Puma" suede shoes with a focus on the Product variables

杨卫星

INTRODUCTION

Problem statement： How can Puma develop an effective product mix in China？

This paper is focused on developing a new successful product mix for Pumas suede shoes. The external factors along with the opportunities and threats impacting Puma will be discussed in this essay. The sub-variables of product mix including the quality， features， options， styles， brand name， packaging， sizes， services， warranties， return， costs will be considered as well. Competition， demand and innovation are three uncontrollable factors， which I will discuss for analyzing Pumas product mix .

COMPEITION

For most marketers， competition is the most relevant factors to immediate day-to-day decisions making. While the other external forces tend to be examined periodically （or in some cases rarely）， monitoring competitor activities is often a daily undertaking （Christ， 2012）

In China， Nike， Adidas， and Li Ning （The biggest national sports brand in China， see appendix 1） still have the biggest market of suede shoes. Especially Nike， which designs various types of suede shoes， such as suede shoed for basketball， running and table tennis， so that customers can have more options when they buy. These strong competitors （see appendix 2）are a huge threat for Puma. Puma faces challenges to compete with not only these three top competitors， but also other native brands， such as Anta， Peak， Erke， 361degree. Other foreign sportswear brands including Kappa， Converse， and Reebok are all serious competitors for Puma. Especially， Nike ，Converse and Li Ning（see appendix 3）， these companies provide walking， running， indoor table tennis and lifestyle suede shoes for customers in China.

Another threat for Pumas suede shoes is that they do not get a very good evaluation of customer service （see appendix 4）， as some of customers complain they do not receive a good service when they have some problems with the shoes they have bought. This situation is really horrible as most customers can see these unsatisfied comments on website directly. Instead， Nike and Li Ning both have a quite good reputation of their customer service （see appendix 5）.

Meanwhile， domestic companies producing suede shoes are usually quick to follow trends， which means most of them do not have enough innovation in their products（see appendix 6）. What s worse， some even clone other companies packaging， styles， colors. Most of Chinas sporting goods enterprises fail to form clear strategic plan for their brand. Puma is widely known， which is another opportunity for Puma to expand their suede shoes， as Pumas market share of sportswear in China market is respectively 1.8%（2009）， 2.4%（2008）， and 3.4% （2007）， and these numbers are not small as China has a population of about nearly 1.4 billion （2011）.

Demand

The second uncontrollable factor is demand. Demand is defined as having the need， want， or desire for a product and the ability and willingness to purchase it.

In China， the overall spending by customers on suede sport shoes is continually up since 1995. In 2010， average spending by Chinese buyers was $ 60 per person. The percentage of adolescents who always do exercise have more than 3 pairs of sneakers is 52.2%（2010）， and they do not care about price too much. Generally， the percentage of people who have more 2 pairs of sports shoes is up to 67.7% as well（2010）. The increased spending in sneakers brings Puma a big opportunity to develop their products.

These all brings Puma a big opportunity to develop their products， as Pumas suede sport shoes focus more to middle class in China and people who always do excising.

According to surveys， for Chinese consumers， in addition to comfort， they also require their sports shoes with good texture， lightweight， wear-resistant， strong antiskid property， good shock absorption， good protection performance and breathable characters. Adolescents also pay more attention to whether their sports shoes have novel style， fashion， elegant and personality elements. For Puma， these different demands are not easy to satisfy， but Puma never stops exploring methods for their suede shoes to satisfy customers various demands.

These various demands present threats to Puma. For example， Trinomic， a name is used by Puma， named their sports shoes with shock absorption function， which can make users feel more comfortable and protect consumers when they do strenuous exercises.

The demand of various styles bring opportunities to Puma as well. Puma provides a great number of different styles suede shoes for their consumers. Puma adds some Chinese traditional cultural elements in their suede shoes products， the most typical example is that their suede shoes with Chinese style wave picture. Puma also produces some certain styles for female customers. The suede shoes for females are more lightweight and colorful.

Size of consumers feet is generally smaller than people in Europe and America， and Puma has noticed it well and they have tried to fit their customers need in China .

For the package of suede shoes， more and more Chinese people tend to hope for easier and recycle package. This situation brings an another opportunity for Puma， as Puma has designed new package for their shoes using recycle materials， clever little bag. At the some time ，some consumers need spend packages. For instance， parents want a more colorful package as a gift for their daughter， but Puma does not provide this these packages， which presents threat for Puma.

Warranty， return and customer service present threats for Puma in China now， as near 25% online comments complain that Pumas shipping speed is too slow， and Puma refuses to replace problem shoes within guarantee dates， and their employees are not profession.

Technology/Innovation

An innovation is viewed as anything new that solves needs by offering a significant advantage（e.g.， more convenient， easier to use， lower lost， ect.） over existing methods（Marketing Basics， Paul Christ）.

Puma explores and launches a series of sport shoes named Puma Cell. This type of suede sport shoes have shock absorption feature. Suede sports shoes with this feature can provide the feet with a firm hold， to protect them from injury and to improve sporting performance.

Pumas another trial in innovation area is their clever little bags. Clever little bags are quite significant For Puma to reduce cost of the water， energy and diesel used in manufacturing by more than 60% per year（see appendix 7）.

In China， all external factors can effect Puma， but the most important three uncontrollable factors are competition， demand and innovation for their suede shoes. First of all， a large number of competitors are in China now. Secondly， in the demand part of this paper， we know that customers have various demands for suede shoes， and Puma is trying to pay more attention to this part. Finally， innovation has totally improved whole development of sports industry in China， including suede shoes produced by Puma.

Appendix

1. Li Ning（company） introduction

The company was founded in 1990 by Li Ning， a former Chinese Olympic gymnast. As of 2007 Li Ning remains the chairman of the companys board of directors.

Li Ning company Limited is a major Chinese athletic company which makes athleticshoes and sporting goods. Li-Ning branded products are targeted for consumers who participate in sports such as running， basketball， badminton， football， tennis and fitness. The company endorses a number of athletes and teams， both at home in China and abroad.

2. Market share of sportswear players in China market Source： SWS Research Li Ning （02331 HK） July5 2010

3. A simple compare between Puma， Converse， Li Ning and Nike.（the items in chart just examples for comparing）