Marketing 1414

Robert John Bell

Columbia Southern University

Marketing strategies are essential to firms as they enable them to reach target, potential customers with their products and services. Marketing involves the use of a myriad of options and strategies to reach the consumers and persuade them to buy a company’s products. Walmart, like any other business adopts prudent marketing strategies to remain afloat and operational.

Marketing strategy

Walmart’s strategy involves a number of strategies. One of them is price leadership strategy (Stankevičiūtė et.al, 2012). It entails offering the lowest prices in the market. The other strategy is differentiation. Under it, the company offers products deemed to be superior. As such, it attracts high classes of buyers.

Elements of marketing strategy

A marketing strategy consists of certain elements. One of them is segmentation. It involves the division of a market and buyers into divisions known as segments. The division is guided by the characteristics of the given segments. The other element is targeting. A business should purpose to offer the products that will guarantee the highest profits (Baker, 2016). The other element is positioning, it refers to consumers’ perception of a brand. The perception is created by the seller market through its marketing strategies. Another element is monitoring and evaluation. Implementation of strategies is closely followed by evaluation for the determination of success of the strategies. Any shortcomings are identified and corrected for the delivery of results. A different element is the marketing plan. It provides the manner in which the strategy will be executed. Constant reviews of the strategy are necessary to accommodate changes in the competitive environment.

Walmarts Target markets

Walmart target market is divided in two main strategies. One of them is the geographic market while the other one is the demographic. The geographic market is divided into region and density. Under region, it targets both the domestic and the international markets. Under density, it offers its products in both the rural and urban areas (Hwang & Park, 2015). The demographic market considers the age and gender of potential buyers. Its products target the consumers of all ages. Further, persons of both genders enjoy products offered by walmart.

Positioning

Walmart has established success in positioning efforts. Its products enjoy the reputation of quality and value to customers. Further, price leadership gives it a name of a brand that takes care of both the wealthy and the poor due to affordability (Hwang & Park, 2015). The point of parity is lowering of prices just like the competitors do. However, hardly do they engage in price leadership. The distinction may represent the point of difference.

Strategies

Walmart’s pricing strategy involves offering prices that are friendly to customers. Rather than raising the prices of the products, it concentrates on bulk sales. Further, it provides for different modes of payment including cash and installments. Its product strategy involves the offering of a wide variety of products and services. Further, it purchases products in bulk to benefit from discounts (Chan, 2011). It also maintains a cordial relationship with its suppliers. Walmart relies on a website and stores for the offering of goods. The products on the website and the stores tend to be the same. Further, operations tend to be the same across all the stores. In general, the distribution strategy of Walmart tends to be intensive. Its marketing communication strategy consists of the use of advertisements, sales promotions, events, direct marketing, and public relations (Brown & Dant, 2014). The advertisements are run on both print and mass media. The communication strategy effectively reaches a wide audience with information about the products on offer.

Marketing mix

Walmart’s strategy of purchasing in bulk supports the product as well as the price. The huge purchases ensure the continuous availability of products for sale to customers. Further, the purchases guarantee the extension of discounts, a phenomenon that makes it possible for the business to offer the commodities at lower prices to the consumers (Chan, 2011). In the process of sales, it establishes contact with customers for the tailoring of marketing communication and the subsequent creation of customer loyalty. The means of distribution used to ferry commodities to the stores is the same one that assists in distributing to consumers. The coordination offers exemplary mix that leads to commendable results.

Marketing Research

The business carries out marketing research on regular basis. The information gathered from the research gives light on changes to the target population. Realization of the changes necessitates change of a business in order for it to remain relevant in the market. Further, the research makes it possible to determine the products that consumers need (Baker, 2016). As such, Walmart is able to tailor its products and their delivery to the needs of the customers. In that way, customers get value from the activities of the business.

In conclusion, marketing strategy consists of multiple elements. They include segmentation, positioning, targeting, and market planning. Walmart employs each of the elements of the strategy to maximize its marketing potential. It also uses a mix of price, product, distribution, and communication. The combination of the elements leads to a comprehensive marketing strategy.

References

Baker, M. J. (2016). What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book (pp. 25-42). Routledge.

Brown, J. R., & Dant, R. P. (2014). The role of e-commerce in multi-channel marketing strategy. In Handbook of Strategic E-Business Management (pp. 467-487). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Chan, A. (2011). Unionizing Chinese Walmart Stores. Walmart in China.

Hwang, M., & Park, S. (2015). The impact of walmart supercenter conversion on consumer shopping behavior. Management Science, 62(3), 817-828.

Stankevičiūtė, E., Grunda, R., & Bartkus, E. V. (2012). Pursuing a cost leadership strategy and business sustainability objectives: Walmart case study. Economics and Management, 17(3), 1200-1206.