EMS5EMT: ShowPo Business Model Canvas Analysis and SWOT Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of ShowPo's business model, a Sydney-based online fashion retailer, using the SWOT framework. It examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with each of the nine components of the Business Model Canvas, including key partners, activities, value propositions, customer relationships, customer segments, key resources, channels, cost structure, and revenue streams. The analysis highlights how ShowPo leverages its strengths, such as targeting young women and offering trendy clothing at reasonable prices, while addressing weaknesses like limited menswear options and potential threats from competitors. The report also assesses the impact of key activities like research and development, value propositions, and customer relationships on ShowPo's market position and potential for growth, particularly in the context of its online presence and global expansion strategies. The report concludes with an overview of findings and recommendations for ShowPo's business development.

Running head: APPLIED MANAGEMENT FOR ENGINEERS
APPLIED MANAGEMENT FOR ENGINEERS
Name of student
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Author Note

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report was prepared to discuss about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
considering the various attributes present in the business model canvas prepared for ShowPo
in Australia. The company had managed to sell women fashion and clothing items online,
which also created greater scopes for the business to enter the global marketplace with ease,
though by overcoming the weaknesses and threats associated with the business. From the
analysis of key activities, key resources, channels, value propositions, customer segments and
customer relationships, the company had managed to improve in all these areas, which
ensured consistency in management of business functions and processes along with greater
scopes and opportunities for enhanced profit level and attaining competitive advantage too.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
SWOT analysis for each of the element.................................................................................3
Findings.....................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................10
Appendix.................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The report is prepared to analyse an existing business case considering the business
model canvas prepared for Showpo in Sydney, Australia. Showpo is a local Sydney based
online fashion retailer in Australia targeted at the young female individuals considering the
vision of “to be her go to place to shop”. The report will present data and information about
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats based on the SWOT analysis done for the
nine major components present in the Business Model Canvas. It will also focus on the
various partners associated with the business, major activities, resources and value
propositions, channels as well as the customer relationships managed [12]. The customer
segments, cost structure and the streams of revenue will also be assessed to determine those
strengths and weaknesses and also how it can contribute to the management of opportunities
for resolving the threats and obstacles with ease and efficiency [13].
SWOT analysis for each of the element
SWOT analysis for the “Key Partners”
The strengths of collaborating with the key partners include partnership working and
greater scopes for investments, required to improve the marketing activities’ efficiency as
well as the ability to reach a wider group of audiences. For example, Adyen provided support
to the online women fashion clothing company to enhance the global business operations and
expansion. The involvement of key partner including the bloggers should also help in
improving the marketing efficiency and promotions.
Working with key partners can also result in sharing the amount of profit or loss
achieved between the two companies, which is a major weakness [5]. The liability of partners

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for the business debts is immense, which can be another drawback, because of being liable
for the share of partnership debts.
By partnering with other global fashion brands, it will create opportunity to excel in
terms of wide variety of products and services delivery. ShowPo experienced issues in
payment gateway and with the inclusion of Adyen, the two functions, i.e., payments,
transactions and sales would be integrated in the same platform, thus cerate convenience for
customers to access the products and services too along with better security during payment.
The threats could emerge due to security frauds in payment gateway and often the
partner can hold the parent company responsible or liable for the debts in case of poor sales
and revenue generation [15].
SWOT analysis for the “Key Activities”
The strengths of key activities are that ShowPo has continuously conducted
researches and developed approaches to design new products and increase the stocks through
introduction of new and wide range of women clothing wear. The distribution of products
online has also facilitated greater exposure to the young women who are engaged with the
social networks often, thus grabbed their attention to influence buying behaviours too [4].
Often focus on introducing wide range of new clothing items for women may lead to
lack of understanding of the demands and expectations of the consumers. The lack of
compliance with the regulatory mechanism can be another weakness, which can also hinder
the proper distribution of products at both online and offline platforms.
The research and development activities are considered as key activities, because it
can enhance the organisational ability to facilitate innovation, furthermore, ensure manage
proper channels required to distribute the products and services properly in different market

