The North Face SWOT Analysis

The market share of the company in the United States is currently 16%. Internal Strengths The North Face's brand reputation, especially within the outdoor community, is definitely the most significant strength of the company. The North Face is widely recognized for the quality of their products designed to provide high performance and comfort even under the most extreme conditions. Its focus on product technology allows The North Face to constantly create innovative, authentic, and technically advanced products.

Besides the superiority of their products, The North Face's commitment to sustainability and the community is another attribute that encourages a positive attitude toward the brand. More recently, the improvement of customers' in-store experience attained with the creation of innovative kiosks and an emphasis on employees' friendliness, represents another strength of the brand. The North Face's internal strengths have led to significant sales growth in the past two years. Also, last year's reports show that there was a 20% higher demand for its products.

Internal Weaknesses Even though technological innovation is one of the strengths of The North Face, moieties it is difficult to communicate it to consumers. The North Face's technological innovation is also reflected in the brand's pricing which can become a weakness when customers perceive The North Face products to be too expensive. In relation to the labor force, The North Face itself identifies low employee morale and a lack of high opinion of management. Although the use of outsourcing has enabled the company to establish better systems, The North Face relies on too many informal manufacturing sources.

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This can cause significant distribution problems to the many.

External Opportunities

There are opportunities that The North Face can pursue in order to improve its labor force and increase market share. The North Face can implement additional training for the senior management so that they welcome and encourage feedback from their employees. Welcoming ideas would improve employees' morale and would help the The North Face SOOT Analysis By Mark-Wright opportunities that The North Face can benefit from. The first one, is the increase of community involvement in order to improve the company's reputation. Also read SWOT analysis of Ice Cream market

Furthermore, expanding the brand's offerings to other sports and sponsoring athletes participating in such disciplines, would raise awareness and give the brand a more professional look. The third opportunity, involves expanding the brand to the casual apparel industry which could lead to more sales. The international market is another opportunity, The North Face's international sales account for 25% of their total revenue. Creating an online presence in Asia and European countries could also result in a sales increase. Lastly, given that The North Face has previously supplied products to the U. S.

Marines, seeking future government contracts is also an opportunity that the company should look into. External Threats The main external threat to The North Face is competition. The North Face's main competitors are Columbia Sportswear, Garden, and Nikkei. Competitors in the niche outdoor field such as Garden have a stronger company culture, which makes the company appear more unified. Pricing has also become a significant aspect in regards to competition. Companies that are not as focused on quality and durability of their products as much as The North Face, are able to offer more affordable prices.

In the larger scope, competitors with a higher market share such as Nikkei, have the ability to accomplish better community outreach. Another threat that the company is facing, concerns a legal restraint. The North Face was recently involved in a lawsuit with a company created by a teenager in Missouri called "The South Butt". This new company is essentially a parody of The North Face. The lawsuit did not represent a financial threat for The North Face but the parodies of the brand can potentially affect its brand image.

Conclusion

According to the SWOT analysis, the brand's reputation accounts for its most important strength.

There are multiple opportunities to extend its market share, however, The North Face needs to work on their labor force in order to ensure a better company culture and to be able to exploit the opportunities effectively. The North Face's competitive environment should not be a threat if the brand found better ways to communicate their technological innovation. With effective communication strategies The North Face will be able to Justify their pricing and make consumers value the attributes and the longer benefits of its products.

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