Eric Botton created the Bexley, French footwear institution brand and concept 30 years ago without any knowledge of the industry in Lyon, France. He remains the company's president to this day. But, in December 2017, the brand was acquired by the LBO France group (group that owns the IKKS, The Kooples brands) and a new CEO, Bruno Luppens (former CEO of Lacoste), was just appointed. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The company now has 15 stores, 14 in France and 1 in Belgium, as you can see on the map. More precisely, 3 in Lyon, the city of origin, 7 in Paris, and then 1 in each of the cities of Annecy, Marseille, Aix en Provence and Nice. And the one in Belgium is in Brussels. All stores are non-franchised and are wholly owned by Eric Botton, the president. This fact explains the limited number of shops. The brand in numbers has an annual turnover of 35 million euros with over 250,000 pairs of shoes sold every year. The brand sells a wide range of products such as casual and elegant shoes, shirts, pullovers, belts or accessories and many more as you can see below. The company's unique selling point (USP) is the best value for money in the market. The brand sells products with discounts on each product all year round. For this reason, the products can be purchased individually but also in packs, and the more you buy, the cheaper the product becomes. All products are developed in-house to ensure we meet customer needs and keep prices as low as possible. Although the prices are low, the team sources premium quality raw materials so that every Bexley product is a high-quality item. So, Bexley is actually aimed at men who are looking for luxury footwear at really affordable prices. Over 60 points of sale worldwide (France, Belgium, Morocco, Tunis and Switzerland). Over 65 points of sale worldwide (France, Switzerland, Poland, French Antilles, Morocco, Algeria, Slovakia and Czech Republic). For the moment we can say that the company has two export experiences. First with the point of sale in Belgium and then with the possibility of purchasing the products all over the world via the brand's online shop. Despite the wide range of products, for this marketing strategy we will focus on dress shoes. To choose the four countries I first use the Comtrade website. On this map we can see the countries where France exports the most shoes. With the help of this map, I chose 4 potential target markets: Japan, Germany, Sweden and Morocco. Japan because according to the articles I found they have a real interest in dress shoes. JM Weston, a well-known brand, is established there and the Japanese come to France to learn more about dress shoes and the production of these products. As a result, competition in Japan is tough; they already have a large number of stores. Even though there is a huge cultural difference, the country is safe and people have good purchasing power. Therefore transportation is complicated due to the situation in the country. I choose Germany because the country is very close to France; In terms of transportation, it is very easy to export products. They also have excellent purchasing power and it is a safe country. There is no real difficulty regarding the language as they speak English and the culture is not very different. But, as we can see in Appendix 1, dress shoes represent only 20% of the German footwear market. Sweden because it has a very high purchasing power; they speak English very well (appendix 2) and the country is very safe. But the price of labor is high compared to other countries and the culture is different from thatwinter where people wear dress shoes only for indoors and boots all the time. And Morocco for its location, low labor costs and the fact that Moroccans spend money on elegant shoes and there are also manytourists. For choosing the country I created a graph with criteria, we can use to see which market can be the best. With the help of this graph and all the research I have done, the country I have decided to select is Morocco. Political - Fitch Rating: BBB - Coface Country Risk Rating: A4 (appendix 3) - Transparency International: rank 90/176 Economic - The leather footwear industry is an important component of the consumer goods sector. - Investments made in leather goods sector in In 2010 they amounted to 147 million dirhams, which corresponds to an increase of 30% compared to 2009. 85% of these investments are made in the footwear sector.- Moroccan exports of leather shoes decreased in volume (FAO source) at an average of 4.3% per year while imports grew at a CAGR of 11.6% between 2001 and 2011. - Maritime transport represents over 95% of foreign trade transport. Social: the leather footwear sector is benefiting from the increase in income levels of the population, allowing consumers from different socio-professional categories to spend more on clothing. Technological: fight against counterfeiting (the company may face counterfeiting problems with its products). Legal - Aside from import duties, the leather footwear industry is not subject to any particular standards or regulations. - The judicial language is Arabic but French is often used in business. - Inefficient administration and corruption are, in fact, the two main obstacles to trade immigration (BTI 2016) Environmental - The implementation of the Enhancing