Eckerd Essay

Eckerd Position for the Future Assume we are standing in the year of 1998, the date of data provided in “Eckerd Corporation”. Till 1998, Eckerd chose a mixed strategy that is not really clear and could hardly tell the difference from their major rivals such as Walgreens, CVS and Rite aid. They all contain pharmacy for all kinds of drugs, include variety products such as health, generic, beauty and they all began building freestanding stores. Think about it. Is this strategy truly the best for Eckerd?
Actually, we don’t think this mixed and unclear strategy worked best for Eckerd, a strategy that has an obvious focus would fit better. Mixed strategy is acceptable, but without a focus, it would hardly built an “everything fits” system and its

They shorten their time spending in pharmacy store, only spend 7.5 minutes on average in Eckerd (Kelleher&Porter, 2000). When people want to in-and-out quickly, the swarming crowds in the mall make it a bad idea to locate pharmacy store in strip malls. On the other hand, since many customers of Eckerd are seniors, they might not willing to travel a long distance. Freestanding format stores located near neighborhoods are more convenient than those located in malls. However, most of the Eckerd stores were set up in strip malls. Its competitors, like Walgreens, had already realized increase in sales before Eckerd took action to adapt this shopping habits. Even though Eckerd started to transform its stores into freestanding units in 1993, it reacted too late and this made it less competitive. Eckerd needs to speed up its pace, relocated its stores in freestanding units to fit its customers. In addition, in order to tailor its clients and serve them better, Eckerd could set up call-to-reserve and pick-up method. Seniors can call pharmacy stores, making sure the products are available in stores before going to make

Eckerd could look further. It can analyze the feasibility of global expansion. For example, Canada has the similar culture and environment to U.S., it could be feasible for Eckerd to penetrate into Canadian pharmacy market. Japan is well known for its high percentage of seniors in its total population, which could become Eckerd’s prospective customers. But Eckerd should be careful of the local policies, competitors and costs before it start global expansion. Also, Since Eckerd was under heavy LBO debt, global expansion might place more pressure on its financial