{ Juliana Shi Eun Kim & Mia Romero AMM350 Final Project

Profile Profile  “Express is the must-have sexy, sophisticated fashion brand for work, the weekend, or going out. It’s what’s new and what’s now for young fashion-forward women and men.”  Express’ target customer is between the ages of 20 – 30  Is either single or a young married couple  Express has stores in 47 states and in Puerto Rico so they cater to many different races and ethnicities.  Customer is college educated and a young professional  Target customer is fashion forward, and interested in finding unique clothing.  Express Women’s products range $9.99 – 248. and Men’s products range from $9.99 – 298. They have something for level of disposable income.  The personality characteristics of the Express customer are a young, energetic, extroverted individual who seeks to stand out in a crowd. Express dresses their customer for every lifestyle, looks for the office, nightlife and workout clothes.

  The opportunity that we see for Express is to make a collection of casual skirts.   Express already carries a variety of jeans in different cuts for women to wear during the day, and they also offer a line of casual pants, but no casual skirts.   By expanding into this category Express could increase sales for the company and could potentially gain more customers.   If Express branches out into casual skirts they can truly dress their target customers for every occasion. Opportunity

Product Mix

Key Silhouettes

Color Swatches

Fabric Swatches

Floor Set

 Our merchandising strategy will help increase sales because by providing casual skirts for the customers, Express will gain more customers, expand their target market, and attract more customers to the store.  Also, they could compete better with their competition.  But adding casual skirts in the collection, now Express could compete with J. Crew and GAP.  The new merchandise mix will increase profitability for the company because we are offering something that is Express didn’t have before.  Also by adding casual skirts to their collection, Express could be a one-stop shopping place and have the ability to dress their customers for every occasion. Merchandising Strategy Advantages

Assortment Plan Store Name: Express Merchandise Category: Women’s Skirts Mfr/BandStylePrice Points # of ColorsSize Range# of Units/Style EXPRESSDraped Skirt w/ a Cascade Warp$79.901XS-XL2:4:4:2:2 EXPRESSPaper Bag Skirt$49.901XS-XL4:6:6:4:2 EXPRESSAdded Flare Skirt$49.901XS-XL4:6:6:4:2 EXPRESSGathered Waistline Skirt$79.901XS-XL2:4:4:2:2 EXPRESSGore Flared Skirt$59.901XS-XL2:4:4:2:2

Size Distribution SizesXSSMLXLTotal Qty %28% 16%12%100% For size distribution, we decide to carry more small and medium because Express carries more small and medium than other sizes.

 Competitive retailer for Express would be Guess, Limited Brands and Banana Republic.  They all have similar assortment, target market and price range as Express. Express carries skirts that are for office and night life.  Guess would be competitive retailer for Express because they carry skirts that are for everyday life style to night life. Since both Guess and Express target customer are young women, Express should be aware of what Guess is offering to their customers and develop competitive advantage.  Limited Brands will be another competitive retailer for Express. Express should be aware of office looks that Limited Brands offer.  Banana Republic is also anther competitive retail for Express. They carry more casual and office looks style than night life style. Their look is more simple and classic but they are still competitor to Express because they both carry professional apparel for women. Competitive Retailer

 Express is a women and men’s fashion brand that carries sexy and sophisticated clothes for work, the weekend and nightlife.  Express carries: women and men’s clothing, handbags, jewelry, accessories, fragrance and beauty products.  Express has unique merchandise because they are innovators.  By adding casual skirts to their collection, it would be a good opportunity for the company.  By providing the casual skirts, Express will truly be a lifestyle brand and be able to dress their customer for every occasion.  By working on this assignment, we learned a lot about the company and also were able to identify an opportunity for the retailer.  Also, trend research report helped us to determine the appropriate merchandise mix for the store.  The knowledge gained from this class was also a helpful tool to finish this assignment. Summary