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Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer


Restoring consumer trust remains an uphill battle for retailers, as for many others. The rise of private label (PL) products can, in fact, create a new reputation and identity for the retailer. Before, it was believed that consumers purchased these cheap knockoffs because they trusted in the store. But, as PL products have grown in quality to rival that of leading brands, a surprising about-face has emerged: customer satisfaction with PL products is by far the most important driver of trust in the retailer. The author suggests some strategies that retail managers should keep in mind to develop trust and long-term loyalty using private labels. At the same time, large retailers can boost trust levels among consumer groups by tapping opportunities with local store brands - as higher consumption is often associated with wide-ranging PL brands that are values based and community linked.

Authors :: Sandro Castaldo

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Leadership, Organizational culture, Supply chain, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer" written by Sandro Castaldo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pl Trust facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture, Supply chain and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pl Trust, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pl Trust operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.




SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix


SWOT analysis of Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pl Trust
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pl Trust




Strengths Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Pl Trust in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Pl Trust has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Learning organization

- Pl Trust is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Pl Trust is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Training and development

– Pl Trust has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Pl Trust are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Innovation driven organization

– Pl Trust is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Diverse revenue streams

– Pl Trust is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Pl Trust in the sector have low bargaining power. Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pl Trust to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Pl Trust is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pl Trust digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pl Trust has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Strong track record of project management

– Pl Trust is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Pl Trust has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pl Trust has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pl Trust to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pl Trust to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.






Weaknesses Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer, in the dynamic environment Pl Trust has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Pl Trust has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Pl Trust has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pl Trust is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Pl Trust has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer HBR case study mentions - Pl Trust takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pl Trust has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Pl Trust even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer, is just above the industry average. Pl Trust needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pl Trust has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Pl Trust, firm in the HBR case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Pl Trust has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Pl Trust 's lucrative customers.




Opportunities Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer are -

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pl Trust to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Pl Trust can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Pl Trust can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Loyalty marketing

– Pl Trust has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pl Trust can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pl Trust operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Pl Trust can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Buying journey improvements

– Pl Trust can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pl Trust is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Developing new processes and practices

– Pl Trust can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pl Trust can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pl Trust can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Manufacturing automation

– Pl Trust can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Pl Trust can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.

Reconfiguring business model

– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Pl Trust to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.




Threats Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer are -

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Pl Trust can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Pl Trust has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pl Trust needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Environmental challenges

– Pl Trust needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Pl Trust can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Pl Trust business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Pl Trust demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.

Regulatory challenges

– Pl Trust needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.

Increasing wage structure of Pl Trust

– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Pl Trust.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Pl Trust will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pl Trust can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer .

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pl Trust with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Pl Trust in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer Template, Example


Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Purchase Precedes Trust in Retailer is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Pl Trust needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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