Whole Foods Market Marketing Mix and Strategic Decisions

This report discusses the marketing mix and strategic decisions of Whole Foods Market, including their positioning, promotion, product, place, and people strategies. It also evaluates the effectiveness of their marketing efforts through online presence and key performance indicators. The report reflects on the company's position using Porter's Generic strategies and explains all the four P's of marketing mix. It presents a reflection on strategic decisions taken by the firm and taught theories applied for effective marketing. The subject is Principles and Practices of Marketing PPM.

Principles and Practices of
Marketing PPM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Positioning of Whole Foods Market...........................................................................................3
Explaining marketing mix of WFM............................................................................................4
Reflecting on strategic decisions using Taught theory...............................................................6
Evaluating effectiveness of marketing efforts.............................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing management can be defined as a procedure which controls all marketing
related activities' and taking major decisions as to which strategies to be followed. The aim of
marketing mix is to attract customers to buy company products which will increase profitability
and market base of company. The present report is based on Whole Foods Market which has
seven stores in UK and sells fat free product, etc. The company entered UK market by acquiring
Fresh & Wild Stores in 2004. The report will reflect on company's position using Porter's
Generic strategies. Further, study will explain all the four P's of marketing mix (Product, Place,
Price & Promotion) which company uses for its positioning. In addition to this, report will
present a reflection on strategic decisions taken by firm and taught theories applied for effective
marketing. Lastly, report will also evaluate effectiveness of marketing efforts through Online
presence and key performance indicators.
Positioning of Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is using differentiation generic strategy according to Porter's
Generic Strategies where it has separated itself from their competitors. Company's main selling
point is organic features of its products. Along with this, company targets all the market
segments by focusing on the consumers irrespective of age and gender. WFM is extensively
adopted this strategy, the result of which is visible from brand recognition and popularity of
company (Bazaluk and et.al 2020). Organization has implemented differentiation strategy to
enhance their product quality. Products are differentiated by using lesser artificial ingredients
and focusing on organic and real products to outshine competitors. Along with this, company has
also objective of expanding supply chain which involves increasing no. of farmers and producers
which should comply with standards of quality. Strict regulations are implemented and followed
by farmers and producers to ensure quality products are produced to maintain high quality
standards of company.
Company has adopted premium pricing strategy which has made its product expensive as
compared to Walmart and other rival firms. This pricing strategy has led company to pay
attention to maintaining quality standards which will allow customers to believe that WFM
products are worth buying. Company makes sure that it manufactures all product without any
violation of labour laws, human rights, etc.

Currently, company's strategic goal is to expand its market base by targeting on low to
middle class consumers and by increasing store footage. WFM will be launching affordable
brands of organic products and paying attention to providing tailor made offers to local
community.
Whole Foods Market has positioned itself as the healthiest, natural and organic food
supply among its rivalry firms. It is first “Certified Organic” grocery store in USA. Company is
the only food retailer which have all stores certified.
Explaining marketing mix of WFM
Promotion
Company does not like to promote its product via print or visual media and emphasize on
brand awareness to attract customers to stores and making them purchase. Company have a loyal
customer following which is very essential in today's competitive environment. WFM focuses on
word of mouth and social media tools to promote their products. Marketing efforts on online
platform such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. have led to 11 million followers in
total. Facebook has been used extensively to engage customers by way of daily promotions,
contests and blogs. Corporate page on FB is asking “like” the page and get a coupon worth $10
or contests of recipes and beautiful dishes and local page is focusing on images and stories of
farmers, community events, etc.
Company has also focused on non-profit partnerships which improved the profitability
and company's position in market. Further, in store promotions with the help of banners and
signage is attracting local people with tore having their personal promotion practices. In addition
to all this, WFM has adopted combined efforts of advertising, Public relations & sales
promotion. National ad campaign like “Values Matter” outlines in depth purpose and objectives
of business (Mahmoud, 2018). It has also implemented various discount strategies to enhance
brand imagery and quality. All these promotional schemes have made company to stand out in
the market and give tough competition to rival firms. It has helped company to position itself in
market and increase the profitability levels. Further, online campaigns decided for particular
target market aids in capturing the customers and selling them goods and planning further how to
make potential customers the real customers for company.
Product

