This report covers Waterstones Macro-environment, Micro-environment, SWOT, competitors, market strategy and marketing mix. It contains an evaluation of these elements inlcuding primary research which was conducted by one of the students
Introduction
Waterstones is a British bookshop chain named and founded by Tim Waterstones in
1982. Since the beginning of Waterstones, the environment around them has changed
, as the world is becoming more digital and the high street is facing challenges. The
following report will examine Waterstone’s current environment, marketing strategy
and the changes the company must make to survive.
Macro-environment
The Book Retailer industry over the past decade has faced with immense competition
from external operators such as supermarkets, department stores, e-reader companies,
and online retailers. Online retailers like Amazon increase competitive pressure by
expanding their product ranges to include new and second-hand books at a cheaper
price. Also, the popularity of eBooks and audiobooks have exacerbated the popularity
of physical books (Mak,2019). The volume of books sold online is only predicted to
increase in 2019-2020. In fact, the primary data for this study shows that “5/8 people
are more likely to purchase online than go to a physical store”.
However, many book retailers have started to adopt new strategies to compete with
external threats by increasing their online presence and redesigning physical shops to
attract new customers. Waterstone needs to offer books in all forms to consumers to
satisfy their need, and to completement their busy lifestyles and behaviours.
Market analysis
Waterstones, like any other company would conduct a PESTLE analysis on a regular
basis to identify the external factors that might affect the market that they operating in.
See appendix 1 for more PESTLE analysis
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