Overview
Spanish clothing company Inditex, owner of the Zara clothing store chain, has one of the most unique and successful operational strategies in the retail business. While their techniques are somewhat unorthodox, their unyielding focus on capital investment, supply chain synchronicity, and merchandise design has given them a noticeable edge over the competition. Not only has Zara seen 20% annual growth of sales and net income since 2001, they also report collecting an impressive 85% of the full ticket price of their clothing. While it would be counterproductive for Target to try and emulate many of Zara’s more intensive business practices, taking a closer look at some of the specific operational techniques that Zara uses can provide terrific insight on ways to improve profitability in the Target Corporation.
Controlling the Entire Supply Chain
Since its founding, Zara has employed a strategy that has given them unparallel control over their supply chain. Company founder Amancio Ortega once said that “you need to have five fingers touching the factory and five fingers touching the customer.” This is exactly what Zara does today. They own over 50% of their production facilities, and produce almost all of their non-basic products in house.(2) This strategy allows them to have a great deal of control over their production and transportation schedules, and gives them the freedom to manage production capacities. Although the capital investment would have to be quite large, the Target corporation could reap the same supply chain benefits that Zara sees if it were to own some of the production facilities used to manufacture its clothing.
Utilizing JIT Systems
Zara also uses sophisticated JIT systems that allow them to sen...
... middle of paper ...
...ccessful. Target should also continually reevaluate their office layouts and channels of communication because these things have proven to be key factors in Zara’s design success.
Thinking Outside of the Box
Zara’s methods of merchandising and replenishment are what truly set them apart from the competition. Zara frequently changes the clothing styles in their stores, causing customers to buy more merchandise because of the exclusivity associated with the temporary styles. They also keep a limited number of items on display even though their stores are spacious, in an effort to further entice their customers.(2) Target may be unable to imitate this exact strategy, but ideas like this one are the key to gaining a competitive advantage. The Target Corporation can still try to think more like Zara, by resisting management fads and ever shifting industry practices.
This nationally recognized mass merchandiser that stood as Kohl’s other leading adversary in the market has everyday low prices that were able to compete with Kohl’s promotional events. Wal-Mart also outdid their competition when it came to number of store locations around the country. The weaknesses of this reputable company come to light when shoppers are looking to buy clothes and are not presented with nearly the selection that the department store can offer. Also, their service is not considered to be as helpful as the department stores that can input more expertise when trying on
Target Corporation is among one of the largest retailers in US with its headquarter located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company is recognized within the top 500 most valuable brands as of 2012 as well as the top 25 retail brands in 2012 (Target Corporation SWOT Analysis, 2013). Target took birth on May1, 1962 as a “new idea in discount stores”. Gregg W. Steinhafel is the current chairman, president and CEO of Target (www.corporate.target.com). The company has a vast product offerings such as- household essentials, including pharmacy, beauty, personal care, baby care, cleaning, and paper products; hardlines comprising music, movies, books, computer software, sporting goods, and toys, as well as electronics that consist of video game hardware and software; apparel and accessories, such as apparel for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, infants, and newborns, as well as intimate apparel, jewelry, accessories, and shoes. It also provides food and pet supplies, including dry grocery, dairy, frozen food, beverages, candy, snacks, deli, bakery, meat, produce, and pet supplies; and home furnishings and décor, such as furniture, lighting, kitchenware, small appliances, home décor, bed and bath, home improvement, automotive, and seasonal merchandise comprising patio furniture and holiday décor (www.finance.yahoo.com). It has 1,921 stores with an approximated labor force of 361,000 fulltime and part-time employees. Target reported revenue for 2012 was $73,301 million with a 6.1% increase in total sales (www.investor.target.com). Targets global expansion limits to India and Canada for now with 37 distribution centers. It is also aggressively penetrating the online market via offering its products and services on the official website. (www....
Kohl’s also boasts a loyal customer base and strong brand equity. These strengths are critical to offset their weaknesses. Flaws include an imbalance on sales for men’s products and a lacking online presence. (Kohl's Corporation, n.d.) Another way that Kohl’s is actively counterbalancing their negatives is by capitalizing on opportunities. Kohl’s has found that their beauty sections are an immense source of opportunity. As a result, the company is expanding those departments in an effort to capture those sales that would otherwise go elsewhere. (Wahba, 2014) Finally, Kohl’s keeps the knowledge of their threats at the forefront of their decision-making. They understand that their coupon system can be abused and cause profit losses. They also recognize that price wars in their industry can also be very damaging. As a result, they are working towards more secure methods of offering savings and strategically making efforts to remain the leader for price setting. (Wahba,
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
Maxx benefits from chaos by picking up the pieces, merchandise at a discount, when other retail stores close, or have overruns, or unexpected changes in demand and in return pass these savings on to their customers who shop for value (Levine-Weinberg, 2016) This is the demand-side benefits of scale when the consumer rather pay less for name brand merchandise than to pay more for the same designer in the department store. The stores that where having difficulty in the retail market left themselves vulnerable by not defending their position and T.J. Maxx proactively attacks this opportunity with its purchasing power and passes the savings to its customers. This proactive process of attacking and defending is what Wee (2016) calls the holistic and balanced perspective of handling competition. Moreover, this business warfare strategy of attacking struggling competitors is called offensive marketing warfare strategy (Grewal, 2014).
