SmartMart: Strategic Analysis

Whole Foods is a retailer that specializes in organic foods and it has done an excellent job of determining its target market and how to position itself. Instead of going head to head with large food retailers such as Wal-Mart, Whole Foods has found a niche market that works perfectly for itself. This niche market is one that prides itself on being health conscious and environmentally responsible and Whole Foods has done a great job of positioning itself in the same way through its environmentally safe actions and its use of the local community to stock its stores. However, as Whole Foods grows and expands, a person has to wonder if the company will be able to maintain this same position or will have to make

Every retail location carries a variety of products that distinguishes it from other stores in the same chain. Not surprisingly, it is difficult to achieve economies of scale. Supply Chain Mackey describes his consumers as being “part of a cult”. Whole Foods believes that the company’s emphasis on perishables and locally-sourced produce differentiates their stores from run-of-the-mill supermarkets and attracts loyal and devoted customers. However, “fresh produce” is one of the most challenging product categories to operate due to limited product shelf life and high cost of spoilage. Whole Foods has tried to circumvent most of the problems inherent in supplying fresh produce to its stores by sourcing locally and having short and flexible supply chains. In the case of fruits and vegetables, Whole Foods has buying relationships with local farmers who supply the store with seasonal produce. Thus, if one farmer is unable to produce a sufficient amount of yellow corn or heirloom tomatoes, the shortfall can be made up by another farmer. Although challenging to perfect, these short supply chains are agile and difficult for other big retailers to duplicate.

This article expresses that shopping smart at the grocery store will help a person have a better, healthier diet. A healthy lifestyle can truly be achieved when people make good decisions through their spending. It is important to

Wal-Mart uses its resources in research since before (2011-2012) for the sole purpose of coming up with new ideas and new ways to sustain itself in the local and global community. Locally it provides electricity in stores from solar panels and wind turbines. “Wal-Mart has taken strides to obtain its sustainability objectives. It has opened two environmentally friendly stores in McKinney, Texas, and Aurora, Colorado.” The company hopes that these experiments will conserve natural resources, save energy, and reduce pollution. In addition, Wal-Mart is attempting to reduce fossil fuel. Its fleet of hybrid trucks is a new technology for going “green (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2011).” Similarly, Wal-Mart is “Currently working on four main green areas: waste improvement and recycling, natural resources, energy, and social/community impact. Wal-Mart’s long-term goals are to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, create zero

Consumers view Whole Foods Markets as being very expensive and have given the retailer the nickname “Whole Paycheck”. Whole Foods carries a wider variety of organic foods and healthier brands besides their private brands. Whole Foods is experiencing a decline in sales due to other stores; like Wal-Mart, who are stocking organic foods at much lower prices; which has decreased differentiation (Lutz, 2014). Its decentralized business model decreases efficiency in procurement, distribution, and marketing efforts.

Whole Foods is a supermarket that has successfully become the leader in the organic food segment of the grocery industry. While traditional markets have low brand loyalty and recognition, Whole Foods has focused almost entirely on its brand image, causing their strategy to be one of differentiation over cost leadership. Whole Foods is known as being far more expensive than other chains, due to this brand recognition. In their press release for the Q4 2014 results, they describe their vision and sum up what helps them develop that brand recognition. “We hold the idea of “food” to a higher standard, banning more than 75 ingredients commonly found in other stores, and we believe our unparalleled quality standards

I saw little issue with this because SmartMart’s advantage does not solely lie on its organic produce, but also on its customer

Effective value chain as a competitive advantage can contribute significantly to the prosperity of a firm in the competitive arena, but it can cause dire situations if not operated properly (Guy, 2011). However, there are conflicts among companies as to how stakeholders think they gain competitive advantage. Porter (1996) suggests: A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve. It must deliver greater value to customers or create comparable value at lower cost or do both.

Yes, I think that Wal-Mart is exceeding to become more sustainable. Wal-Mart is one of the top corporations and it is continuing to grow exponentially. There are three sustainability goals that Wal-Mart has put out to the public, and currently they are meeting every one of them. Among Wal-Mart’s sustainability goals are its intentions to be supplied entirely by renewable energy, create no waste, and sell products that sustain people and the environment (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell). At the end of 2013 Wal-Mart had more than 300 energy projects which provided more than 2.2

Nonetheless, Walmart could aid this problem by using its buyer bargaining power from its suppliers to reduce the purchased cost of the organic products and sell it to its customers at a lesser price compared to its competitors. As for Whole Foods Market, it has the other way around situation as the company is struggling to find for well-established suppliers in organic beef and chicken to cater the supply needs of all of their stores. As the law of supply and demand states that having a low supply and high demand the price increases. This gives existing supplier of Whole Foods Market a suppliers bargaining power. As a result, Whole Foods Market will be selling the goods at a higher selling retail price as the company purchased the good at a high cost.

Some of the opportunities that Walmart has, is being capable to keep the prices low, keeping the highest rating among their competitors, for example, Target. This is possible since they are able to buy directly from the vendors avoiding the intermediary and buying in bulks. Another opportunity that Walmart is concerned about is the environment; keeping this in mind Walmart is working in green initiates that follow three steps, “create zero waste, operating with 100% renewable energy and selling products that sustain our resources and the environment”. In order for Walmart to compete with the new era, they started to grow fast in online shopping, giving the customers the opportunity to choose to deliver to their homes, or they can go and pick

Walmart serves nearly 260 million customers weekly across 27 different countries, both in stores and through its websites (“Fortune”, 2015). Walmart relies heavily on its proper and effective marketing strategies; Walmart would not be able to achieve the level of success without these strategies. Low prices, easy access for its customers, and social media campaigns are a few of the vital tactics Walmart has used in its marketing plan. “Save Money. Live Better” is Walmart’s mission in delivering customers products at the lowest prices. This low price strategy plays a marketing role that caters to customers who seek the lowest prices and with grocery stores that provide great deals (Brown, 2017). Walmart’s low cost business model is protected by its powerful supply and distribution chains throughout the world. Customers can expect the same cost efficient style in every Walmart store worldwide.

Perhaps this is giving Walmart a free ride in the media/marketing as being sustainable without any parties doing their due diligence to verify the actual numbers. As Senge explained, perhaps “Walmart is using going green to offset negative press for treatment of its employees” due their recent lawsuit losses and settlements (Senge, 2010, p. 114). Although Walmart should be commended for its sustainability portfolio, I believe the results of their goals need to be looked at from proportional aspect as well as how/where Walmart sources their products.

The business reasons for adopting sustainability practices are reducing costs, generating new revenue streams, increasing market share, improving external image, reducing compliance and litigation risks, attracting and retaining labor talent, and attracting capitol. All three of these projects relate to several of these reasons. It is important to consider that Walmart has just recently implemented most of their sustainability projects, there has not been enough time

Due to increasing environmental imbalances, it is necessary for firms to achieve competitive advantages in the area of environmental convergence as well. Wal-Mart is putting continuous efforts from a long time for environment sustainability and energy conservation. It also received Aspen Institute Energy and Environment award for Corporate Energy Efficiency in 2009. Here are a few steps that Wal-Mart has taken to encourage environmental sustainability: