Mkt 550 - Whole Foods Case Study

Whole Foods Case Study

Week 7

MKT 550

Professor Levens

Whole Foods awareness has increased as we see more of these grocers popping up in new locations. Most can be found in areas where consumers are more health conscious and willing to spend a bit more expendable income for higher quality goods. There is a Whole Foods being built in the center of downtown Detroit which symbolizes an increase of value by developing a more trendy shopping location. This investment helps promote a new image for Detroit and should influence other organizations to invest alongside.

1. Whole foods offers value to the customer by selling the best quality groceries. Whole foods ensure its products are of higher organic quality versus its competition.

2. It may pose a small threat as they are dipping into the same market sector as Whole Foods. However, since Whole Foods specializes in nothing but organic products the competitors cannot match Whole Foods selection. Wal-Mart and other competitors have to carry organic foods which cost more in addition to their regular selection. Thus resulting in the competitors organic food selection to be limited.

3. According to Gasparo, "BMO Capital Markets analyst Karen Short questioned whether Whole Foods really needs to continue narrowing the gap between its own prices and its competitors,' since it has already made so much headway," (Gasparro, 2013). Whole Foods risks a decline in future sales due to increasing overhead and competition from more affordable groceries. Whole Foods overhead may increase due to their attempt to narrow the gap by broadening their product offerings.

4. Purchasing quality foods come at a higher cost. You get what you pay for, and higher quality foods can only be better for you in the long run. You can buy more affordable foods from a local grocer, however the food may not even last as long due to the lack of freshness and quality resulting n much wasted money. Whole Foods products are cheaper than convenient store offerings and have better quality. When broken down, Whole Foods offer a better quality selection for not much more than what competitor grocers offer. For people who appreciate the quality versus the price, they are able to accept the marginal increase of price. Eve O'Neil shares her thoughts on the price discrepancy, "The difference is huge. However, this information had an inverse effect on me, because it didn't make me want cheaper meat. Instead, it just creeps me out, and makes me worry about animals and chemicals and all sorts of awfulness. I'll pay more for good meat. So, next up are a bunch of identical products," (O'Neil, 2012).

5. A future trend Whole Foods needs to be considerate of is the implementation of technology in association