Conclusion

In conclusion, Hollister is an American based company founded in 2000 by the parent company Abercrombie & Fitch. The idea of the company was to embody California’s laid-back attitude. There focus is in clothing retail with almost 600 locations worldwide. The company provides an array of items both in store and online catering to both male and females, from sandals to cologne/perfume, jeans and hoodies.

The five forces of the company are based on this model of bargaining power of customers, customers make smaller purchases spending an average of $100 in stores and $130 online.  Customers rely on special promotions to truly spend more. Bargaining power of suppliers, the company’s primary supplier is a longtime partner of Abercrombie & Fitch. Crystal International Group Limited provides the parent company with materials. Threats of rivals, Hollister experienced a decline in profits throughout the past decade with a number of external threats.  Hollister could face store closures and liquidations.  Power of substitutes, similar stores provide products of the same style at fairly lower prices such as Aeropostale or H&M. Potential entrants, the company must stay innovative and keep up with customer demand.  In addition, there is a high risk of start-up companies who aim to take over within the industry.

Inventory management software. This is software system for tracking inventory levels, orders, sales and deliveries. (Avoids product overstock and outages) This is a tool for organizing inventory data that before was generally stored in hard-copy form or in spreadsheets. It can also be used in the manufacturing industry to create a work order, bill of materials and other production-related documents. Customer relationship management, this looks at data about current and future customers to help a company understand the customer better in hopes of retaining and building customer relationships.

The social media policy that representatives of Hollister Co. must follow isn't really strict. Just the social media managers alone can communicate for Hollister Co. They do not respond to negative comments via social media but they do interact/reply when a positive comment is made. And one of the biggest improvements that can be made are that these managers should reply to all comments and not the negative. Being engaged online is a way to always be in contact with the customer base and know how they feel.

The company uses a standard POS system that is comprised of a computer, monitor, cash drawer, receipt printer, customer display and a barcode scanner. And they also use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which allows the tagging items that enables customers to automatically and exceptionally distinguish and track stock and resources.

Hollister is in a great place to succeed. Between its parent company and its own business model, the company is able to adapt to changes in the market. Using their own unique designs for marketing always bring customers in with little spending on the marketing side of the business. It has an established and user-friendly computer system for tracking inventory and scheduling employees. Their social media presence is felt, but always can improve. By always adapting and keeping up with current trends, Hollister will be around for a long while.