SWOT Analysis for Turkish Flash Sale Company called Trendyol, competitor of Markafoni.

1. SWOT ANALYSIS Murat Aydin
murataydinn1@gmail.com
Strengths Weaknesses
S W
Opportunities Threats
O T

2. SWOT ANALYSIS
S Strengths
•trendyol holds inventory and it is not middleman type of business which has been highly-
criticized by investors.
•trendyol has good reputation and positive brand image.
•trendyol has over 4 million members which means 1 out of 9 internet users in Turkey use
trendyol (36 million internet users, 5th largest internet population in Europe) {2011 data}
•trendyol has been raising funding from reputable investors such as KPCB and Tiger Global.
•trendyol provides easy shopping experience.the website is fast and user-friendly.
•there is highly positive feedback on the customer service experience (fast, responsive,
friendly) compared to main competitors.
•trendyol has strong relationships with manufacturer/distributor of the brands.
•trendyol has some price advantage on certain fashion product groups over its close
competitors.
•trendyol has higher fashion product breadth compared to close competitors,
markafoni&limango.
•trendyol employs strong marketing functions to reach its customer base(social media
utilization, SEO, blogs, email marketing,PPC..etc)
•trendyol has recently launched full-price sales website called modagram which will help the
company shift its business plan in the future to grow more and become profitable.
•due to business model,trendyol is able to collect money once sales orders are delivered, on
the other hand, it makes payments to brands with 1-2 months payment terms.

3. SWOT ANALYSIS
W Weaknesses
•trendyol's main customer profile is female, young, high income only.
•trendyol has single channel to sell its products which is online.
•trendyol is lacking agile integrated business planning infrastructure and processes which causes the
company not to grasp optimal product volume and mix in stock which eventually causes low stock
turnovers, loss sales and costly supply chain operations.
•trendyol's website design has room for improvement. (for ex. website's right field is quite unemployed
which requires many pages to present whole brands or the website gives the feeling that too many brands
are compressed as small fields are used or the website is very colorful which could be confusing for some
users.)
•there is no personalized/customized frontpage or emailing system for different type of customers.
•there is quite frustration from several customers related with long and/or inconsistent leadtimes after the
order is placed.
•email fatique will keep being a problem until the company figures out customization and sends categorized
or personal emails regarding the campaigns / discounts ..etc
•trendyol's website does not have product grouping(navigation) as sub-category > brand which is especially
important for men's shop as men tend to shop more for specific needs. (top level category goes directly to
the brand.)
•most of the boutique sales start at the same time with the same shopping duration which dilutes the
meaning of flash sale and could be boring for users.
• trendyol is not able to provide face to face interaction and socialization with its customers which is
especially important in high-end fashion sales.
•trendyol uses the same shipping companies with its main competitors.(markafoni&limango)
•trendyol's website design is similar to main competitors'.
•trendyol runs with high operational costs and low margins.

4. SWOT ANALYSIS
O Opportunities
•high competition could actually increase customer awareness and increase market share for total flash sales business and
trendyol.
•to focus more on men's shop and baby&mom category, increase awareness between potential customers.
• to expand market to other big countries, where flash sale is still not big.
•to extend product line to other segments such as sporting goods, food and tech.
•to cross-advertise btw trendyol&modagram which will help picking sales up.
•there is no mature or organized factory outlet or off-price retailer concept in Turkey which leaves most of the overstock sales
to online channel. Regardless, it is expected that flash sale will continue to open up to a larger market and will ultimately
disrupt the off-price retailing market and trendyol should take well advantage of this.
•formal monthly retail S&OP process could be put into place to bring all departments in line and agree on a single monthly
demand plan. This would help forecast accuracy and overall profitability.
•it is expected tablet usage will increase over the upcoming years and conversion rates with tablet users are higher than
desktop users.
• to keep creating private label apparel exclusively for trendyol thru crowdsourcing and engage more with customers.
•to consider opening an iconic flagship store for face to face interaction.
• fully usage of data analytics to take actions to operate efficiently and provide personalized offerings to customers.(for ex.to
define most loyal and profitable customers and offer different incentives for them.)
•to further focus on the accumulated raw customer and sales data, create meaningful business results, analyze and make
better strategical decisions.
•to focus on how to enrich customer experience and make it more fun besides providing good customer service.
•to collaborate more and tighten relationships with brands by sharing analytics data to improve visibility over the whole supply
chain. this could also help securing stock to buy from these brands.
• to invest in the systems that help trendyol delivers the best shopping experience.
•low cost-high quality textile market in Turkey could help international expansion.
•in the long term, there could be an opportunity for trendyol to become an omni-channel retailer.
•trendyol has a significant competitive advantage over fast fashion retailers in the structured nature of the demand signals
(clicks, views and purchases), and it is possible to automate the identification of trends, while retailers like Zara, H&M,
Bershka, Mango must rely on store managers to proactively surface these insights.
•besides sponsorships to certain events, trendyol can involve more in social projects such as (RED), poverty
programs.(TOM's shoes business model ..etc)

5. SWOT ANALYSIS
T Threats
•modagram (especially outlet section) could cannibalize trendyol sales figures
•trendyol runs in a very dynamic market environment with short product life cycles and intense competition.
•trendyol is vulnerable to external events as there is no certain competitive advantage over competitors.
•new competitor - 1V1Y has a natural advantage on providing local well-known brands due to its stakeholders and trendyol
would not be able to compete for those brands at the same price level.
•positive economic conditions could shift demand more to full-price products rather than flash sales with high discounts.
• low product quality perception due to high discounts (devaluing the product)
•big players in ecommerce or retailing such as Amazon, Nordstrom are getting into flash sale business thru buying directly
or creating their own and expanding their operations into other regions and Turkey is a very good market for them
considering the population potential and economy. Moreover, flash sites are getting bigger and expanding to other countries
themselves.
•it is expected that there will be consolidation at the top for flash sale sites in the near future and trendyol should at least
keep its current status until then.
•there are so many clones which basically makes price and customer service are the only factors to differentiate and creates
supply problems for trendyol.
•it is expected that flash sale revenues will be cut by substantial amounts soon which requires to take strategical actions
urgently.
•as flash sale business matures, brands have become price setters rather than being price takers and this situation
increased costs and allows less discounts.
•as flash sale industry has been shaping up, designers started plan low quality clothing for overstock.
•advanced forecasting and S&OP processes at the higher level of the chain (manufacturers,distributors) are helping to
reduce obsolete&excessive stock and could be a threat for trendyol to supply stock.
•the improving economy could deter trendyol's suppliers from using the site as a primary means of distribution.
•trendyol works with luxurious brands and these brands' intention would never be to sell at discount unless there is a really
need for that. this situation makes it difficult for trendyol to foster deeper relationships and collaborations.
•trendyol must be ready and able to shift the whole business model from flash sale to full-price if /when flash sale business
starts to deteriote.