Rahel Akram
Unit 5 Assignment 2
Unit 5 International Business Assignment 2: External Factors &
Cultural Differences
Introduction
Hi, my name is Rahel Akram and I am continuing my role in the local chamber commerce. In
this report I will be discussing a two-part investigative journal article. In the first part, I will
choose a business and select a country that the business can target for international trade.
In the second part, I will assess the impact of cultural differences on international business.
In order for me to do this I will have to collect, analyse and assess a wide range of research
evidence from suitable sources.
Section 1
P5/M3
Boohoo
The business I have chosen is Boohoo and the two countries I have chosen are France and
Germany.
Boohoo is a UK based online fashion retailer. Boohoo specialises in fashion clothing for its
own brand, with over 36,000 products. They mainly target ages between 16-30. The
business was founded in 2006 in Manchester by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane. Besides
operating in the UK, Boohoo operate in Australia, America, France and Germany. In 2020,
Boohoo revenue was £1.235 billion. Boohoo’s purpose is to ‘lead the fashion e-commerce
market globally, in a way that delivers for our customers, people, suppliers and
stakeholders. I chose this business because it is a good example of a successful online
business. What makes Boohoo successful is they stay up to date with things like trends and
season changes. Not to mention that their prices are not expensive and are affordable.
PESTLE
PESTLE stands for political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and environmental.
PESTLE is a method of measuring the environment of your business and its potential effects
on your company's success. Political factors are decisions that governments make that affect
how a business operate. Examples of this are tax policy, trade restrictions and war.
,Rahel Akram
Economic factors are factors that affect the income of a country therefore affecting the
income of business. Examples of economic factors are inflation, unemployment and
exchange rate. Social factors affect the spending of customers. Examples of this are religion,
trend and family size. Technological factors have to do with the way technology affects
businesses. Examples of this are automation, smart devices and social media. Legal factors
refer to the way laws set by countries, affect countries. Examples legal factors are consumer
law, copyright law and import/export law. Finally, environmental factors are how the
business’s surroundings affect such as climate change, weather hazard and availability of
natural resources. Businesses use Pestle because It allows an organisation to recognise
external factors that may have an impact on decisions taken within the organisation.
Therefore, this allows the business to understand the issues that are external to the
business. As a result, this will give the business an opportunity to find solutions to those
issues preventing them from achieving greater success.
Boohoo France PESLTE Analysis – Political
A political factor affecting Boohoo in France is trading. Boohoo was founded in the UK and
since the UK is out of the EU, the business will have to start paying tariffs such as export and
import costs in order to export and import products from the factories in the UK to the
factories in France and vice versa. This will have an impact not only with Boohoo’s business
in France, but it will also have an impact on Boohoo as a whole. This is because with Boohoo
paying tariffs to import their products into France, Boohoo may soon get rid of their
business in France and this will remove a section of revenue the business will receive. One
way Boohoo can fix this problem, is by operating in a country with low tariff fees or none at
all such as Singapore or China. This will help the Boohoo retain some income that can be
used to improve and expand the business.
Boohoo France PESTLE Analysis - Economic
An economic factor affecting Boohoo in France is unemployment. According to ‘Statista’,
France’s unemployment rate during the Covid outbreak was 7.84% in the first quarter of
2020, increasing significantly to 9.09% in the third quarter. The loss of jobs has occurred a
lot lately and this is due to COVID-19. This will impact Boohoo tremendously because since
the majority of people in France will be at home due to lockdown, many will rely on online
shopping. This will therefore increase the demand of products from online businesses such
as Boohoo. As a result, if people are unemployed, they would be able to purchase as much
from or at all from Boohoo. Furthermore, affecting the Boohoo’s income and sales. There
are limited options to fix this factor, however the simple choice is to wait until the lockdown
is lifted.
, Rahel Akram
Boohoo France PESTLE Analysis - Social
A social factor affecting Boohoo in France is the culture. France is extremely popular and
well known for many of their fashion trends and brands originating from there, brands such
as, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Chanel. Therefore, this would be very beneficial for the business
because as Boohoo is a fashion retailer, more people will be willingly to purchase from
them. In the image below, it shows a French actress and a young female model wearing
clothing from Boohoo. This is quite evident that Boohoo is very popular in France and is
used mainly by individuals who are young and who are well known in society.
Furthermore, this will get the attention from other people around the world who are
inspired by what French people wear, therefore attracting customers to Boohoo, resulting in
the business gaining more sales and revenue.
