Question

2) LL Bean Tries to Escape the Mail Order Wilderness - If you were the new CEO - What would you do to affect L.L. Bean's fortunes and return it to one of the Premiere Apparel Company's in the world? Utilize the articles and use as examples

Answer 1

There should be targeting of the other segments and audiences other than the baby boomers and there should be some flexibility in choosing segment. The company should operate the business using different channels and cost reduction. For this reason, web-store and mobile apps may be developed that can attract audience for convenience shopping. There may be assurance of product return, if it is not found suitable. The company should gradually move away from catalogue based retailing (as it increases the cost) to let consumers know the product, feel it and they make a purchase. Rather than sending catalogues in the mail boxes, the company should use internet marketing and send links to the soft copy of catalogue via emails. This will eliminate the cost of hard copies of catalogues and response rate will also be improved. The company may conduct research to know the new trends and preferences of consumers in apparels. Accordingly the company can bring new designs in the apparel range. Sales team may be trained to be more friendly and polite with the consumers. Attractive discounts, offers and loyalty based plans should be offered to the consumers as the company already owns a good database. It also creates a good opportunity for upselling and cross selling.