Business & Finance - Marketing Industry Research Assignment

Industry Research for a Fortune 500 Company

In this assignment you will learn how to conduct research on a company, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. #450 on the top 500 public companies list known as the Fortune 500 ( https://www.zyxware.com/articles/4344/list-of-fortune-500-companies-and-their-websites); and the industry it belongs to – “Fast Food Restaurants in the US”.

This is a very useful assignment for all marketing and business students. This knowledge will be helpful in researching top public companies that you may need for your classes/job search, and also if you wish to start a business within a particular industry.

In order to start a business, you will need to conduct research to understand the trends in the industry your proposed business will belong to, as well as the SWOT (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) of your business idea. This information will help you create your Business Plan that you will need to get a small business loan (for example) and other purposes.

I am recording the steps that you will use to do this industry research using the example of the company “Nike Inc.” and the industry, “Athletic Shoe Stores”. I have provided a rubric for you to follow and do your best work.

Industry Research on “Athletic Shoe Stores” and the company, Nike, Inc.

1. What is the NAICS code of the industry that you are researching?

44821 – NAICS Code for Shoe Stores in the US (Dalal, 2023)

2. Size of the industry (in dollars)

$61,138 Million (Dalal, 2023)

3. Recent revenue growth statistics (the data should not be older than 5 years preferably)

Shoe Store Industry’s Financial Performance over 2019-2023

Year	Revenues ($M)	Growth over year ago (%)	Comments
2023	61,138	0.45%
2022	60,864	-0.94%
2021	61,438
2020	57,433
2019	58,219

Source: Dalal 2023

4. Trends in the external environment of the industry: Identify three trends in the external environment based on research that you conduct. State if these are social, demographic, economic, technological or political-regulatory trends. Make sure that research sources are cited for each trend, both in-text as well at the end in the references section.

Social:

Online shopping increased during this time, preventing much greater declines in revenue.

In spring of 2021 the COVID-19 vaccine was distributed, causing some coronavirus-related restrictions to ease and enabling physical shoe stores to reopen.

What is expected in the future – search in IBIS World database; on Google; on WSJ, NYTimes and other business publications

Demographic:

A trendy consumer base influences the rate and preferences in new shoe purchases

Shoes are a necessity, though a large portion of industry revenue is generated from discretionary shoe purchases.

When not purchasing out of necessity, consumers tend to purchase shoes aligned with their specific taste in style or what they perceive to be acceptable according to current trends.

Younger consumers are especially prone to purchasing footwear aligned with what they consider to be stylish.

Consumers under the age of 25 have emerged as an increasingly lucrative market for shoe retailers.

Sustainable brands like shoe manufacturer Allbirds have become popular among this demographic.

Eonomic:

Covid-19 pandemic decreased the revenues and growth rate in the industry.

The pandemic hit the US all nonessential businesses, including shoe retailers, were forced to close for several weeks or more.

In addition to challenges surrounding store closures, increased unemployment and decreased consumer confidence hampered industry revenue.

Technological:

5. Identify three main competitors (state if direct or indirect[footnoteRef:1]). What competitive advantage does Nike’s products have over the competitor’s products? [1: See http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-direct-and-indirect-competitors.htm for an explanation ]

1.Foot Locker Inc.

Revenues: past 5 years

Growth rate: past 4 years

Profits: 5 years

Strengths

Weaknesses

Foot Locker’s Financial Performance over 2019-2023

Year	Revenues ($M)	Growth over year ago (%)	Profits ($M)	Growth over year ago (%)	Industry Growth over year ago (%)	Comments
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017

Mounting competition from online retailers:

· The internet offers a combination of time and money savings, posing an especially strong threat to smaller brick-and-mortar stores.

· When purchasing shoes, shoppers can easily compare prices across a wide range of websites and footwear styles.

· There fluctuation in sizing among different shoe brands and styles gives considerable value to the ability to try shoes on before purchasing.

· Consumers tend to be very particular regarding the style and feel of shoes on their feet, an experience that cannot be fully recreated by online retailers

· Companies should consider operating an e-commerce website in addition to their brick-and-mortar locations.

6. This should be completed as a Powerpoint. Be sure to include pictures/images. Take a look at this guide:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/easy-powerpoint-design-tricks-ht

7. Cite your research sources - include both References (bibliography, in the end) and In-text (parenthetical) citations. Use American Psychological Association or APA style for these.

i. I n-text citations are in parenthesis within the text next to where you are presenting the information or data from the cited source. This gives the reader the ability to decide whether to trust the information you present - based on whether the source can be trusted, and also they can verify the info themselves).

ii. References or Bibliography - Provide full information about the source at the end.

iii. Use APA citation style refer to the citation tool at http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-website

Bibliography

Dalal, M. (2023, April 4). US INDUSTRY (NAICS) REPORT 44821 / RETAIL TRADE: Shoe Stores in the US. IBIS World Industry Reports. Retrieved April 9, 2023, from https://my-ibisworld-com.bmcc.ezproxy.cuny.edu/us/en/industry/44821/about (This report is behind a paywall and can only be accessed through a subscription to the IBIS World database.)

Industry Research Assignment Rubric

Use this rubric to check that you have provided all the information required to get the max score!

	Excellent! (3)	Average (2)	Not Satisfactory (1)	Missing (0)	Total
1.NAICS code	Stated	Stated	Stated incorrectly	Not stated
2. Size of industry ($)	Stated with additional analysis & reference	Stated with reference	Stated without reference	Not stated
3. Growth of industry (%)	Stated with additional analysis & reference	Stated with reference	Stated without reference	Not stated
4. Trends in the industry	3 trends i. identified ii. described iii. referenced	3 trends stated. However, all 3 parts not covered	Less than 3 trends have been stated	Trends missing
5. Major competitors	i. 3 competitors identified with description of whether they are direct or indirect ii. Competitive advantage described for all.	i. 3 competitors identified, but not all 3 are described as direct or indirect ii. Competitive advantage not described for all	i. Less than 3 competitors identified, direct or indirect not identified, ii. Competitive advantage not described	None stated
6. Research citation	Both in-text citations and references included with APA citation style	Both in-text citations and references included but not with APA citation style	References included but not in-text citation	Both references and in-text citation missing