Strength Case

Strength: It is almost impossible for people to survive in today's urban centres without visiting grocery stores. Hence the biggest strength of the grocery industry, which often goes unnoticed at times, is how dependent we all are on the various grocery stores. There are a lot of grocery store chains which are available for the consumer. Each grocery store has unique characteristics so the consumer is basically spoiled for choice. Every grocery store offers a certain quality and brand of products from which consumers can select. Different grocery stores have different strategies and environment to attract different sets of people. Different strategies implemented by grocery chains also create a sense of loyalty amongst the consumers. People start associating certain brands, certain types of experiences, environment, pricing levels, customer service before walking into a store. Different grocery stores have promotional events and weeks going on throughout the year where they have certain items for sale. This encourages the consumer to visit that particular grocery store in which the best deals are available which ultimately benefits the consumer. Over the years, in order to increase their competitiveness, many grocery stores have tried to expand and offer new products and services. We are also beginning to see a new trend related to expansion in grocery stores in and around Toronto. This trend is that we are seeing certain ethnic products and certain goods which are imported into Canada. The people of certain ethnic backgrounds would feel happy to get those same products in Canada as they used to and hence they might even be willing to pay a somewhat higher price for it. This strategy is extremely good for those stores who are trying to increase their target market audience and their market share. However, it would only make sense to offer certain ethnic products in those areas where there is a demand for such products. Many groceries stores have identified the demographics of different regions and are targeting that population accordingly.

Weakness: The biggest weakness that certain grocery stores could face is the location or proximity to people. No matter how good the customer service or how low the prices are for the goods, most people would not travel a lot to reach these grocery stores. The different grocery stores might not have the same luxury, of being in a prime location, which is accessible to most people easily. Some people, who rely on public transportation, might not go extremely far and carry heavy bags home. Another issue which faces the grocery stores is the long checkout times that people experience. No one would want to wait for a long period of time in line just to pay for their groceries. The different grocery stores have different reputations attached to them. If a particular grocery store has a bad reputation then it might be very difficult for that image to get changed. For example, it takes one bad encounter with a customer to tarnish the reputation of good customer service. Stores that are slightly higher priced because they offer great service have to be extremely careful that this reputation is upheld at all times. While some people remain loyal towards their grocery stores, others might be driven away by lower prices, better products, better customer service or just the opening of a new store in the vicinity. In order to remain competitive grocery stores always have to pro-active rather than reactive in terms of what deals and incentives they can offer the consumer. There might be a situation that while shopping in bigger grocery stores, consumers might not get the freshest products. A lot of products might also get damaged while transporting and storing. The grocery stores might be forced to sell perishable products at a cheaper price if there the product is going to expire soon. Some products might even lie on shelves longer than their expiry date. It is very difficult for grocery stores to expand beyond the local market into a more global market. Even leading stores who have tried this strategy have experienced disappointment. In 2009 Carrefour, for example, withdrew from crisis stricken Russia only four months after gaining a foothold there and in 2010 sold its Thai operations to Casino as it felt that it could not achieve a leadership position in the market [1].

Opportunity: The biggest opportunity for grocery stores to increase their market share is through the use of social media. Of course, there has been