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Target is the second leading discount store in the United States, which makes looking at market structure easy to identify. In this case Target would be considered a perfect competition market structure due to several factors. This type of marketing structure also helps to explain the financial performance that Target has and how it is able to maintain its position among the U.S.’s discount stores. By understanding more about market structure, we are able to understand how companies, such as Target, are able to be so successful.
The first thing that must be understood is the type of marketing structure that Target is in. Since Target is most like a perfect competition market structure, which is described by five criteria a company must meet. The first criterion is all firms sell an identical product, which is true of Target in comparison to stores like Walmart, Amazon, and K-Mart. The second criterion is all firms are price takers, which means that they are unable to control the prices of the products they sell. The next criterion is all firms have a relatively small market share. The fourth criterion is that the buyer has complete information about any product being sold and the prices of these products. The final criterion is that the industry allows for freedom of entry and exit (Investopedia, 2014). All of these criteria, Target meets, because there are several dozen other discount stores that exist in which Target must compete with (Hoovers, 2014).
The products that are available at Target can easily be found at a variety of other stores or online, which also makes them perfect for this type of market structure. In terms of entry, perfect competition allows for any company to enter into the market without many issues. The o...
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...ited to their advertisement strategy as well as their marketing strategies. One way that Target is able to do this is by offering products that are not available in other discount retail stores, but must be purchased online. By having contracts with the companies that produce certain goods, it enables Target to limit the amount of competition that may be seen in some areas and bring in more customers.
By understanding the market strategies that large corporations fit into and use, we are able to understand how they become so successful. Target is simply one of many examples and we are able to see that by competing with other large discount retail stores, they are still able to be the second largest in America. The strategies that they implement are what help to make them so successful and how they are able to see continued growth each year they remain in business.
As I have outlined in the charts below, there are various similarities and differences between Wal-Mart and Target. Wal-Mart is Target’s primary competitor, and vice versa. Wal-Mart has a strong market presence in its global markets and has a diverse range of products and services that are affordable and available in stock. Target, on the other hand, does not have a strong market presence or efficient product supply; however, Target’s physical environment and innovative products further the brand’s image and value. Unfortunately, Target and Wal-Mart are both e-commerce laggards with major competitors such as Amazon. Target faces complications with their pricing strategies and their product availability, which hinders their strength when competing
Target has many competitors in the market, and the level of competition is highly intense. Some of its main rivals are Wal-Mart stores, Home Depot and Costco Wholesale Corp. All of them produce similar products as well as offer almost the same services to their consumers. Naturally, the organization would need a strategy that helps it to stand out and to distinguish it from its competitors, thus, Target 's positioning was based on more than just pricing; it combined quality and style. This was the differentiation strategy that have always been applied since the launch of the organization.
For example in the economic forces they work to provide higher end discounted items to keep the profits up by allowing shoppers to have quality and cost savings. In the technological forces, Target has used the increase use of mobile platforms to allow their customers to shop online and pick up in the store by saving time. With the political-legal forces Target works to provide a safe and non-discriminating environment for all customers. Environmental forces are taken in to effect by looking at better waste recycling management to decrease their carbon footprint. Target works hard to represent the values and mores of their customer base, by being actively involved within the community and addressing current social
Target must compete vigorously and fairly in the marketplace using our independent judgment to make the best decisions for the Company.
Target, the nation's #2 discount chain, now operates more than 1,500 Target and Super Target stores in 47 states, as well as an online business called Target.com. Target and its larger grocery-carrying stores, Super Target, have carved out a niche by offering more upscale, fashion-forward merchandise than rivals Wal-Mart and Kmart. After years of struggling to turn around its Marshall Fields and Mervyns departments stores divisions, the discounter sold them both in 2004. Target also owns apparel supplier The Associated Merchandising Corp. and issues Target Visa and its proprietary Target Card (www.Answers.com/topic/target-corporation).
According to www.targetcorp.com, Target is an upscale discount retail chain that sells quality products at attractive prices, and prides itself on clean, spacious, and guest-friendly stores. Target is the second largest "general merchandise" retailer (behind Wal-Mart); selling almost anything one would need to complete the "one stop shop", especially with the addition of the SuperTarget stores. The first Target opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962. Since then, 1,330 stores located in forty-seven different states, which includes the 141 SuperTarget stores, have opened nationwide. Target also has twenty-two distribution centers located in nineteen states. In addition to the vast number of store locations, Target also has other businesses that include: Target.com, Target Financial Services, Associated Merchandising Corporation, and Target commercial Interiors. Through all the key businesses, Target employs nearly 300,000 people from diverse backgrounds. The current Chairman and CEO of Target is Bob Ulrich.
