Annabelle Chen's Blog

Judith Richardson and Charles Le Pierrès, owners of Montreal-based clothing company- Judith & Charles, seem to know how to enter a competitive market and be successful in it. Instead of manufacturing their clothing oversea like most other clothing stores, it chooses to parter with local factories and have their products made in Canada.

Why would the couple choose to spend more money on production when they can have their apparels made-in-China and earn more profit? Are they making the right choice? I believe they are.

“Judith & Charles” has most of their clothes made locally in Canada. To customers, this adds a special value to the clothing since nowadays, what is not made-in-China? The company supports the Canadian economy preventing money to flow outside the country and furthermore, with products made locally, it creates a smaller carbon-footprint.

Benefits of the “made-in-Canada” strategy extends beyond creating a special value proposition for the corporation. Manufacturing locally also enables the company to have fast low volume productions.

I believe that “Judith & Charles” definitely has the potential to expand in the fashion industry.

Reference:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/made-in-canada-strategy-suits-high-fashion-duo/article14887362/

When you walk on the street, you will often find that many people you walked by are on their phones or tablets, social-networking, e-mailing, or simply just browsing the web. It is the technology generation and everything people do seem to evolve around technology and internet.

Walmart sees this as an opportunity for it to expand its market. The company is well-known for its low cost deals, which is considered a threat to many retail corporations, and plans on using this advantage to win over the online market.

I believe that Walmart’s decision on entering the online market will help the company to earn profits. The competition for online grocery-shopping is low (since many corporations that tried entering the online grocery market, failed to keep  the food fresh and deliver the products to customers on time) and it will be able to provide an alternative choice for those potential customers who does not have an easy access to the Walmart Warehouses. Currently, The company is testing out same day deliveries. Hopefully, soon, not only will they be able to sell nonperishable goods, they will also be able to sell fresh and frozen products online.

Reference:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/wal-marts-online-food-foray-opens-new-front-in-grocery-battle/article14854841/

From the Comm 101 class, I have learned the importance of branding. If a company knows how to package its brand, it is more likely for the business to succeed. I thought reading this article might help me understand branding a little better and demonstrate to me why is it so important.

Branding is a crucial to a new business: the first impression a brand gives to the consumers is very important. Although many companies recognize the importance of branding, they often fail to take the appropriate actions. Many companies believe that they are capable of creating a brand image that will be strong and powerful enough for the consumers. However, oftentimes it does not work out.

The article shows that only a small portion of business owners actually consult with a branding specialist.

With so many small businesses around Vancouver, the market is very competitive. To be successful, business owners should consider consulting a branding expert and take actions in developing a better branding strategy rather than trying to come up with one on their own. A good branding strategy can distinguish a brand from another and should help consumers to better understand the company.

While reading through business blogs on Maclean’s, the article “How Netflix Knows Who Wants to Watch What” caught my eye. Right away, I was reminded of the topic covered in class 17- IT and Information System.

In class 17, we discussed ways IT may help a company to earn more profit. For example, online surveys. Before reading the article, I thought about how surveys might have helped Netflix to figure out the market preference. However, it was not what Netflix did. Moreover, what I found interesting was that, Netflix actually used its competitor as a way to boost its business.

Netflix looks at the ranking of the movies and TV shows on free video-streaming sites and use it as a reference for figuring out what is popular right now and the possible films the company should consider getting. The point of difference for Netflix to the free file-sharing sites would be the stable connection and the clarity of the film.

Netflix’s distinct way of incorporating IT in its business and the result of that is rewarding and is reflected through its successful launch in Netherlands in September.

Valendina de Bonis’s blog post on Whole Foods Market interested me, as I have many friends that have recommened the store to me but I haven’t had the chance to visit the store.

After reading Valendina’s blog post and doing some research on Whole Foods Market, I see that although this grocery store offers groceries at a higher price end, but the high cost can be reflected in the higher quality merchandise and there is definitely a growing market for this company.

In recent years, living a healthy life has became a more popular trend and people are always looking for ways to improve their lifestyles whether if its by following a healthy diet or purchasing environmentally-friendly products. The demand for a higher quality lifestyle is becoming rather price inelastic: the price of the products does not significantly alter consumers’ preference on purchasing better products. Since Whole Foods Market values a healthy life style and promotes organic diets and the sustainability of the environment, it has become one of the most popular stores people visit. Depending on different people’s values, some may consider the price reasonable for the products but some may just choose to walk away.

I agree with Emily Chang’s opinion that making contents will benefit Netflix more than to buy contents.

Downloading media files illegally online has become a more common activity. Furthermore, the quality of the non-authorized contents are becoming more compatible with the originals files, leading to a signifiant decrease in demand in the sales market for CD’s and videos.

Netflix charges a monthly fee of $7.99, and although users may watch however many videos they would like, one side of the market believes that paying $7.99 is pointless considering that many videos are available online for free streaming.

If Netflix was to create their own content, it would help them to capture a broader market. With Netflix’s self-made contents, consumers may choose to pay $7.99 each month to watch  movies or TV shows that are only exclusive to Netflix. The restrictive access to the Netflix-made contents not only helps to keep the pre-existing customers interested, it also attracts consumers that do not want to pay for the movies and TV shows that areaccessible online for free. The contents created by Netflix is Netflix’s point of difference with other video-streaming websites.