand for athletic wear for

younger girls, the level and frequency of that demand is insufficient to support a network of

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expensive stores.'' It is no surprise then that, despite failure of the physical store concept, both

Ivivva and Triple Flip, have continued to have some market presence. Ivivva products are selling

under the Lululemon name on the parent company website. Triple Flip continues to sell

teamwear for a variety of girls' sports and also has placed some products in popup and online

stores of other retailers.

You have been asked to create a new retail concept for a youth female market in activewear, to

fill the market gap left by the diminished activities of Ivivva and Triple Flip. You are tasked with

researching the rise of nonstore retailing documented in both M4M and MKTG 4. You will need

to properly establish a wellcreated and defended target market, and to make sure your new

creative retail concept fits the needs of that market segment.

The resulting retail mix created should provide the necessary groundwork for a revitalized new

offering in this market. You best be "clothing in" on a good idea soon.

question:

Q1. Create a proper market segment for the tween market described in the case. Be sure to

support your segment with at least 2 criteria for successful segmentation.(NOTE- Answer should be without plagiarism)