Value Proposition

By adopting key trends each season and developing diverse collections complete with accompanying accessories, Topman.com strives to outfit customers head to toe and offers vast amounts of editorial content to inspire and motivate the customer to shop. 

Positioning

Topman is positioned between fast fashion retailers, like Zara and H&M, and traditional private label brands like Express.

In the brick and mortar retail format, Topman is positioned as a forward yet affordable brand that is not as forward as fast fashion retailers like Zara but not as traditional as Express or Brooks Brothers.

In the E-Commerce arena Topman.com is most closely positioned to ASOS, which is slightly less fashion forward and a little lower priced. In this market segment Topman.com must compete with pure apparel e-tailers like Mr. Porter as well as innovative brands like Uni Qlo who recently launched a major e-commerce initiative.

Aesthetics and Content

The website uses black and grey tones to emphasize masculinity, the modern aesthetic of their clothing, and the generally serious attitude of the male shopper. The site uses un-conventional navigation techniques to promote occasion based shopping, such as the “Suits Shop” for formal occasions and business attire, as well as an “Inspire Me” section where the consumer can shop the latest trends and view the collection look books. 

The site appears to offer the same breadth of assortment that can be found in the brick and mortar locations, as well as exclusive product that can only be purchased on the website and “limited edition” product that can only be purchased on the site or at the flagship store in London.

The information given on garments varies but for the most part is lacking. The site is offering free shipping and gift with purchase over $100 leading up to the holidays. They do offer a size guide which is pretty comprehensive, including UK, US, and Euro sizing for all categories from shirting to accessories. 

Topman.com features a plethora of editorial content to enrich the shoppers experience while on the site. Topman Generation is the websites digital magazine that fuses fashion, art, culture, and music to appeal to all aspects of the customers’ lifestyle. You can also see outfit pairings and click through to purchase many of the items, although not everything you see is available to buy.

The “inspire me” tab features great advertorials that compile select items from the site into a cohesive, shop-able look book. You can also read up on the latest trends in menswear and click through to shop garments that fit that trend. 

SWOT Analysis

The main strengths of the website come from its rich, multi-media content. The photography is high quality and the zoom capabilities allow you to get an extremely close view of the product. The layout of the homepage is enticing, and the slideshow effect produces a sense of urgency to click something you see before it fades away.

The site does track recently viewed items however the memory is inconsistent, especially when using the back button on the browser. Also, the content on the site is poorly organized and the drop down menus aren’t concise or easy to navigate.

The site does allow you to filter and control the merchandise you see but could include more options. The site does suggest items while you shop but in a boring and traditional manner. A more innovative approach could include the website suggesting editorial content of outfits that the customer may like based on what they’ve been viewing.

The companies shipping policy, which requires the customer to pay import taxes and duties, could deter customers from ordering online. 

Supply Chain

Topman produces the majority of their own merchandise with some branded merchandise thrown into the mix. All purchases made on the website are delivered from the company’s distribution centers in the UK. This could hurt the online store in the long run as customers will become frustrated with long ship times and having to pay import taxes and duties. The brand recently began distributing to select Nordstrom stores throughout the United States. Because the brand only has three brick and mortar locations the addition of this distribution channel will increase brand awareness significantly in the US market.

Topshop is a global brand with brick and mortar locations throughout the UK and various European countries in addition to the three stores currently operating in the US. The online store ships to a variety of countries, and as the company continues to grow and expand the supply chain must grow and expand as well. Creating distribution centers in countries with brick and mortar locations would be a good first step in optimizing supply chain efficiency.The site could also pull merchandise from the nearest brick and mortar location when an item sells out on the website.

Ethics and Security

Topman.com does utilize behavioral analytics to suggest merchandise and track browsing history. It is stated in the FAQs that the site cannot be used unless cookies are enabled. The following statement is given on the site regarding fraud prevention:

“In assessing your request for goods or services, we may use your information for the purposes of the prevention and detection of fraud. One of the purposes for which we may disclose your address and postcode details is to check against the IMRG Security Alert or any other Credit Reference Agency or Fraud Prevention Scheme, which may keep a record of that information. At all times where we disclose your information it will remain secure. If you believe your details are incorrect you may correct those details by following the procedure set out in our privacy policy.”

Metrics

Topman.com has much fewer unique visitors than its competitors H&M and ASOS. This metric is important in determining the awareness of your brand as well as the market share you hold within the e-commerce arena. To increase traffic, Topman should promote its website more heavily through social media platforms like facebook and twitter and host contests to excite the customer and bring them to the site. Post holiday would be a good time to host such a contest, as this is a time in which traffic on the site is particularly low. By comparing unique visitor data from past years with the data recorded during the contest period you can measure the effectiveness of the promotional strategy. 

Integrated Marketing Campaign

QR codes are fragmented square icons that contain information that can only be revealed once the image is scanned with a QR reader. This technology is being used by a variety of retailers already, including Ralph Lauren and Macys, to add an interactive dimension to the e-commerce experience. To promote the t-shirt category of Topman.com, Topman will produce a capsule collection of t-shirts incorporating the QR code in interesting ways. The collection will only be available online, and flyers will be dispersed in the three major US cities that brick and mortar locations exist; New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas. The flyers will include a QR code that allows the customer to instantly shop the collection through their phone or mobile device. In addition, the garments themselves will each have a unique QR code that once scanned will award shoppers with small gifts, savings, or exclusive content.