Size Battle...Are They Really Competing?
Look into big malls. It would definitely be very easy to locate such stores as Ann Taylor, Loft, and Gucci. Finding other stores carrying technology gadgets, toys, books and other ‘fancy’ items are not too difficult to find either. Moreover, the typical mall would also house A&P, Shoppers’ Drug Mart, Dollarama, or many other stores of the same kind as to make such place a one-stop shopping experience for customers. However, if one looks carefully into big pool of giant players, a small mom-and-pop store also exists in the mall.
It wonders me a little to see such small grocery stores—carrying so few lines of items—compete against big supermarket operators. In fact, the first grocery store that caught my attention was standing just 2 stores away from A&P’s entrance (Sherwood’s Forest Mall Branch). However, after looking carefully into its RVP, I realized that this should not be of any surprises. The ant and the giant are not competing against each other at all.
Supermarket and in-mall grocery store, though carry similar lines of goods, are in fact very different. Each draws different types of customers and thus possesses its own unique set of RVP. In relative to grocery stores, supermarket carries so much more variety and is able to compete on price due to economy of scales arising from its larger operation. However, whether it stands for price and/or quality or not depends on individual corporate strategy. Moreover supermarket has its own target group that may or may not be the same as that of the mall it locates in. In another word, it relies on drawing mall stroller as much as serving its existing target group of customers.
On the contrary, the customers who shop at small mom-and-pop stores (within the mall) are, by large, the passer-bys or mall strollers that purchase out of immediate consumption. Since these stores are known to serve immediate consumption, their assortment is usually altered to include more ‘food’ items or other items that appropriately serve that kind of need. Therefore it is not surprising to see cigarette, telephone card, and newspaper nicely displayed within the store. Non-food items such as soap or detergent that one could find in typical grocery stores outside the mall would never be seen in such store inside the mall. After all, there is no reason to store this kind of goods any way.
In addition to the ‘type’, the package size also matters. One would probably find $.99 Toritos in small mom-and-pop store rather than in the supermarket (in there you would instead find a $3.99 that you could enjoy for 3 days). Lastly, inclusion of service into its definition of assortment also distinguishes it from supermarket. Some small grocery stores also offer fax services, photocopying services or other simple services that would never be available in the supermarket. This ‘service’ area, at least in my opinion, is worth more improvement and emphasis to be developed into a key advantage over large supermarket operators.
Pictures from:
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=th&q=ann+taylor%2C+store
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=th&q=a%26p+entrance
It wonders me a little to see such small grocery stores—carrying so few lines of items—compete against big supermarket operators. In fact, the first grocery store that caught my attention was standing just 2 stores away from A&P’s entrance (Sherwood’s Forest Mall Branch). However, after looking carefully into its RVP, I realized that this should not be of any surprises. The ant and the giant are not competing against each other at all.
Supermarket and in-mall grocery store, though carry similar lines of goods, are in fact very different. Each draws different types of customers and thus possesses its own unique set of RVP. In relative to grocery stores, supermarket carries so much more variety and is able to compete on price due to economy of scales arising from its larger operation. However, whether it stands for price and/or quality or not depends on individual corporate strategy. Moreover supermarket has its own target group that may or may not be the same as that of the mall it locates in. In another word, it relies on drawing mall stroller as much as serving its existing target group of customers.On the contrary, the customers who shop at small mom-and-pop stores (within the mall) are, by large, the passer-bys or mall strollers that purchase out of immediate consumption. Since these stores are known to serve immediate consumption, their assortment is usually altered to include more ‘food’ items or other items that appropriately serve that kind of need. Therefore it is not surprising to see cigarette, telephone card, and newspaper nicely displayed within the store. Non-food items such as soap or detergent that one could find in typical grocery stores outside the mall would never be seen in such store inside the mall. After all, there is no reason to store this kind of goods any way.
In addition to the ‘type’, the package size also matters. One would probably find $.99 Toritos in small mom-and-pop store rather than in the supermarket (in there you would instead find a $3.99 that you could enjoy for 3 days). Lastly, inclusion of service into its definition of assortment also distinguishes it from supermarket. Some small grocery stores also offer fax services, photocopying services or other simple services that would never be available in the supermarket. This ‘service’ area, at least in my opinion, is worth more improvement and emphasis to be developed into a key advantage over large supermarket operators.
Pictures from:
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=th&q=ann+taylor%2C+store
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=th&q=a%26p+entrance
posted by Ning, Thampanichvong at
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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