On the other hand, though, the company is highly vulnerable to erosion of its online market share in several categories, except those that may require a touch-and-feel ability to encourage the purchase decision (i.e., a large boat or tent).
Force No. 5: Internal Rivalry: The company is privately held and there was no internal rivalry discerned from the literature review.
Market Penetration, Market Development and Product Development
The company's market penetration in North America consists of 52 retail stores as well as its facility in Canada together with its online offerings (About Bass Pro-Shops, 2012). The company's market and product development remain aggressive and high profile in all of the communities in which it competes (Bass Pro-SWOT analysis, 2012).
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis helps to identify internal and external factors that affect the company's competitive environment.
Strengths (internal): Because the company is privately held, the company's leadership team enjoys a high degree of flexibility in its decision-making.
Weaknesses (internal): Although the company is technically an "international," Bass Pro-Shops has only launched one retail store in Canada and there is no indication that there are plans for expansion to other countries in the foreseeable future.
Opportunities (external): The company has formed strategic partnerships with police and sheriffs' agencies in a number of the communities in which it has operations in an initiative intended to promote inner-city sports through basketball, soccer and softball teams (Wilson,...
These initiatives may help create lifetime customers for this sporting equipment.
Threats (external): The primary threats arrayed against the company today are in its online store where its Website appears stodgy and old-fashioned (perhaps by design), but where the shopping and checkout process need to be streamlined in any event.
Conclusion
When people walk into a Bass Pro-Shop Outdoor World megastore, they are in for the experience of a lifetime. The ceilings are 100 feet high and the sense of being outdoors is further heightened by waterfalls, life-size (stuffed) mountain lions and bears, but real fish, turtles, and other sea creatures all of which are free to the public. The research indicated the company is achieving its mission statement and vision. The company has achieved a leading role in the hunting and sporting goods sector, with dozens of retail outlet stores across the United States and its single facility in Canada. Bass Pro-Shops also promotes its products and services through its corporate Web site, a resource that was shown to be in need of overhaul. Finally, the company has succeeded where others have failed by providing a unique shopping experience for its brick-and-mortar customers while providing an exhaustive selection of everything sports and hunting in its online offerings.
References
About Bass Pro-Shops. (2012). Bass Pro-Shops. Retrieved from: http://www.basspro.com/.
Bass Pro-SWOT Analysis. (2012, April). London: Datamonitor Plc.
Wilson, M. (2006, May). Bass Pro-Shops goes digital. Chain Store Age, 82(5), 180-181.
