Why can UNIQLO offer high-quality clothing at affordable prices?

• A. Mass purchase to get low price
• B. Controls entire process from design through manufacture and retail
• C. Relies on cheap labor
• D. Focuses on online sales

Answer: (B)

The key idea is vertical integration: controlling the whole path from design to manufacturing to retail. When a company oversees design, sourcing, production, and how products reach stores, it can tightly align product concepts with what can be efficiently made, contract and manage suppliers for consistency, and coordinate inventory and logistics to cut waste. This end-to-end control enables economies of scale and lower costs without sacrificing quality because every step is designed to fit the others, allowing standardized fabrics, streamlined production, and reliable quality checks across the board.

Relying on mass purchases alone can reduce unit costs but doesn’t guarantee the same cohesion between design, production, and retail. Focusing on cheap labor shifts cost-cutting to labor rather than improving the overall process and quality. Emphasizing online sales reduces store costs but doesn’t by itself produce the integrated efficiency that comes from designing with manufacturing and retail in mind.