The Poppy Barley Case Study
Poppy Barley is a retailer for made to measure footwear that has experienced growth
for some years, and the co-founders who are two sisters want to further their product line
and commitment to ensure they sustain their corporate. They had met in November 2016
to discuss the company’s projection for the following year. Through the friends they had
mad who are entrepreneurs, they discussed the benefits of their partnership, and these
conservations raised two issues. These questions are the certification to pursue and the
right time to pursue it. Poppy Barley has experienced double sales since the year 2012 but
it still a small company with employees less than 30. Getting a sustainable certification
required time and resources that cool be directed to securing more market share that
would enable the company to grow. The sisters needed to answer the question on when
the certification was necessary and if it would be wise to wait until Barley became more
successful and established. The list present at the board room showed more of the
possible sustainability goals that they were projecting for 2017.
Justine and Kendall Barber founded Poppy Barley in 2012 and begun an e-commerce
operation. This allowed customers to give their desired measurement, order online, and
get in return, well-fitted designer schools (Dobbelsteyn et al. 2018). The inspiration to
open up the footwear retail shop came when Justine had gone to Indonesia and bought a
pair of boots which were made just for her. He started thinking of how to make such a
business that would be e-commerce. They started developing the business together with
her sister, where they absorbed the artisan shoemakers. The success of the business
during the initial days was driven by the quality and comfort of their shoes. They also
leveraged small batch production that helped them provide a flexible fit and sizing shoes.
They worked tirelessly to improve Poppy identity.
Between the year2013 and 2017 the retail sales in Canada; hence, the market place
evolved continuously together with the consumers purchasing habit. Online shopping was
continuously growing as Poppy Barley was being founded (Dobbelsteyn, et al. 2018).
Online shopping continued to provide a wider range of customers and also a wider range
of products. Justine had left a good career to venture in the Poppy business without
knowing the fate of the business. Poppy Barley mainly focused on the sustainable
sourcing since 2013; however, the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh was one that
caused unethical labor practices leading to retail industry into dying.
The sisters recalled on the on how far they had come for the past five years; they were
proud of the much they had achieved although they still had a long way to go. The future
sustainability strategy was the idea that all came to their mind. The certification was what
they were all thinking about if it was appropriate to take and when to take it. The benefits
of certification were all weighed on if there would be increased customer satisfaction on
the sustainability of standards. The appropriate time to pursue certification was also an
issue they had limited time and resources to commit to a project they were not sure of the
returns. They mostly thought of increasing the market share by growing Poppy t higher
level.
References
Dobbelsteyn, G. et al. (2018). Poppy barley:: Weighing the cost and benefits of
sustainability certification [Ebook]. Ivey Publisher.
