FM 323 E-Commerce Merchandising

Value Proposition

Denim company that is a worldwide leader has built its story on clothing but also on brand image. Diesel was one of the first clothing companies on the Internet, and they have been evolving its website ever since. Diesel’s identity is greatly communicated with the consumer through its e-commerce. Diesel differentiates its brand by telling a consistent story of a desired youthful, care-free, and risk taking lifestyle. They take pride in producing unusual yet chic men's and women's casual wear while being environmentally sustainable. They have a well known brand personality that is courageous, creative, and provocative and customers make a statement when wearing Diesel brand.

Marketing Campaign

This marketing campaign will focus on Diesel’s dresses. They have some really great styles but most of their ads depict their jeans and tops. Ad will be placed on their home page and it will be linked directly with their social media websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, and Flickr. On social media websites underneath the links assortments and products will be shown that customers can purchase. Theme of the campaign will illustrate humor and creativeness of unique Diesel brand and will target and relate to the lovers of Diesel lifestyle philosophy. The campaign will debut before the summer months. It will be in collaboration with celebrity Pink and it will depict her on a video shoot wearing the dress while getting ready to do a dangerous scene without a stunt. Message of the campaign will be to make consumers aware that all of Diesel’s merchandise is of high quality and durable just like their popular jeans, while being pretty and fashionable. 

SWOT Analysis of the Six Variables

Digitalization

Strength – Website has high speed of loading content including visuals, audio, and graphics

Weaknesses – not a lot of videos of products

Opportunities – could do things like try it virtually, so their customer would be more willing to purchase

Threats – competitor companies offer more videos of the product 

Accessibility 

Strength – a customer can easily find all the information needed about the product when you click on it and about the company in the “about us” tab. The tab is at the top of the page, so customers can easily find it. Social media options at the top of the screen.

Weaknesses – difficult to access their customer service, except for calling them

Opportunities – do the live chat with customer service

Threats – Major competitors already have live chat with customer service

Addressability

Strength-Diesel website saves the information of registered users so customers don’t have to spend time every time putting in their log in information

Weakness-For unregistered users there will no browsing or purchasing history saved

Opportunities-By saving previous browsing history and have it recommend to customer next time when they visit the website it can drive more traffic and sales because of personalization

Threats-Personal information could be stolen and misused

Interactivity

Strength-Content is presented in an attractive way and makes consumers want to explore every aspect of the website. Option to call customer service and to share products through customer’s social media

Weakness-Customers can’t do a live chat with customer service if they have a question about product and want an instant answer

Opportunities-By providing better customer service consumer will have more confidence when shopping and sales could increase

Threats-Competitors are already providing live chats with consumer

Control

Strength-Website has easy navigation and provides links throughout the site for their social media

Weakness-There is no “search option” on the main page, only when directed to the e-shop

Opportunities-It is important for the brand to have their customers aware of their campaigns and lifestyle so it would be easier for customers to have an option to search faster their campaigns

Threats-All major competitors have an easy to locate search option on the main page

Memory

Strength - Keeps track of recently viewed items and provides suggestions based on pages customer has visited. Website memorizes abandoned cart even after coming back in few days.

Weaknesses – doesn’t suggest items in all categories, suggests items only within one category

Opportunities - a chance to make customers to look within all categories, not just one

Threats – customers might be overwhelmed by suggested items and go to a different website

Supply Chain

Supply chain management for their online store includes a warehouse they ship from.. They also explain everything about their policy in the return section. Diesel utilizes supply from Supplier to Company to Consumer chain. When observing JIT I haven’t found any styles that were out of stock, however I did notice some of the sizes were sold out within a product category. Biggest portion of the brand awareness comes from their bold and unique advertisement campaigns. Recently social media started to play an important role in making sure the customer options to utilize their Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, and Flickr account. Customer behavior and attitude has always been strong for the Diesel customer. It is part of their brand for their consumers to wear their clothes and act accoding to their philosophy which many consumers do. Diesel’s CRM shows strong relationship with their customer. They send regular emails regarding the promotions and latest campaigns on their website or in stores.  Diesel’s segmenting the market strategy includes targeting of the fun, courageous and optimistic young females and males who love bold colors and are not afraid to express themselves.

Aesthetics

Overall website has a strong presentation of the distinct Diesel lifestyle, it relates to who they are by having visuals that stay true to the brand. When first logged on it has an editorial feel, images are really large and clear. Everything on a site is really interactive it is not just a plain picture of a product. The main information listed on the home page is a reflection of the trends, and latest campaigns. It is very clean and professional while being highly interactive and amusing. Bold, inspirational colors, engaging videos, and impressing images all make the website highly competitive in the e-commerce fashion industry.  

Besides the great presentation of its latest collections, website’s main page shows visuals that clearly target its customers to build their own personality through Diesel lifestyle philosophy. Invitation to explore women’s denim is called “fit your attitude” while men’s collection is named a “5 pocket DNA”, both standing out in bold colors that change interactively. Visuals and links of their latest campaigns such as “Days to Live” where customers are invited to calculate how many days to live they have left, options to engage in their “Talent Support” and “Only the Brave” foundations, all tell the same story of Diesel being more than just a clothing brand that and their customers feel that as if they were shopping in brick-and-mortar.

Positioning of E-Commerce vs. Brick and Mortar

Customers that love Diesel take great pride in wearing its clothes because they feel like they are making a lifestyle statement, and its e-commerce has been successful in making sure they have the same feeling when navigating through Diesel.com as they have while being in the stores. In the brick and mortar there is a great customer service. Sales associate are all dressed in typical Diesel outfits with usually eccentric hair styles and tattoos where you can conclude they are true representatives of the Diesel lifestyle. The advantage of the stores is that a customer would get a great shopping experience and he/she could try on the product right away but the customers who prefer online shopping usually get better deals. Positioning for the website and stores includes the same target market and consists of same competitors. Competitors are offering only merchandise assortments but Diesel focuses on presenting its product in a creative and user friendly manner while making sure their customers are aware of the brand’s image.