1) Porter 5 Force Model of Lululemon:

Bargaining Power of Suppliers | Suppliers have low bargaining power since Lululemon gets their fabrics from many suppliers. | Bargaining Power of Buyers | Lululemon consumers have high bargaining power. Since alternative brands are deemed cheaper, consumers switching costs would be low. | Threat of New Entrants | Threat of new entrants are moderate, but growing as more companies are outsourcing their fabrics to manufacturers in other countries that allow them a lower price mark for consumers. Plus online retailing is growing making these company sport wears more easily accessible. | Competition Level | Competition level is very high since companies in the sports apparel industry are constantly repositioning their brand in order to obtain a greater share of the market. | Threat of Substitutes | The threat of substitute is low since not many of the alternatives match in quality. |

Based on the Porter 5 force model, the competitive forces are moderate in the yoga and fitness apparel market. There are many businesses in the industry, high customer bargaining power and moderate threats of new entrants. However, there aren’t any comparable substitutes when it comes to their quality.

2) I believe Lululemon is well positioned based on their effective strategies. From training and educating all of their employees to on Lululemon products and Lululemon’s core values, to having Yoga instructors as brand ambassadors, to having design teams work closely with manufacturers to ensure the fabrics are consistent and of Lululemon standards. Although I still prefer the Nike brand to Lululemon because of their pricing, Lululemon still stands out as one of the better performing brands.

3) What I see as key success factors for performance-based fitness apparel is their product quality and how they position it. Lululemon