Management

Oliver’s Market

Oliver’s Markets’ loyal customer base has grown by leaps and bounds due to its philanthropic frequent shopper program. This program has helped it retain customer loyalty. Oliver’s Markets’ was purchased in 1988 by Steve Oliver Maass. Organized as a Subchapter S corporation in 1988, when Steve and Ruth Maass were president and vice president. Its original store is located in Cotati, California. Currently Oliver’s Markets’

driving force is the decision of expansion. For this expansion to be effective, Oliver’s Markets’ must take a close look at the five competitive forces and demographic data for future locations.

Oliver’s Markets’ strategic plan is based around its deli, gourmet foods, and being a major player in the natural foods industry. Oliver’s Markets prides itself as being unique. Within its deli department there is a clear picture of its strategic intent. It has shown customer loyalty by continuing to introduce new imported cheeses as well as......

Oliver’s Market consisted of two supermarkets in Sonoma County, one in Cotati and the other in nearby Santa Rosa, which together generated about $40 million in sales per year. Sonoma County was situated at the northern fringe of the San Francisco Bay Area. Prominent rivals were Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Whole Foods, which recently entered Oliver’s Market’s sales territory with brand-new stores; Wal-Mart and Target also planned to develop regional supercenters in California. Steve Maass (owner) and Tom Scott (general manager) main concern was how to differentiate Oliver’s Markets from other supermarket chains.

In 1988, Steve Oliver Maass purchased the bankrupt Cotati Farmer’s Market, which now is known as Oliver’s Market. Steve used his middle name because it sounded more upscale than Steve’s Market. Ruth, Steve’s wife worked in store for a while as self-trained bookkeeper. Oliver’s was organized as a subchapter S corporation.

Competitive strategy aims to establish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine industry competition. Oliver’s Market has pursued five generic competitive strategies. The first one is overall low-cost provider. Strive to be the overall low-cost provider in an industry by scrutinizing each cost activity, cut some cost activities out of the value chain. The second generic strategy is differentiation. In a differentiation strategy, a firm seeks to be unique in its industry along some dimensions that are widely valued by buyers. The logic of the differentiation strategy requires that a firm choose attributes in which to differentiate itself that are different from its rivals'. A firm must truly be unique at something or be perceived as unique if it is to expect a premium price. In contrast to cost leadership, however, there can be more than one successful differentiation strategy in an industry if there are a number of attributes that are widely valued by buyers.

The third and fourth generic strategy is focus; this strategy is quite different from the others because it rests on the choice of a narrow competitive scope within an industry. The focuser selects a segment of group of segments in the industry and tailors its strategy to serving them to the exclusion of others. By optimizing its strategy for the target segments, the focuser seeks to achieve a competitive advantage in its target segments even though it does not possess a competitive advantage overall. Focus strategy based on low-cost. Concentrate on a narrow customer segment beating the competition on lower cost. Focus strategy based on differentiation. Offering niche customers a product customized to their needs. Overall objective of both focus strategies is to do a better job of serving a niche target market than competitors. Keys to success are choose a niche were customers have a distinctive preference, unique needs or special requirements. Develop a unique ability to serve the needs of a niche target market.

The fourth generic strategy is best-cost provider. Striving to give customers more value for the money by combining an emphasis on low cost with an emphasis on upscale differentiation Combines low-cost and differentiation. The objective is to create superior value by meeting or beating customer expectation on product attributes and beating their price expectations. Keys to success are match close competitors on key product attributes and beat them on cost. Expertise at incorporating upscale product attributes at a lower cost than competitors. Contain costs by providing customers a better product.

The competitive pressures that Oliver’s Market must be prepared to deal with are the pressure associated with the market maneuvering and jockeying for buyer patronage that goes on among rival sellers in the industry and the pressure associated with the threat of new entrants into the market. They must be prepared to face with the rival stores, Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Whole Foods who had recently entered in the sales territory with brand new stores and so far Wal-Mart and Target also had announced plans to develop regional supercenter, that is, large вЂ"format