STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Strategic Management (Boohoo.com)

Strategic Management (Boohoo.com)

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant material related to the strategies that should be adapted by the company to sustain in the global environment. We will scrutnize the strategic management activites of Boohoo.com. The company conducts majority of its business transactions online. Boohoo.com offers a wide range of trendy apparels to its customers. The company has a diversified product line ranged from cothes and shoes to fashionable jewellery products. The comany's products are specifically targeted towards female, of all ages.

Through the website, the customers can not only order the product but also can keep themselves up to date with the latest trends in the fashion industry. Boohoo.com has started its operation in 2006, and quickly become acknowledged and recognized through its effecient online trading of clothes and apparels (Norzaidi, 2007, pp. 14-27).

In the next section, we will examine e-commerce business by analyzing the potential benefits and pitfalls of developing business strategy based predominantly on web technology, we will also analyze the probable challenges that the business is likely to face in the global market.

Discussion & Analysis

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is generally defined to encompass any commercial activity that uses the transmission of electronic data to facilitate buying and selling. E-commerce therefore spans a wide variety of industries, not only those trading in tangible goods (as traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts do) but also those brokering the transfer of intangible ownership rights. It also uses a wide variety of technologies, ranging from the simple buying and selling of products using electronic mail to more complex inventory-tracking systems that automatically replenish stock based on sales (Sekaran, 1992, pp. 89-105). Over the past 10 years, e-commerce has become an integral part of business organization and economic strategy—accounting for more than $3.3 trillion worth of transactions in the U.S. economy in 2007 (Tan, 2009, pp. 224-244). E-commerce is of particular relevance to the study of geography as it enables (though it does not guarantee) change in the spatial organization of the economy.

E-Commerce as a Centralizing Force

Although the death of distance has been overstated, e-commerce does help ameliorate the friction of distance—sometimes by directly replacing traditional sales channels but more importantly by operating in the background to make them proceed more efficiently. Many individuals engage in e-commerce, of course—either shopping directly through online retail stores or buying and selling items through intermediaries such as eBay or Amazon. These exchanges may be the most visible form of e-commerce, and they have experienced positive growth in many countries around the world, but they actually make up a rather minor portion of it. For example, retail transactions, also known as business-to-consumer (B2C) sales, account for only a quarter of e-commerce shipments in Canada and a negligible 3.2% of total retail sales in the United States (Norzaidi, 2007, pp. 14-27).

The bulk of e-commerce activities are concentrated in the manufacturing and wholesale sectors—which is to say business-to-business (B2B) ...