Introduction: The following case analysis, Showrooming at Best Buy, details the struggles of brick and mortar companies competing with online retailers. Best Buy, a major retailer of electronic goods, decides to permanently price match their online competitors. Using references from the 11th edition of business essentials, this paper will determine the pros and cons of permanent price matching, and how other companies are dealing with the increase in online shopping. The issue of showrooming will be addressed, along with an explanation of how companies are deterring customers from partaking. Through the analyzation of the case study, several recommendations will be made on how Best Buy can stay afloat despite a risky tactic in price-matching, and how companies can compete in a market dominated by online retailing.
Analysis: Showrooming is the practice of shopping for a product in person, only to buy it online rather than at the store (p3). An increasing amount of shoppers are partaking in showrooming for the ability to compare prices and save money. During the 2012 holiday season, 27% of mobile phone owners used their phone while inside a store to check the price of a product elsewhere (p1). More and more shoppers were using showrooming for the convenience and deals offered by online retailers. Showrooming had a great effect on brick and mortar stores. Sales for major chains such as JC Penney and Best Buy fell, with the former having same-store sales decrease by 26 %,
More recently, the recession impelled many bricks-and-mortar retailers towards a damaging focus on discounting that eroded not only many stores’ price positioning but also any point of differentiation or exclusivity.
However, GameStop is still at a disadvantage, because there are such a large number of competitors in the industry. Buyer’s bargaining power are high, since there is no brand loyalty in the industry. Customers are very well aware of the market price of a product and will look for the best deals they can find. Suppliers have high bargaining power since suppliers can choose to integrate forward and sell their products themselves. The success of the retail gaming industry is very dependent on the availability of supplier’s goods. Additionally, since there are low barriers of entrance, substitute products and new entrants often appear in the market. Since most competitors in the industry do not have a strong presence, the expected retaliation towards new entrants is low. An increasing popularity of smartphone games and social media games such as Farmville on Facebook, allows customers to play against friends. Although these social media games do not offer the same experience as a video game, the fact that virtually no switching cost is associated with switching to a competitor’s game and since they are so cheap compared to video game disk and consoles, can easily drive customers from video gaming to online gaming. (Exhibit 2)
In the past, JCP had, on average, one price campaign every day. The stores were full of sale signs and retail rise was getting out of control. JCP partnered with numerous exclusive collaborations which was hoped to bring about an expansion for the firm. However, due to the economic slump, the oversaturation of the market, and an expected lack of quality in the goods from the consumer perspective, JCPenney’s success was degrading in contrast to its competitors. (Sloan, 2010).
Argue from valuable web store deals and accrue having discount processes which connect you to other locations online. Cite rate discount mechanisms you always seem to accept and make purchases which are logical and worthy of practice. Claim a price assessment and trade deals having wants and methods of improving prices online.
A large online retailer, like Amazon, can price discriminate to maximise its profits. This pricing policy is used because ‘some customers will value your product or service while others will value it less’ (Smith, 2004). Price discrimination is where a firm sells the same product at different prices to different consumers. My job, as a high powered consultant, is to analyse and discuss the possible benefits and costs of using price discrimination in Amazon.
A host of internal and external factors plays an important role in the organizational structure and process. The opportunities for Best Buy are economies of scale, targeting new market segmentation and global expansion. Strong competition, growth in online sales and the new developments in government regulation are the threat for the Best Buy. Competitions in the electronics industry are based on several factors such as price, quality, durability, product features, customer preferences and warranties. With the advancement in the ecommerce and internet, Best Buy acquired many internet
Companies in the retail industry operate in a high price elasticity environment as there is not much product differentiation to leverage. Buyers face almost no switching cost if they chose a substitute offering better value. On the contrary, large and diverse population making small purchases works in favor of the industry. No one individual or a small group has the power to significantly impact the industry, but overall buyers enjoy have a high bargaining power in the industry.
The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic
In this industry Economies of scale reaches at global level while Best Buy fulfill customers demand on National level as per culture and choice of countrymen. As this industry becomes very grooming industry that’s why level of competition not only increased but also it reaches at
Jerry Useem has indited, “How Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All” to show the online shoppers and readers of “The Atlantic” how price discrimination occurs. He has decided to verbalize about the quandary with online prices since there has been a elevate in the number of online shoppers. In the article, “How Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All,” Jerry Useem commences off by expounding how the prices of certain products vary depending on when the customer optically canvasses the product. To integrate on, he goes on to apprise the audience that in the past, buyers and sellers would have to go through haggling in order to get the best deal possible, he then compares the haggling to how people get the best deals now. Furthermore,
Best Buy, a familiar retailer in the technology world, is struggling to stay on top. Online and mass stores have cornered the market in terms of convenience, customer service and price matching. The recent closing of over two hundred stores alongside falling sales has experts predicting that the giant won’t be in business long. Using a results-only work environment (ROWE), Best Buy has removed the customer from the equation and forced many employees out. A marketing disaster, Best Buy must change its marketing strategy from sales-based to a customer-based to stay afloat.
The retail industry is highly competitive, with few barriers to entry. Each Company competes with many other local, regional and national retailers for customers, associates, locations, merchandise, services and other important aspects of the Company’s business. Those competitors include other department stores, discounters, home furnishing stores, specialty retailers, wholesale clubs, direct-to-consumer businesses and other forms of retail commerce. Some competitors are larger than JCPenney, have greater financial resources available to them, and, as a result, may be able to devote greater resources to sourcing, promoting and selling their products.” There are many factors that characterize competition, including advertising, service,
The Internet has changed the way we do virtually everything, including the way we shop. However, shopping is not the only thing that has changed. In the last decade we have changed the way, we apply for loans, study, and even plan a vacation. Doing any of these things would have been impossible a few decades ago. At present, online banking, paying bills, ordering new services, and shopping online have become part of our daily lives. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have been around much longer than online stores, but we cannot deny that online shopping is giving the traditional stores competition. Many consumers still choose to shop at regular brick-and-mortar stores because they like to see and
The bargaining power of customers is high. First of all, the customer size is tremendous globally, which also has an accelerating growth rate in recent years. Customers’ leverage is strengthening as a result of this. Another inevitable factor is that with countless retailors online, there is low switching cost for customers to find other alternative companies that suits their desire to conduct purchases. Moreover, consumers today are more sophisticated. Consumers are less commit to impulsive-buying, yet are more willing to study about product features and evaluate their options before purchasing online. Their purchase pattern can also be hard to learn too.
In my opinion, the best online retailer is Amazon. They easily have the best customer service and product fulfillment when compared to other online retailers. The inventory in the USA is over 200 million products, making such a feat impossible for a physical retail store to compete (Export, 2013). The following essay will discuss Amazon’s pricing and retail strategy. Both are key factors of their marketing that allow Amazon to sustain their market dominance and retain their loyal customers.