Kevin Wang's Blog

After years of speculation, American casual fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch launches its campaign in Asia by opening its first retail store in Japan. The 11-story shop in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza neighbourhood is just steps away from Uniqlo’s flagship store and Swedish fast fashion brand H&M.

So far, things aren’t looking too bright ahead.

For instance, the staff greets shoppers in English, rather than Japanese. Nevertheless, having associates singing and dancing in the stores is considered wildly impolite for the Japanese culture. Tokyo shoppers do not want to be forced to strike a conversation in a foreign language or be cramped in a small space with all foreign employees. In addition, many of the male staff members have their chests exposed. Sex appeal may be a big part of Abercrombie’s charm in the US, but completely out of boundary with the Japanese norm.

In order for a company to be successful in a foreign country, it must present itself in a way that makes customers comfortable with a keen eye on opportunities and threats. As modern marketing revolves around customer satisfaction, Abercrombie failed to accommodate the Japanese culture from start as they bluntly introduced the All-American culture, hoping customers would accommodate the company. Management also failed to analyse the Japanese economy and consumer loyalty to domestic goods. Despite a strong favor for imported goods, Abercrombie made a grave mistake in charging it s products nearly twice the price that a consumer would pay in the US. Nearly 80% of customers feel strongly against this as they feel discriminated against. Meanwhile,  Abercrombie denim and woven shirts falls a tad short in terms of quality when compared to Japanese brands (Bape, Evisu, Neighborhood, and etc).

Source: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/02/in-tokyo-abercrombie-misses-its-mark.html