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segments. The management of logistics and supply chains would also create excellent
opportunities for meet the expectations and demands in the marketplace [17].
The threats are caused with the emergence of risks such as the cyber risks, fraud
activities during the payment gateway management while the labour risks could also cause
major threats and affect the supply chain negatively.
SWOT analysis for the “Value Propositions”
The strengths of the value proposition for the company named ShowPo are that the
young women have been targeted, who are habituated with the use of online fashion and
clothing app and often visit online website to make purchases of the latest trendy clothes. The
new and latest trends are followed by the company, which is a major strength and it has
helped in drawing huge number of potential clients. ShowPo has made wide range of clothing
items available for the young female individuals at reasonable prices, which has been a major
strength too [14].
The weaknesses could be lack of clothing items for men and not much popular in
terms of offline selling. The targeted market segments comprise mostly of female individuals,
due to which, the male customers might not be generated in large numbers, which is a major
weakness.
The huge number of women’s clothing wear based on the latest trends in the market
available at affordable cost has created great scopes and opportunities for drawing more
clients and to influence their buying behaviours too. This would create better cash flow and
higher revenue generation capability too [9].
The threats could be the presence of competitors such as major clothing companies
and online fashion clothing managed by Missguided, Myer, David Jones etc.

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SWOT analysis for the “Customer Relationship”
One of the major strengths, in terms of this attribute from the business model canvas,
is that the management of good communication between the business and its clients. ShowPo
has interacted with the customers via social media channels and by sending email to
understand their demands and preferences, furthermore leading to better sales and better
ability to influence consumer buying behaviours.
The weakness could be negative feedbacks that are often posted o social media
channels, which might degrade the brand image, thus result in sales decline. Lack of reach to
global marketplace can be another weakness, which could make the company unable to
achieve the desired outcomes.
The development of easy return policies for the customers could not only allow the
clients to return back the items if that does not meet their expectations, but should also create
positive mind sets among them regarding the online fashion clothing brand [7]. The
communication via social media channels and email marketing should also boost brand
identity and lead to greater exposure of products and services to the customers.
The threats are caused due to the negative comments about the products on the social
networks and communication via email may be ignored by them, which should result in lack
of brand effectiveness.
SWOT analysis for the “Customer Segments”
In terms of this element, the young women aged from 18 to 40 have been targeted,
who are fashion conscious and keep up with the latest trends. Thus, the products and services
have matched their level of expectations, which increased the sales revenue too.

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The weaknesses could be the poor ability to target the luxurious market segment with
higher income and some individuals who are not much habituated with the use of mobile app
and online website.
More opportunities are created for the company to target the price sensitive customers
and even create ease for them to access the products online, furthermore influence their
buying behaviours too [10].
The threats are caused when the company aim to target the luxurious market segment,
who prefer purchasing clothing goods from popular companies in Australia like Zara, David
Jones, etc. rather than from local businesses like Showpo in Sydney, Australia.
SWOT analysis for the “Key resources”
The intellectual property rights including use of patents, copyrights and trademarks
have offered the company with better resistance to deal with infringement and ensured
protection of brands, logos and slogans. The employees are committed to their roles and
responsibilities, which has facilitated the business’ working environment [13].
The weaknesses of the attribute could be lack of availability of sufficient raw materials and
resources while there could also be violation of copyrights and changing market conditions
might result in affecting the value creation [16].
Opportunities are created for ShowPo to enter the foreign markets and at the same
time, manage global business expansion effectively too.
The threats of competitors and sometimes infringement of copyrights often result in
violation of trademarks and patents, thus may cause negative brand image and identity. Lack
of motivation of employees could be another threat that should deteriorate business
performance.

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SWOT analysis for the “Channels”
The online website has helped in making wide range of women’s fashion clothing
items accessible to the customers, which is a major strength. The social media marketing and
development of mobile app has further created convenience and eased the purchasing
activities for the clients. Lower maintenance costs are incurred along with better search
engine visibility and extended capacity of clothing goods.
The weaknesses are not being able to check the products physically, which might
make customers get concerned about the quality of fabric and other things [1]. This could
affect sales and create negative mind sets among them too
The opportunities are to influence consumer buying behaviours by making them
acknowledged with the products and services delivered, furthermore get the items delivered
at their doorstep.
The threats of e-commerce business could be taxation issues, poor logistics and
supply chain management, etc. The risks of unwanted behaviours and comments on the
website and hacking of personal information during transactions could threaten the business
performance [11].
SWOT analysis for the “Cost structure”
The strengths of cost structure for ShowPo are that because of the online women
clothing website management, there has been not much need to renting or developing
buildings, due to which the operational costs are lower. The company has made sure to
provide good amounts of wages to the staffs and invested hugely for their training to
strengthen their skills and improve business performance.

