Market Opportunities And Competitor Analysis: A Case Study On Arket In Singapore

Strengths

· Having the brand support of H&M will help them to push their products in the market of Singapore.

· H&M is having good brand reputation in the market along with positive market presence. Thus, it will be easy for Arket to have their operation in Singapore.

· Having the eco-friendly products in the portfolio will help them to positively position the products in the market (Aakko and Koskennurmi-Sivonen 2013).

· Diversified product portfolio will help them to cover more customer segments and thus the dependency on single product line is less for Arket.

Weaknesses

· The brand is new and this it will take some time before competing with the established brands in the market.

· Products of Arket are targeted towards higher end customers. Thus, the volume of the sales will be less as mass market will not be targeted (Toften and Hammervoll 2013).

·  Singapore is having low population and thus, the market opportunity for Arket will be low.

· Being a new brand in the market, market penetration is less for them.

Opportunities

· Market growth for sustainable fashion products is increasing along with the increase in the market opportunities.

· The economy of Singapore is enhancing and thus, the purchasing power for the premium fashion products are also increasing.

· Expanding in more product line or category under same brand will further enhance the opportunity (Turker and Altuntas 2014).

· Having online platform for shopping will help them to target and covers more numbers of customers.

Threats

· Sales of the products of Arket may eat up the market share of other brands of H&M.

· Entry of new players in the market will increase the competition and reducing the profitability.

· Frequent change in the taste and preference pattern of the customers will have negative impact on the business of Arket.

· Outsourcing of the entire production process will increase the dependency of them on the suppliers. Thus, it will increase the risk of them in their course of business (MoosaviRad, Kara and Hauschild 2014).

Political

· Singapore is having positive political environment, which will have favorable impact on the business operation of Arket.

· However, their franchise in the Singapore will have to adhere to the political rules and regulations of Singapore. Thus, it will be different for them to balance the difference between the political regulations of Singapore with that of their home country, Sweden (Haltiwanger, Scarpetta and Schweiger 2014).

· Business regulations in relation to the investment in Singapore will also be different with that of the Sweden. Thus, it is important for Arket to adhere to these regulations.

· Moreover, due to the fact that, Arket will operate as a separate brand of H&M. Thus, they have to enroll themselves as a separate and new entity in the market of Singapore.

Economical

· The GDP growth of Singapore is showing positive trend and thus, it will be beneficial for Arket to market their products (Tremewan 2016).

· Due to the fact that they outsourced their process of production, the production cost will be lower, which will further enhance their profitability.

· However, threats such as economic slowdowns will have negative impact on their business operation (Morad and Balu 2014). This is due to the reason that, economic slowdown will reduce the purchasing power of the customers.

· In addition, the import duties in Singapore will increase the price of their products due to the reason that, Arket will import their products from their outsourced vendors.

Social

· Fashion portfolio of Arket covers both the genders. Thus, the social acceptance will be more for them.

· In the recent time, social perception regarding the sustainable products is positively enhancing. Thus, it will be a favorable opportunity for them.

· However, premium pricing will restrict the volume of the sales. Only the niche portion will get attracted (Bacik, Stefko and Gburova 2014).

· Marinating the effective working environment of their employees working for their outsourced process will further enhance the opportunity.

Technological

· Arket should always update themselves in latest technologies in order to stay ahead in the competition.

· They should initiate the use of latest technologies in the production process in order to have better quality products (Felkar, Jomo and Rasiah 2013).

· Technologies should also be initiated in the field of marketing and sales. This will help to target the customers effectively.

· However, huge cost and infrastructure are important for the technological advancement. Thus, it will have extra cost burden on Arket.

Legal

· Singapore is having various laws related to employee’s welfare. Thus, it is important for Arket to adhere to these regulations for their business operation.

· They have to maintain standard and effective salary structure and working condition for their employees in order to prevent the emergence of issues.

· Financial audit is important to be maintained due to the reason that legal regulations of Singapore made it mandatory for the business organizations.

· It is important for them to identify the conflict areas between their organizational policies and national laws of Singapore.

Environmental

· As earlier discussed, Arket promotes sustainable development. Thus, it will be easy for them to adhere to the regulations and standard related to environment.

· It is important for them to promote sustainable business approach in their entire business operation rather than just on one area. This will includes recycling of packaging materials and reducing the carbon footprint.

· Waste management should be taking care of by them in order to reduce the impact of their generated waste on the environment.