The ecommerce industry is growing faster than ever. TJ Maxx needs to start focusing more on ecommerce not only to keep up with competition, but also to make sure they do well during weak economic periods. ecommerce, overall, tends to do very well during lackluster economic times. TJ Maxx will be able to cut costs more easily the more they expand their ecommerce business. Our business idea will allow them to expand their ecommerce as we will take over their website and delivery. TJX Companies’ three ecommerce sites accounts for only about 1.0% of the company’s total sales. However, the online channel is a key growth driver and TJX is taking initiatives to improve its online business. The ecommerce sales
Understanding the changes in the market and the growth of e-commerce prompted the organization to invest heavily in its supply chain management forecasting and management system. The development of a network of distribution centers and Direct Fulfillment Centers to position the company to capitalize on the growing e-commerce market indicate a strong understanding of the need to adapt to changing market forces. The company spent over $300 million on new distribution center facilities in 2014 alone, and continues to expand to maintain efficiency in product movement (Cassidy,
JCPenney is a chain of American mid-range department stores that is based out of Texas that started over 100 years ago. JCPenny has been successful for most of its time up until the last three to four years. The company is trying relentlessly to overcome the lingering effects of the makeover that former CEO, Ron Johnson, had implemented in order for the company to take a new direction in hopes of increasing sales. The new CEO, Myron Ullman, has taken a close look into the markets demographic segmentation along with the income segmentation in order to attempt to return the retailer back to its old self, which is to appeal to middle-market customers. A couple issues of major concern for the company are the dissolving of Johnson’s Boutiques, the price of their products, and overall revenue.
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 Target stores offer higher quality products while keeping prices low for customers who take quality into consideration. This is a an advantage for Target by collecting a higher wealth of customers
Based on the business strategy and tactics, Zara has been trying to optimize its business operation largely in three cyclical processes ordering, fulfillment, and design and manufacturing. Much of the process are standardized and simplified under the excellent control and employee's intuitive decision making latitude. In short, the principle of Zara's business operation is optimization of all business process and get rids of all redundancies and unnecessary things. More extended or peripherals of the principles can be summarized as follow;
Target Corporation pioneered value chain activities like focusing on customer experience through superior marketing, ability to attract global talent, sustain in and outbound supply logistics, develop supplies with a high-quality vendor and partners, a great customer service, extend return by 30 more days if purchased through Target brand store cards, and a skilled workforce supports its generic strategy of "Expect more Pay Less" improves competitive position that its rival cannot match. --
Recommendations to achieve a sustained competitive advantage: Online, mobile, and store purchase will certainly increase customer traffic with the online and store combinations gives Target Corporation with a best possible low-cost price. A best-cost provider strategy allows Target to position itself and compete with low-cost providers such as Walmart. In addition, it employs a competitive strategy with a designer label along with superior supply chain, increased operational capabilities, and skilled employees. . The strategy of sending coupons are huge for a customer, so increase discount based on their purchase history and use the store brand credit card to attract more customers.
This paper describes the various aspects of the Zappos case. The objective is to evaluate the depth analysis of the Zappos strategy. It enables to determine the Zappos strategy, business model & marketing strategy, and smartness of the Zappos acquisition.
Target has been looking for ways to expand. Target’s value proposition is “Expect More. Pay Less.”. This has always been their proposition and it seems to work. Target seems to meet most of their consumer’s expectation and provide the best for them. Target is a competitive retail market to Wal-Mart and Costco mainly because they carry better brands than Wal-Mart. This strategy markets the brand from Wal-Mart. The market is competitive and one wrong move will haunt them. For example, Target’s 5% reward program off purchases at Target locations and on their online website builds million and there are new customers who have not shop yet at Target. Target expanded and builds more City stores and opened 125-135 stores in Canada and they are working slowly to expand to operate 200 or more stores over time. The one recent issue with credit card security has affected many of their sales. There was a...