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Hello,
I am attaching comment that other students have made (two of them). I just need responses to each question. It must be at least 250 words and in APA style (references listed in text and at the end- it doesn’t need a title page or running head).
I need tonight by 11:00pm. (23:00).( It’s 8:17pm here now).
Below is a discussion question for the week and a students response. I need to respond to the student’s response with at least 250 words in APA format with references.
In the warehouse market there are many companies that share similarities. In some instances it is hard to recognize the differences between these markets because the prices and initial perception of their products and services seem to have the same quality and appeal to consumers. This is the case in wholehouse club rivals Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale. The commonality these stores share makes it hard for those who are not in key decision making and leadership positions to recognize or decipher. The nature and strength of the competitive pressures have to be examined force by force, and their collective strength must be evaluated (p. 85).
B.J’s, Sam’s, and Costco have similar strategies in attempting to maintain effective approaches in their perspective organizations. Because they have percise business practices that are of the same tenure, the differences in their strategic efforts to move beyond their rivals is not apparent. Firms in the same strategic group are the closest rivals; the next closest rivals are in the immediately adjacent groups (p. 79). These companies provide the same services, sale similiar products, and are all marketing bulk products to its consumers. The profitability and prices that revolve around each company helps in assessing a core difference in the broadening chains appeal to customers and share holders.
The differences in strategy are not at all easy to determine. Costco prides itself on advertising to its customers their desire to serve the public from an ethical standpoint. Sam’s and BJ’s also have a strong practice of governing to its customers its reliability on employing those who truly represent the company from all fronts, which as you can attest is in the lines of Costco’s mission statement. All three intuities have membership fees that are of practical prices. Costco’s membership program costs $55.00 a year and releases its own in-store coupons, but does not accept manufacturer coupons. The cheapest membership at Sam’s Club costs $40.00 per year. BJ’s offers a membership for $50.00. They also offer their own coupons, and they can be used in conjunction with manufacturer’s coupons. All orgnizations also attract online markets and reward programs for consumers.
Although Costco has advanced above the competition, leaders in one institution does not necessarily have a better strategy than its competition. Lower prices are an advantage that will always appeal to consumers; however, there is currently not a big dollar value difference in the prices of the goods and services at one store over another. With that being said, I would also not suggest that one is weaker than the other. They are all popular companies that attract a substantial amount of people and all have many shareholders who partner in these particular organizations. In addition to this, these companies are worldwide and are recognizable to those outside of North America.
At current all of these competitors are likely to maintain success in the years to come. Other good clues about what actions a specifc company is likely to undertake can be gleaned from the announcements management is relaying to attract new personnel. Another indicator is the types of moves a rival is likely to make is its financial performance. All of the competition is currently performing with a similiar approach in mind. As long as this continues, the strategic level of Cosco, BJ’s, and Sam’s will continue to bear similiar strategic measures and business strategies.
Below is a discussion question for the week and a students response. I need to respond to the student’s response with at least 250 words in APA format with references.
Do all three warehouse club rivals—Costco, Sam’s, and BJ’s Wholesale—have highly similar strategies?
It appears as all three clubs have similar strategies. Costco’s strategy was aimed squarely at selling top-quality merchandise at prices consistently below what other wholesaler or retailers charged (Thompson et al., 2011, p. C-56). Sam’s and Costco have also developed stores across the globe. BJ’s strategy has been mostly to have stores in the Northeast of America. Another strategy that both Costco and Sam’s use is the “treasure-hunt” items. Costco members quickly learned that they needed to go ahead and buy treasure-hunt specials that interested them, because the items would very likely not be available on their next shopping trip (Thompson et al., 2011, p. C-61). Sam’s Club has the same thing but Costco items seem to be the more expensive treasure-hunt products. Each club also has their own brand name. Private brands have more favorable shelf space and membership marketing (Chuang & Hu, 2009). Each club’s brand name is of high quality and cheaper than the name-brand products. They also all charge membership fees as well.
What differences in their strategies are apparent?
BJ’s tries to out do Sam’s and Costco by providing more products, they almost have double the products in their warehouses. They use this as a strategy and longer hours of operation to gather more customers in their region. BJ’s also offered other incentives like taking coupons while the other clubs did not. Sam’s club also differs by having more stores in more locations worldwide. In 2010 Sam’s club had over 100 more stores worldwide than Costco but Costco had better average annual net sales per store.
Does one rival have a better strategy than the others? If so, why?
Costco seems to have the better strategy than the other clubs. Costco also concentrated in certain areas such as the treasure-hunt item and wines; Costco was the world’s largest seller of fine wines in 2009 (Thompson et al., 2011, p. C-56). Costco and Sam’s club look to continue to expand and build in new locations. Sam’s has admitted that some locations will close but they have plans to remodel and open more. With that being said all of the clubs are profitable and it really depends on the goals of each club on whether ones strategy is better than the other. Another item to look at is advertising. Costco and Sam’s Club don’t really advertise to much as word of mouth spreads it around. BJ’s advertises by community involvement.
Does one rival have a somewhat weaker strategy than the other two? If so, why?
I do not believe one has a weaker strategy than the other. It all depends on the aspirations of the CEO. They are all profitable with their current strategies, which are very similar to one another. They are all looking to expand in their product and number of warehouses. Each club seems to do something better than the other; BJ’s has their groceries, Costco has their treasure-hunt products, and Sam’s Club their sheer number of stores. With those differences the rivalry will continue to grow as each club tries to out-strategize the other.
