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January 18, 2021
Content Manager, Bizrate Insights
A great way for businesses to assess where they stand in the marketplace is through the use of a SWOT analysis. To help your organization successfully conduct a SWOT analysis, Bizrate Insights has developed a guide with step-by-step instructions and targeted tips for the ecommerce industry. You can download the guide below, or keep reading to learn more about the basics of a SWOT analysis.
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps businesses identify their key strengths and weaknesses. By acknowledging what your company does well, where it needs to improve, and how you stack up against your competitors, you can discover your industry position and devise a strategy for gaining an advantage over the competition.
The objective of a SWOT analysis is to help your team gain awareness of all the factors that play a part in your decision-making process. When done effectively, the process will foster strategic conversations with your team and provide direction on how you can build on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses for maximum growth and success.
The first step in conducting a SWOT analysis is to gather the internal and external factors that impact your business. To identify these factors, your team will need to gather data on your website traffic, social media, SEO, customer satisfaction, and sales and fulfillment channels. You should also perform competitor research and pull industry benchmarks to have an objective view of how your metrics compare. This will allow your business to evaluate specific factors that may be performing well for your historical context, but underperforming when compared to the industry average.
Next, you will classify the internal and external factors as either helpful or harmful. This is where the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats categories come into play.
The internal factors can be bucketed into areas where you need to improve (weaknesses) or where you are performing well (strengths). When listing external factors, think about your company’s position in the marketplace and how you compare to the competition. Your opportunities are the areas where you are ahead of the competition and the threats are where you are behind.
Since there are so many elements that impact your business’ success, our guide provides guardrails to help your team conduct the analysis efficiently and effectively.
Our SWOT analysis for ecommerce guide includes:
By bringing in your key stakeholders to conduct a SWOT analysis, you will be able to prioritize your efforts, align your team around shared goals, and strategically allocate resources for the future. Download the SWOT analysis guide below to get started.
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