Timberland is a fashion industry that was established during the year 1928 and is headquartered in New Hampshire, United States. The company is owned by VF Corporation. The company sells footwear, watches, clothes, sunglasses, glasses, and leather goods. Its footwear is mostly intended for outdoor use. Apart from its head office located in New Hampshire, it also operates from offices located in other parts of the world. The Horween Leather Company provides leather shells for footwear to the Timberland Company.
Timberland is a complete outdoor sports brand. It has outdoor apparel and accessories for men, women, and kids. The company produces quality outdoor wear to make the users feel comfortable. Amongst the outdoor brand, Timberland is a popular brand for its quality products. The company has been in this industry for the past many years and is well-established in many trade markets.
Let us examine the SWOT analysis of Timberland to know the company in detail.
Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Timberland
- Strong business presence – Timberland has a strong retail presence in countries like the UK, USA, and Canada. It has attained its existence through its several flagship stores and is present across the globe.
- Involvement in CSR activities – The Company believes in environment preservation and is actively involved in CSR activities. This is a big strength to the company as it increases its brand visibility.
- Technology in its production – The Company makes use of scientific technology into the production of leather goods. This gives the products a good reliability feature as they are used mostly in harsh weathers.
- Expanding portfolio – The brand has been constantly into enhancing its brand portfolio by means of various product lines. Their main focus is to make the brand a complete lifestyle brand for exciting people. Its top-selling categories are men boots, women boots, boat shoes, and yellow boot.
- Strong marketing – The company has good marketing and advertising skills and due to which it has gained a lot of visibility.
- Good brand value – Timberland has a strong brand name and recognition. This is a very critical factor to survive in the retail industry. Timberland is being recognized in the market as a brand for outdoor work and activity.
Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Timberland
- Struggle in expanding – This brand struggles itself to expand its business operations globally. This is indeed a great weakness to the brand as its brand visibility will be less.
- Restricted business areas – Timberland depends on sales abroad in only a few places like Europe and Asia. Because of this, the company sees lower growth in business. International sales revenue becomes less.
- High price – Timberland’s products are slightly at a higher rate. This is a weak point for the business as many customers may prefer to purchase a similar product from other retailers.
- Acquisition – The Company was recently merged with VF Corporation. This will mean that VF Corporation makes changes to the brand which will be more difficult to increase the brand image.
Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Timberland
- Expand in retail operations to new places – Timberland can enhance its retail operations to new markets apart from the USA and UK. This will provide a new opportunity for the business to serve other countries.
- Sponsor many events – To increase brand visibility, Timberland can sponsor many outdoor sports outside the USA.
- Monitor the prices – The Company can monitor the prices of raw material used in the products. This will have a tap on the production thereby making it more cost efficient. This can reduce the price of the Timberland’s product, hence making it more flexible.
Threats in the SWOT analysis of Timberland
- Tough competition – Timberland faces tough competition among various other brand types. This is a big threat as its competitors are from established international brands like Nike. The company faces tough competition from both domestic and international brands.
- The brand’s price – Considering the current economic condition, the company’s prices could be unreachable. This could hit the revenue generation of the company.
- Similar products – The brand outside America faces threat as there are many brands that produce similar products. Hence, the company should produce some innovative products to beat its competitor.
