Sometimes the availability of niche items of clothing, such as the availability of big and tall socks has been lacking. One explanation for this is that the market is not strong enough to sustain these niches. The people that will be going for such a niche item will be much more limited than those requiring standard socks for example. Therefore the provision for big and tall socks is likewise limited so that the merchants do not risk putting their businesses within a tight squeeze. If the demand is low – manufactures cannot afford to make them. Of course this would change if the people that needed big socks would come out and buy the product in large quantities. If they come in relatively good numbers then the merchants will respond.
The people that need big socks might also be concerned that they have to pay some sort of premium in order to access the products. The manufacturers are of the view that because the demand for big socks is limited then they are justified in charging a premium for providing the service. Moreover, the big and tall socks market is riddled with bottlenecks that make economies of scale very difficult to realize. Meanwhile the poor customers are left wondering whether they can really access the larger socks without paying a higher cost then should be charged. It will take the combined efforts of the customers and the merchants in order to bring down the prices for big and tall socks.
The variety of shops that offer big socks is also limited for similar reasons to the ones that have been discussed above. The merchants know which products sell well, and they will not invest in big and tall socks unless they are sure that they are able to get a reasonable profit from the venture. The use of marketing techniques has also assisted the merchants in increasing the popularity of big and tall socks but they have not yet been able to make the same amount of impact as in the standard items. The market for big and tall socks has great potential but there has not been the concerted effort that is needed to get it going.
If the market for big socks is going to change to get low prices, then the marketing technique that is being used has to improve considerably. It should not be acceptable that the big socks market is left behind while the rest of the industry grows. It would be very unfortunate if the big and tall socks market just disappeared because nobody bothered to market the product appropriately. As is normally the case, it is the customers that would end up suffering the consequences of poor marketing in the big and tall socks sector. custom brand socks