The business has not been affected by economic conditions e.g. interest rates, exchange rates, price of raw materials etc., Although if the price of raw material were to go up, the price of the product would go up therefore resulting in a price increase in the shop.
There are no environmental constraints on the business. It does not produce any harmful gases, noise, or damage to the earth.
Stevens compete with its main competitors by having low prices, a higher quality and selection of goods and local friendly staff.
Stevens have responded well to competition through different means such as location and range of products available. He has created a high reputation in the surrounding area. I think he could have responded slightly better to competition by having spread itself further across the country in the time span of running the business. In 1977 the first Stevens was opened in Neville Parade.
I think that the location of Stevens in Neville parade has been an important factor in how the business has responded to competition because Steven bought the premises there because there was not a local newsagent, and up until recently in the year 2000 Stevens has had no local competition to reduce Stevens’ custom and therefore reduce profit, although I think now that Stevens has got competition to compete with he is still doing very well because when I asked the people in local neighbourhood they said that they only ever go into the co-op to buy newspapers and magazines if Stevens is shut.
The Body Shop is located in the centre of Darlington in a large shopping mall called ‘The Cornmill’. It is located here because it has a lot of customers and this shop makes for a compromising accessible location. The store is easy to reach for delivery because the shopping mall was built with this in mind. The mall in Darlington can be easily reached by delivery vans because it is not for from a motorway. The cost of premises in such a location will be very expensive but because the Body Shop is such a large company with lots of customers they are able to afford it.
The Body shop attracts mainly female customers of all ages buying cosmetics, although a few men do buy some of the products from the men’s range.
The Body Shop has many competitors such as Boots, another international health, beauty and cosmetics store, which sells mainly the same products for about the same price. Local businesses i.e. pharmacies are a big competition because they mainly lie outside of the town and could be more convenient, and they sell more or less the same thing, for cheaper prices. Large department stores also have beauty and cosmetic sections, which are slightly more expensive, although they do claim to be better than others sold elsewhere.
The Body Shop is part of a franchise and therefore has not been directly affected by general increase of the price of raw materials, although because the company works internationally they do lose out when the price of a raw material in one country is cheaper in another, because the finished product becomes slightly more expensive, but they have to sell it at the same price (as close as possible) as the cheaper country.
The body Shop has been affected by exchange rates because in the last few years it has become an international business. This has affected the business because if customers were to buy one product in England, they may find that the same product may be slightly cheaper or more expensive in another country. The Body Shop says that this cannot be helped and so they do not class it as a problem.
The Body Shop has made such a large turnover in the past few years that it no longer is affected by interest rates. The Body Shop will only set up a store if they can afford to buy the premises and set it up accordingly; they own all of their premises.
There are no environmental constraints on the business because the activities of the business do not have any damaging effect on the environment. The business is in fact careful not to harm the earth, or our environment, and once had a recycling campaign to preserve the earth’s natural resources.
The business competes with its with its main competitors by making sure that they preserve natural wildlife, they do not damage the earth, they keep their prices as low as possible, and achieve a high level of personal customer satisfaction.
The business is dealing with economic and environmental constraints by informing customers of the reasons why products may be slightly different prices in different countries. The body shop say that the customers are the most important thing to the business, and they will be lost if the business creates more problems for itself. The owners say that they understand what is going on therefore it is their responsibility to give others the opportunity to understand and respect it too.
The business also have their own environmental beliefs, recycling goods, only using recycled goods, not testing on animals etc., and try to promote this as much as possible to their customers. The body shop now have biodegradable carrier bags, but still encourage customers to reuse them.
The location of the business does not really give it any advantages or disadvantages to dealing with these external influences.
I think the business has responded very well to competition because it has built a customer trust, the customers know that what they are buying is actually what it says it is, the contents are all natural, and none of the products have been tested on animals. I think the location has been an important factor in responding to competition because in the Cornmill shopping centre there are no other health, beauty or cosmetic stores which makes it convenient for people who are only planning to go in there, and on rainy days people may want to stay inside the mall.