Table of Contents

Abstract...................................................................................................................... 3
Hall & Madden......................................................................................................... 4
Introduction:............................................................................................................ 4
Business model of Hall & Madden:..........................................................................4
Sources and cost of revenue generation:................................................................5
Suitability and Potential for growth:........................................................................6
Recommendations:.................................................................................................. 6
Ticket Kataao........................................................................................................... 7
Introduction:............................................................................................................ 7
Business model of Ticket Kataao:............................................................................7
Sources and costs of revenue generation:..............................................................9
Potential growth:..................................................................................................... 9
Recommendations:................................................................................................ 10
Shoes of Prey......................................................................................................... 10
Introduction:.......................................................................................................... 10
Business model of Shoes of Prey:..........................................................................11
Sources and costs of revenue generation:............................................................11
Potential for growth:.............................................................................................. 12
Recommendations:................................................................................................ 12

Abstract
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of three e-businesses. The business
considered are Hall & Madden (USA), Ticket Kataao (Pakistan) and Shoes of Prey (Australia).
Each business have a unique business model and value proposition. Hall & Madden is working
efficiently with in US however in future expansion could be an effective strategy whereas Ticket
Kataao an app base business is at its initial stages. It needs to improve in terms of database so
that more customers could be catered. As far as Shoes of Prey is concern its working globally
adding more value however the business needs to work on cost reduction. One possible way
could be to eliminate shipping cost by opening warehouses in other parts of the world.

Hall & Madden

Introduction:
Hall & Madden is an online store selling customize fitted shirts through subscription in USA.
Hall and Madden started their business in 2011 and within a very short span of time they have
been able to have more than 1000 subscribers (Hall & Madden, 2016). By last year, company
was able to make $8 million in revenues. Their target market includes working males who have
to wear dress shirts on daily basis (Lutz, 2013). The value proposition of Hall & Madden
remains, high quality with great fitting shirts along with low price and the convenience to the
customers. Other differentiating points include luxurious removable metal collars and delivery of
the products done within a very short span of time. The company believes in building strong
relationship with customers and maintain their trust (Young & Kim, 2014). It works on a very
simple yet unique business model explained in next section.

Business model of Hall & Madden:

The business model followed by Halls & Madden is Business-to-Consumers (B2C) model. It
started when the owner, McGregor Madden started a stitching business named Proper suit that he
got another idea. He explained We had men buying $1,000 suits, yet their dress shirts never fit
them". According to him dress shirts are not just something to wear only, it just takes little more
effort to convert it to something that boosts up ones personality (Strickland, 2013). Conferring
to Madden, males when buying dress shirts face certain issues including affordability, searching
for appropriate shirts, sparing time for shopping and many times still not finding the right shirt or
ending up in adding one more almost similar shirt to their wardrobe (Hall & Madden, 2016).
Hall & Madden is a unique idea where an online subscription for 3,4 or 6 months is done and the
buyer does not have to choose any shirt or go online to select shirts every not an then. Initially
when a person subscribes he needs to add in form relevant to measurements. Within 2 weeks 3
shirts will come for $150 at the door steps (Velazco, 2012). One of that shirt will be white in
colour for only the first batch. Afterwards different colours suitable for corporate world will be
sent by the company and the buyer does not have to go through the whole shopping process. As
shown in figure 1, the company will keep records of its customers and their preferences through
feedback form and will send different colours and types of shirts every time when needed,
4

mostly once every month. It not only saves effort, time and money but also adds variety in daily
clothes (Shropshire, 2013).
Another unique aspect is that of high quality yet low cost. They compete directly with Hugo
Boss in terms of styles and follow their cutting styles of regular, sharp and slim fit. The
company validate itself as using the finest stitching1 with pearl buttons and producing a shirt with
a quality that no branded shirt below the price of $600 can match (Kim, Knight & Pelton, 2009).
Moreover a refund policy is also present which is valid under 10 days and are only applicable to
unused shirts. However the question arises that how a company is generating its revenues and is
profitable.

