Strengths And Weaknesses Of Giant

The range of competitors within the overall industry include chain and independent supermarkets (Krogers, Safeway, others); mass merchandisers and super centers (Wal-mart,Target); convenience stores; wholesale clubs (Sam’s); restaurants and fast food chains andnatural food stores (Whole Foods, Wild Oats

Rivalry: The rivalry in the retail industry is medium/high. Even though there are may retail companies in Australia with similar product offerings, only few belong to David Jones strategic group. On the other hand, the high fixed cost and industry overcapacity will eventually lead to the exit of the weakest market players.

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

This results from the fact that it is a mature segment with many well established companies vying for market share. The industry is highly consolidated and very fragmented. To grow their businesses, companies rely heavily on mergers and acquisitions to capture additional market share. Historically, the grocery industry has been characterized by slow growth which results in strong price competition and the development of aggressive marketing campaigns between existing firms. Perceived product quality and strong brand recognition by consumers are the basis of competition among firms in the industry. The source of General Mills’ competitive advantage lies in its ability to develop innovative products and highly reputable brands. As a result, they hold cost leadership positions across a number of grocery categories. Exhibit 1 shows the top US companies according to their sale of packaged foods globally. Market leaders include Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Nestle, Mars, Kellogg, and General Mills, however, neither company possess an overwhelming share of global sales. This is in part due to the large degree of product diversity throughout the industry and the strong brand rivalry of each competitor’s labels.

Competitive Rivalry: Competitive rivalry is relatively high as seen in previous competitor analysis. There are many competitors in the local market and on the shelf within the mainstream markets.

Tesco's has a very high competitive rivalry in many aspects of the market from some major competitors in the food retail Industry like Asda, Sainsbury, Morrison and Waitrose. They compete with one another through price, product and promotions periodically. Tesco's express' main rivals are the Sainsbury local and the Co-op one way in which they compete with Tesco's is through distribution. These businesses have stores where Tesco's has making it competitive to sustain its customers.

The TJX Company have a big quantity of competitors, the biggest rivals are Burlington Coat Factory, GAP, and Ross Stores, Bed Bath & Beyond, Winners, Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s, and JCPenney, but are still other companies that are considered competitors to the TJX Companies. Those mentioned before are the most dangerous in the current market.

Grocery industry is a highly competitive market with thin profit margins. Super markets are dominant players in the grocery industry. They use grocery offerings to drive traffic to their higher profit margin retail items. With its operations efficiency, Walmart, the largest grocery retailer has been able to offer significant price drops. This also forces other grocery stores to drop prices which keeps the profit margin thin. Even with all the advantages of operational efficiency and economies of scale, Walmart’s share in grocery sales was down at 51% in 2011.

Potential entry of new competitors is rendered low for the grocery retailing industry. Puregold, SM Hypermarkets, Rustans, and Robinsons Supermarkets are amongst the top key players in the game. The entry of new competitors could be very low because of the huge capitalization funds that this industry requires. In addition, the industry has been long time dominated by the giant players that had already well established and positioned their brands throughout the country and that they had already spread out with branches in Metro Manila and other regions.

The grocery industry is highly fragmented, with a multitude of strong regional players (Safeway, Publix, Kroeger, Wegmans, etc.). The largest grocery retailer in the United States is Wal-Mart, with an estimated 33% share. Other major retailers are targeting this segment of the industry, focused on a relatively narrow selection of key commodity foods at relatively low prices (Forbes, 2011). Whole Foods competes in a segment occupied by differentiated grocery players including Trader Joe's, Fresh Market and a highly fragmented selection of local and regional upscale and health-conscious grocery stores. The big players in the industry usually carry ranges of organic and natural products as well, siphoning off some business from Whole Foods. As Whole Foods grows, it comes into competition with mainstream grocery retailers more frequently (McLaughlin & Martin, 2009).

The competition to a chain retail grocery store, such as Kroger, is not limited to other

Although Publix has branded the industry with the value and quality of their products and services, companies such as Wal-Mart can give competition to Publix since they offer a larger variety of services and products besides food. Walmart’s focus “Low Prices Everyday - Save Money Live Better” leads the industry but their customer service level is nowhere near Publix’s.

The Australian Supermarket Industry is the very hot topic that’s why very interesting topic now days. The Australian supermarket and grocery stores have a very severe competition in Australia mainly because of organizations competing in this mature industry are going towards cost reduction initiatives with competing advantage rather than product differentiation strategies, In other words business in this industry increase market share by charging lower prices while making reasonably fair profit. The growing popularity of ALDI – German based company of introducing its own label goods (products manufactured and sold under the retailers own brand) with low cost has forced the two giants –Woolworths and Coles to cut price

food giant was based on the perfection of its operations - the recipe for its success and growth. Its

Kroger competes with Neighbor market and supercenters of Wal-Mart especially on the grocery product line. Target competes with Discount stores and supercenter shopping formats of Wal-Mart with Target commanding a small premium on prices as it follows fashion trend. Market segment of Target is the high-income customers leading to higher margin realization. ($ 50,000 of target vs. EDLP strategy of Wal-Mart by leveraging purchasing scale has pushed down prices compared to other retailers.