The central purpose of writing this Case Study Analyses on The Gap, Inc. is to identify and isolate key issues and their underlying implications and offer practical solutions and plans for implementing those solutions.
This will be done by highlighting the social influences that influence the Gap, Inc. marketing strategy, segmentation strategies with respect to distinct retail markets, and positioning strategies that can be used or changed in a retail setting, as requested in the course assignment (as cited in the course module).
History, Development, and Growth
In 1969, Don Fisher opened the first Gap store in direct response to frustrations he was feeling as an inconvenienced customer. His objective was to provide a classic line of clothing in a wide variety of fits and styles and make the shopping experience easy and convenient for the customer. (www.gapinc.com).
Its unprecedented growth is a direct result of meeting a niche in the clothing market, at a time when The Gap was well positioned to meet the new demands of this "business-casual" trend, introducing other chains to expand its customer base, and aggressive expansion in the global marketplace.
Today, Gap, inc. is recognized as one of the world's largest specialty retailers. It. operates four of the most well known clothing brands on the planet: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Forth & Towne. (www.gapinc.com).
Internal Strengths and Weaknesses
The Gap was bound for success early on because the utility of its product mix (Etzel, Stanton, Walker, 2004) was perfect for a specific market segment. The Gap offered a classic line of khaki pants and cotton button-down shirts (p.200), perfect for the new "business-casual" look, and gained great brand reco ...