Strength
Staples Inc. is an incorporated company that owns several chains of stores and deals with the supply of office equipment. They span all over the world with an incredible two thousand branches in more than twenty-six countries distributed worldwide.
This gives them their main advantage and strength that are clearly above any other competitor. Their many stores have made Staples to have a large network of customers, manufacturers and suppliers of their goods which make them enjoy a wide market base where they are preferred.
The company has been in business since 1985; this has made them earn an enviable reputation among their customers and competitors. With such an experience and delivery of quality services, the company of such calibre is able to earn customers’ loyalty and satisfaction.
A satisfied customer or corporate organisation will always advise a good service provider to the other potential clients thus building a good reputation for the company. That is what Staples has capitalised on and thus created the cutting edge advantage over other companies. Staples’ other strength lies in provision of expert services and advice to corporate companies and clients (Boulton 7).
These clients tend to trust Staples since they have been in the business for a long time and their client base is spread worldwide. Such strength allows Staples to partner with these corporate organisations and, at the same time, provide them with their office supplies.
Their many branches from all over the world add strength to Staples in the sense that, if one branch makes a loss, other branches counter the loss through their profits. Hence in overall, the company is able to make profits. Also, if one branch is unable to sell some specific office supplies due to low demand, then the stock will be transferred to other branches where they are in high demand.
Weakness
Being a multinational company, Staples must experience managerial challenges. These are: lack of enough qualified staff to manage the different and many branches, malpractice by the branch managers who may take advantage of the company headquarters being far away from them.
The company also faces challenges when it comes to preparing financial statements, because the company has many branches in different countries that use different currencies as they also run online and offline stores. Reconciling such financial statement needs a lot of professional expertise which is expensive.
The procedure for opening new branches in other countries is also sometimes hindered by the government red tape in the different countries. If successful, the taxes paid are also high and thus cut the profit margin of the company (Armstrong 10).
Opportunity
Staples enjoy a well-defined market gap that they dominate and thus they can easily expand their market coverage. Their large network of stores makes them well experienced and thus able to easily penetrate new market areas that they have not yet covered. The company can also decide to franchise the name “Staples” to the other upcoming business and thus enable them to earn a certain percentage from their profits.
Staples enjoy a good brand name and thus they can use the advantage and venture into the service industry. They may decide to offer services that revolve around the maintenance and repairs of the products they supply. If the company does so, it will be able to command a larger part of the market share and this will ensure improved profits and customer loyalty (Boulton 8).
Threats
The Company faces threats from upcoming new businesses that want a share of the same market niche. These businesses usually offer high incentives and discounts to their customers that make it hard for Staples to compete. The linking of all their branches and subsidiaries to use one e-commerce Website is also a threat.
This is so because of the risk of crushing due to a high number of traffic leading to jams and collisions in the network. The site can also be hacked since it receives online payments for goods ordered via the online store. This leads to many losses even if it is for a single day (Armstrong 14).
Finally, the advertising costs incurred to keep up a brand name are usually very expensive compared to those incurred by start-up businesses.
Upcoming businesses are usually preferred by the clients since they offer new products or sometimes the business owners just want to try something new. Hence, if the company is to keep up its current share of client in the market, it needs to invest heavily in advertisements that promote brand loyalty.
Survey questions for offline stores
The questions are to be directed to the offline stores operating in the United Arab Emirates. The survey’s main aim is to find out what types of products the business community prefers.
These questions will be in two main categories; questions that have multiple choice answers and another set of questions that are open-ended and thus allow the respondents to write their own view and expectations as it does not limit their response like in the first case.
These questions should be presented in two forms which are; use of questionnaires and interviews. The interviewer may ask several questions at once or even use leading questions to find out what the customer prefers. The survey will be carried out by the company employees at the predetermined locations of the new branches opened by the company.
Survey questions
- Do you have any specific office supplies that are in high demand?
- What are the operating hours for your store?
- Do customers prefer office delivery? Yes/ No.
- How often do customers visit your main shop to place an order?
- Which products do clients buy most?
- Do clients buy the products in bulk or small quantities?
- What are some of the complaints and suggestions that you receive from your customers on some of the products?
- What is the administration’s or authorities’ policy on new business?
- Who are your major clients?
- Do you carry out seasonal promotions and offers? If so, how effective are they?
- Do you do deliveries for your customers?
- How do you deliver your products to the customers?
- What is your stock turnover?
- What are the main challenges of operating the business?
- What is the mode of payment used by most customers? (Cash/ cheque /credit card)
- Is there enough staff to serve in the stores? Yes/ No. If yes, are they skilled or unskilled?
- Which storeis your major competitor for the market share?
- What range of prices are the customers comfortable with?
- Do you offer after sale services for your products? Yes/ No.
- What is the duration ofyour product warranty period to the customers?
- What are some of the costs incurred in operating this business offline?
- Which brand of computer and office stationery do the customers’ prefer most?
Works Cited
Armstrong, Michael. A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, London: Kogan Page, 2006. Print.
Boulton, Waren. Market Definition and the Price Effects of Mergers, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.