This week, you take a look at the importance of strategic business planning and differentiating your business to meet the needs and wants of the defined target markets that are served. In building upon these important areas, you are going to learn a bit about Trader Joes® and will address questions related to a real-world case study on the Company.
Trader’s Joes symbolizes the entrepreneurial spirit in everything they do (just like their Founding Father, Joe Coulombe). They are intrepid in their approach to retailing and they are connoisseurs at explaining their distinctive product offerings to their customers with witty point-of-sale signage on the shelves that many of their own employees make (Llopis, 2011) So, first you will read the case study on page 114–115 of our ebook. Once you do this, address the following questions: (please note the questions here are slightly different than those in the ebook and you should only address the questions that follow here.)
In what strategic ways could Joe Coulombe have changed his convenience stores to be able to survive and compete when 7-Eleven® entered the market?
What other market segments could have been, or could be now, a good customer base for Trader Joe’s?
As Trader Joe’s keeps expanding, can it continue to be perceived as a store aimed at a narrow market segment and particularly one that considers itself special?
What can large supermarkets do to grab a piece of Trader Joe’s market?
In extension of thinking of a business that you may open up, what 3 target markets do you think it makes sense to target and how do you think you can differentiate your business from your competitors in the minds of these target markets?
Sample Solution
