Kudler Strategy And Tactics

Kudler Strategy and Tactics

Nic Pedersen

Marketing 421

February 20, 2012

George Minow

Kudler Strategy and Tactics

Kudler Fine Foods is a mid-to-high end grocery store that offers the largest organic produce and wine selection when compared to any the local competitor stores. Kudler targets a niche market with high-end fresh produce, wine, cheese, and meat from around the world. Founded in La Jolla in 1998 Kudler foods quickly expanded to Del Mar in 2000 and then to Encinitas in 2003. Kudler does not have any direct product competition, but Kudler does compete for customers within the local community that the stores are located in. Kudler foods fills a unique need within the local community the stores are in and have the potential to open additional stores throughout the state of California. To complete an expansion into other areas of California Kudler Food will need to make a few internal process changes, complete a competitive intelligence, and fully use the marketing research process. The following paragraphs will address the importance of Kudler marketing research, where additional research is needed, and the importance of competitive intelligence and analysis.

Kudler Marketing Research

The bulk of Kudler Foods marketing research is collected from the Kudler customers themselves through customer surveys and a frequent shopper program. Kudler uses a frequent shopper program to track the past and present purchases of individual customers. Tracking the purchases of the individual customers allows the company to see what items are frequently purchased and which items are not frequently purchased. Information on purchased items allows the individual stores to tailor the produce and wine selections according to customer demands. Kudler will also test market new products when there is a small customer demand for a product not currently sold within the store. Kudler also provides a progressive point system for customers signed into the frequent shopper program. The point system rewards customers for his or her continued patronage by allowing the customer to redeem the points earned for other specialty foods, high-end gift items, or first-class airline ticket upgrades (Kudler Fine Foods, 2011). Kudler also conducts a standard survey that customers can complete and return to the store to provide feedback to the individual stores. The additional survey information allows the individuals store to combine the frequent shopper and survey information to fine tune the product offerings within the individual stores.

Strategy and Tactics

Because Kudler Foods is a specialty food store offering a large selection of produce marketing strategy and tactics are important. Kudler has been very successful within the local niche markets and built a respected brand name. For Kudler to expand as a company the store chain will need to widen the customer base, make internal process changes, and complete competitor intelligence analysis before opening in a new market. Currently Kudler does not have any direct brand competitors although there are a few stores that offer a few of the same items found at Kudler stores. One of the biggest problems that Kudler faces is the specific customer market that the store caters. Before expanding into a new location Kudler will need to research if there is a need within the local demographic for a store that sells products like those offered by Kudler. Once it is established that there is a need for the types of products that are offered by Kudler a suitable location will need to be determined for the new store. Researching the local area will allow Kudler to determine the best high traffic location for the new store and what types of competitors are within the chosen location. Completing a competitive intelligents analysis of the proposed area will allow Kudler to size up the local competitors. Competitive intelligents is defined as, "the legal collection and analysis of information regarding the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions of business competitors, conducted by using information databases and other "open sources" and through ethical inquiry" (mirum.net, 2011). Knowing the weaknesses