Value Proposition & Positioning

J.Crew is known for their preppy fashions and their chic styles. They try to be the perfect mix of classic styles and fashion savvy merchandise. Such as their classic cardigan in bold bright colors for spring or a shift dress in playful prints. J.Crew has an all American feel to it and their stores portray a lifestyle brand, which is shown on their E-commerce site. J.Crew's image is effortless without trying too hard. They are known for their quality and construction of their merchandise. 

Target Market:

J.Crew's target market is men and women who are working professionals and are upper middle class individuals. Their customers want the Ralph Lauren Collection look at a lower price point with a more modern fashion forward style. Their customers are very diverse because J.Crew has large target markets around the world. 

J.Crew's Mission:

Customer Behavior: 

Their customer's take advantage of J.Crew's "Very Personal Stylist" benefits. These customers browse and buy very quickly after seeing the product. Customers know item's sell out quickly, which works very well for J.Crew's marketing strategies. 

Perks of J.Crew.com:

-In-store returns

-Wide range of products

-Easy payment options

-Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+, Blogger and mobile site. 

Positioning:

Online:

-Order from your house

-Organized website and easy to use

-Personal stylist option

-New arrivals on front page

-Convenient

In-Store:

-Physical Experience

-Sales associates greet and help you

-No waiting for merchandise to ship

-Visual Presentations and window displays 

-Able to feel fabrics and try on merchandise for fit. 

J.Crew's Competition:

Major competitors to J.Crew.com are sites such as ToryBurch.com and BananaRepublic.gap.com. Although these brands are at different price points, J.Crew being in the middle, they all have very similar websites and even more similar styles. What makes J.Crew different from the competition is that J.Crew isn’t as simple and bland as Banana Republic and they aren’t as over the top with bold detailed prints as Tory Burch. Also Tory Burch tends to be more equestrian, where as J.Crew is more "country club chic"  They are the perfect combination of fashion and classic styles. 

Supply Chain

J.Crew Group Inc. is a multi brand, multi channel, speciality retailer.

An Example of J.Crew's online supply chain:

CRM- J.Crew has very loyal customers and they have a close relationship with them. The Very Personal Stylist is a perfect example.

SCM- J.Crew is rapidly expanding and they have warehouses all over. They offer a flat rate shipping to the USA and Free shipping for orders over $175. International customers enjoy flat rate shipping too. 

JIT- J.Crew.com offers a wider range of styles, quantities of the style and sizes compared to their brick and mortar. Online allows for the product to come direct from the warehouse verses in stores, where extra merchandise would be sitting in the stock room of the store.

SWOT

Characteristics of Operational Aspects of J.Crew 

Addressability:
Strengths- J.Crew sends email blasts to customers who sign up for emails or to those who have an account
Weaknesses- Emails are general and not based on past purchases
Opportunities- J.Crew could show and suggest what customers might like based on previous purchases on the site and in their email blasts.
Threats- Other websites show various products that you would also like, where J.Crew only has a few selected styles. They also suggest the styles too late (during checkout) when customers have made their mind on an item already.

Interactivity: 

Strengths- J.Crew offers The Very Personal Stylist and live chats and customer service available.

Weaknesses- There lacks "fun and exciting" customer interaction. 

Opportunities- They can make the shopping experience more engaging, fun and pleasurable. 

Threats- Competition websites are more fun and make the customer want to stay on the site.

Memory:

Strengths- J.Crew saves items in your cart for multiple days. Also information is stored in the customer's account.

Weaknesses- There is no recently viewed items section, what if customers want to quickly go back to a product with out searching for it from the start.

Opportunities- Make a recently viewed section or tab. They can also send out emails to avoid shopping cart abandonment. 

Threats- Their competition recommends items based on previous items last time they visited the site. 

Control

Strengths- J.Crew has a great search box.

Weaknesses- There is no search by price filter, unless the items are already on sale.

Opportunities- J.Crew should add more filters when searching for products. Currently there is only style and fabric available. 