Sources and cost of revenue generation:

Hall & Madden is able to generate its revenue with help of online subscriptions and selling of the
shirts. The company reduces its cost with help of vertical integrated model. They not only buy
material themselves but also design the final shirt on their own. As far as fabric is concern the
company manages to have direct contacts with reputable fabric manufacturers in USA and buy in
bulks thus lowering the costs (Gereffi, 2012).
However still some cost are unavoidable and helps in generating revenues. It includes the cost of
a warehouse in Chicago where fabric in bulk and orders to be dispatched within a month are
kept. It is attached with the stitching facility where 4 workers are employed to work on the finest
stitching of the shirts (Shropshire, 2013). Secondly, the cost of managing and maintaining a
website is incurred but it is a platform where sales are done thus it adds up in generating
revenues. Thirdly, Hall & Madden also believes in advertising on public forms e.g regular ads
are uploaded on Esquire to attract more customers resulting in extra cost incurred, nevertheless it
is compensated by increase orders and consumer base (Berlinger, 2013).
There is no business that follows the same exact model of Hall & Madden however among
similar businesses comes the name of Indochino, a Canada based online company and J.Hilburn,
a U.S based business. Indochino with tag line of traveling tailor is currently operating in
Canada and China also make customized fitting shirts (Biggs, 2012). However they work on
order basis only (Cowart, & Goldsmith, 2007). On Contrary, J. Hilburn is Texas based company,
1 Made of Single needle and finest thread
5

offering tailored made shirts but they are now after 3 years of their business are moving towards
online side. They had 800 style advices who used to physically visit houses to get fittings and
then the shirt was sent to the buyer. Till now the major progress they did is to open online stores
where shirts are sold on order basis (Hye Park, & Stoel, 2012).Thus Hall & Madden came up
with much innovative idea that not only is convenient but provide affordable options with
variety. One shirt of J. Hilburn costs $69 whereas 3 shirts on Hall & Madden are delivered in
$150 (The Silentist, 2016). As technology and advancements are coming every now and then
there is potential for Hall & Madden as well to grow.

Suitability and Potential for growth:

Hall & Madden is an effective business with an innovative model that provide a new edge to
online apparel businesses. By adding an element of surprise and eliminating time and effort use
in shopping it has great potential to grow across other countries like UK, China and India. Not
only the business is increasing in terms of revenue but the rate of subscribers is also improving.
By focusing on only shirts Hall & Madden is able to specialized in it and thus lowering the cost.
As the company is financially strong enough it wont be an issue for them to introduce shirts of
more designs (Hines, & Bruce, 2007). This is particularly important for them if they want to
enter into other countries where competition is high. In the countries like India, people prefer to
buy latest collar design and colours thus by increasing its product range and warehouse facilities
more areas can also be catered. Contact with suppliers across the world can not only provide
much cheaper fabric but also provide them with a platform to cater more countries (Ko, et al.,
2013).

Recommendations:
Instead of confining the business in US only, Hall and Madden should enter into new countries
such as China, India, France, and Italy where the demand for online shopping is high. But, as the
competition in the online shopping industry is high in these countries, they need to find more
differentiating points especially in developing countries where there is excess of cheap labour
leading to availability of cheaper brands (Olarreaga, & zden, 2015).
Secondly, in order to increase the market presence, Hall and Madden should increase
advertisements and word of mouth. This can be done with help of publishing articles on blogs as
well as push up ads on different online shopping sites. Moreover, in terms of quality highlighting
6

brands like Hugo boss and Burberry and providing similar products should not only be
considered in fact further differentiation in terms of style and fabrics must be provided
(Marchand, 2012). As a result not only people wanting lower prices will be catered but also those
who want new and signature designs.
Another loophole that the company faces comes through trust building factor. In this context
models wearing customized shirts must be shown on their website for helping customers to
visualise themselves and the cost of first order can be reduced a bit to gain trust. Another thing
that can be done under this context is to sell one shirt initially to get even better idea of fittings
and preferences. It will also eliminate extra cost of some alterations if needed.

