DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal
DesiFirangi.com was an online women's apparel retailer in India. Started in November 2014, DesiFirangi catered to the fashion needs of modern Indian women with international style. Within the short span of its operations, the company had established itself as a niche electronic retailer of lingerie, nightwear, and clubwear. However, the online apparel market in India was highly crowded, and the fledging company faced stiff competition from a number of established and upcoming players. Given this intense competition in the market, DesiFirangi was incurring high marketing and customer acquisition costs, which were hurting the company's bottom line. In order to increase revenues, DesiFirangi's founders needed to find ways to increase the number of unique visitors to the site, and convert more visitors to buyers. Krishna Akalamkam is affiliated with Birla Institute of Management Technology.
Swot Analysis of "DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal" written by Krishna Akalamkam includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Desifirangi Desifirangi.com facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social platforms and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Desifirangi Desifirangi.com, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Desifirangi Desifirangi.com
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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com
Strengths DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Desifirangi Desifirangi.com in DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Desifirangi Desifirangi.com in the sector have low bargaining power. DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Desifirangi Desifirangi.com to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Desifirangi Desifirangi.com digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Desifirangi Desifirangi.com
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Desifirangi Desifirangi.com does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Desifirangi Desifirangi.com to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Desifirangi Desifirangi.com in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Krishna Akalamkam suggests that, Desifirangi Desifirangi.com is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal HBR case study mentions - Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal, in the dynamic environment Desifirangi Desifirangi.com has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Desifirangi Desifirangi.com, firm in the HBR case study DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal, is just above the industry average. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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 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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Desifirangi Desifirangi.com vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal | 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal are -
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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com in the consumer business. Now Desifirangi Desifirangi.com can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Desifirangi Desifirangi.com to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Desifirangi Desifirangi.com can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Desifirangi Desifirangi.com is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Desifirangi Desifirangi.com to increase its market reach. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Desifirangi Desifirangi.com can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Desifirangi Desifirangi.com operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Desifirangi Desifirangi.com can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Threats DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Regulatory challenges
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
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. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Environmental challenges
– Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Desifirangi Desifirangi.com
– 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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com.
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. Desifirangi Desifirangi.com can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Desifirangi Desifirangi.com with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Desifirangi Desifirangi.com 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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 DesiFirangi.com: Building a Niche E-commerce Portal 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 Desifirangi Desifirangi.com needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
