This is a SWOT ANALYSIS for Walton Clothing
Strengths
- One of the only clothes shops in Amersham.
This is a strength, for the business because there is less of a competition.
This is a strength because people love to buy clothes that are good value for money.
- Very friendly and helpful staff
This is a good strength for the business because it is nice to have a business that knows what they are doing.
This is also a good strength for the business because the business is more known if it’s a chain business.
Weaknesses
People want a variety of clothes sizes. The business would find that more customers buying things and their profit would increase if they did so.
- Some of the products are highly priced
People like value for money but some of the items are not so they would be the likely items not to sell well.
Opportunities
- To sell clothes which vary in size
If they sold a variety of clothes sizes then they would get more customers and the profit would increase.
If they opened up more shops then the business would be better known so they would probably have more customers which would mean bigger profit in the long run.
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Set up a website and booking online scheme.
If they set up a website and booking online scheme the business may find that there would be more customers who want to buy the products. It would be easier for some of the customers to do that rather than going to the shop itself.
Threats
- Other competitors like Tescos which sell clothes
Supermarkets are a great threat to a clothing business. They sell good quality clothing at great prices
- Accent and Weatleys that also sell clothes in the high street
These are threats to the business as these businesses are running in the high street so if this business fails to impress the public they may find themselves losing customers.
This is a SWOT ANALYSIS for my clothes shop
Strengths
- Sells a variety of clothes sizes
People want a variety of clothes sizes. We will hopefully find that more customers will come and buy the clothes because there is know where else to buy the clothes
This is a good strength for the business because it is nice to have a business that knows what they are doing because they are friendly and helpful.
The stock will be cheap because we will buy in bulk which will save money and we won’t need to sell the clothes at high prices
This is great because the customers are able to get great deals if they sign up for one.
Weaknesses
This is one of our downfalls because if we are not well know then not many people will know about the business so we will need to do well in advertising the business.
- Doesn’t have a high amount of customers in its database
The reason is because of the above so good advertising to let people know we are here then the business should improve.
Market research
Market research involves collecting, recording and analysing information about consumers by studying statistics and reports and gathering new data by surveys of individuals or groups. There are two types of data, these are:
- Primary data (field research)
- Secondary research (desk research)
Primary data or field research as it is sometimes referred to, involves the collection of first hand information which could be about a firm’s products, advertising, promotions, pricing distribution or competition.
Secondary data or desk research is information which already exists due to other people’s research. It can be found:
- Internally – Within the business i.e. business records e.g. accounts customer complaints and feedback from sales representatives reports.
- Externally – outside the business i.e. published by someone else e.g. newspapers, governments, professional bodies.
I have produced the questionnaire (see appendix) to try and help me research and find out what the public would want if I did open up a retail shop e.g. like what products they would like me to sell in my shop.
I could have used various research methods
- Interviews
- Internet
- Newspapers
s…but I used a questionnaire
The reason why I chose to conduct a questionnaire is because it is the easiest way of collecting the information needed from such a wide variety of people.
I conducted my questionnaire in the high street of Amersham. The reason why is because that is where my business would be situated so I thought it would be the best place.
Advertising – What is it?
Advertising aims to raise awareness of a product or service. It is any message about itself or its products that the firm has paid for.
The main aim of advertising is to increase sales by persuading people to buy a certain brand of goods or buy at a particular shop. In addition to this advertising is often used to raise awareness e.g. by promoting the name of a store it is hoped that the public will continue to shop there.
There are many ways of advertising but it may be a costly mistake if you don’t make the right decision because for example if you wanted to advertise on the television about one shop in the town where you live then it would be pointless way of advertising because why would a shop in the south be useful to someone in the north. It also costs a fortune to advertise on the TV.
Some of the advertising methods are:
- Television – This is an expensive way of advertising but there are some advantages of using TV. It offers colour, sound and movement to catch attention. The products could be demonstrated too. If you don’t want to advertise to a big audience then this wouldn’t be the right choice.
- Newspapers and magazines – this is a relatively cheap way of advertising and could be place in specialist magazines for specific items or your advert could be placed in local newspapers etc
- Commercial radio – This is a great way of advertising for a local business because it is relatively cheap way of advertising. The advert can also be repeated at different times of the day.
- Outdoor advertising – This is a very cheap way of advertising. It gets your message across.
If I went and actually open up this shop I would need to see how much it would cost to advertise it. I found out that:
Cinemas - £25000 for a 30 second spot for 7 days in London
National newspapers full page - £30,000-£50,000
Teen magazines - £5000 - £8000
These are all ways that I don’t need to advertise as it’s very expensive and people in the other side of the country don’t actually need to know about my shop so I had to look closer to home.
Leaflets - £100 for 500 leaflets - £1000 for 80,000 leaflets printed in colour.
I also found out from my potential
Promotion – What is it?
Promotions are aims to persuade customers to buy a product or service for the first time or to buy it again.
Some promotions you could have are:
- BOGOF or by one get something else free.
- Discounts – it’s a good way to get people to notice the product is to stamp 10% off on the label.
- Competitions
- Free gifts
- Product trials
I think for my business I will choose flyers, outdoor advertising and local newspapers to advertise my new business. They are all relatively cheap and they get their message across well.
When I asked the public what sort of adverts they take most interest in they said flyers so that is why I am adding in flyers because that should be the most successful hopefully.
Analysis of market research
I conducted a questionnaire to help me see what would help me in the way I would set up my business.
To see the questionnaire I used see appendix.
The results that came out of doing the questionnaire are:
I only asked females because it is a female clothing shop.
I have asked a variety of age groups so I get a better idea of what the public want.
This pie chart shows us that more people who live in Amersham than Chesham Bois shop in Amersham.
This shows us that more people shop in Walton’s Clothing so that means that it is my main competitor in Amersham.
This shows me how often people shop at my main competitor.
This shows me that people are mostly interested in % discounts.
This shows me that people are mostly interested in flyers.
This shows me that people want clothes that have a variety of sizes.
Asked if Amersham will benefit from this clothes shop they said yes.
So from this
Marketing Mix
Marketing mix can also be called the 4 P’s because it stands for:
P roduct
The business must come up with a product that people will want to buy. It must fulfil some of the customer’s needs or wants.
P rice
The price must be one that the customer thinks is good value for money. This is not the same as being cheap.
P romotion
The product must be promoted so that potential customers are aware that it exists.
P lace
The product must be available for sale in a place that the customer will find convenient.
I it gets only one of them wrong then they are in trouble. The product will fail.
So with this in mind I have to be careful in how I set to go around this because if I get something wrong then my business will fail.
