Chick-fil-A is an American fast-food chain that primarily focuses on chicken-based products. It was founded in Atlanta, USA, and now holds a 29% market share. Thus, this chain is more popular than KFC among chicken-based food companies.
Chick-fil-A is famous for its healthy and low-carb chicken products. So, a swot analysis of Chick-fil-A can provide a detailed knowledge of the company and its business strategy. Chick-fil-A SWOT analysis contains all the factors affecting the company and its brand image. This can help you understand the company’s success and grow your business.
Look into the Chick-fil-A SWOT analysis and determine the company’s business details. We can find the logic behind the company’s rise by looking at these details.
Chick-fil-A SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis for Chick-fil-A- can get subjective, i.e., many things can be interpreted as strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
Good Product Quality
The company only focuses on the quality of products. This fast-food chain has kept a small and simple menu. Thus, it helps maintain the product’s standards and allows the cooks to focus on the quality. The A in Chick-fil-A stands for A-grade food quality.
Chicken Based Menu
The most ordered item of Chick-fil-A is its chicken sandwich. People like this chain for the consistency of the food products. So, just like the chicken sandwich, the burgers are also fresh and tasty. The company doesn’t use processed or frozen meat.
Chick-fil-A sources chicken that is not only fresh but also grown without antibiotics. This makes their products fresh, healthy, and non-greasy. Lastly, Chick-fil-A has a full line of low-carb and trans-fat-free food.
Exceptional Customer Service
People also like Chick-fil-A for their nice customer service. Chick-fil-A’s drive-throughs have a 4.5-star rating, which is challenging to maintain. The staff at the drive-through takes the customer’s orders when they are in the waiting line. Thus, this makes the customer’s time worth the wait, and they feel valued.
Thus, customer service has significantly influenced the company’s brand development. Chick-fil-A’s brand loyalty and customer retention rate are very high among fast-food restaurants. So, the brand loyalty is also very high.
Good Financial Condition
As the company is owned privately, the franchising rights are with the owner. Out of 3000 applications, 139 people were approved for franchising. This way, only qualified people can open franchises. Thus, 96% of the franchises’ are profitable, and the company owns all of them.
Thus, it is easy to make financial changes as the owners are qualified and fewer in number.
Positive Brand Image
Very few fast-food brands still have a positive image, and Chick-fil-A is one of them. Chick-fil-A does a lot of social work and gives out donations. They give food to charity and take care of the environment. They treat their staff respectfully and have very loyal and happy workers.
Weaknesses
Limited International Presence
All the brands like KFC, Mcdonalds, Burger King, etc. have an international presence. Still, Chick-fil-A is present only in the USA, Canada, and UK.
Even though there are many opportunities in the markets of Asia and Europe, Chick-fil-A is absent in those regions. Due to this, the company has lost out on many growth opportunities. An example of a global presence is Domino’s; they have profitable franchises worldwide.
High Price Points
Most of the fast-food chains prefer competitive prices to increase market share. Yet, Chick-fil-A does not believe in competitive prices. The price points of the items are higher than the competitors.
Thus, it is hard to maintain the customers that belong to the middle class. The company wants to avoid lowering the prices and increasing its market share.
Narrow Product Focus
Most of the competitive brands have many items on the menu. But Chick-fil-A has a minimal menu that has yet to be changed in a long time. The company has strict rules on not changing the menu. The company needs to find a way of attracting customers who don’t like chicken and beef-based food items.
Therefore, this reduces the company’s growth potential, a downside for the brand. For example, TCS is a company that has expanded its business into many diverse fields, and this has helped the brand increase its profits.
Lack of Marketing
Chick-fil-A avoids marketing in an era where all the fast-food companies use catchy marketing. This can decrease the popularity of the brand among the new generation. It is essential to stay in the trend to keep on generating profits.
Sundays are Off
It has been an old tradition of Chick-fil-A to keep their fast-food chains closed on Sundays. The company believes in Christian ideologies, giving workers time off out of respect for their hard work. This makes the brand lose a lot of business on the week’s busiest day. The revenue loss in a year is very major.
