Detailed SWOT Analysis Report for SecretSales.com: Business Strategy

This report presents a SWOT analysis of SecretSales.com, evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats across three key business functions: Human Resources Management, Accounting and Finance, and Marketing. The analysis highlights the company's pioneering position in the UK technology market, strong revenue growth, and partnerships with major brands as key strengths. Weaknesses include low-profit margins, high advertising costs, and the impact of offering discounts. Opportunities lie in expanding marketing efforts and capitalizing on the growth of flash sales. Threats include competition from high street brands and multichannel retailers. The report identifies customer focus and personalized services as critical issues, recommending reduced advertising spend, minimized discounts, and diversified marketing strategies to address the challenges. The analysis concludes with recommendations for improved marketing strategies, including the use of qualified staff and market research to identify untapped potential.

SWOT ANALYSIS FOR SECRETSALES.COM 1
SWOT Analysis for SecretSales.com
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Question 1: What is a SWOT analysis and its usefulness to the organization?
SWOT analysis is a useful tool used to assess the strengths and the weaknesses of an
organization and identify the potential opportunities and the threats that may be faced by an
organization. The tool enables the managers to come up with solid and valid strategic plans for
the growth of the business. It is essential in making valid decisions for short-term and long-term
plans. Knowing the company strengths helps the managers to concentrate more on them and
utilize them maximally through determining the internal and external factors that may influence
the performance of a company (Kangas et al 2016, p. 84). It helps to use plan and use the
resources efficiently and improve the company operations. Identifying the weaknesses also helps
the organization to avoid mistakes such as offering inferior products as opposed to the
competitors. The company is able to identify the critical areas which need much attention for
improvement.
Conduct a SWOT analysis of SecretSales.com, based on the information in the case study.
Structure your SWOT according to the three business functions: Human Resources Management,
Accounting and Finance, and Marketing. Present your analysis in the form of a SWOT table (40
marks)
SecretSales.com is a well-established company dealing with technology-provision. Some of the
strengths include being the pioneer in the UK technology market which earns it the customers’
interests and trust. The great efforts made to establish the company have born fruits as the
revenues have risen 20pc annually which saw the company attain a gross of £47m in 2015.
Partnering with brands such as Dyson is a great move which has increased the sales volume of
the gadgets. Some weaknesses include being a low-margin business which means if its sales
volume are low, then it incurs great loses. The introduction of new products in the market that

SWOT ANALYSIS FOR SECRETSALES.COM 3
the customers are not used to may foster loses as the customers have not gained the trust in those
new products. The money spend on advertising is too much accounting to 70% of the company
spending and this may pose a financial imbalance for the company. Having to offer too many
discounts to the customers in order to win more of them and retain them and also maintain the
integrity of the brand is a challenge to the financial position of the company. The opportunities
include investing in the marketing of the products using the capital funds raised as most of the
products are not well-known in the market. The business is focusing on informing the customers
on any new arrivals of flash sales by texting them. The threats include; most of the high street
brands have developed their own websites which they use to access the online audience. This
poses a threat to the SecretSales.com Company as it is its main business hence fostering a loss of
customers. The outstanding services offered to the customers by the multichannel retailers also
poses a threat to the company.
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Human
Resources
Management,
Well-developed
repeat custom
which yields
about 80%
company revenue.
-offering many
discounts
Rolling out the
“click and
collect” service
to increase the
customer-
convenience.
Building up
repeat customers
-evolution of the
high street
-good customer
service by the
multichannel
retailers
Accounting
and Finance Overspending on
TV advertisement
The value of the
flash sales is
worth £3bn in
the UK which
presents a great
potential for
growth.
Marketing The use of
tongue-in-cheek
advertising
Texting
customers when
new flash sales
come online.

SWOT ANALYSIS FOR SECRETSALES.COM 4
Based on your SWOT analysis, which are the most important issues that you think
SecretSales.com need to address? Explain the reasons for your answer. (20 marks)
Customers form the most critical aspect in the success and competitiveness of a company in the
industry. The enhancement of the personalization is important in ensuring an increase in the
average spending per head and also customer satisfaction. The spending on advertisement should
be reduced as this utilizes a lot of the company revenues whereas the advertising may not yield
the desired results back (Phadermrod et al 2016, p. 90). The discounts offered should also be
minimized to avoid pressing down the revenues. The management should also come up with
various means of advertising which suits different age-groups in order to reach as many potential
clients as possible. For instance, the use of tongue-in-cheek advertising may only interest the
youngsters while the potential customers of other age groups are left out.
How do you think SecretSales.com should respond to the most important issues arising from the
SWOT analysis? Explain your recommendation. (10 marks)
In order to address the weaknesses of the business, the management should employ the qualified
staff with the necessary skills, especially in the marketing area. This will help to identify new
markets and also increase the number of members. If the business activities are not well-
advertised, the potential customers do not get the interest in buying the products hence they end
up ignoring them (KOLLER 2015, p. 58). Maintaining the strengths also requires experienced
personnel who have a good knowledge of the business strategies. The business strategies should
be fashioned in a way that grabbing any new opportunity is possible and can be done in the best
way possible to reap maximum benefits. There is need to conduct market research by the

SWOT ANALYSIS FOR SECRETSALES.COM 5
management in order to identify the unexploited potentials in the market. This will present an
effective way to address their competitors.
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