MGMT615 2.2 I need two responses-250 words each- APA style writting- Need tonight

Below is a discussion question for the week and a students response. I need to respond to the student's response with at least 250 words in APA format with references.

Do all three warehouse club rivals—Costco, Sam’s, and BJ’s Wholesale—have highly similar strategies?

It appears as all three clubs have similar strategies. Costco’s strategy was aimed squarely at selling top-quality merchandise at prices consistently below what other wholesaler or retailers charged (Thompson et al., 2011, p. C-56). Sam’s and Costco have also developed stores across the globe. BJ’s strategy has been mostly to have stores in the Northeast of America. Another strategy that both Costco and Sam’s use is the “treasure-hunt” items. Costco members quickly learned that they needed to go ahead and buy treasure-hunt specials that interested them, because the items would very likely not be available on their next shopping trip (Thompson et al., 2011, p. C-61). Sam’s Club has the same thing but Costco items seem to be the more expensive treasure-hunt products. Each club also has their own brand name. Private brands have more favorable shelf space and membership marketing (Chuang & Hu, 2009). Each club’s brand name is of high quality and cheaper than the name-brand products. They also all charge membership fees as well.

What differences in their strategies are apparent?

BJ’s tries to out do Sam’s and Costco by providing more products, they almost have double the products in their warehouses. They use this as a strategy and longer hours of operation to gather more customers in their region. BJ’s also offered other incentives like taking coupons while the other clubs did not. Sam’s club also differs by having more stores in more locations worldwide. In 2010 Sam’s club had over 100 more stores worldwide than Costco but Costco had better average annual net sales per store.

Does one rival have a better strategy than the others? If so, why?

Costco seems to have the better strategy than the other clubs. Costco also concentrated in certain areas such as the treasure-hunt item and wines; Costco was the world’s largest seller of fine wines in 2009 (Thompson et al., 2011, p. C-56). Costco and Sam’s club look to continue to expand and build in new locations. Sam’s has admitted that some locations will close but they have plans to remodel and open more. With that being said all of the clubs are profitable and it really depends on the goals of each club on whether ones strategy is better than the other. Another item to look at is advertising. Costco and Sam’s Club don’t really advertise to much as word of mouth spreads it around. BJ’s advertises by community involvement.

Does one rival have a somewhat weaker strategy than the other two? If so, why?

I do not believe one has a weaker strategy than the other. It all depends on the aspirations of the CEO. They are all profitable with their current strategies, which are very similar to one another. They are all looking to expand in their product and number of warehouses. Each club seems to do something better than the other; BJ’s has their groceries, Costco has their treasure-hunt products, and Sam’s Club their sheer number of stores. With those differences the rivalry will continue to grow as each club tries to out-strategize the other.