The Cooperative SWOT Analysis, Competitors & USP

The Cooperative SWOT analysis evaluates the brand by its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats. In SWOT Analysis of The Cooperative, the strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors whereas opportunities and threats are the external factors.

SWOT Analysis is a proven management framework which enables a brand like The Cooperative to benchmark its business & performance as compared to the competitors, and make strategic improvements. The Cooperative is one of the leading brands in the lifestyle and retail sector.

The article below lists the The Cooperative SWOT, competitors and includes its target market, segmentation, positioning & USP. Let us start the The Cooperative SWOT Analysis:

SWOT Analysis of The Cooperative

For The Cooperative, SWOT analysis can help the brand focus on building upon its strengths and opportunities while addressing its weaknesses as well as threats to improve its market position.

The Cooperative Strengths

The strengths of The Cooperative looks at the key aspects of its business which gives it competitive advantage in the market. Some important factors in a brand's strengths include its financial position, experienced workforce, product uniqueness & intangible assets like brand value. Below are the Strengths in the SWOT Analysis of The Cooperative :

1. About 100,000 employees serving in close to 5000 stores benefitting over 8 million members
2. It sold some of the businesses and made a profit
3. It is the largest funeral director with over 800 funeral homes
4. Established Cooperative young member’s board, to provide insight into views, issues and aspirations of young people aged from 16-25 years
5. Has a diverse portfolio ranging from food retail to banking
6. CSR initiatives include providing grants to local groups and voluntary organizations-more than 2000 in total, over 400 cooperatives received support etc.

7. Over 70,000 employees in the organization

The Cooperative Weaknesses

The weaknesses of a brand are certain aspects of its business which are it can improve to increase its position further. Certain weaknesses can be defined as attributes which the company is lacking or in which the competitors are better. Here are the weaknesses in the The Cooperative SWOT Analysis:

1. Increase in corporate costs has eroded profits away
2. No major presence outside the UK

The Cooperative Opportunities

The opportunities for any brand can include areas of improvement to increase its business. A brand's opportunities can lie in geographic expansion, product improvements, better communication etc. Following are the opportunities in The Cooperative SWOT Analysis:

1. True North strategy, to be consumer-focused and provide them with real value, will help stabilize the food sector 
2. Emerging markets like India, South-east Asia, South Africa etc.

The Cooperative Threats

The threats for any business can be factors which can negatively impact its business. Some factors like increased competitor activity, changing government policies, alternate products or services etc. can be threats. The threats in the SWOT Analysis of The Cooperative are as mentioned:

1. Moody’s downgraded the bank credit rating
2. Group lost lot of money and had significant debt 
3. Food industry impacted from contaminated meat products issue

The Cooperative Competitors

There are several brands in the market which are competing for the same set of customers. Below are the top 3 competitors of The Cooperative:

1.Ruskin House

2.Shared Interest

3.Central England Cooperative

Hence this concludes the The Cooperative SWOT analysis.

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About The Cooperative

The Cooperative Overview
Parent Company	The Cooperative group
Category	Consumer cooperative
Sector	Lifestyle and Retail
Tagline/ Slogan	Here for you, for life
USP	Largest cooperative in the UK
The Cooperative STP
Segmentation	Middle income group
Target Market	Individuals from the middle class
Positioning	Good quality products at inexpensive rate

This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

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