Nordstrom Strengths

Nordstrom was founded in 1901 by John N. Nordstrom, and has been growing ever since. Nordstrom gained its reputation during the 1960s when it was one of the largest shoe department stores in the country. Today, Nordstrom is known for carrying high end luxury brands and now their outlet store, Nordstrom Rack. For this SWOT analysis, I will be looking at the various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the company has today. One of the first strengths Nordstrom has is their customer service. As someone who has shopped at Nordstrom, I have noticed that the customer service in the store is centered around the customer. When shopping the men’s department, the employees working there always check up on you and have great product knowledge

One of the more noticeable weaknesses is the cost of most of their products. Price conscious customers such as me are more than likely not willing to spend almost $100 on a dress shirt. This may result in customers going to other department stores that have more affordable products. Other department stores have more competitive prices compared to Nordstrom. Department stores like Macy’s have been bringing in brands similar to what Nordstrom sells, and will more than likely have a better sale price compared to

New York City may be one of the strongest markets for luxury goods, an article from Fortune states that there has been an increase in tourism from countries such as China, Russia, and Brazil (Wahba P., 2016). Many of these tourists come to shop in the United State and are considered a major growth for retailers. As of now, Nordstrom only has one international location, which is Canada. Nordstrom could potentially open department stores, or market towards more consumers from the European and Asian markets.

On the other hand, there are a few threats that Nordstrom should look out for. One of the major threats to Nordstrom’s department stores is the increase in consumers shopping online. Shopping hubs like amazon pose a real threat to the department store. With the rise of e-commerce, consumers are now able to get online and shop everything they need such as clothing, furniture, jewelry, and more. In a study from 2016, Pew Research found that roughly 79% of consumers are shopping on the web and over half purchased an item from a mobile device (Perez S.,