marketing mix

Product

The design of our loungewear will be a refined and smart take on what being comfortable looks like. this is so that our customers can wear the clothing either in the house or on the streets while still looking fabulous and put together. each garment will be of high quality considering the sustainable methods used and being hand-made by our valued, in-house workers. the packaging of our products will also be sustainable, using only recycled materials to do so. benefits of buying from our brand include a guilt-free shopping experience, knowing that being cute, comfy, while helping the environment with a sustainable and transparent supply chain is possible.

price

Our products will be priced according to the fabrics used, amount of fabric needed based on preorder sales, labor costs, and production facility costs. Our products will be marked up because sustainable fabrics are more expensive to source, our factory workers will be hand-making every garment, and our workers are being paid above minimum wage. All of these factors affect the price because more effort is being put in to making our limited range than brands that mass produce their items using advanced machinery [see range costing for more details]. Our pricing will be considered high/ premium pricing due to quality of our goods and services. a promotional Discount of 10% will be offered to our customers if they sign up for our emails and they will be able to gain points for every purchase they make. The point system will encourage buyers to continue to buy from us and at a certain amount of points they will be able to get free items. Some points will get the customer a free tote, but if they wish to build up their points, they could get a free item, that has yet to be determined.

Place

our brand will mainly distribute merchandise directly from our website, using eco-friendly courier services, such as Green courier. E-commerce is beneficial to our customers because it’s convenient, they can access information about our brand, and it uses less energy than traditional retail. we will also be available in department stores, like bloomingdales, selfridges, john lewis, and Nordstrom. This will be beneficial to our brand because it gets a larger amount of people purchasing our products, especially if they can compare between other brands and be able to feel our soft, natural fabrics.

promotion

Advertising and marketing will be crucial to the success of our company by having our customer base understand every aspect of this sustainable loungewear idea. using a perfect combination of below-the-line marketing, above-the-line marketing, and especially social media marketing will get the purpose of our brand to wide ranges of people. WHEN OUR CUSTOMERS USE OUR SITE, THEY CAN SIGN UP FOR OUR EMAILS, TO GET AN INITIAL 10% OFF THEIR FIRST PURCHASE, WHICH WILL INCLUDE THE LATEST IN THE SUSTAINABILITY WORLD AND HOW OUR BRAND IS CONSTANTLY INTERACTING WITH the market to evolve into a company that does more good, not less harm. when our customers create an account with us, using their email, they have the option to save their address , which will be used to send our look-books, using only recycled paper of course, which show how to wear our items for a night in or either a day out. the social media age is a thriving trend, that doesn’t show slowing down anytime soon. advertising on platforms, such as instagram, facebook, twitter, and pinterest will be imperative to expanding our brand to younger generations and connecting directly to our consumers through these outlets, as well as through the use of influencer marketing. in addition, we will be creating videos on youtube that show every step of the manufacturing process of the clothing in each line. This is so our brand is completely transparent and our customers can get to know our valued workers.

advertisements on instagram and facebook

After five will be available on social media sites such as instagram, facebook, twitter, pinterest and youtube. Having our brand span many of these sites will increase customer awareness of our brand, our values, updates on our collection drops, as well as our collaborations. As of April 2019, facebook has 2.32 billion users, youtube has 1.9 billion users, instagram has 1.0 billion users, twitter has 330 million users, and pinterest has 250 million users (Statista, 2019). This shows that social media is a great portal to connect our brand to our customers, making Social media marketing a smart way to advertise. collaborations with influencers and bloggers

our example includes fashion blogger, Arielle Charnas, who found and runs the Something Navy brand and instagram account. She is a very influential person on instagram, with 1.2 million followers on her personal account. she collaborates with brands that she truly believes in and her followers really value that. Her instagram and website boast a mix of designer and affordable clothing, which is perfect for our higher-end quality and priced clothing.

people

a customer relationship management (CRM) system helps us keep customer contact details up to date, track every customer interaction, and manage customer accounts (Salesforce.com, n.d.) our brand will be using A CRM system to get a better understanding of our customers. our customer service will be available to reach directly through our website, where our customers can talk to a live helper. Customer service can also be contacted through our social media platforms which will generate a response within five minutes. after our customers end the live chat on our website or finish a conversation through a social media outlet, we offer a quick survey of their customer service experience, to make sure the people we hire are understanding, trustworthy, experienced and most importantly helpful.

photo by emily freund

photo by emily freund

process

Customers can purchase our items through our website www.shopafterfive.weebly.com. They can browse through our womens, mens, kids, or capsule collection sections. If the season collection has not yet dropped, they will have the option to preorder these items, which gives us, as manufacturers, an idea of how much of that item to create. When they click on the item they want they will choose their preferred size (included will be a size guide) and their desired color. Our customers are aware that each item is unique to itself, so the picture shown is one sample of what they will be getting. If our customers have a question, they will be able to live chat with a representative from our customer service line, regarding anything about the purchasing, delivering, or returning process. Once items are added to their cart, they can then purchase directly on our site through the use of a Credit Card, Debit Card, or Through Pay-pal. They will get an email confirmation once order has been placed, shipped, and delivered, making the purchasing of sustainable and cute clothing so easy, that they don’t even have to think twice about buying from After Five.

physical evidence

Our website delivers a clean, simple design where it will be easy to navigate through each item and category. The tabs located at the top of the website offer options to read about the brand, read our blog and the press, and be able to contact our brand through many different outlets. 49

website home page

search or scan QR Code to view an interactive website

available at: www.shopafterfive.weebly.com