Costco-Market Segmentation Overview

1495 Words3 Pages

Costco-Market Segmentation Overview: Every company and/or organization starts and operates to achieve a single major goal, which is normally included in the company’s mission statement. Setting a goal, however, does not translate into success on its own; it is only the fist step. Understanding market segmentation is the second most important aspect of doing business. “Sellers and advertisers want to be able to determine what the potential market is for their product or service, as well as the best ways to reach potential consumers” (Terrell, 2013). Once a goal is set, an organization first must decide if it wants to operate locally, regionally, nationally, and/or internationally, as the size of the geographic coverage has a large influence on demographic coverage. It is crucial for a business to understand what it is meant by demographic coverage; it is to understand people’s age, gender, culture, social norms and beliefs, and income in a given geographical size (Grewal & Levy, 2010). Let’s take a high class and luxury bar as an example to explain the importance of these key factors. If the bar is located in an area where the average age is 60, it will be safe to assume that the business will have difficulties finding many customers. Similarly, the business will not be able to survive if it is located in an area that has a lot of Mormon or Muslim residents as drinking alcoholic beverages is prohibited by these religious practices. On the other hand, if the said bar is located in an area such as San Francisco where the average age is around 38 years old, the median income is ~$70,000, and the culture is a melting pot of many races with many beliefs and behaviors, it will most likely thrive to its full potential (city-data.com, 201... ... middle of paper ... ...195 Ingram, J. (2013, March 6). Costco CEO - Panderer or economic illiterate?. Examiner.com. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.examiner.com/article/costco-ceo-panderer-or-economic-illiterate Nguyen, A. (2013, April 12). Costco: From Concept to $1 Billion in Three Years. Costco Wholesales Corp. . Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://lindaperry.us/aec3033/AdNguyen2.pdf San Francisco County, California (CA). (n.d.). San Francisco County, California detailed profile. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.city-data.com/county/San_Francisco_County-CA.html Terrell, E. (n.d.). Market Segmentation. (Business Reference Services, Library of Congress). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/marketing/ Wal-Mart Stores Inc.. (n.d.). WMT Annual Income Statement. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/wmt/financials

More about Costco-Market Segmentation Overview

Open Document