WFM is a leading supermarket which deals in grocery and health products, providing a
large variety of goods to customers. Company attract its customers through organic products and
product line includes 365 everyday value, whole food market brand and engine 2 plant strong.
Low level income market is also targeted through 365 everyday value because they are low
priced products. For high end customers who re willing to pay premium price for products are
pulled together under WFM brand. Product bifurcation is also done for customers who are
vegetarian and who are diet conscious and products are offered under brand name of engine 2
plant strong.
Company aims at providing quality product by focusing on the needs of each customer
group. Organization usually maintains stock level of 34000 SKUs and larger in stores carry
50000 SKUs (Al-Omari and et.al., 2018). It focuses on providing those products which are not
available in others supermarkets like Walmart. All supermarkets of WFM also carries products
like cheese, wines and imported beers but not hydrogenated fat, caged hen eggs etc. It also
provides free recipe cards within each box. Products will be packaged in 100% recyclable
material which will help in preserving brand value. By offering wide varieties of goods
according to needs and requirements of customer, company can position itself at higher positions
in industry. When WFM provide premium products which are not provided by other company,
then customers will buy WFM products to full their needs.
Place
Organization is providing its products through Online accounts, in stores or by phone but
majorly purchases are done in store only. Recently, company has also signed partnership with
Insta Cart for delivering goods and groceries to customers. The stores of company are usually
spread over area of 35000 - 40000 square feet and having sufficient parking space. Business is
continuously expanding by adding more locations for expanding customer base and target
market. By providing good online through physical delivery, delivery cost is just around $3.99 to
$5.99 and products are delivered in one hour on average basis.
With this, it is focusing on increasing sales through Online channels by making sure that
large variety of goods are available. The website of UK is quite poor and needs greater
improvements or redesigning to satisfy customers (Jindal and et.al., 2020). Business entity is
offering its product via various channels which enables customers to make purchase as per their

convenience. Such practices makes firm to perform excellently and achieve heights which will
assist them to become industry king.
People
WFM is one of the biggest supermarket chains in UK and USA which employs around
91000 employees. Employees are classified from grass root level salesmen to wide range of sales
managers which are very skilled to handle diverse customer base. Customers are required to be
convinced in order to buy organic products. Organization also focuses on maintaining better
work culture because they have value chain which aims for healthy and happy people. Company
hires graduates who have sufficient experience to tackle serious issues and formulate corporate
strategies and also freshers who have various innovative ideas n their minds which can be
utilized by WFM to flourish in market.
Employees of organization consists of around 59% millennials and 27% Gen X with
majority of workforce claiming that it is a great place to work. However, in 2019, company said
that they will cut health benefits of employees working on part-time basis. The policy affected
1900 employees which comprises 2% of workforce. By having skilled workforce which belong
to younger population supports company to increase performance effectively and efficiently
(Hanaysha, 2017). Further, it helps company to identify creative and innovative ideas which will
make company excel towards betterment and become a technological advanced firm. Such
innovative practices ensures firm to take first mover advantage and reduce the cost.
Reflecting on strategic decisions using Taught theory
There are various strategic decisions taken by Whole Foods Market which has given
them various benefits of reaching new heights. Such strategic decisions give competitive edge to
WFM over rival firms in order to survive and flourish in industry. Further, it helps organization
for maintaining financial and operational health. These decisions are as follows: Market penetration: Company is using market penetration strategy to support growth
which is possible by ways of enhancing market reach and income level. It is opening new
stores to have larger market share. Such intensive growth strategy ensures high level of
profitability because these new stores will attract consumers to natural product.
According to my opinion, such strategy is beneficial in capturing larger market share and