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The material and production costs are higher, which can be a major weakness. The
management of good wages and benefits has kept employees motivated, furthermore, lead to
betterment of employee performance and productivity too [6]. The threats might be caused
when the attrition rate and turnover of employees are higher.
SWOT analysis for the “Revenue streams”
The revenue streams are fetched with the selling of clothing items for the women
online, which has created ease for online purchases made by the clients. The focus on young
individuals has helped in keeping up with the latest trends, which can be a major strength
while the events to promote the products has created greater opportunities for better brand
exposure and ability to draw in both new and existing clients. The threats are caused with
lack of promotions and advertising, which can also affect the revenue generation capability
[13].
Findings
From the analysis of these attributes of the Business model canvas, it has been
understood that the Company has engaged with partners and ensured working collaboratively,
while at the same time, facilitated targeting the market segments comprising of younger
female individuals. Adyen has provided support by providing better security and managed
smooth functioning of Showpo to enhance the scopes for international business expansion
too. The payment gateway and transactional activities have further helped in preventing
security frauds [8]. The major activities including research and development activities to
enable innovation and enhanced the range of products to draw improve potential clients
towards the brand. There were certain risks as well such as lack of ability to manage supply
chains properly due to the labour related risks whereas the emergence of major competitors
within the online fashion clothing industry could also contribute to the emergence of risks all

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throughout [2]. The company has maintained good relationships with the customers by
sending emails and keeping close interactions via social media platforms, which has resulted
in greater brand exposure whereas the ability of target the luxurious market segment could
also be a major weakness of ShowPo. Based on the analysis of these findings, it could be
stated that though there were few threats and weaknesses, still the company has managed
successful e-commerce business, which should not only allow for better management of
global operations, but would also help in generating higher revenue and attain competitive
advantage in business [3].
Conclusion
The report was prepared to analyse an existing business case comprising of the
various aspects included in the business model canvas prepared for ShowPo in Australia. The
major activities, resources, channels, customer relationships, value propositions and
customers segments were assessed to determine its strengths, weaknesses as well as the
opportunities that could be created for overcoming the threats faced. The strengths were
assessed to ensure creation of scopes and opportunities, furthermore maintain consistent
production and create scopes for higher revenue generation and to attain competitive
advantage in business as well.

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References
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[3] Euchner, J. and Ganguly, A., 2014. Business model innovation in practice. Research-
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[9] Payne, A. and Frow, P., 2014. Developing superior value propositions: a strategic
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Appendix
Key Partners
 Online fashion
retail
companies
 Bloggers
 Trend setters
 Aligned global
fashion brands
 Local textile
sources
 Trend scouts
Key Activities
 Evaluation of
approaches to
design new
products
 The supply chain
management and
logistics
operations
 Development of
online website for
distribution of
products
 Research and
Value Propositions
 Females inclined
to the online
fashion brand
with the use of
online clothing
fashion app and
website
 Capacity to
follow fast and
new trends
 Wide variety of
women’s fashion
clothing
Customer Relationship
 Communication via
email and social
media platforms
 Create easy return
policies for the
customers to return
products
 Global trends
 Increase in sales
generation and
influence them to
come back again
Customer
Segments
 Females aged
between 18-40
 Female
individuals
with mid-level
income
 The price
conscious
clients
 Online and
tech savvy
female

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development
activities
 Distribution
 Forecasting and
trends
available online
 Available at
reasonable
prices and
fashionable to
cope up with the
recent trends in
women’s fashion
clothing
customers
Key Resources
 Employees,
considered as
human resources
 Financial
resources
 Patents,
copyrights, etc.
that are
intellectual
resources
Channels
 Online website
 Promotional
channels include
social media
platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram
 Email marketing
 Online channels via
web and mobile app

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 IT
 Marketing
 Pattern makers
Cost structure
 Fixed costs, variable costs
 Economies of scale
 Logistics and operational costs
 Materials and production costs
Revenue streams
 Selling the women’s fashion clothing products online
 Events held to promote the products