Environment Strategy (MANE) and the National Human Development Initiative ( INDH). Labor Price: We can see that the average wage in Morocco is low, so this is an opportunity to have a low-cost workforce. Next, Japan, Germany and Sweden are in approximately the same wage range and the workforce is well paid (appendix 4). Market data: Source: World Bank For the entire period 1960-2016 there is an annual average of 30.78%. Imports of elegant shoes in Morocco in 2012 Competitors: Many local industries produce cheap leather shoes and the sale of elegant shoes occurs through two types of distribution networks: Specialized networks: - Specialized hypermarkets - Branches - Independent retailers Generalist networks - Shops of clothing - Food supermarkets - Distance selling (I did not find relevant and recent data here.) Customers: the purchasing decision of the average Moroccan consumer is very often based on the price charged by the retailer. The local market, with its 32 million inhabitants, therefore presents an important demand for low-cost shoes. Which is great for Bexley offering shoes at a very low price when she bought my package. And there is also a growing demand from a higher class. Target market and positioning: As in France, the brand positioning will be to sell affordable but high quality dress shoes. We will target the Moroccan consumer but also the tourists who are very present in the country and, as in France, men looking for luxury footwear at truly affordable prices. Licensing- Suitable for small businesses without resources- Faster access to market- Licensee may not commit- Lack of enthusiasm from licensee- Risk of opportunism- Licensee may become a future competitor Franchising- Overseas expansionwith minimal investment - Franchisees' profits tied to their efforts - Availability of local franchisees' knowledge - Limited franchising opportunities abroad - Lack of control over franchisees' operations - Cultural issues - Physical proximity joint ventures - Higher rate of return and greater control over operations - Sharing of resources - Access to a distribution network - Contact with local suppliers and government officials - Lack of control - Lack of trust - Conflicts emerging over issues such as strategies, resource allocation, transfer pricing, ownership of critical assets (such as technologies and brand names) Ultimately, I decided that the most adaptable entry mode is franchising. I found an article indicating that Morocco's macroeconomic trends are ideal for developing a franchise. Due to the stable GDP growth rate over the years and the fact that Moroccans are now entering the middle class, brand awareness becomes really important. I also found that 55% of franchises in Morocco are dominated by retail franchises. Additionally, French franchises rank first in the country, while US franchises rank second. These facts prove that it is a good opportunity for Bexley to open a franchise there. A study also shows that the most attractive sectors to open a franchise in this country are restaurants in first position and clothing in second position. Therefore many Moroccan franchisors say there are many obstacles to overcome. Such as the complexity in finding the right local partner, the administrative formalities and the problems of adapting the concepts. Therefore the company must find the right partner to adapt to local cultures while maintaining the brand identity. As a result, branding challenges and obstacles could be: • Product counterfeiting • Finding the right franchise • Adapting to the local culture • Weak brand protection • Franchise fees: a significant part of the investment For the location of the franchise, I decided to locate the retail store in the city of Casablanca due to its high population density and the high purchasing power of the inhabitants. The brand must provide daily support to the franchise, for example by organizing training and coaching meetings, as well as support to ensure the franchise is successful. The company can also convey the company's values ​​so that franchising does not give customers the wrong image and worsen what they think of the product and brand. For a franchisor, one of the challenges is to adapt its concept to the local culture and target audience, without losing the brand identity. I will use mixed marketing with the 4Ps here to see what changes could be made to satisfy Moroccan customers: Price: For pricing, the brand only needs to indicate prices in the local currency, the dirham. The elegant shoes are sold for €139 for one pair and the second pair for €99, so €119 per pair if you buy two. And after the third it's €119 so each pair has the same price. In terms of transportation and delivery of the product, sea transportation is the most appropriate, and as I said before, this transportation accounts for more than 95% of foreign trade transportation in Morocco, this is also easy because Casablanca is located on the coast and it has a port. Therefore, this transportation is expensive. Since it is difficult to find information on prices, I carried out a simulation on the Cma-CMG website for maritime transport from Havre (France) to Casablanca. Advertising: In France, Bexley advertises in men's magazines such as Le Point. These magazines are intended to target business people who are potential customers for the brand. AND.