The history of market competition often proves that the majority of crucial issues affecting companies to an unlimited extent usually come from within. Trader Joe’s represents a powerful player in the market that can be seen affected by internal and external market factors while being an organization that offers most products at prices that are lower than in traditional grocery stores. Despite the lack of advertising and product variety, it keeps competing with other players, which shows that Trader Joe’s does not have any issues with finding the right consumers and delivering the goods to them as expected. There are several vivid issues that the organization has to cope with, but it does not limit the organization’s potential at all. Trader Joe’s has to find the right approach to its marketing strategy and positioning in order to conquer the market and win the competition by maintaining its prices at a lower level than in traditional grocery stores.
The biggest issue that Trader Joe’s has to cope with when reaching out to the market is the absence of a strong product mix that could be utilized to appeal to a larger sample of consumers across the country. When a customer comes to the store with a long list of groceries to shop for, they are rather likely to experience a scenario where they cannot purchase everything in one place (Lowry 36). This is an uncomfortable situation that has not been mediated by Trader Joe’s in any way since the opening of the first company’s supermarket. A relatively slow expansion of sales and marketing represents one of the key reasons why the lower cost of products might pose an insignificant benefit in the face of a limited number of goods available to consumers.
In the process of negating this argument, one could resort to Hannon’s article on Trader Joe’s, where she describes in rich detail how the market avoids numerous middleman-driven interactions to create a better experience for consumers. This means that a lower price for products is also complemented by a strong brand name that aids the company in terms of keeping up with the competition. In a sense, Trader Joe’s does not intend to replace the neighborhood supermarkets. Instead, it follows the path of providing consumers with certain products of exceptional quality that cannot be found elsewhere (“Healthy Food Awards” 81). With this information in mind, one can easily hypothesize that the full-service supermarket is never going to be in line with the company’s food chain and long-term objectives.
It is essential that Trader Joe’s recognizes its strong suits and keeps capitalizing on them to see how an improved marketing strategy could enhance its position in the market. Even though Trader Joe’s could experience certain limitations caused by the lack of international presence and relevant advertising, the existing essay delineates the possibilities the company has when reaching larger markets. Thus, the company should carefully maintain its market share to keep capitalizing on the existing strengths and work silently on the lack of international presence in the background. Trader Joe’s current market position makes it safe to say that there are numerous loyal customers that side with the company even without promotion and extended publicity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the absence of a strong advertising campaign and enormous marketing investments does not deprive an organization of a chance to gain market share and compete with other industry representatives by keeping prices at a lower level than in traditional grocery stores.
Works Cited
Hannon, Kerry. “Let Them Eat Ahi Jerky; West Coast-Based Trader Joe’s Takes Aim at The Other Coast.”IndexArticles, 1997.
“Healthy Food Awards,” vol. 71, no. 3, 2019, pp. 80-83.
Lowry, Jennifer. “Trader Joe’s Crew Member.” Los Angeles Magazine, vol. 53, no. 1, 2008, p. 36.