Comparison of Target Markets and Positioning Strategies of Wal-Mart and K-Mart - Essay Example

This paper will be directed towards describing the target markets and market positioning strategies of two companies having products and services that are similar and belong to the same industry classification.

In this respect, I have chosen to compare and contrast Wal-Mart and K-Mart, two of America’s most well-known discount stores and indeed Fortune 500 companies worthy of global recognition.  Interestingly both of these companies have been in operation for more than 40 years and have seen a lot of ups and downs in the corporate landscape.

The Wal-Mart chain is the brainchild of Sam Walton who worked at J.C Penney’s before opening up his own store in Arkansas in 1962. Due to his outstanding success, the company quickly expanded to 24 stores across the state before going public in 1969. Today it owns and operates over 8500 stores in 15 countries under the Wal-Mart logo as well as other names (Frank, 2006).

On the other hand, K-Mart was formed back in 1899 by Sebastian S. Kresge, who as a travelling salesman met and was inspired by Frank Woolworth, owner of the original discount store concept business that bears his name. K-Mart has also been reconstituted and changed its logo after coming out of bankruptcy proceedings in 2002. The company is slowly reconsolidating its position in the USA and worldwide. Big Kmart, K-wash, K-Cafe and Kmart Supercenter stores are concepts similar to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club, Walmart market, Marketside, Express and other initiatives.

Comparison of Target Markets and Positioning Strategies

Coming to the concept of target markets and market positioning strategies, we see that Wal-Mart had previously adopted a one-size-fits-all approach and sought to attract all groups of customers by offering slightly lower prices and volume discounts. This is also reflected by its slogan for 19 years which ran as: ‘Always lower prices, always’. But lately, the company has evolved a new business strategy that actively practices market segmentation. Its segmented groups may be stated as African-Americans, Hispanics, affluent empty nesters, rural residents and suburbanites (Walmart website, 2011). Based upon current research, the company’s biggest three customer group segments are Brand Aspirationals, value-price shoppers and price-sensitive affluents. Meanwhile, the company has also reconstituted its logo and slogan which reads: ’Saving people money so that they can live better lives.’  

As compared to this, K-Mart’s has not yet done the customer segmentation approach. It is still busy reconsolidating and experimenting with changes after the 2005 purchase of Sears. Its businesses in Australia and New Zealand operate under entirely separate management. While the names of some stores have been retained, others have been sold to the Wesfarmers group (K-Mart website, 2011).

Creating a New Target Market and Consumer Perceptions

Creating a new target market may be easy or difficult, depending on the nature of the product or service, the ease of introducing a new product line that does something a little different or is offered to complement something that the existing products are already offering. I would imagine that K-Mart and Wal-Mart would do well to offer a line of exclusive and speciality products as cars or business suits that are made by the world’s top made designers like Pierre Cardin or Karl Lagerfield or Donatella Versace and priced well enough to spell quality and comfort. This would widen Walmart’s and K-Mart’s image and lead to a shift in consumer perceptions that these places are not only about discounted shopping opportunities but offer exclusive and pricey brands as well to those that can afford it. Walmart for one certainly has the labor and capital to do this and it would be a welcome change for customers to indulge in this new experience.      

Conclusion

       All in all, I think that refreshing consumer perceptions and engaging in target marketing is changing the landscape of retail merchandising and nowadays there is a lot of experimentation with designer labeled goods that are made affordable to catch the eye of brand-conscious consumers of all ages groups.