The State of the Apparel Industry

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for the general delivery chain:

Figure 1. Ordering process

3. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

The competitive analysis section describes the nature of the industry of baby clothing and further analyzes the competitive advantage of Aravore and also its major competitors

3.1 The State of the Apparel Industry

As already mentioned before, the company, Aravore USA will operate online. This guarantees a wide customer range, but also means competition with other similar stores, which are already online. We think that three of our major competitors are Kate Quinn Organics (www.katequinnorganics.com), Baby Bunz (www.babybunz.com), and Heavenly Organic ( www.heavenlyorganic.com).

Comparing the three businesses, all of them focus on selling organic cotton clothes for babies.

Although there are some key differentiators, some of them with more variety of colors, wider target of recipients, and diverseness of products offered; all of them propose similar measurements of quality. Some of them introduce exclusive offers, attracting customers through free shipping with a minimum amount of money on shopping. There are some divergences in return policies, and in shipping conditions. Below is a brief comparison of their prices in similar products offered, and some conditions about the shipping and policies

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Kate Quinn - Katequinn.com (1): manufactures its products with 100% organically produced cotton certified by Control Union Certification, and also Fair Trade certified. Among their product ranges are baby clothes, baby accessory, baby bedding, bath, and they are proposing new product line to be out soon.

Baby Bunz & Co. - Babybunz.com (2): They are also involved in producing organically made products. A special collection of their offering include natural baby basic, offers clothes diaper, and additional organic cotton soft-wears and toys, and a selection of diapering products.

Heavenly Organic - Heavenlyorganic.com (3): They carry a selection of 100% organic cloth, diaper covers, accessories, and clothing for babies. Members recognize their responsibility to a healthy environment and donate at least 1% of their annual sales to environmental organizations worldwide.

The comparison table tells that prices range within the average in the three stores, although the differences are not too big. The shipping makes the difference, especially with Heavenly Organic (3), providing various shipping options.

We are aware of that customers will compare us to the three mentioned online stores, but we are confident that our unique product thus the service we provide will fill a niche. Each season reveals a new collection as well as a small selection of numbered limited edition items.

Soft, dreamy colours, simple shapes and extraordinary detailing have become Aravore’s trademark, achieving a luxurious look with a vintage feel that is yet modern and very wearable.

Table 1 below shows the comparative prices among the competitors. The table also gives a comprehensive analysis of the different shipping methods and return policies by these different competitors.

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Kate Quinn Heavenly Organic Baby Bunz&

Co.

100% organic cloth They are involved in producing

Website www.aravore.com www.katequinn.com www.heavenlyorganic.com www.babybunz.com

With an estimated $44.1 billion in 2009, the children’s clothing market has faced challenges since 2006 due largely to the unfolding economic crisis. The downturn has compelled

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families to economize and reduce spending on children’s clothing by limiting replacements, downgrading to less expensive brands, seeking out sales and turning to less expensive retailers. In addition to examining the ways consumers, suppliers and retailers are dealing with the economic crisis, a research on the market has concluded on the following tendencies:

- The growing number of older, single mothers, and how their tastes and spending differ from other moms

- The rapidly-growing Hispanic youth population and how their numbers will serve to sustain the market as it wait out the down economy

- The green movement has shown up in children’s clothing, driving interest in organic clothing and influencing designs and graphics

- Moms turn to retailers for children’s clothing

- Recession drives down demand, compels consumers to change shopping habits - Concern with environment and child safety drives demands for organics - Advertising and marketing emphasize savings and value during downturn - The amount spent on clothing is driven by income and age of children - Choice of retailer varies substantially with mom’s age and income level - Moms enjoy shopping for their kids

- Age appropriate clothing a key concern, especially for moms aged 35+

- Moms are changing their shopping habits to cut down costs

- Hispanics show high demand for children’s clothing and warrant long-term focus - Impact of Race and Hispanic Origin:

- Hispanics spend the most on children’s clothes

- Upper-income blacks invest heavily in children’s clothes and warrant focus

All the above plus the fact that moms represent a $2.1 trillion market and are a multi-faceted group have been taken into consideration in this online business plan. Aravore US has a potential market the United States of America. With a population of 310,232,863 (July 2010 est.) million people, and twenty percent of those are in the ages between 0 and 14 years (CIA, 2008), the target market is immense. Due to the topographic location of the United States of America, the market can be later easily extended to Canada in the North.

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The consumer data survey also reveals interesting information about the population growth rate which stands at 0.97% and a birth rate of 13.83 for 1,000 populations (2010 est.)