Samenvatting

Vero Moda is one of the first brands that launched within the Bestseller retailer. It was launched in 1989 to fulfil a need for good quality and on-trend clothing at affordable prices. Today it is one of Europe's largest clothing brands for fashion-conscious, young women. Vero Moda has more than 1,000 stores in Europe and is represented in 45 countries with more than 7,000 points of sale. In the past year Vero Moda has been facing challenges in some markets. These challenges have resulted in an overall weak growth in turnover in a number of stores. To improve the Vero Moda business it is recommended to expand to the Asian market. Asia is full of business opportunities due to being the world's fastest growing economic region. That, but also the rapidly growing global financial centres, the growing middle class and the large underserved markets make Asia very attractive. Therefore, the research question in this paper was the following: What could be an effective strategy for Vero Moda to enter a specific country in the Asian region for the year 2014? In order to answer the research question, information was gathered in the form of reading books, articles and reports. Field research was also used in the form of an interview. As seen in chapter 1 of this paper, the best country in the Asian region for Vero Moda to enter is Indonesia. Indonesia has a strong economic growth, it was named as a newly industrialized country and it is the world’s fourth-largest population. In addition, the rising per capita incomes and the continuing development of retail infrastructure are key factors behind the growth expected for
Indonesian retail sales. Indonesia is an enormous Islamic country in Southeast Asia with a middle class of 74 million people of whom 35 million are women. Indonesia has a tropical climate and knows two seasons: the dry one and rainy one. Many competitors already expanded to Indonesia and Vero Moda’s main competitor H&M will be
expanding to Indonesia in 2013, as stated in their annual report. This makes the rivalry in
Indonesia slightly intense. In addition, Muslim clothes could become more popular than Western clothes, but that is very unlikely as learned during an interview.
Some recommendations are made before expanding to Indonesia. First of all, Vero Moda’s
customers are fashion-conscious, independent young women with a middle and upper level income that believe that status is very important. Therefore positioning Vero Moda as an A brand is recommended. This can be realised by setting the products’ prices a bit higher than those of What could be an effective strategy for Vero Moda to enter a specific country in the Asian region for the year 2014?
Vero Moda stays affordable, but gains exclusivity and gets more luxurious. This
would result in a competitive advantage over competitors. Secondly, due to geological factors it is suggested to exclude winter products and to offer summer clothes in the dry season and for example raincoats in the rainy season. Thirdly, it is advised to use franchising as an entry strategy. It is less risky; Vero Moda already has huge brand awareness, a successful marketing plan and enough capital. Furthermore, using the same manufacturers as in China, preferably in Xiamen, is recommended. The distance between China and Indonesia is the shortest and the products could easily be transported from the port of Xiamen to Tanjung Priok, the main harbour in Jakarta. It is suggested to transport the products per train to the final destinations. Next to that, it is suggested to open a first store in Yogyakarta as analysed by the number of steps, length of time and cost involved. While getting familiar with the Indonesian market and Indonesian customers, it is strongly recommended that they research the possibilities of opening a store in a shopping mall in Jakarta. In order to create name and brand awareness amongst the Indonesian population, the company could promote Vero Moda through Social Media and billboards. In addition, as seen in chapter 7.5, the number of radio receivers is the highest in Indonesia. An option could be broadcasting commercials during traffic jams. Finally, due to the increasing Internet activities, it is recommended to make the Online Web Shop available for all the countries Vero Moda is represented in to attract more online customers. It is currently only available for the following countries: The Netherlands, Norway, France, Sweden, Ireland, United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.