Boohoo France PESTLE Analysis – Technological
Since Boohoo has no physical store, Boohoo has a website and an app where you can both
browse and purchase clothing that will get delivered to you. This is beneficial for Boohoo
and the customers because since COVID is preventing people from going outside, many
Unit 5 Assignment 2
Unit 5 International Business Assignment 2: External Factors &
Cultural Differences
Introduction
Hi, my name is Rahel Akram and I am continuing my role in the local chamber commerce. In
this report I will be discussing a two-part investigative journal article. In the first part, I will
choose a business and select a country that the business can target for international trade.
In the second part, I will assess the impact of cultural differences on international business.
In order for me to do this I will have to collect, analyse and assess a wide range of research
evidence from suitable sources.
Section 1
P5/M3
Boohoo
The business I have chosen is Boohoo and the two countries I have chosen are France and
Germany.
Boohoo is a UK based online fashion retailer. Boohoo specialises in fashion clothing for its
own brand, with over 36,000 products. They mainly target ages between 16-30. The
business was founded in 2006 in Manchester by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane. Besides
operating in the UK, Boohoo operate in Australia, America, France and Germany. In 2020,
Boohoo revenue was £1.235 billion. Boohoo’s purpose is to ‘lead the fashion e-commerce
market globally, in a way that delivers for our customers, people, suppliers and
stakeholders. I chose this business because it is a good example of a successful online
business. What makes Boohoo successful is they stay up to date with things like trends and
season changes. Not to mention that their prices are not expensive and are affordable.
PESTLE
PESTLE stands for political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and environmental.
PESTLE is a method of measuring the environment of your business and its potential effects
on your company's success. Political factors are decisions that governments make that affect
how a business operate. Examples of this are tax policy, trade restrictions and war.
,Rahel Akram
Economic factors are factors that affect the income of a country therefore affecting the
income of business. Examples of economic factors are inflation, unemployment and
exchange rate. Social factors affect the spending of customers. Examples of this are religion,
trend and family size. Technological factors have to do with the way technology affects
businesses. Examples of this are automation, smart devices and social media. Legal factors
refer to the way laws set by countries, affect countries. Examples legal factors are consumer
law, copyright law and import/export law. Finally, environmental factors are how the
business’s surroundings affect such as climate change, weather hazard and availability of
natural resources. Businesses use Pestle because It allows an organisation to recognise
external factors that may have an impact on decisions taken within the organisation.
Therefore, this allows the business to understand the issues that are external to the
business. As a result, this will give the business an opportunity to find solutions to those
issues preventing them from achieving greater success.
Boohoo France PESLTE Analysis – Political
A political factor affecting Boohoo in France is trading. Boohoo was founded in the UK and
since the UK is out of the EU, the business will have to start paying tariffs such as export and
import costs in order to export and import products from the factories in the UK to the
factories in France and vice versa. This will have an impact not only with Boohoo’s business
in France, but it will also have an impact on Boohoo as a whole. This is because with Boohoo
paying tariffs to import their products into France, Boohoo may soon get rid of their
business in France and this will remove a section of revenue the business will receive. One
way Boohoo can fix this problem, is by operating in a country with low tariff fees or none at
all such as Singapore or China. This will help the Boohoo retain some income that can be
used to improve and expand the business.
Boohoo France PESTLE Analysis - Economic
An economic factor affecting Boohoo in France is unemployment. According to ‘Statista’,
France’s unemployment rate during the Covid outbreak was 7.84% in the first quarter of
2020, increasing significantly to 9.09% in the third quarter. The loss of jobs has occurred a
lot lately and this is due to COVID-19. This will impact Boohoo tremendously because since
the majority of people in France will be at home due to lockdown, many will rely on online
shopping. This will therefore increase the demand of products from online businesses such
as Boohoo. As a result, if people are unemployed, they would be able to purchase as much
from or at all from Boohoo. Furthermore, affecting the Boohoo’s income and sales. There
are limited options to fix this factor, however the simple choice is to wait until the lockdown
is lifted.
, Rahel Akram
Boohoo France PESTLE Analysis - Social
A social factor affecting Boohoo in France is the culture. France is extremely popular and
well known for many of their fashion trends and brands originating from there, brands such
as, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Chanel. Therefore, this would be very beneficial for the business
because as Boohoo is a fashion retailer, more people will be willingly to purchase from
them. In the image below, it shows a French actress and a young female model wearing
clothing from Boohoo. This is quite evident that Boohoo is very popular in France and is
used mainly by individuals who are young and who are well known in society.
Furthermore, this will get the attention from other people around the world who are
inspired by what French people wear, therefore attracting customers to Boohoo, resulting in
the business gaining more sales and revenue.
Boohoo France PESTLE Analysis – Technological
Since Boohoo has no physical store, Boohoo has a website and an app where you can both
browse and purchase clothing that will get delivered to you. This is beneficial for Boohoo
and the customers because since COVID is preventing people from going outside, many
