Providing What Customers Want?

Asda yesterday launched a new range of clothing under it’s well-established George label.

What’s unusual about that, you might ask.

Well the 13-piece range is “the UK’s first mainstream range of traditional Asian clothing” - not just for supermarket clothing, but for the big high street names.

So why haven’t any of the other clothes retailers done this before? Has Asda spotted a gap in the market, or do they have an advantage over their competitors.

Asda claim that the range of products, which will be significantly cheaper than similar ranges sold by traditional independent retailers, is possible because they have the widest socio-demographic customer base compared to the other supermarkets. As such, competitors such as Tesco might find it difficult to justify stocking such a range.

The move came about as a result of large increases in the sales of ethnic food products sold by the chain.

Are there any other untapped markets that students might be able to identify? Which products do they find it difficult to get hold off in the high street?