Cashbil (CSBJ) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Retail (Home Improvement)
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Cashbil (South Africa)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Cashbil is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Cashbil can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cashbil, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cashbil 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 Cashbil can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Cashbil
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cashbil
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Africa
4. Making a Retail (Home Improvement) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cashbil
Strengths of Cashbil | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cashbil are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cashbil has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Analytics focus
– Cashbil 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 Retail (Home Improvement) industry. The technology infrastructure of South Africa is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cashbil is present in almost all the verticals within the Retail (Home Improvement) industry. This has provided Cashbil 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.
Learning organization
- Cashbil 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 Cashbil is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Cashbil emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Home Improvement) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cashbil digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cashbil 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cashbil in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Cashbil has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cashbil to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cashbil has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Cashbil staying ahead in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Cashbil has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Retail (Home Improvement) industry
– Cashbil has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cashbil to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cashbil to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cashbil in Retail (Home Improvement) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Cashbil
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Cashbil does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Cashbil comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Home Improvement) 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.
Weaknesses of Cashbil | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cashbil 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 Cashbil supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Cashbil is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cashbil vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Cashbil strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Cashbil 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Cashbil 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cashbil 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cashbil has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry over the last five years. Cashbil 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.
High dependence on Cashbil ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Cashbil still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Retail (Home Improvement) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Cashbil has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cashbil is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Cashbil to provide better information regarding Retail (Home Improvement) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Cashbil has high operating costs in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Cashbil lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cashbil is one of the leading players in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Retail (Home Improvement) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in South Africa, Cashbil 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 Retail (Home Improvement) industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Cashbil, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Home Improvement) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cashbil has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Cashbil Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Cashbil are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cashbil 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. Cashbil 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cashbil has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Retail (Home Improvement) industry. This can help Cashbil to build a more holistic ecosystem for Cashbil products in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cashbil has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Retail (Home Improvement) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Cashbil to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cashbil to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cashbil 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.
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. Cashbil can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cashbil can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Home Improvement) 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Home Improvement) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cashbil can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cashbil 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 Cashbil to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cashbil 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cashbil can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Retail (Home Improvement) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cashbil 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.
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 Cashbil 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cashbil has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Threats Cashbil External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Cashbil are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cashbil has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cashbil needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Home Improvement) 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cashbil is facing in Retail (Home Improvement) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cashbil 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.
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. Cashbil needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Home Improvement) 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, Cashbil 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 Cashbil prominent markets.
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.
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 Cashbil business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Cashbil in the Retail (Home Improvement) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Cashbil.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cashbil 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 Retail (Home Improvement) industry and other sectors.
Increasing wage structure of Cashbil
– 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 Cashbil.
Environmental challenges
– Cashbil 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. Cashbil can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Retail (Home Improvement) industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cashbil in Retail (Home Improvement) industry. The Retail (Home Improvement) 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 Cashbil Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Cashbil 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 Cashbil 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 Cashbil 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 Cashbil 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 Cashbil needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.