Ticket Kataao
Introduction:
Ticket Kataao is an online app base business started in Pakistan with a tag line thrive while you
drive. The company has presence in Pakistan only at present (Talal, 2016). It uses Consumer to
Business business model. This is a business model that involves customers providing value to
business. Ticket Kataao is a crowd sourced advertising platform that enables customers to place
banner or print advertisements of different companies on their vehicles. In return, they get
revenues. The companys business model involves increasing the convenience of customers by
providing them with income opportunities, as well as increasing the convenience of businesses
by providing them advertising and promotion opportunities (Gilmour, 2014). The companys
value proposition is to enable local businesses to reach out to consumers through a platform and
to enable consumers to earn (Ticket Kataao, 2016). It is not only a new concept where personal
cars are used as advertisement platforms but its business model is unique in a number of ways as
discussed in next section.

Business model of Ticket Kataao:

As per the official website of Ticket Kataao (2016), the platform, the Ticket Kataao website,
functions as a mediator that introduces the customers to the businesses. It creates value by
offering advertising options to businesses. It also generates value by increasing convenience of
customers my enabling them to earn money. As the model used is geo-centric, there is no
wastage of resources in advertising and other forms of promotion as all marketing content are
7

focused extensively and exclusively on customers residing in a specific geographic location and
driving around specific numbers of kilometers (Kahn, 2014). Ticket Kataaos value proposition
also includes strong marketing. As it is an existing platform which is quite popular and is
regularly used by numerous consumers, any company using the business has instant access to a
loyal customer base which can provide excellent promotion options. Thus, a company can
increase awareness and strengthen brand identity at a very fast pace. Also, Ticket Kataao
involves feedback of customers and is a platform that generates a lot of word of mouth publicity.
This can be highly effective in generating hype for products or services of a business (Brabham,
2015).
It works in an effective and simplified way. Businesses contact the company for advertisements.
On the other end customers download the app on their phone where list of businesses they can
advertise is provided to choose from as shown in figure 2. After choosing a company different
design of advertisement option are provided (an example shown in figure 3) however an option
of designing advertisement yourself is also given so that a customer can maintain uniqueness if
desired. After that a form appears where customer fills in appropriate details and mention places
that are most visited by them. The car is then taken to workshop for putting stickers and gps
system, which is free and then with every Km the customer will earn on average Rs. 100 and can
earn minimum of 20,000Rs. on monthly basis by just following their normal daily routine
(Memon, 2016).
Overall the companys services are highly unique and differentiated and there are no other
company that function with the same business model. However, there are numerous big
advertising companies in Pakistan who offer excellent marketing solutions and enable companies
to put up advertisements through billboards, display ads, etc. in a huge variety of platforms,
including vehicles like buses. These companies can give competition to Ticket Kataao. Its chief
competitors are Adcom, Lowe and Rauf, Interflow communications, etc. Adcom is the market
leader at present (Howe, 2015). Ticket Kataao is a relatively new company and is making its
presence felt slowly. It has cashed in on the increasing popularity of e-commerce, internet
banking and smartphone technology in Pakistan. According to Talal (2016), it is a unique
concept which can be operated through a single app and more advertisements can be done then
just one advertisement on a single bus. Moreover Haider (2015) also mentions that bus system
8

apart from Metro is reducing in Pakistan thus leading to reduction in advertisement options.
Ticket Kataao has presence in 16 cities of Pakistan at present is moving towards success.
However the model can improve on few weaknesses mentioned below to move towards further
effectiveness.
A major weakness of the business model of this company is that it can be flooded with
consumers willing to post advertisements on their vehicles. The company might not be equipped
to cope with high numbers of customers and might end up dissatisfying the customers due to
inadequate availability of businesses which want to post ads. In turn, the reputation of the
business can suffer (Arlene, 2016). Another drawback is that the car need to be physically taken
to the companys workshop to ad stickers. Company try to dissolve this point by highlighting that
stickers are eco-friendly and would only protect against environmental issues.

