This 3 page paper performances a SWOT analysis on the UK retail chain W H Smith’s. The paper considers the strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats the company faced in the year 2001. The bibliography cites 4 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: TS14_TEwhsmit1.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
failures. In looking at the companys position in 2001 the development to the current position may be better appreciated. To undertake this examination a SWOT analysis will be used.
Strengths W H Smiths is a company with a strong name, high brand recognition and respected for quality. This is a key
strength and with the loyalty card scheme that had been introduced there was a high level or regular and loyal customers. There is also a string advertising campaign at this
time, emphasis the family and the way the store can satisfy the whole family. The primary products were those of stationary items and
books, but in the increasing competitive environment these were expanded over the years, with additions such as videos. There were also music, gift ideas and even the ability to purchase
red letter days such as ballooning or car racing lessons, in a box. All of which had increased the sales levels, in 2001 there was a turnover of ?2,735 million,
this had been showing a very steady upwards trend being ?2,584 in 2000, ?2,391 in 1999 and ?2,175 in 1998 (W H Smith, 2003). This had given the company
a good financial foundation and this was being built upon. There are also other investments, such as the adoption of new software in the warehouses to decrease costs and increase
efficiency (Chain Store News, 2001). There appears to be a core competence of developing horizontal unrelated diversification (Thompson, 1998). There has been investment
in other retail outlets that also service the consumer directly. For example in an acquisition the company acquired the DIY chain "Do It All", this spreads the risk, if one