Detailed SWOT Analysis of Tim Hortons with Company Overview

In our previous case study, we looked into the Business Model of Starbuck, the world’s leading cafe business. In this article, we will tackle Tim Hortons SWOT analysis.

Tim Hortons, commonly known as Timmies, has captivated Canadians’ hearts and taste buds. Tim Hortons Inc. is Canada’s largest quick-service restaurant brand and an international fast food restaurant chain. Because of its dominance in the coffee and doughnut sector. They have become a cultural icon in Canada.

Tim Horton’s marketing activities are another factor that has helped the company grow into the behemoth it is today. Marketing is evolving as the world moves online, and if you want to stay up to date, check out our Free MasterClass on Digital Marketing 101 taught by Karan Shah, the CEO and Founder of IIDE.

Before we dive into the SWOT Analysis of Tim Hortons, let’s understand the company, its founding, financial status, products and competitors.

About Tim Hortons 

Founded in 1964 at Hamilton, Canada, Tim Hortons is a go-to place for Canadian’s when they’re craving a creamy cuppa of coffee or mouth-watering donuts. 

Tim Horton, a former National Hockey League player, initially ventured into the hamburger business but later started this company for coffee and doughnuts. Ron Joyce, a former Hamilton police officer, met Horton shortly after he started the business.

Joyce’s ambitious expansion of the Tim Hortons business influenced the Canadian coffee and doughnut restaurant sector significantly. Many small doughnut stores and independent doughnut businesses were forced out of business, whilst still, Canada’s per-capita doughnut shop ratio topped that of all other nations.

With its growing popularity, Tim Hortons has a total of 4712 restaurants in around 9 countries across the world. The company currently employs more than 100,000 people across the world with a registered annual revenue of  3 billion USD in the year 2016. 

The company is a fully owned subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International and has started its operations in India by setting up its first shop in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Joyce’s ambitious expansion of the Tim Hortons business influenced the Canadian coffee and doughnut restaurant sector significantly. Many small doughnut stores and independent doughnut businesses were forced out of business, whilst still, Canada’s per-capita doughnut shop ratio topped that of all other nations.

Burger King stated in 2014 that they will merge with Tim Hortons Inc. It was hoped that the deal would allow Tim Hortons to tap into Burger King’s resources for international expansion. Later then, the two companies joined in 2015 under the umbrella of Restaurant Brands International, a Canadian holding corporation majority-owned by Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital. Did you know that – the first Tim Hortons was called Tim Horton Do-Nut, sounds crazy, right?

Products of Tim Hortons 

Tim Hortons has been successfully rising in the cafe industry since its inception by selling – 

• Coffee 
• Flavoured cappuccinos 
• Donuts
• Speciality teas 
• Soups 
• Sandwiches 
• Wraps 
• Baked goods 

Competitors of Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons has taken over the coffee and doughnut lovers all over Canada, however, it is not the only standing business in the industry. Following are Tim Horton’s top competitors – 

• Starbucks 
• McDonald’s 
• Dunkin’ Brands 
• Burger King 

Now that we have delved into the company’s core business and functions, let’s look into the SWOT Analysis of Tim Hortons.

Tim Hortons SWOT Analysis 

SWOT Analysis evaluates its brand on the basis of its strengths, flaws, opportunities, and threats. It has a proven management framework that allows a company like Tim Hortons to measure its business and execution against the competition. 

1. Strengths Of Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons generic yet delicious food and beverages, which are easily accessible to a large audience. Tim Horton’s inherent strengths that have contributed to consistent success, are as follows –

• Dispersion: Tim Hortons has countless outlets in pretty much every state, upheld by a solid distribution network and ensures that its items are accessible effectively to an enormous number of clients promptly.
• Pricing: Tim Hortons’ goods are reasonably priced without the expense of quality, and as a result, they attract people of all economic levels, unlike its top rival Starbucks, which is seen as an expensive coffee retailer. 
• Gifted Labor power: Tim Hortons has put widely in the preparation of its representatives that has brought about it utilizing an enormous number of talented and motivated workers.
• Website: Tim Hortons has a well-working and intuitive site that draws countless web traffic and sales. They have various discount schemes that require customers to utilise their website and/or app.
• Item Portfolio: Tim Hortons has a huge item portfolio where it gives items in an enormous scope of classifications. It has various exceptional item contributions that are not given by competitors.
• Entering new business sectors: Tim Hortons’ imaginative groups have permitted it to concoct new items and enter new business sectors. It has been effective in the past, in a large portion of the drives it has taken in new business sectors.
• Strong Branding: Tim Hortons is a well-established brand in Canada. They have branded their business strongly due to which they have a loyal customer base.
• Prioritizing Primary Market: No matter how much the brand is trying to expand in different countries, their core lies in their primary markets in the US and they continue to be a top name for coffee and donuts in the USA.
• Maintaining Authenticity: Hands down, no one can deny the fact that Tim Hortons serves the most authentic and fresh coffee in the world. Many reports and reviews are testament for this and this honesty of the brands works wonders for them.