moving ahead of competitors (Iweala, Spiller and Meyerding, 2019). It also helps in
quickly diffusing products into market and creating goodwill and reputation. Market Development: Another strategy adopted by company is of market development
which allows it to enter new markets. WFM entered UK market and acquired Fresh &
Wild Stores which helped it in attracting large customer base with help of quality
products which are organic as well. I personally feel that such strategy is helpful in
having competitive advantage over rival firms, attracting new customers which increases
revenue potential and company grows in size. It further helps in finding new potential
customers for existing products and growing in untapped markets. Product Development: WFM also uses product development strategy as a supportive
strategy by providing new and advanced products to have more customer and thereby
increasing profit. Company reduced the usage of plastic bags in retail store to focus on
customers who are environment conscious (Borsellino, Schimmenti and El Bilali, 2020).
Therefore, according to my judgement, this strategy has strengthened the company's
position by offering quality products which are unique and different from others.
Learnings:
From above strategies of Ansoff matrix, it is learned that companies can take several
decisions related to expansion and development. Further, it can be assessed the impact of market
structure and scenario on company's positions and how it can react to market conditions.
Moreover, such analysis allows a person to learn the risks that are prevailing in market and ways
to mitigate such risks. Ansoff matrix also assist person to absorb the opportunities available in
market and taking first mover advantage. Pricing strategy: Company has implemented premium pricing strategy for its superior
quality products. Company provides goods that are generally not available at other
grocery stores such as Walmart (Whole Foods Market Analysis, 2021). Such strategy
allows company to stand ahead of others in market by convincing customers about the
superior quality products and high standard resources used for production. Location strategy: Identifying locations from where customers can avail goods is an
important strategy to be developed. WFM focuses on providing its goods to customers by
having brick-ad-mortar store and through online stores as well (Granato and et.al., 2020).

Mainly, they have large stores in urban areas and also utilizes websites and App to reach
potential customers.
Learnings:
A person learns from these strategies that quoting prices for products is very important
because in case of high pricing, customers will not buy products and low pricing will not make
any profits for company. So, it very essential to put correct prices for products which are
affordable by customers and profitable for company. Further, from location strategy, it can be
learned that right location will be beneficial for company because customers can easily have
access to products. Product designing strategy: This strategy implemented by WFM focuses in quality of
products which are produced using high standards. Organization is knows for its qulaity
standards like Whole Trade Guarantee which is utilized by certifying suppliers
sustainability and adopting labour practices which are fair and just. This superior quality
products is again linked with pricing policy which is premium pricing policy. Differentiation strategy: WFM is following differentiation strategy of providing
exclusive products that re not easily available from other companies. Organization pays
attention to organic and natural products which are in huge demand because of health
consciousness and diet related activities (Bocken, Morales and Lehner, 2020). Products
are also differentiated on the basis of quality i.e. superior and premium quality products
are offered to customers by using quality raw materials and other resources so that
customers are completely satisfied.
Learnings:
With the help of above strategies, a person can learn that product designing is very vital
for any company because design of the product attracts customers. Design should be very
effective and appealing which compels potential customer to buy that product. Further, from
differentiation strategy, it can be learned and assessed that to have competitive strength in
market, a company needs to have differentiation strategy by offering unique products that are
distinct from competitors so that company can earn huge profits.

Evaluating effectiveness of marketing efforts
Whole Foods Market is using the latest technology for catering the consumer preferences
because now-a-days customers are more preferring to do online shopping. So, company has
adopted online purchasing and delivery by announcing partnership with delivery start-up Inst
cart (Kubzansky, Cooper and Barbary, 2019). Introduction of such technology and partnership
has benefited company in boosting online sales by $1 million mark and accounting for 5% of
total sales in few stores. Digital appearance of company and physical delivery has made
convenient for customers. In 2016, WFM has further enhanced digitization by opening small
stores with technological integration. Company came up with concept of 'smart carts'. Company
uses Tableau for its retail staff members which can have complete information abut daily stock
levels and taking decision. It has over 18000 active users which has changed customer
experience and operations.
The Key Performance indicators and objectives & key result are clearly stated by
company which are very essential for success of it (Hobbs, 2019). The employees of WFM
stated that company goals are clearly fulfilled and managers make sure that all subordinates work
in full potential to give best results to company so that it can excel in market. The online
presence of company is exceptional in promoting its products and providing goods through
online platforms and application. Business entity has come up with its own application which is
Whole Foods Market and WFM Tribal Gathering 2020 on Google Play and Whole Foods Market
on Apple App store. These application in total have 60000 downloads to date. The traffic
overview analysed through Web Analytics shows that total visit on the company website was
4.81M. The majority of traffic source for company comes from direct search i.e. 63.52% from
which 90.51% comes from Organic searches and 9.49% from paid searches. WFM has effective
presence on LinkedIn with 74.04% followed by other online applications. Executives of
company claimed that such digital transformations will assist company in making goo sales,
income and profits. In first quarter of 2018, company did sales of $407 billion which is 10%
increase from last year (Van Huy and et.al., 2019).
Categories in which customers are interested to know the latest trends are news and
media, foods & drinks, cooking recipes, lifestyle fashion and apparel, etc. Organization make use
of following publishers to post their content and promote their company:
 poki.com

