SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Vasa Retail Overseas (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Vasa Retail Overseas is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Vasa Retail Overseas
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Vasa Retail Overseas can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vasa Retail Overseas, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Vasa Retail Overseas
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vasa Retail Overseas
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Office Supplies sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Vasa Retail Overseas
Strengths of Vasa Retail Overseas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vasa Retail Overseas are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Vasa Retail Overseas 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.
Ability to lead change in Office Supplies
– Vasa Retail Overseas is one of the leading players in the Office Supplies industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Office Supplies industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Vasa Retail Overseas in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Vasa Retail Overseas
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Vasa Retail Overseas does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Vasa Retail Overseas is present in almost all the verticals within the Office Supplies industry. This has provided Vasa Retail Overseas a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Vasa Retail Overseas in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Vasa Retail Overseas has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Vasa Retail Overseas to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management in the Office Supplies industry
– Vasa Retail Overseas is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Vasa Retail Overseas has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Vasa Retail Overseas has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Office Supplies industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Vasa Retail Overseas digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Vasa Retail Overseas 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.
High brand equity
– Vasa Retail Overseas has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Vasa Retail Overseas to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vasa Retail Overseas is one of the leading players in the Office Supplies industry in India. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in India. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Vasa Retail Overseas has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Office Supplies industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Vasa Retail Overseas have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Vasa Retail Overseas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Vasa Retail Overseas are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Vasa Retail Overseas has some of the most successful models in the Office Supplies industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Vasa Retail Overseas should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Vasa Retail Overseas is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Office Supplies industry, but Vasa Retail Overseas needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Vasa Retail Overseas to focus more on services in the Office Supplies industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, Vasa Retail Overseas needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Office Supplies industry using digital technology.
Employees’ less understanding of Vasa Retail Overseas strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Vasa Retail Overseas 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Vasa Retail Overseas has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Office Supplies industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of Vasa Retail Overseas products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Vasa Retail Overseas needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Vasa Retail Overseas has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Office Supplies industry over the last five years. Vasa Retail Overseas 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Vasa Retail Overseas, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Office Supplies industry. 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Vasa Retail Overseas needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Office Supplies industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Vasa Retail Overseas can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Vasa Retail Overseas is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vasa Retail Overseas is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Vasa Retail Overseas to provide better information regarding Office Supplies products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Vasa Retail Overseas Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Vasa Retail Overseas are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Office Supplies industry.
Manufacturing automation
– Vasa Retail Overseas can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Office Supplies sector. 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Office Supplies industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Vasa Retail Overseas 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. Vasa Retail Overseas 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Vasa Retail Overseas 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Vasa Retail Overseas can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Vasa Retail Overseas operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Office Supplies sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Vasa Retail Overseas has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Office Supplies industry. This can help Vasa Retail Overseas to build a more holistic ecosystem for Vasa Retail Overseas products in the Office Supplies industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Vasa Retail Overseas in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Office Supplies industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Vasa Retail Overseas can develop new processes and procedures in Office Supplies 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Vasa Retail Overseas to increase its market reach. Vasa Retail Overseas 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Vasa Retail Overseas can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Office Supplies industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vasa Retail Overseas is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Vasa Retail Overseas can utilize new technology in the field of Office Supplies industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Office Supplies industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Vasa Retail Overseas in the Office Supplies industry. Now Vasa Retail Overseas can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Vasa Retail Overseas External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Vasa Retail Overseas are -
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 Vasa Retail Overseas business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Vasa Retail Overseas needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Office Supplies industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Vasa Retail Overseas in Office Supplies industry. The Office Supplies 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.
Environmental challenges
– Vasa Retail Overseas 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. Vasa Retail Overseas can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Office Supplies industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vasa Retail Overseas has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Office Supplies industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vasa Retail Overseas needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Office Supplies sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Office Supplies industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas prominent markets.
Regulatory challenges
– Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Office Supplies industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Office Supplies industry.
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 Vasa Retail Overseas.
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 Vasa Retail Overseas in the Office Supplies sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Office Supplies industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas is facing in Office Supplies sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Vasa Retail Overseas Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas 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 Vasa Retail Overseas needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.