Sources and costs of revenue generation:

Potential growth:
With the growing popularity of the company, Ticket Kataao has planned to expand to more cities
at a very fast pace. It has huge potential Pakistan as e-commerce, smartphone apps, etc. are still
relatively new in this country and their popularity is increasing. More and more new companies
are entering the web space every day and online promotions have become a core element for
every industry (Talal, 2016). The business model used by this company can also be use in other
parts of the world like India, Bangladesh etc. However it may not be that effective when comes
to developed countries like USA and UK where online platforms are regularly checked by users
and majority have excess to online services 24/7. Moreover in USA and UK public transport is
9

much more preferable then going out only in personal cars. Thus, this concept might not be that
much suitable for them but it can be expanded across many Asian countries like Inida and
Bangladesh (Ahmed, 2016).

Recommendations:

Shoes of Prey
Introduction:
Shoes of Prey design your perfect shoe is a Sydney based online shoe company founded in
2009 that design custom made shoes especially for women by providing 3D options to choose
from. The company operates mainly in Australia, but its services and products can be accessed
globally (Kimmorley, 2015). It must be noted, that the business model is business to customer.
Over the years, the company has evolved and diversified, implementing different shoe models in
the process. The company allows customers to design their own shoes. The website of the
company has different highly user friendly shoe designing software and numerous templates
which can be used to design highly customized shoes. The value proposition of the company is
10

that it will help customers, design their own shoes as per their preferences and to increase the
convenience of customers by providing designing facilities that improve the online shopping
experience (McCall, 2016).

Business model of Shoes of Prey:

Sources and costs of revenue generation:

Shoes of Prey has different price ranges based on material, design category, size, etc. It also
charges delivery fees and transfers its products to all parts of the world. It has specific prices.
There are base prices for each style of shoe. This is topped with add on prices for different
materials and embellishments which the customers choose for designing their shoes. As per
Kimmorley (2015), while the capital amount invested by the founders at the inception point of
the company is undisclosed, the company has received funding in recent times. Shoes of Prey got
$US15.5 million of funding from Series B capital in 2014. This funding has been given to help
the company enter the USA market and grow. In a capital investment competition, the company
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was funded by BlueSky Venture Capital in association with the companies Greycroft, Nordstrom
and Khosla Ventures. The total funding provided to the company is $US24.6 million (Holly,
2016). As its a unique concept with potential of growth yet the cost factor is the only hurdle the
business faces currently.

Potential for growth:

Shoes of Prey has potential for growth as they are present in the online shopping market for more
than seven years and they have been able to develop a strong customer base in Australia through
the customized design of shoes. Shoes of Prey has also achieved significant fan followers in the
social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Brides and women in parties post vidos
and pictures of their shoes going exactly with their dress creating hype among other women. As
Shoes of Prey are quite advanced in terms of technology they can introduce newer types of shoes
in the market of different styles (Gam, Cao, Farr & Kang, 2010). Secondly, presently the
company delivers products to across the world in maximum 14 days but the costs of international
delivery from Australia are huge. So, if Shoes of Prey can build some warehouses with order
processing offices in the countries where the demand for their product is high, they can deliver
the products at cheaper rates and the delivery time can also be reduced.

Recommendations:
In order to improve the business performance, Shoes of Prey should take some steps. The first
thing they should do is establishing some retail stores in different locations of Australia where
customers can be introduced to materials and their trust can be gain. Secondly, as there are some
other companies present as well in market, they need to reduce the prices of the products a bit.
One way of doing this can be to standardize some operations and customizes final touches.
However more technological advancements would be needed to reduce costs. Another solution
could be to add standard shoes to their product line as well to justify overall business costs. More
advertisements and customer feedbacks can be posted to generate trust among customers. More
warehouses must be setup in different areas of the world to reduce cost of shipping.
Thus it concludes that all 3 businesses are unique in their own way and with some more efforts
can be expanded across the world in more effective ways.

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