 mail.aol.com
 stackoverflow.com
 yahoo.com
 einthusan.tv
WFM entertains its Facebook community which has 1.4 million fans by posting content
on weekly basis. Company shares recipe ideas, competitions, coupons and general information
about company. But the level of interaction is low as per expectation with less than 1000 likes
Van Huy, L., Chi, M.T.T., Lobo, A., Nguyen, N. and Long, P.H., 2019. Effective segmentation
of organic food consumers in Vietnam using food-related lifestyles. Sustainability, 11(5),
p.1237.and comments per post. In addition to this, Twitter of WFM has community of 3.5
million followers and team focuses on increasing 100 user every day. Twitter appears to be the
best ways to engage & communicate with its followers and make personal connections.
Company regularly chats every Thursday through 'Wellness Club'. Furthermore, Pinterest has
proved to be the best marketing channel for company according to Global Community manager.
Followers on Pinterest accounts for 150000 followers by pinning 2600 images on 55 boards.
Company has two major images which became very popular on Pinterest, one of which is spiced
squash spaghetti which was re pinned 68000 times by driving 44000 views on website
(wholefoodsmarket.com, 2021). Moreover, it has presence on Google+ by posting regularly on it
but receives lesser interaction. Organization has made a budget of $45000 - $50000 o spend
every month on social media handling on corporate and local level.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that WFM has adopted differentiation strategy
to compete in market and stand differently in market. It can also be summarized that company
uses social media marketing for its promotions and premium pricing policy for quoting prices for
their products. Further, it can be said that products are provided in store as well as from online
stores through its own website. Moreover, it can be seen that the workforce of organization is
adequately skilled to deal with complex nature of customers and make compelling offers which
attracts customers. Study also highlighted the fact that business uses various strategies such
market penetration, development and product development to expand and grow in industry.
Lastly, it can be articulated that organization utilizes various controlling measure and KPIs to

control business activities. It also makes use of online tools such as share, like, comments, etc. to
analyse performance and online lead generation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Bazaluk and et.al 2020. Dynamic Development of the global organic food market and
opportunities for Ukraine. Sustainability. 12(17). p.6963.
Bocken, N., Morales, L. S. and Lehner, M., 2020. Sufficiency business strategies in the food
industry—the case of Oatly. Sustainability. 12(3). p.824.
Borsellino, V., Schimmenti, E. and El Bilali, H., 2020. Agri-food markets towards sustainable
patterns. Sustainability. 12(6). p.2193.
Granato, D. and et.al., 2020. Functional foods: Product development, technological trends,
efficacy testing, and safety. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology. 11. pp.93-
118.
Hanaysha, J. R., 2017. An examination of marketing mix elements and customer retention in
Malaysian retail market. American Journal of Marketing Research. 3(1). pp.1-7.
Hobbs, J. E., 2019. Heterogeneous consumers and differentiated food markets: Implications for
quality signaling in food supply chains. Canadian Journal of Agricultural
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Iweala, S., Spiller, A. and Meyerding, S., 2019. Buy good, feel good? The influence of the warm
glow of giving on the evaluation of food items with ethical claims in the UK and
Germany. Journal of cleaner production. 215. pp.315-328.
Jindal, P. and et.al., 2020. Marketing-mix response across retail formats: the role of shopping trip
types. Journal of Marketing. 84(2). pp.114-132.
Kubzansky, M., Cooper, A. and Barbary, V., 2019. Promise and progress market-based solutions
to poverty in Africa. Gates Open Res. 3(965). p.965.
Mahmoud, T. O., 2018. Impact of green marketing mix on purchase intention. International
Journal of Advanced and applied sciences. 5(2). pp.127-135.
Van Huy and et.al., 2019. Effective segmentation of organic food consumers in Vietnam using
food-related lifestyles. Sustainability. 11(5). p.1237.
Vancouver
Online
wholefoodsmarket.com. 2021. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.similarweb.com/website/wholefoodsmarket.com/>

Whole Foods Market Analysis. 2021. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.ipl.org/essay/Whole-Foods-Market-Analysis-PJQ7UXCNPG>