Mall of America: SWOT analysis

Mall of America is known for its wide area and number of people that are able to visit each year. Located in Minneapolis, Mall of America is considered as the largest enclosed retail and family entertainment complex in the United States. Every day, hundred thousands of people visit the mall not only to shop but also to enjoy the seemingly endless entertainment that Mall of America can offer. The mall has positioned itself not only as a shopping area but a destination where all the wants and needs of the people can easily be answered.

From retail stores to entertainment sections, Mall of America has already prepared everything that the visitors might ask for. Strengths When it comes to size, Mall of America has undeniably set a world record for its 4. 2 million square feet which is big enough to make the people curious of the products and services that a huge mall could offer. It has four anchor department stores such as Sears, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Nordstrom and includes more than 520 specialty stores making the mall crowded of visitors ever day.

It has 20 sit-down restaurants, 30 fast food restaurants, 36 specialty food stores, and 14 movie screens. Moreover, the Mall of America has 24 shoe stores and 17 jewelry stores. There are 11,000 of employees working on the mall all year round including summers and holidays and 12,550 parking spaces are allotted for shoppers and visitors from different countries across the globe. These numbers emphasize the size of the mall; it is a manifestation of a great business lying in the south of Minneapolis (Sanders, 2009).

However, aside from its capacity to accommodate hundred thousands of visitors every day, the mall was also able to plan well its business making the area a wide range of fun and entertainment for the people of all ages. The concept stores inside the huge mall serve as the venue for introduction of new design or new stores. Apparently, Mall of America benefits both the marketers and customers in the marketplace. The wide area of the mall gives opportunities for the marketers to expand and grow more in the market because of the ability of the mall to attract the potential customers.

In this case, the marketers are able to make sales due to endless entry of people. The target markets of each manufacturer voluntarily enter the mall giving advantages to the tenants of Mall of America. On the other hand, the wide variety of choices has been given to the people making shopping easy for them. Since there is no sales tax in Minnesota, it is also an advantage for the customers and the clothing retailers as well. Aside from that, the mall has been conducting an entrepreneurial program that gives opportunities to those people who wants to put up a business but only have limited sources.

Through this program, they may be able to open up a small store, kiosk, or wall unit as a temporary seasonal tenant (Kerin et al, 2003). Aside from these attributes, the mall had easily made strong recall to the public because of its unique features that make the people come back. A seven acre Camp Snoopy featuring Ferris wheel and roller coaster rides and other games which is always full of people everyday. People could also mingle with sea creatures in Underwater World wherein the visitors are surrounded with sea turtles, sharks, and stingrays.

The Upper East Side including bars, comedy clubs, game rooms, bowling alley, and nightclubs; the LEGO Land Imagination center with 30 full-sized models including astronauts and dinosaurs; and the Cereal World which enables children as well as adults to learn more about cereals. Those are just the unique features of the huge mall; however, they serve as important aspect of mall’s existence because of the number of people that go to Mall of America everyday just to see these different places for entertainment. The mall is also accessible to transportation which makes it easy for the shoppers to visit the mall regardless of their location.

Weaknesses Mall of America has already thousands of employees working in different sections and departments of the mall; however, the mall undeniably lacks security which may lead to conflicts later on. Since there are numerous people in the mall everyday, MOA still needs to add security and hire more people to assure that the stores will gain appropriate profit and the customers will feel their importance of the security guards’ presence. Moreover, because of the wide area of the mall, there are some places which appear dull or blank for the customers.

In this case the company may need to add more accessories to avoid the customers’ disappointment. Another problem is the location of the stores. Since Mall of America is a big place even for hundreds of retailers, some retailers were able to rent more than one space to sell their products. The customers may get tired of repetitive shops while walking inside the mall. In other words, the strategic location of every retail store is needed not only to impress the visitors but also to easily make sales and gain revenue.

Opportunities

Although there are already various stores inside the Mall of America, the constant penetration of companies in the market can still give opportunity to the huge mall to gain more tenants. The idea that MOA was already able to build good relationship with the customers and positioned itself in the marketplace can be strength for the companies that would like to lease an area in the said mall. Aside from that, the hundred thousands of visitors in the mall everyday can give the marketers an opportunity to grow their businesses because MOA is undeniably a venue of wider market and more promises of chances and success.

The publicity that the mall has made to the market was effective enough to make the public become curious of the things that the mall could offer to them. Apparently, most people would like to visit the mall not only for shopping but also for entertainment purposes. In the future, the mall may anticipate a larger number of shoppers and visitors not only from United States but also from different countries around the world.

The constant innovation of products in the market may also increase the demand of people to visit a larger mall which can fulfill their wants and needs in just one location. Mall of America is undeniably a wide market where all types of people and all competitors meet. As the world conforms to modernity, the demand for a more innovative place for fun and entertainment is definitely increasing. This is the reason why Mall of America keeps on booming and seeing a great opportunity of business expansion in the future.

MOA target not only its local customers but also the foreigners who have been interested to see the largest mall in USA. Threats Even though competition has been the greatest threats for the companies producing different items in the marketplace, the possibility of the mall to have direct competitors is definitely low. Its large building cannot easily be replicated by other people who would like to construct and beat the largest mall in US. However, the success of the mall can be replicated by the companies that would want higher profits and bigger market share.

Apparently, the target markets of MOA are not only the local customers; in fact a large portion of its visitors usually come from outside Minnesota and contribute almost more than 50% of its total sales revenues. In other words, other companies may think of new ways to improve their businesses, develop new concepts, and use more persuasive appeals that would make the people shop at their places rather than driving to Minnesota just to visit the Mall of America. Moreover, the strong competition inside the mall may give new concepts to the retailers to sell the products rather than staying inside the mall and wait for the potential customers.

Because of its unique features, MOA can also be repositioned only as venue for entertainment rather than a place for shopping their wants and basic needs. Proposed Marketing Mix Undeniably, the Mall of America still has a lot of opportunities in the future. Although it has been considered as successful in the market, the company still needs to maintain the awareness and recognition of the public. MOA should keep on establishing strong relationships with other businesses to continue their partnership with them and develop more products that would capture the attention of the potential market.

Even though, the mall was able to establish a good position in the marketplace, the company still needs to keep the constant release of advertisements to assure the loyalty of the customers and increase the number of visitors. Aside from the residents of Minnesota, MOA should also target the residents of other states not only to create sales but also to create awareness. With the use of its strength to eradicate the weaknesses and making the opportunities as venue for improvement, MOA will be able to keep its booming business and make it expand more to a larger area of retail business with fun and entertainment for the market.

References Kerin, A. Hartley, S. & Rudelius, W. (2003). Marketing: The Core. New York: McGraw Hill Professional, 2003 Mall of America. (2008). Mall of America Facts. Retrieved March 23, 2009 from http://www. mallofamerica. com/about_moa_facts. aspx Sanders, L. (2009). 10 Reasons to Visit the Mall of America. TravelPost. com. Retrieved March 23, 2009 from http://www. travelpost. com/articles/ten-reason-to-visit-mall-of-america. aspx