I remember when I was little how I loved it when my mom visted Gap. I remember the store being filled with people especially during the Christmas season. Gap was a store that prospered and effectively grabbed the attention of their target market.
However, in the past couple years, I noticed that Gap’s popularity have been declining. The Gap stores nowadays don’t possess that glow anymore where people aspired to associate themselves with the brand. According to an article, Gap is losing customers because they “struggle to position themselves with a clear identity.”
Gap was founded by Don Fisher in 1969 with a simple goal in mind. It was to create a store where people can buy basic clothing conveniently.
However, as the society evolved, Gap’s vision started to lose focus. The group of customers they used to target grew out of Gap and the new generation are more interested in new brands like American Eagle and Hollister.
Recently, in 2009 Gap attempted to regain customer loyalty by creating the sprize program. This may be a good tactic for Gap in the short run to keep the customers coming into the store. However, as a strategy it may not be as affective because the problem still hasn’t been addressed. A revision on their focus and target market would be more effective.