2. Weaknesses Of Tim Hortons

The factors that bring the brand down are its flaws. Early detection of flaws, on the other hand, would assist the brand in promptly resolving the issue before it becomes a disaster! Ok. Let’s take a look at Tim Hortons’ flaws – 

• Statistical surveying: Tim Hortons has not directed statistical surveying inside the market that it serves for the past 2 years. Therefore, it is settling on choices dependent on 2 years of age information, while client needs might have advanced after some time.
• High Day Sales Inventory: The time it takes for items to be bought and sold are higher than the business normal, implying that Tim Hortons develops on stock adding superfluous expenses for the business.
• Low current proportion: The current proportion that shows the organization’s capacity to meet its transient monetary commitments, is below the business normal. This might indicate that the company will have cash challenges in the future.
• Quality Control: Tim Hortons has a lower financial plan for its quality control division than its contenders. This prompts the absence of consistency and the chance of harm to quality across its different outlets.
• Failed Launches: In order to expand its market share, Tim Hortons tried its luck to enter the snacking industry and launched different varieties of sandwiches. Due to a super stiff market and late entry into the category, Tim Hortons faced tough competition from established brands like Burger King, KFC, etc and failed succeeding in the snacking industry.
• Not getting success in foreign markets: Despite being the biggest brand name in Canada, Tim Hortons is still struggling to mark their presence in other countries.

3. Opportunities for Tim Hortons

Opportunities are important variables that, if enhanced, may help a firm thrive and flourish immensely! So, let’s take a look at Tim Hortons’ potential –

• Online business: There has been a recent fad and a development in deals of the online business industry. This implies that many individuals are currently making buys on the web. Tim Hortons can procure income by opening web-based stores and making deals through these.
• Tax strategy: The legislatures’ decrease in charge rate is valuable for Tim Hortons as a lower sum would be discounted out as an expense.
• Internet: The number of people using the Internet is increasing all around the world. This implies Tim Hortons has the chance to extend its online presence by interacting with customers over the Internet and retaining them by offering discounts and giveaways.
• Technological advancements: Technology has several advantages in a variety of fields. To save money, operations are frequently automated. Technology makes it easier to acquire more information about clients and enhances marketing.
• Working on international presence: Since Tim Hortons is facing a lot of issues in marking its strong presence in the international market, the company can focus on global strategic expansion in high potential countries. By doing this, it can reduce the reliability of US markets and expand its business.
• Making Plans for Strategic Partnerships: Tim Hortons should think about collaborating with different brands. Doing this will help the brand to tap into new audiences and see if it’s working for their brand.
• Working according to Market Trends: The coffee drinking community is changing. With the introduction of specialty coffee, coffee drinkers are fascinated with the concept and it’s an ideal chance for a brand like Tim Hortons to capitalize on such trends and become a reliable coffee shop for its customers’ emerging needs.
• Tapping on Changing Consumer Behavior: Consumers are getting into coffee and there’s a new category of people who are willing to try different coffee flavors. Keeping this thing in mind, Tim Hortons can analyze and implement strategies according to their consumer’s behavior.

4. Threats to Tim Hortons

• Increase in Competition: There has been an expansion in competition inside the business coming down on costs. This could prompt scaled-down income for Tim Hortons if it acclimates to the value changes or loss of a portion of the overall industry if it doesn’t.
• Innovative improvements by contenders: New mechanical advancements by a couple of contenders inside the business represent a danger to Tim Hortons as clients drawn to this innovation can be lost to contenders, diminishing Tim Hortons’ general portion of the overall industry
• Political vulnerabilities: The nation ends up being a boundary in business, blocking execution on occasion and causing the business to bring about pointless expenses.
• Providers: The bartering force of providers has expanded throughout the years with the lessening in the number of providers. This implies that the expenses of information sources could: increment for Tim Hortons.

For large corporations like Tim Hortons, a SWOT Analysis is a vital study to evaluate their operations and analyse potential risks and opportunities they can avail as well as observe where what puts them ahead of their competition. With this, we come to the end of this case study on the SWOT Analysis of Tim Hortons.

Conclusion

Tim Hortons is one of the long-running and staples in the cafe business in Canada. They have won the hearts of many by providing premium coffees, doughnuts and breakfast at affordable prices and exorbitant tastes. Additionally, their countless outlets, trainer workforce and online schemes call for more customer attention. Nonetheless, with high competition within the cafe business, Tim Hortons can maintain its market stance by investing in technological advancements and increasing its marketing strategies digitally.

Tim Hortons has built a niche for itself in the business and growing its presence recently by staying active on online platforms. They currently utilise a number of digital marketing techniques to promote their newest items and promotions, including SEO, emailing, and content marketing.

Working in the marketing department of a successful organisation like Tim Horton’s necessitates gaining a competent grasp of the Digital Marketing industry. IIDE provides Short-term certification courses in a variety of digital skills and knowledge that can get you up to speed in as little as five days in fields such as social media marketing, media strategy, and search engine optimisation. 

Check out our IIDE Knowledge portal for additional intriguing case studies if you love in-depth corporate SWOT analysis. 

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