Levi Strauss SWOT Analysis

adam November 4, 2012 Apparel No Comments

Levi Strauss, commonly known as Levi’s, is one of the greatest companies in the Apparels’ and garments industry. The company was founded in 1853, by Levi Strauss himself, and is headquartered in San Francisco, in the state of California, USA. Since its establishment, the business grew and expanded at an enormous speed, and quickly rose from being a local outlet to an international business. Today, the company has its own 470 outlets in more than 100 countries worldwide. As calculated in 2010, the revenue of the company was $4.4 billions and the employees numbered to 16200. These two figures prove that Levi’s is one of the biggest companies in this industry, and that too, privately owned. The upcoming paragraphs will give a brief report on the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

Strengths

The foremost strength of the company is its brand name. Being the oldest brand for clothes and having invented the blue jeans, the company enjoys an elated status in the eyes of the people, and therefore people prefer buying Levi’s goods, assuming that they are a perfect blend of design, comfort and reliability. Also, the brand is considered to be a status symbol for the upper class, so they tend to go for it. Moreover, the advertising campaigns tend to choose energetic and enthusiastic themes so as to target the youngsters specially.

Weaknesses

Industry of apparels and clothing is such an industry in which, each day, many new people are attempting to step. With so much of external competition from new business and already established companies, it is too difficult for Levi’s to maintain its brand image. It needs to be exclusively competent and keep on inventing new styles to stay ahead of the competition. Price is also a weakness factor for the company, because as compared to other competitors, Levi’s clothes are much more expensive, because of which, the people from the middle class refrain from buying it. With so many obstacles in the way, the company hardly stands a chance of growth.

Opportunities

Formerly, western clothes were not acceptable in eastern countries. However, with the introduction of the new century, the clothing pattern, in fact, the culture has entirely turned its patterns. Today, western clothing is widely accepted in most of the countries. A growth in the market for western clothes means a growth opportunity for Levi’s.

Threats

Customer is the king of the market. Without customers, there is no use of business. The industry of clothing is an industry where customers actually form the dominance, regardless of existing monopolies. This compels the businesses to be competitive and compliant to the public demands. Fast changing consumer tastes are a serious threat to the company.

A cut-throat competition is also existent between Levi’s and Lee, Wrangler, Spykar, etc. A slight mistake may leave Levi’s out of the competition. However, there is yet much to be explored by the company.

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