As clothing is a staple product there is always a demand for it. Being more specific and looking at sports apparel on its own, the demand for it is expected to grow, as worldwide interest in sport continues to rise. In the past seven years “sports apparel and footwear sales have jumped 42% to $270 billion” (Stanley, 2015) and a report, Global Athletic Wear: Very Bullish Five-Year Outlook by Morgan Stanley Research, indicates that the prospects for growth are only getting stronger (Stanley, 2015). The report shows that the global health and fitness trend among adults and the push to increase sports participation for youths is going to increase sales. Therefore, this threat is low as it appears that there will be demand for this industry for some …show more content…
They have to evaluate the bargaining power of wholesale customers as well as end customers. Both customers hold a degree of threat, but it is the wholesale customers who have the greater threat. The threat that is posed by the wholesale customers is their ability to be able to substitute their products to gain higher profit margins. This means that under Armour have to think carefully about how much they sell their products to the wholesalers, otherwise they will look at buying in similar products from other companies if their prices are too high. Tong (2009) stated that, “branding remains the industry’s largest source of competitive advantage.” Therefore, the power of the end customers is not as high due to Under Armour having strong brand recognition within the market. This is why Under Armour has signed several big names, for example Jordan Spieth, to get their brand well known and popular among their customers. However, with the wide range of choice and ease of access to finding lower prices for similar products, Under Armour have to think carefully about producing a product that customers will be willing to pay a premium over a