Case Study Description of HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos
In November 2014, the founder and chief executive officer of HomeZilla, in Toronto, Canada, was considering how to provide value-added services to his business. One of the company's main services was to work with real estate agents to provide web listings to attract home shoppers. Many Internet companies were analyzing web-browsing data in an effort to better understand user behaviour and thus improve their business. Inspired by this trend, the founder considered how his company could use web-browsing data to better attract home shoppers on the company's website and thereby add value to his business.
Swot Analysis of "HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos" written by Gregory S. Zaric, Hongmei Sun includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Homezilla Browsing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Homezilla Browsing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Homezilla Browsing 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Homezilla Browsing
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Homezilla Browsing
Strengths HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Homezilla Browsing in HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Homezilla Browsing 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 Homezilla Browsing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Homezilla Browsing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Homezilla Browsing 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
– Homezilla Browsing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Homezilla Browsing 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Homezilla Browsing is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Homezilla Browsing 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 Gregory S. Zaric, Hongmei Sun 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Homezilla Browsing in the sector have low bargaining power. HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Homezilla Browsing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Homezilla Browsing 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Homezilla Browsing in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Homezilla Browsing is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Homezilla Browsing 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos HBR case study mentions - Homezilla Browsing 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Homezilla Browsing 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Homezilla Browsing 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Homezilla Browsing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Homezilla Browsing products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Homezilla Browsing needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Homezilla Browsing 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 - HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Homezilla Browsing is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 Homezilla Browsing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos, is just above the industry average. Homezilla Browsing 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Homezilla Browsing 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 Homezilla Browsing 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos | 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Homezilla Browsing in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Homezilla Browsing 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Homezilla Browsing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Homezilla Browsing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Homezilla Browsing 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, HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Homezilla Browsing can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Homezilla Browsing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Homezilla Browsing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos case study. Homezilla Browsing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Homezilla Browsing 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Homezilla Browsing 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Homezilla Browsing 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 Homezilla Browsing to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Homezilla Browsing can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Homezilla Browsing operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Homezilla Browsing in the consumer business. Now Homezilla Browsing can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Homezilla Browsing can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos are -
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 Homezilla Browsing in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Homezilla Browsing 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.
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.
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. Homezilla Browsing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Homezilla Browsing 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos .
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 Homezilla Browsing.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Homezilla Browsing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Homezilla Browsing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Homezilla Browsing 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Homezilla Browsing 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Homezilla Browsing in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos, Homezilla Browsing may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 HomeZilla: Attracting Homebuyers through Better Photos 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 Homezilla Browsing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
