abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
SWOT ANALYSIS ON Big Lots, Inc : Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is a Fortune 500 retail corporation with annual revenues well over $4 billion. Its department stores focus mainly on selling closeout and overstock merchandise. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio, USA and currently operates over 1,400 stores in 47 states.
Big Lots store
A typical store sells a wide variety of merchandise, including toys, furniture, clothing, housewares, and small electronics. Most of the items sold in these stores are purchased as they become available. What is in the store one day may not be there the next, and the store may not get further shipments of those particular items. Most of the merchandise in the stores are closeouts and overstocks. However there are some items in the stores, such as foodstuffs, that are replenished on a continual basis.
In many cases, Big Lots uses an existing building, such as a grocery or department store that had either moved or ceased operations.
Strengths
* Privately owned - no bias for short term thinking to satisfy Wall Street
* The value proposition: price and convenience
* Targeted shopper base
* Financial health relatively good; low debt
* Large scale, centrally managed
Weaknesses
* High turnover / labor challenges
* Increasing operating cost structure
* In-store execution very inconsistent
* Inconsistent sales/store
Opportunities
* Improving sales productivity of existing buildings
* Optimize supply chain, inventory levels, and in-store execution
* Dollar General Market
* Improving supply chain and efficiency
* New stores: nowhere near format saturation
Threats
* Increasing proportion of consumables has significant margin impact
* Economic pressures on core customers (fuel, unemployment)
* Wal-Mart overlap
* Global sourcing under pressure with exchange rate fluctuations
Big Lots store
A typical store sells a wide variety of merchandise, including toys, furniture, clothing, housewares, and small electronics. Most of the items sold in these stores are purchased as they become available. What is in the store one day may not be there the next, and the store may not get further shipments of those particular items. Most of the merchandise in the stores are closeouts and overstocks. However there are some items in the stores, such as foodstuffs, that are replenished on a continual basis.
In many cases, Big Lots uses an existing building, such as a grocery or department store that had either moved or ceased operations.
Strengths
* Privately owned - no bias for short term thinking to satisfy Wall Street
* The value proposition: price and convenience
* Targeted shopper base
* Financial health relatively good; low debt
* Large scale, centrally managed
Weaknesses
* High turnover / labor challenges
* Increasing operating cost structure
* In-store execution very inconsistent
* Inconsistent sales/store
Opportunities
* Improving sales productivity of existing buildings
* Optimize supply chain, inventory levels, and in-store execution
* Dollar General Market
* Improving supply chain and efficiency
* New stores: nowhere near format saturation
Threats
* Increasing proportion of consumables has significant margin impact
* Economic pressures on core customers (fuel, unemployment)
* Wal-Mart overlap
* Global sourcing under pressure with exchange rate fluctuations
Last edited by a moderator: