Still at her desk, Day put down the latest financial report and again shifted her focus to Lululemon’s future. Currently her company was entering Nike and Adidas territory and doing so without any sort of mass advertising or promotions. It was her responsibility to see that her relatively new and expanding company place itself in a position from which it would be capable to hold its own in a market share battle. Day knew that one of the fundamental drivers of demand for her company’s product was Lululemon’s ability to listen to the customer and rapidly provide them with what they had been asking for. Persisting supply chain and inventory issues needed to be solved quickly and efficiently to accommodate positive customer experiences and successful expansion. While enjoying high revenue streams, Day was well aware of her company’s modest size relative to her competitors as well as the detrimental effects a depressed and unstable retail economy could have on her bottom line; she needed to be strategic with her efforts and investments to maximize future expansion efforts.
• Should Lululemon consider further integration of their information systems by sourcing and implementing new supply chain management (SCM) systems? As evidenced from ERP and PLM integration and implementation, associated costs are relatively high and issues may not be fully eliminated. Would the ability to better manage product flow and improve contractor management offset associated system costs? SCM systems, when effectively implemented, have the capacity to increase predictability of sales numbers in addition to size and style preferences, fostering a closely matched supply/demand relationship. However, with such short product lifecycles, would Lululemon realize this potential benefit?
• Should Lululemon look to further invest in and cultivate their E-commerce site? Could the E-commerce site eventually erode or devalue Lululemon’s core, grassroots and healthy lifestyle culture and associated customer demand? Would an E-commerce site detract from in-store sales representing a departure in Lululemon’s store expansion strategy? Is it possible to develop a better understanding of product demand through an E-commerce site and make supply and inventory adjustments accordingly?
• To gain a more comprehensive understanding of customer demand and subsequent supply and inventory requirements should Day consider investing in avenues departing from information technology systems? One possibility Day had previously considered was to open temporary showrooms prior to the opening of a new location. The purpose behind these showrooms would be to launch a variety of products and determine demand of particular styles and sizes as well as traffic and average sales numbers in the area (Strauss, Marina. 2009. “New Mantra pays off for Lululemon”).