Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China
The marketing manager of Jewellworld.com was faced with the problem of a saturated Hong Kong market, and has to consider ways in which to expand the business. In a meeting with the marketing director, who was responsible for the development of the Hong Kong and Chinese jewelry markets, one of the main topics was the expansion of the online shopping strategy into the B2C area in China; however, the staff of the marketing department held different views. The immediate question was whether Jewellworld.com should move into the B2C area at full speed or wait and see how other competitors fared in the China online market. The other issue was the segmentation that Jewellworld should employ if they decide to enter the B2C market in China. A competitor had established retail stores across China. The question was whether Jewellworld should aim to cover all market segments and product lines, or target young people who tend to use the Internet more frequently.
Swot Analysis of "Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China" written by Shigefumi Makino, Anthony Fong includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jewellworld.com Jewellworld facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jewellworld.com Jewellworld, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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 Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld
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 Jewellworld.com Jewellworld
Strengths Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Analytics focus
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Shigefumi Makino, Anthony Fong can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
High brand equity
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in the sector have low bargaining power. Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China, it seems that the employees of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Need for greater diversity
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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 Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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 Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld, firm in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jewellworld.com Jewellworld vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China | 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 Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in the consumer business. Now Jewellworld.com Jewellworld can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to increase its market reach. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China case study. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jewellworld.com Jewellworld to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China are -
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. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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.
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 Jewellworld.com Jewellworld business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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.
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 Jewellworld.com Jewellworld in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Jewellworld.com Jewellworld
– 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 Jewellworld.com Jewellworld.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China, Jewellworld.com Jewellworld may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Jewellworld.com Jewellworld with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jewellworld.com Jewellworld is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Jewellworld.com Jewellworld 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. Jewellworld.com Jewellworld can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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 Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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 Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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 Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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 Jewellworld.com--Online Jewelry Shopping in China 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 Jewellworld.com Jewellworld needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
