Since the creation of humans, business has been established. For example, People around the world have long been selling merchandise in exchange for gold, and they have long been driving to stores to purchase goods. With the technological evolution, this practice has changed. Today, people don’t even have to go to the store to buy what they want because they have the possibility of having the market virtually present in the comfort of their own home. In regard to this, any business that expands its market online will basically profit in expansion moving from a local to a global market. In this case, the income will be largely intensified. Home Dress’n X is a company that specializes in selling clothes, shoes, home accents, bed and bath products, and luggage. It opened its doors in 1982, selling its merchandise with bargain prices. Nowadays, it is well-known among the S&P, Fortune 500, and Nasdaq 100. Although Home Dress’n X has high ranges in the brick-and-mortar market, its website shows otherwise in the virtual market. The store has been very successful due its great prices as opposed to its competitors. However, when taking a look at the Home Dress’n X website, one can visibly see not much marketing there. Additionally, the website, as opposed to the store, is very dull and not enough diversity is shown. For instance, the store has a variety of merchandise, some brand names, and new trends. The merchandise are arranged according to sexes, sizes, genres, and new arrivals. Due to the high demands of established customers, though, according to Mr. Allendi, who is the sales manager of one of the Home Dress’n X stores, it would make a great impact on the store’s income/sales if there were great improvements on the website with better options for purchasing. How can improvements be made to the Home Dress’n X website so that it attracts and drives more people to the site? As described in Online Marketing Inside Out, “a key ingredient missing, one very important consideration that will ultimately influence all other aspects of your marketing mix … people” (Fley & Tilley, 2009). Hence, the customers’ feedback is paramount to sustaining the business. Indeed, it does make great sense for any business to go online to enhance its market and take the business to the global market where it can be viewed and accessed worldwide. It will be a great step towards more success to move Home Dress’n X forward, so it would bring more profit. Instead of having a website that only focuses on what is being sold, it would be best for Home Dress’n X to show the variety of styles of clothes that are in the stores, show the different patterns and the different colors according to their arrivals. Also, it would be beneficial for Home Dress’n X to give its customers the option to buy online. Consequently, this will attract more customers to the site and promote more sales. The products that Home Dress’n X offers will be sustainable in an online market due to the market demands for new trends at reasonable prices. Home Dress’n X has some good quality and brand name products that are sold up to 60% off their value at competitors’ department stores. Among the big competitors Home Dress’n X faces are Macy’s, JcPenney, and Kmart. These three stores have been in business for a long time and are known for the brands they sell.
The SWOT Analysis, a structured study that identifies an organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses, along with its external opportunities and threats, is used in the chart below to show the contents of the competitors’ websites, the graphics, load time, ease of use, and ecommerce options.
The SWOT Analysis of the Competitors:
Competition Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Macy’s • The graphics are colorful and eye catching
• 18,812 sites link to Macy’s website
• Ease of use
• Can add a “Pin it” button to the product type pages, allowing shoppers to share articles through Pinterest •
