Trips to not only my local shopping centre but airport lounges, international malls and shopping precincts draws my attention to the Pandora retail outlet. During international trips, I see Pandora retail outlets at all the major shopping malls, they are a pretty big deal, coverage in over 100 countries and over 7800 retail outlets.

When I wander past, I notice there is always customers browsing through not only store windows and display cases but also trying on jewellry and other items. This leads me to ponder, how successful is this retail business with their extensive coverage? In terms of international coverage, one would think the Pandora brand is very strong and successful. Yet when I read financial articles, I learn the Pandora brand is in financial difficulty with deep discounting of inventory and hence reduced margins.

Upon my limited entry into Pandora stores, I have found that the staff were friendly and quick to assist. Their merchandise is of a reasonable quality in terms of materials and workmanship. What you are paying for is their designs and creativity, I’m fine with that as that is what distinguishes a brand in a competitive marketplace. Intellectual property is a huge value proposition for a business and warrants strong defensive tactics and legal protection.

As a former business student, I have an interest in their branding, their supply chain, their distribution channels, their market positioning and their strategic direction. The leadership and executive team, whilst important are not as valued as our business text would have us believe. For me, their designs, quality and distribution channels are the determining success factors for a brand such as Pandora. The brand is well supported with a reasonable degree of consumer acceptance and customer loyalty, one expects the Pandora brand to consolidate in the short term.