Best Buy operates in an oligopolistic market where there are significant barriers to entry and few large firms dominate the market by selling identical goods. Best Buy is a non-collusive oligopolist, existing in a strategic environment where firms do not cooperate, yet are interdependent due to the fact that a firm’s action affects the market. Recently, Best Buy experienced an increase in demand, increasing its revenues and profits.
Target Corporation being a retail industry, the structure by product grouped to a functional level practices works the best. This is necessary for the other functional levels to collaborate as a single team to produce a positive customer shopping experience. Target Corporation further divided the functional level into a geographic area to exercise management tasks effectively with the given authority. Each structure of the management at the geographic level has a strategy discussion, a line of communication, growth, and progress reporting according to the corporate reporting plan. Jana Potts who manages Target Corporation store has closer to 300, 000 employees working for her and the effective can be improved if the role is broken within domestic into channels, stores into broader segments and a separate global position. The rapidly growing online channel and global expansion are necessary to support Target Corporation's strategy of internal growth and sustain it for long term sustainability. These structural changes will allow Target Corporation to connect with its employee at a functional level and bring changes faster, track and monitor the
The main rivals among the merchandising companies are Wal-Mart, Kohls, Family Dollar and Target among many more. Wal-Mart and Target are their main rivals, this is because Wal-Mart is known for their niche as having the lowest prices and Target is known for their fashions and home furnishings both of these items Kmart tries to compete against. Also buyers see Kmart as a discount store which doesn¡¦t stand when other competitors have lower prices. Kmart¡¦s customer service and available products are two other items that Kmart fails to be a strong competitor in against these rivals. Therefore, the rivalry among the merchandising stores is a strong competitive force in this market. Another external force that affects the market is substitutes.
According to Schafer (2013), Target Corporation desire is to improve Target Brand and be a better version of Target with an incremental products and services. Target Corporation acquisitions counter any threat from other rival online retailers and allow Target Corporation to cross promote between Target and the new entity strengthening its
Target Corporation is the biggest discount retailing business in the US which comes just after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The headquarters are located in Minneapolis in Minnesota in the USA. George Dayton founded it. It initially started as a family business with a regional retailer shop and later grew into a national full retailer store. The company’s main aim is to offer retail services at friendly rates and, its main attracting feature is discount rates offed on different products in the business. The company has indicated tremendous growth in the retail business. It has a target to outgrow its market and achieve competitive advantage over its competitors. This essay seeks to discuss the competitive analysis and
1. The Discount Department Store. Target prefers to be called as the latter instead of just department store. Expect more, pay less. With this tagline, the customers expect to purchase more items and pay the least amount possible. Not like other retail industries like its competitor Kmart and Wal-Mart, Target maintains retail value in terms of product offerings. They are known in their designer’s items in clothes, exclusive beauty products, categorized and functional goods, and seasonal offerings. It also sells the greatest number of gift cards among its rival business.
For Oliver’s Market among the five Competitive forces, pressures associated with the threat of new entrants into the market are the strongest one. Because Wal-Mart and Target had announced plans to develop regional supercenters in the Sonoma county region. They are strong candidates for entering the market, because they possess the res...
An unenthusiastic response to Target’s expansion into Canada resulted in upsettingly low success rates this year. The recent implementation of 127 stores nation-wide has cost the corporation nearly $1 billion in retail sales. Although the future of Target Canada appears to be gloomy, it is with hope that providing the public with adequate knowledge of the corporation and their plans for the future, they will be encouraged to support this potentially booming discount retailer.
Definitely, it should be noted that in most cases, we can only dream of purchasing good quality products for a reasonable price. In this regards, I would like to quote Brian Manning, “it’s good to search for the cheapest rate and to buy from the company that guarantees the lowest rate instead of seeking out the provider that is going to offer the best value. “You don’t go to Walmart to buy a Rolex or a Ralph Lauren polo… You go to Walmart for one reason: to get the cheapest priced product”. That sounds logical. On the contrary, it is extremely illogical to expect that the Target’s customers will be ready to purchase low quality products for a high price. It was one of its main business development mistakes; especially taking into consideration that Target started under very favorable circumstances. It purchased the lease agreements of up to 220 Zellers stores for C$1.825 billion . As it stated in The Globe and Mail, “Target inherited leases from Zellers that already came with rents well below market prices, averaging $6 to $7 a square foot, compared to going rates close to $20”