Threats- Making customers bored with the website because it can be ordinary. J.Crew needs to differentiate their website better.

Accessibility

Strengths- They are reliable company for so long. They list all types of brands and collections. J.Crew also have very flexible customer service hours. They show NYFW show on their blog. Privacy Policy 

Weaknesses- There are no videos to show how fabric moves when viewing each individual product. 

Opportunities- Send out email blasts with new company information or endorsements. Such as Did you know facts about J.Crew.

Threats- There is a slow load time, which makes customers think it isn't secure. 

Digitalization

Strengths- Clear and vivid photos.

Weaknesses- Slow load times and too many clicks to get to the products.

Opportunities- Make page viewing more direct (Make the number of clicks fewer).

Threats- Competitors shows videos of each product. 

Blogs, Advertorials & Trend Info

Blogs
There's a blog called J.Crew Aficionada, which was created by a women who is a fan and a lover of J.Crew. Her blog doesn't have any affiliation with J.Crew Group Inc. at all. She posts about trends, sales, new arrivals, how to wear and pair outfits, reviews of products and reviews of merchandise displays. Most of her photos are taken from the J.Crew website.

Advertorials

I believe that a great spokes person for J.Crew would be American talk show host and TV personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck. She is a down to earth, relatable women in her mid thirties. Some of J.Crew's customers watch "The View" or value her opinions. She is a full time working mother of 3 children, all under the age of 8 years old. She wears J.Crew on and off TV. She attended Boston College and portrays J.Crew's lifestyle image. Her style is conservative, classic, preppy and sophisticated with a modern twist. J.Crew fits her style perfectly.

J.Crew's Blog

J.Crew's Blog is a way for customers to see the lifestyle aspect of the brand through their online site. They also have their online catalog called the Style Guide and the online LookBook. These channels allows customers to learn more about the company. J.Crew is very transparent and shares their tricks of the trade through their bog and also short documentaries, interviews and news clips. Such as CNBC The Man Who Dressed America Video. 

CEO Mickey Drexler with Executive Creative Director Jenna Lyons on the Red Carpet at the Met Galla

Merchandise Assortment: Online VS Brick & Mortar

J.Crew.com has a larger selection of merchandise than a customer would see in the store or in the catalog. J.Crew.com also has online exclusives. They have a wide range of price points anywhere from $60-600 depending on the item. J.Crew Collection has exceptional pieces such as their signature silhouettes that have luscious fabrics with hand applied touches to them.

Spring 2013 Collection

Merchandise Displays and Assortment

Brick & Mortar
-Store appearance is clean, open, sophisticated, bright, unique which gives a "home-like" vibe.
-Assorted by color and size
-Intriguing shopping experience that makes customers want to stay in the store
-In-store props give a themed vibe to the customer

Website
-Blog shows trends and stories; such as their Mother's Day Post which included old photos of shoppers and their Mothers
-Blog helps create the experience consumers would have in-store
-Tries to re-create the in store theme online

Aesthetics

J.Crew's website is quite simple. They have a basic plain white background with pops of pastel colors. These pastel colors are normally "sherbet-like", not bright but not neutral either. The overall website is highly organized and professional, which reflects who their customers are.

J.Crew let's the clothing be the main focus of attention. Nothing is cluttered on the site and it is very clean cut and chic.

The product photos are great. Shoppers are able to see a view of the front, back and side of the product. Also the zoom feature is very vivid and clear. 

                    

Editorial & Descriptive Writing

J.Crew's descriptive writing is professional, but also dramatically creative. Their writing helps customers to connect the product to the brand. Their opening line to describe their Collection Greta Dress in floral taffeta states, "We decided to take one of our most popular sheaths on a stroll through an impressionistic garden...". J.Crew's language is very engaging and they describe products in a very unique way. The blog is similar to the website's language but the blog has more casual editorials, because the blog is meant to be fun, entertaining and read for pleasure.

Blog: http://jcrew.tumblr.com/