Business Integration and Strategic Planning Page | 2.

MARKETING
Business Integration and Strategic Planning

B u s i n e s s I n t e g r a t i o n a n d S t r a t e g i c P l a n n i n g P a g e | 1
There are three major issues based on the case study. The issues are
Competition and cannibalization, brand differentiation and square footage
expansion.
Competition and cannibalization
Whole Food stores are declining since last year and this has taken place
because of the tough competition show by Walmart stores and Kroger Co.
whole Foods has got some tough competitors. Whole Foods aims at focusing
on quality, selection and service. The company offers huge price discounts to
gain a competitive strength in the competitive market. It offers huge
selection of natural and organic foods which is better than its tough
competitors. In the recent few years, the company has also faced the issues
of cannibalization. There was cannibalization of sales because the company
added an extra store in various cities like Austin, Boston, Chicago and South
Florida (Huddleston et al, 2009).
Brand Differentiation
The company has successfully differentiated its products from other grocery
stores. As soon as a customer visit the store, the product differentiation can
easily be recognized. The customer had a view that the company focuses
more on profit rather than quality aspect. The company must remind its
customers about the brand preferences.
Square Footage expansion
When the company examined the decline in the sales, the company
leadership delivered a hand written strategic update. It was further viewed
that the new stores do not produce sales as much as compared to the
existing stores which resulted in declining footage expansion (Gustavsson et
al., 2011).