Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury
In 2009, Samuel Lim, Daniel Lim, and Benjamin Han, saw growth opportunities in the online accessible luxury fashion market and boldly set up Reebonz to pursue them. Their efforts over the years had expanded Reebonz to become a notable online marketplace for both new and pre-owned luxury products. Going forward, the founding trio knew that in order to stay ahead, they must continue to differentiate Reebonz from the traditional luxury players and new online competitors. Would the continuous push for accessible luxury dilute the luxury consumption experience? Where can Reebonz find its next growth trajectory?
Swot Analysis of "Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury" written by Elison Lim, Siew-Kien Sia includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Reebonz Luxury facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Technology and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Reebonz Luxury, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Reebonz Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Reebonz Luxury
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 Reebonz Luxury
Strengths Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Reebonz Luxury in Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Reebonz Luxury to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Reebonz Luxury to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Reebonz Luxury 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Reebonz Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Reebonz Luxury in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Reebonz Luxury is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Reebonz Luxury 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 Reebonz Luxury is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Reebonz Luxury
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Reebonz Luxury does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Reebonz Luxury has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Reebonz Luxury 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Reebonz Luxury is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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.
Training and development
– Reebonz Luxury has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Reebonz Luxury is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury are -
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 Reebonz Luxury supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Reebonz Luxury vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Reebonz Luxury, firm in the HBR case study Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury HBR case study mentions - Reebonz Luxury 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Reebonz Luxury products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Reebonz Luxury needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Reebonz Luxury 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Reebonz Luxury needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury, it seems that the employees of Reebonz Luxury 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Reebonz Luxury 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Reebonz Luxury is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Reebonz Luxury needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Reebonz Luxury to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury, is just above the industry average. Reebonz Luxury 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Elison Lim, Siew-Kien Sia suggests that, Reebonz Luxury 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.
Opportunities Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury | 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury are -
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. Reebonz Luxury can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Reebonz Luxury can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Reebonz Luxury 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Reebonz Luxury 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.
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 Reebonz Luxury 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Reebonz Luxury to increase its market reach. Reebonz Luxury 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Reebonz Luxury 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.
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 Reebonz Luxury in the consumer business. Now Reebonz Luxury can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Reebonz Luxury 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.
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. Reebonz Luxury 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. Reebonz Luxury 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Reebonz Luxury to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Reebonz Luxury to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Reebonz Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Reebonz Luxury to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Reebonz Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury are -
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Reebonz Luxury needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Reebonz Luxury 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.
Environmental challenges
– Reebonz Luxury 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. Reebonz Luxury can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Reebonz Luxury
– 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 Reebonz Luxury.
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. Reebonz Luxury 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.
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. Reebonz Luxury can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Reebonz Luxury 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Reebonz Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Reebonz Luxury 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Reebonz Luxury with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Reebonz Luxury 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.
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 Reebonz Luxury.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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 Reebonz: Bringing You a New World of Accessible Luxury 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 Reebonz Luxury needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
