LOBLAWS: Canadian Grocery Retailer

The reputation and recognition make Aldi attractive in the marketing activities and this aspect needs to be improved in the future to compete with both existing and forthcoming rivals. Meanwhile, the high buying power and costs control would help Aldi to diversify its products and increase market penetration to serve diverse Australian population. This leads to the reconsideration of Aldi’s current strategy of limiting product range to adopt other strategies as a number of differentiation strategies has been used by other

A major reason for this is directly correlated to their innovative ways to lower cost and increase profit margins. Loblaw’s must continue striving for excellence and remodel their supply chain, in order to maintain and exceed their company profit margins. Without proactively adapting to new technologies Loblaw’s will fall behind the market standard and lose their position in the market, potentially losing profit margins and market share.

To satisfy consumers’ needs, Loblaw established strong regional brands such as Provigo in Quebec, and also built superstores that focus on particular product categories. By adopting a multi-format approach, Loblaw is able to cover a wide range of prices to further appeal to consumers. By the same token, responding to the demand of one-stop shopping and the tendency of growing convenience store, Loblaws also offer non-food items to meet the daily needs of every household.

1. The grocery industry is a commoditized industry, which makes it difficult for grocers to sustain through differentiation. Buyer power is high and thus, cost leadership and operational efficiencies are critical. There is fierce competition amongst various grocery stores, with the main players such as Loblaw and A&P holding multi-banner stores in various market segments. Traditional grocery stores also lose some of their market share to drug stores, convenience stores and other retailers who have entered the industry. Threat of substitutes from fast-food and take- away outlets is not as prevalent, since many grocery stores have started stocking ready-to-eat meals and have deli services available for consumers. Competitive

Company Q has had a large demand from their customers to provide healthy and organic foods over the last few years. They recently started offering a small variety of health and organic food items, which is a step in the right direction toward being socially responsible. They need to be more attentive to the needs and wants of their customers as it shouldn’t have taken years to bring in these demanded products. When there is a demand for products and the company doesn’t respond to that demand, it’s perceived by the consumers that the company simply doesn’t care about their needs and wants. Bringing in a selection of these products was a good start in satisfying their customers. However, with such a demand for these items, having a small and limited selection is just not enough. Expanding the line of health and organic food items will accomplish two things. First and foremost it will appease the current customers and bring in a new clientele that is health conscious, thus helping to create a healthier community and at the same time increasing sales. The higher margin on the health and organic items coupled with the increase in sales will really boost the overall profit margin of the company. Company Q does need to be sure that they don’t over price these products so as to not push away business due to overpricing.

For the company to ensures success in its operations there is need to cultivate customer loyalty and facilitate efficient supplies, differentiator linkage between operations and buyers must be put in place. This will be facilitated through some ways. To cater for customer needs the company will have to ensure it adopts a competitive pricing strategy against the existing competitors and new entrants in the market. The company has a lean pricing policy and to take advantage of its off- price apparel strategy. The customer’s loyalty has to be sustained through the low prices they enjoy

On the other hand, the company’s products would be more seen by consumers, which means the demand for their products probably increase.

As more and more people are aware of environmental problems which our human being are facing, most people nowadays do shopping with some degree of morality in mind, taking social or environmental issues into consideration as they select from a range of product or services. Therefore, the concept of

TJX Companies, Inc. is known as the world’s leading off-priced retailer of apparel and home fashions. With its steadily growing brand portfolio, the company aims to offer consumers better value proposition than department stores.

The Pillsbury Cookie Challenge is a case study written by Natalie Mauro under the supervision of Professor Allison Johnson. The case study creates an open discussion about what the marketing manager of the refrigerated baked goods category for Canada General Mills should do to revive his products. Ivan Guillen, the marketing manager, was faced with tough challenges. He was initially “…faced with the challenge of developing a strategy that would lead to improved business performance on his category” (Johnson and Mauro, p.1, 2011). To clarify, Guillen’s category is refrigerated baked goods (RBG), which means, this category is his marketing responsibility. The issue here is that “RBG was GMCC’s fourth largest category, and its performance over the past two years had been less than stellar” (Johnson and Mauro, p.1, 2011). It is important to note that GMCC stands for General Mills Canada Corporation. Pillsbury has enjoyed majority market share in the RBG category in Canada, however, recently, the market was experiencing only moderate growth. Guillen was disappointed that their goal of 5%-7% market growth was not being achieved mainly in the refrigerated cookie dough segment. To be exact, their volume growth for two years was flat and they were having difficulty reaching new households. There was a shift among consumer’s purchases, which Guillen was challenged to figure out why.

This Case study is based on the largest and most successful supermarket chains in the UK, Greens & Co. for the purpose of doing a market research to enter the American Grocery market. I have tried to answer the given questions as I have understood the Case study and the market research strategies taken by Greens & Co.

This case involves a mid-sized, regional grocery store chain called Reed Supermarkets. Reed has 192 retail stores, two regional distribution centers and 21,000 employees in five states in the Midwest of the United States. This case discusses Reed’s market strategy for the Columbus, Ohio, market in particular, which is one of Reed’s largest markets. The Columbus market has grown slightly over the past five years, while Reed’s market share has dwindled slightly in the market. Reed has watched their market share stagnate with the entrance of new competitors (10% growth in stores) and a dramatic shift in customer preferences to value or

In food service it is important to realize and address hot button issues within the industry to begin to understand what the target market wants, increase revenue and decrease cost centers. In researching the increasingly pressing issue of food sustainability in global food service it was discovered that implementations are initially expensive and require large amounts of dedication but are ultimately huge factors in increasing brand loyalty and recognition and gaining popularity within the “green” market segment. It was the goal of this paper to outline specific concerns posed by the issue of food sustainability as well as methods of the industry’s participation in its solutions and to analyze the progress made to increase awareness of

According to Survey by national consumer organization, CHOICE (2014), a comparable basket of goods at ALDI is 25% cheaper than at one of the MSCs. ALDI is estimated to hold 9.1% market share in 2015-16 as compared to other grocery stores (ibis). In terms of the strategy of ALDI, ALDI focus on reducing costs to the customer in such a manner that customer is convinced to continue shopping. However, on further analysis, the organization illustrates a differentiating strategy and prefers to distinguish itself from other major retailers the likes of Coles, Wesfarmers and Woolworths. For example, ALDI provides weekly specials like on gardening, camping, kids, and kitchen with discounted offers. ALDI is a low-cost player that stocks a less variety of popular grocery items. Over past five years, an incredible achievement contributes to ALDI 's rapid growth to which consumers have responded positively (ibis). Therefore, it can be said that in terms or corporate strategy, the organization has characteristics of both a cost leadership strategy as well as a differentiation strategy.

Competitive advantage can be defined as a means by which a firm manages to keep making money, add value by providing distinct products and sustain its position against its competitors. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is one of such companies in the retail sector that has achieved sustainable competitive advantage over a period of time. ¬This report focuses on how Wal-Mart has achieved competitive advantage by adopting cost leadership strategy and providing consumer goods at lower prices. The report also discusses how Wal-Mart is taking lead on environmental sustainability by investing in solar power plants, offering environment friendly products in its various stores and encouraging recycling of different products. Wal-Mart’s strategies