Introduction
Amazon is currently the biggest online vendor in America. Amazon used to be a bookstore where people could view and order books online. Over the years, it has grown considerably and is now selling all kinds of goods. In May 2006, Amazon started selling grocery alongside the non-perishables goods. Order of fresh food and grocery is by the click of a button and delivery made right on one’s doorstep.
Amazon grocery stocks more than fifteen thousand non-perishable items most of which are organic products. Aldi group on the other hand is the leading store chain that stock and sell grocery in Germany and is a worldwide competitor in retail food handling.
It is arguably the biggest retail food handler in Europe. For more than thirty years, Aldi has been operating in the United States. Its operation in US has expanded to twenty-nine states with more than a thousand stores. Aldi has earned the reputation to be a store that offers high quality goods at low prices.
Demographic and socio-cultural trends
While Amazon is an American organization, Aldi has its origins in Germany. Aldi has been operational in America for many years unlike Amazon grocery. The attitude of population about foreign products affects the marketing strategy employed by grocery vendors (Holbeche, 2009). Amazon.com receives many hits in their already famous website.
This fact alone makes them confident that the new grocery line they are introducing in the market will be availed to the millions of individuals who shop in their website. Abdi on the other hand has developed a strong brand over the years and its international links make it a trusted organization by most of its customers.
Due to the large population of America, Abdi group has built numerous stores in many parts of the country to serve its customers. This increases sales as each outlet has targets to meet and brings fresh grocery close to their customers.
Health issues and consciousness of the population on the need to eat and stay healthy also affects the strategies of both Amazon grocery and Abdi group. People believe that eating of junk and fast food brings about obesity (Ranchhod, Gauzente & Tinson, 2004).
Due to this, Amazon grocery focuses this new wing of production on fresh grocery while at the same time selling fast food via its other wing of production. While the public start to believe that the newcomer Amazon grocery deals only with fresh grocery, Abdi group begin to lose some customers who know that they only stock foodstuff that can lead to obesity.
Gender and sex are some of the factors that influence the strategies of the two grocery stores in an effort to dominate the market. Females are more conscious of their weight and how they look compared to men. This influence their eating habits about what they prefer to eat. Abdi group has considered this hence geared their advertisements towards female consumers.
Socio-economic factors play an important role in the strategies used by both Amazon grocery and Abdi group. Amazon is taking the initiative to reduce shipping costs and in many situations offer free shipping in an effort to attract more consumers.
Abdi on the other hand offers affordable foodstuff to its customers by making the prices pocket friendly. It is popular for its cheap prices as compared to other grocery stores such as Amazon grocery.
Age distribution within the society also affects marketing and corporate strategy in the grocery industry (Mills, 2002). The population of the elderly generation is much higher than that of the young. Abdi is targeting the old in their strategy because they know that they have more wealth.
Media Vs strategy
Changes in the advertising strategy by a competitor bring out their new offers, new segmentation strategy and branding strategy. Media advertising also put emphasis on promotion strategy employed by an organization (Armstrong & Kotler, 2010). The media strategy of a competitor says a lot about their budget and the strategy they employ in targeting their customers.
Because Amazon grocery is web based, more of its advertisement is via the internet. The grocery products’ advertisement is online and information about special discounts and shipping costs accessed via the Internet. Abdi on the other hand uses television though, not so much as its policy is to stay as far away from the media as possible.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Abdi group is in a better position as compared to Amazon groceries. This is because they have been in the market for a long time as compared to their competitor. Abdi group is in an average competitive position, hence should invest in growing further by having more outlets.
They have employed many strategies and are better off because they know which strategy is best for them unlike Amazon, which is new in the grocery market. Based on recent trends in the market, I would recommend Abdi group group to look for eye-catching segments to apply their strengths and invest more in growing. They should have outlets in all the states of the US rather than just half.
After investment in growth, Abdi group should take it upon itself to advice consumers about good eating habits and sensitize them on the importance of eating a balanced diet. This will boost their image in the community hence be considered as a “corporate citizen”.
References
Armstrong, G. & Kotler, P. (2010). Marketing: An Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Holbeche, L. (2009). Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Mills, J. (2002). Creating a Winning Business Formula, Volume I. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ranchhod, A. Gauzente, C. & Tinson J. (2004). Marketing Strategies: A Twenty-first century approach. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.