12 April
Avoca operates as a clothing manufacturing, retail and food business in Ireland and the UK. The secondary research carried out by the Team involved looking more closely at Avoca within the retail sector. Avoca has always adopted innovative ideas to develop their product offering and have continued to perform ahead competitors despite the recession of the last number of years.
There are a number of reasons for this continued performance which includes product innovation and the ability of the company to focus on its target client and to react quickly to changing market trends when observed.
The overall retail market size is equivalent to 10% of GDP or €16 billion, although the growth rate has remained flat in 2013(footnote 1). Online shopping for food and groceries by internet users jumped from 3% in 2008 to 6% in 2012 (footnote 2).
Avoca have multiple offerings in different sub sectors of their business and they have successfully built an aspirational lifestyle brand based on ABC1 women aged from 25 – 70, although there is some evidence that the bulk of customers are in the 40-60 range and innovation with this in mind, may need to be considered in the future. My next post will deal with the tools used to analyse the sector, such as SWOT Analysis, PESTLE and Porters 5 forces. Till then, I’m off to make some cupcakes maybe worthy of Avoca (see picture).
1. Retail Ireland | Ibec – Business sectors. 2014. Retail Ireland | {ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ibec.ie/IBEC/IBEC.nsf/vPages/About_Us~business-sectors?OpenDocument.
2. Ibid
Marketing REDS 
Evelyn,
Now I’m curious, pass it every day, must call in and check Avoca out over the next couple of weeks.
DdP
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Hi Marketing Reds,
Great information on Avoca. Its really good to hear that through your research, as opposed to hearsay, that they are genuinely doing well. I feel over the last number of years, we have heard of so many company’s doing really well, when actually they were not at all.
From going to Avoca, I can also confirm that definitely I have never seen any sign of a recession in their shops. Its great for them, and obviously their innovation have worked for them.
I miss their cooking demo that they used to do.. many a communion and confirmation I got out of those notes! and their books – well especially their first one! (I’d advice the Chicken and Plum!!).
Wishing them (and you) all the best
Eliza
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