Question

A group of investors in your city is considering opening a new upscale supermarket to compete with the major supermarket chains that are currently dominating the city’s marketplace. They have called you in to help them determine what kind of upscale supermarket they should open. In other words, how can they best develop a competitive advantage against existing supermarket chains?
Questions
1. List the supermarket chains in the Kansas City area, and identify their strengths and weaknesses.
2. What business-level strategies are these supermarkets currently pursuing?
3. What kind of supermarket would do best against the competition? What kind of business-level strategy should it pursue?

Sample paper

ALDI

Casentino’s

price chopper

Trader’s Joe

1. ALDI

Aldi Strengths

Low pricing is the major strength of Aldi. The company offers relatively low prices to customers for goods that are used on a daily basis. The pricing offered by the company is relatively lower than those of other competitors enhancing their competitiveness in the sector.

ALDI has also developed a strong ecosystem that has contributed to its competitiveness in the market. Apart from offering discount prices, the store chain added other elements such as multiple distribution locations, an assortment of merchandise to enhance the shopping convenience for customers.

A quality customer support system: ALDI has a quality customer support system that offers adequate assistance to consumers. The highly informed customer care staff ensures that the needs of the customers are met and that their feedback is promptly addressed

The low cost offered by ALDI ensures that the customers achieve maximum saving from their saving experience. The company has in place a strategy that supports the provision of a 50% discount to the customers, making it one of the most preferred store outlets in the region.

Aldi has a good product mix that has enhanced its competitiveness in the sector. Aldi has a product mix consisting of general merchandise goods that takes up more than 25 percent of the total shelf space. The company also has premium brands that are mostly not- discounted as well as private label brands. The highly differentiated products and quality brands under each category of the product offered by the company has contributed significantly towards the competitiveness of ALDI in the market