The Retail Industry Is Highly Competitive, With Few Barriers

In 2014 AEO opened 60 new stores but closed 70 stores. They renovated 44 stores in 2014. Refurbishing included but was not limited to new floor plan, store fronts, painting,

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

When examining competitive advantage, it is also important to consider the market and take into account the existing competition against larger firms.

Despite the economical recession that the US currently faces, all around the country, ALDI continues to grow. ALDI is recently celebrating the opening of their 1,000th U.S. store in West Haven, Connecticut. At a time when other retailers are cutting back and the recession is deepening, ALDI continues to build new stores in 29 states nationwide and also around the globe.

As Aldi has already established itself as a large discount supermarket chain with over 10,000 stores in 18 different countries including Australia (2001), and holds a large market share in the grocery world due to its business culture and market leading initiatives. This report aims to provide the ALDI board of directors with:

In the past, JCP had, on average, one price campaign every day. The stores were full of sale signs and retail rise was getting out of control. JCP partnered with numerous exclusive collaborations which was hoped to bring about an expansion for the firm. However, due to the economic slump, the oversaturation of the market, and an expected lack of quality in the goods from the consumer perspective, JCPenney’s success was degrading in contrast to its competitors. (Sloan, 2010).

From the time it opened, Aldi has expanded the number of product assortments that allow consumers to find nearly anything they need to supply and feed their families. Aldi developed a strong marketing program and decentralized their pricing and assortments that also include some well-known products. Aldi’s begins its value propositions to shoppers with its amazingly low prices. Their “hard” discount pricing, averages about 30% below standard supermarkets like Winn-Dixie or Kroger’s (Brick, 2016). They attribute their success and growth to the “hard discount” model as it has demonstrated to be highly effective. Aldi is different than “large” discounters like Walmart where Walmart’s varieties are limited in size and led by private label products, and investments are made in stores atmosphere, unfortunately, resulting in lackluster customer service. This allows “hard” discounters like Aldi to win the grocery price war by greater margins than Walmart, making Aldi a major competitor of Walmart (Bartone,

The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic

This report presents data describing the differences amongst the two department stores, their fundamental visions, and comparative statistics. Macy’s or Dillard’s: Differences amongst these competitors There are several aspects you can analyze from each department store. Major pieces do set each one apart from the other. Brand names carried by Macy’s and Dillard’s from an average shoppers point of view can go completely unnoticed unless price is involved. For trend shoppers brand names can either make or break a retail store. It can easily determine if he or she will walk to Macy’s or Dillard’s because they already know the store does or does not carry that brand. This is consistent with each department throughout both stores and

Comparative shopping is done in the industry constantly. But the point of the task is to identify strengths and weaknesses of your store’s merchandise mix in comparison to the competitors’. Are you offering the customer something unique in one segment of your business, but not in others? Are you just a poor second in comparison to a strong competitor? Are you under- or over-developed in certain classifications? Are your prices in line with the rest of your store? In relation to your

Style, quality and price are some of the most significant competitive factors in the industry. Merchandise mix, brands, service, loyalty programs, credit availability, and customer experience and convenience are also key competitive factors. Primary competitors are traditional department stores, upscale mass merchandisers, off-price retailers, specialty stores, internet and catalog businesses and retail commerce. Specific competitors vary from market to market by include the following: Target, Nordstrom, The Gap, Walmart, Macy’s Inc., J.C. Penny, L Brands, Inc., Ross Stores, Inc., the TJX Companies Inc., and Bed Bath and Beyond Inc.

Both Walmart and Aldi should be worried about each other because both have distinct advantages over each other in bringing in customers. Aldi advantage is that its stores provide the lowest price in town with their products being on average 15-20% cheaper than Wal-Mart (pg 3). How it does this is by cutting costs and offering its products at the lowest possible price. This practice of cutting cost is best summed up by the Aldi motto “"When you buy a can of peas at Aldi, you're paying almost

The intensity of rivalry and the threat of substitutes are strong components for J.C. Penney to consider as they continue to strive for increased revenue and market share. Their two primary competitors are Macy’s and Kohl’s, both of whom have fiercely competitive strategies to be strong retail operations. For instance, while Macy’s offers a multitude of promotional deals and is working hard to choose products based upon demographics and geographic segmentation, Kohl’s is attempting to reduce their inventory levels and improve their marketing strategies in order to become a stronger competitor in the department store segment of the retail industry. In order to compete with their competitors, J.C. Penney aims to focus on their previously successful promotions and home department segmentations by bringing in new reputable designers in order to attract a larger customer base. Due to the fact that the intensity of rivalry and threat of substitutes are both moderately strong in the retail department store industry, J.C. Penney ought to be diligent in their implementation of strategies in order to achieve success in the retail business.

Threat: Forces shaping the Nordstrom’s strategy is that it is operating in highly competitive environment, where apparel sold by it is not only competing with large organized departmental chains but, also from small independent boutiques in the U.S. As a result competition has become very stiff in retail

At one time JCPenney was considered the pentacle of discount shopping and was consistently growing. A heavy recession in 1974 was the first major obstacle for JCPenney and from there on forward it seemed difficult for the retailer to make progress in the magnitude it had the previous years; however the retailer continued to make profits. In 1998 JCPenney introduced its online catalog service; in the beginnings JCPenney’s catalog was strictly paper and a major player in its business strategy and profits. The introduction of the online shopping proved extremely beneficial for the company due to the online boom of the late 90’s and early 2000’s.