Opportunities
Global Market Expansion
Asia and Europe have substantial fast food markets. Yet, Chick-fil-A still needs to open its franchisees in these regions. This is a significant opportunity for the brand to grow. More customers and global recognition is essential for a brand. Thus, just like McDonald’s and KFC, Chick-fil-A can also make their brand popular after detailed market research.
See Also: Retail SWOT Analysis: Things to Know About the Retail Industry
Menu Diversification
Most of the food items on the menu of Chick-fil-A are chicken-based and need more diversity. Some food items have food, but it needs more than its competitors. Menu diversification can lead to an increase in the customer base. New offers and combos can increase the brand’s revenue.
Digital Marketing and Customer Retention
Digital marketing is an excellent opportunity for the brand. They can increase their popularity among the new generation. Introducing a new and cheaper menu can help the brand retain and gain more customers. All the franchises can almost double their revenues if they increase their marketing.
Threats
Shifting Consumer Preferences Towards Healthier Options
The new generation prefers healthy and vegan meals. This new trend can affect the business because Chick-fil-A lacks healthy, vegan food items. Older customers will eat from the brand that has healthy food more often. Not choosing a healthy menu can reduce the future growth of the brand. An example of a healthy food competitor is Beyond Meat.
Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
Chickens and meat have a very high probability of getting spoilt. Moreover, the chicken is prone to diseases and infections. So, if a disease breaks out among poultry animals, it can affect the quality as well as the trust of the customers. Any disturbance in the supply chain can affect the business. If the supply chain has problems, the price of the chicken will increase.
This problem can also lead to a supply of low-quality chicken. If there is even a tiny fault in quality, it can decrease the trust in the brand. Thus, this is a potential threat to the brand name and popularity.
See Also: SWOT Analysis For a Clothing Business: Should You Start It?
Market Competition and Economic Factors
New competitors have a variety of products. Their food items are less expensive than Chick-fil-A. So, the brand’s strategy of staying the same menu and selling the items at a high price is a threat.
Competitors like KFC and Mcdonald’s have trendy taglines for digital marketing. But Chick-fil-A needs a solid, more substantial digital presence. Thus, new trends and competitors can dominate the brand’s market share.
Dissatisfaction among Communities
The LGBTQ community had a strike against the brand. This was due to the suspicion that Chick-fil-A donates funds to organizations that are homophobic.
This is a threat to the reputation of the brand. If they are not careful in managing this issue, it can provoke activists against them. A brand needs to maintain a friendly image among its customers. If the customers do not respect and believe in the company, they can boycott the brand.
Best Buy’s SWOT analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the retail electronics industry.
See Also: What are the Four Parts of a SWOT Analysis?
FAQs
What are some of the strengths of Chick-fil-A?
After seeing the Chick-fil-A SWOT analysis we can see the following strengths: Good Product Quality Chicken Based Menu Loyal Customer Base Good Customer Service
What are the weaknesses of Chick-fil-A?
The swot analysis of Chick-fil-A a indicate that the weaknesses of Chick-fil-A are: Limited International Presence High price Lack of marketing Narrow Product Focus
What makes Chick-fil-A unique?
According to swot analysis, the operating style and the focus on the food quality makes, Chick-fil-A is unique. The Sundays are off for the workers and the menu hasn’t been changed.
Who is more considerable, McDonald's or Chick-fil-A?
McDonald’s is a global brand serving around 70 million people daily. The operations of Chick-fil-A is limited to the USA, Canada, and the UK. So, in terms of customers and total revenue, McDonald’s is better than Chick-fil-A.
Conclusion
The Chick-fil-A SWOT analysis identifies the positive and the negative factors affecting the brand. The brand has a solid customer base and a good product. Yet, the need for globalization and marketing can decrease the growth of the business.
Chick-fil-A is a well-established brand with good profits, but it can only run out of business if it adapts to the latest trends. We can see that the swot analysis for Chick-fil-A takes a lot of work to predict. For understanding a business there are other alternatives to SWOT analysis.
