Apparel Industry and Competitive StrategiesIntroductionThe United States apparel industry is a large but highly competitive industry. The potential for businesses to generate millions of dollars in profits is very high. However, it is also a very difficult environment to survive. Express Inc, Gap Inc and Guess? Inc. are three of the American clothing companies that experience an extremely competitive environment. Every company has its own competitive strategy to fight in the market. With Express, the company is trying to differentiate its products by creating a unique, formal, luxurious and sexy image in their mind. Gap, on the other hand, strives to provide its customers with a wide variety of products and prices. Guess tries to follow fashion trends by investing to attract its customers. Whatever the strategies, the most important thing is to archive huge market shares and generate profits. This document will provide context, analyze market status, strategies and give recommendations for each of the three companies above. General Market Conditions Threat of New Entrant: The apparel industry has a very high threat of new entry. Since the American population includes many different cultures, races, and regions, fashion tastes can vary greatly from person to person. Additionally, the United States is an open-minded country, so new clothing styles will be more likely to be accepted in the United States than in other countries. The United States is also the world's largest clothing market, with sales of $338 billion in 2012, so companies have great opportunities to make big profits. There is therefore a strong chance that new or foreign companies will compete with traditional companies. Buyer Power: Individually, a retail customer has very low bargaining power. However, one group's view ...... middle of paper ...... changes the trend, but it only represents about 17% of the company's profit. The two other brands, Old Navy and Gap, generally offer customers somewhat basic clothing of all kinds (hooded jacket, pants, T-shirt, shirt, etc.). These basic traditional clothing styles last a very long time in the fashion vision of traditional customers. However, they are nothing special in terms of cuts and designs. Thus, the two brands only attract an old-fashioned clientele who does not care about their clothes. These customers will rarely buy clothes compared to people who dress fashionably. They are also very price sensitive and might switch clothing brands for cheaper prices. Additionally, basic styles can be easily imitated by competitors. Therefore, if Gap Inc does not add specialty in the styles of its clothing, competitors will take advantage of this to take some of the market share..