MGMT 525
Walmart – A Winner
1.) How might you attempt to compete with Walmart if you were:
a. A small hardware merchant?
i. As a small hardware merchant I would depend on my increased knowledge and personal service to appeal to customers. In the short term these smaller hardware stores can cut prices to compete with Walmart but in the long term they will not be able to keep prices low enough to be very competitive with Walmart. Also, the smaller hardware merchants usually carry higher quality name brands that Walmart might not have. Thus, appealing to a segment of the customers that are willing to spend more money for a quality product bought from someone that has used the product before and knows everything about it.
b. A small men’s clothing store?
i. Most men’s clothing stores concentrate on a certain type of clothing style, like suits and dress clothes for instance. So the clothing store may carry clothes not carried by Walmart. Also, employees of smaller men’s clothing stores need to offer more personal services and have more knowledge pertaining to clothing. For instance not only could you buy your clothing at the small store but you can also get your suit tailored and pants hemmed. This would entice customers to choose the smaller stores because they are one stop shops.
c. A supermarket?
i. If Walmart concentrates on low price then this gives customers the perception that they carry lower quality goods including groceries. Many people will choose fresher high quality foods to put into their body. Thus, if the supermarkets can convince customers that they stock higher quality goods that are more fresh than Walmart. But despite the smaller supermarket having fresher goods Walmart is a one stop shop so the supermarkets need to diversify their advertising and show that they have more to offer than just groceries.
d. A toy store?
i. It is hard to compete with Walmart in this area because they are able to carry a large range of low...