In "Four reasons why Gap is closing its shops in the UK”, Beth Timmins (2021) reports on four crucial factors contributing to a closure of many Gap stores in the UK and Ireland, even though the brand has been a popular choice for everyday basic clothing there. The first is lack of adaptability. According to Kate Hardcastle (2021), a consumer and retail expert, the company only sells the same patterns of clothes and the price is not as affordable compared to competitors like Primark. On top of that, Richard Lim (2021) also asserts that Gap’s online shopping platforms have less effectiveness than other competitors. Secondly, the huge discounts provided can also be a problem. “Discounting is a zero-sum game and they trained shoppers to buy on reductions, which was creating a rod for their own back," Natalie Berg (2021) says. Ms Berg also blames the brand for offering enormous discounts, 50%-70%, too often, and thus she thinks it can lead to a decrease in the clothing’s value. Thirdly, there is no unique point. Mr Lim suggests that Gap’s clothing has become too plain and has left uniqueness behind. Diane Wehrle (2021) agrees with that too: “Gap lost out because it was not a new and exciting concept anymore". The last reason is oversupply of unnecessary physical shops. Ms Berg suggests that brick-and-mortar stores should be adapted to provide more value which the online ones cannot provide.
Reference
Timmins, B (2021, July 1). Four reasons why Gap is closing its shops in the UK. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57677156
I never bought any of their products, but when I lived in Sydney some 30 years ago, the Gap had stores in the prestige malls that I used to visit. My memory might have been prejudiced by the information in Best's summary, but I seem to recall frequent signs advertising the sales that she reports as being one of the causes of the company's decline.
ReplyDeleteThe concluding sentence of Best's summary made me think of the many shuttered shops these days on the streets around my home on Silom; I wonder how many of them will also turn out to have been "unnecessary physical shops".