Macro-Environmental Factors. 1. Political Factors. There

Topic: How did economic, geographic, and social factors encourage the growth of slavery as an important part of the economy of the southern colonies between 1607 and 1775?

Trader Joe’s is in the broad market of grocery retailers, a market where the top 10 revenue-generating companies accounted for over $360 billion in sales in 2011. This market is saturated with supermarkets (Publix and Kroger), large discount retailers (Wal-Mart and Target), premium retailers (Whole Foods and Fresh Market), warehouse clubs (Costco and Sam’s Club), and “hard discount” retailers (Dollar General). With this large variation in grocer strategies, the market is heavily penetrated and competition is fierce. Supermarkets are continually losing market share in grocery sales (51 percent in 2011 as opposed to 66 percent in 2001) as players like Wal-Mart and Costco continue to generate more revenue. Although the supermarket share is decreasing, the overall grocery market is steadily increasing as the population of the United States increases. People always need to eat, so there will always be a

There is potentially a huge and growing profit pool due to the growth of the middle class and high income people. This means people have more disposable income to spend on retail shopping. This growing profits pool is increasingly affected by the customer service sector as there are more high income people who prefer good shopping experience.

Australia is a unique country, and it has a long history of population growth due to

Trader Joe's faces several threats to its business, as competitors try to invade the company’s niche and attempt to imitate the company’s core strategies. The supermarket industry itself faces a major threat, as larger chains such as grocery retailers Wal-Mart and Tesco have begun to open small-format stores that mimic the Trader Joe's approach. This invasion results in additional cost pressure for incumbents like Trader Joe’s, which had to let go employees in order to become more cost competitive.

Increasing competition from Scrambled merchandising from Canadian tire & dollar store chains. Increasing competition is putting a pressure on profit margins as well.

Australia’s population is over 20 million and the gross household income per week for the fourth highest quintile is over $1096.00. Twenty per cent of Australian households are represented in this category.

Businesses are not only faced with competition within the industry they operate in. They also face competition from businesses in other industries.

Market players generally have a wide variety of potential customers, which considerably weakens buyer power. Although consumers in this industry may be loyal to particular brands or chains, loyalty to retailer brands is arguably less important than competitive pricing. Many supermarkets run rewards programs for frequent shoppers, such as Tesco’s ‘Clubcard’, and these schemes can help companies retain customers and reduce buyer power.

Woolworths and Coles would have agreements with farmers to supply exclusively to them, in exchange for the firm purchasing all of their quality produce. Woolworths and Coles are also more likely to be able to purchase products, including fruit and vegetables, for a cheaper price than small, independent sellers, as they are purchasing in bulk. According to McKenzie (2002) "No major supplier, no matter how big or powerful they are, can afford to be offside, or out of favour, with Coles or Woolworths".

Globalisation is the internationalization of trade and often forces businesses to adopt new strategies for operations to suit different cultures and economies. The often easily saturated domestic market has triggered many large

Cole is an Australian supermarket with large influence and market share in the country. In addition, the company contributes significantly to the nation’s economy. In essence, the company has acquired more than 30% of the market share of the supermarket industry in this nation. Specifically, the company’sproduct line consists of daily products, grocery, meat, deli, fresh produce, bake house, cigarettes, liquor, apparel, general merchandize and over head products. Notably Cole has a culture of low price as its marketing strategy of attracting and retaining customers.

In the year ending 31 December 2009, Australia's estimated resident population (ERP) had increased by 433,000 people to 22.2 million, a 2.0% increase from December 2008. This followed growth of 460,000 people (or 2.2%) between December 2007 and December 2008. The rate of population growth has become considerably faster since the mid-2000s. Over the two decades prior to 2006, the annual growth rate had averaged 1.3%, adding an average of 234,000 people per year in that period. The recent growth rate of around 2% per year is faster than at any other time in the past several decades, and faster than nearly all other developed countries.

Within the global business environment one thing is constant and inevitable, the need for change and the effort and focus that it requires. The need for change can be attributed to various factors; two that immediately come to mind are globalization and advancements in technology.

In 2011, 20.7% of dwellings in Sydney were classified as high density. Australian cities are facing a number of challenges, including a significant growth in population, growing housing affordability crisis, a greater concern for environmental issues, transport and urban infrastructure.