Loblaw Target Market

The retail industry is an important indicator for the overall situation of the Canadian economy. Being one of the biggest employers, according to the latest census conducted in 2011, it was ranked first in terms of share of total employment at 11.5%, with more than 1.9 million workers, which clearly demonstrates the strength of the sector.

Such level of importance creates a highly competitive environment, and currently 71.5% market share is dominated by the top three major players: Loblaw Canada Ltd., Sobeys and Metro, all canadian companies. The attractiveness of the retail segment brought international competition, and in 2005 the giant Wal-Mart entered the market, being then the second big american company in the Canadian reatil industry,

and its positioning throughout the years, holding the top position and counteracting the competitors strategies and new entrants such as the giant Wal-Mart. Loblaw currently has 40.4% of the canadian retail market share, considering Shopper Drug Mart, as shown in appendix A. The literature reviewed to produce this report consisted of different online trusted sources, and official data from Loblaw Canada Limited website. Tangible and intangible assets have been taken into consideration, as well as the company’s stated goals, vision, mission and an overall structural review of the company. In order to properly conduct the analysis of Loblaw Canada Ltd., some well recognized tools were used, such as Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT analysis and PEST. Online journals, additional publications, and Loblaw’s annual reports were consulted throughout the report producing

With headquartres in in Ontario, the company employs close to 200,000 people according to information currently existing on their website. A visual company overview can be found in the appendix B. The company operates in western Canada, Quebec, Ontario, and Atlantic Canada, under a range of 29 banners, Real Canadian Superstore, including Lucky Dollar Foods, Shop Easy Foods and Valu-Mart as seen in the appendix C. Last year, the company recorded revenues of C$45,394 million, an increase of 6.53% over FY2014.The operating profit of the company was C$1,601 million in FY2015, a increase of 142% compared with FY2014, year in which the company had a decrease of 49.9% on the operating profit, and the net profit of the company was C$623 million in FY2015, an increase the total of FY2014, C$53 million (Loblaw, 2016). Loblaw’s stock price (L.TO) ended the year priced at C$65.34, 6.5% higher than price at the begining of the year C$61.35 (Yahoo Finances,