Retail Management Assignment: A Comparison of HP and Dell Strategies

This report provides a detailed analysis of the retail strategies employed by HP and Dell, focusing on their application of the 7 Ps of the marketing mix: product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical environment. The report examines how each company tailors these elements to target specific consumer segments, including 'People on the go' and 'Future Leaders' for Dell, and a broad range of consumers for HP. It explores their product offerings, pricing strategies, distribution channels, promotional methods, and customer service approaches. The analysis includes a comparison of their strengths and weaknesses, highlighting Dell's direct-to-consumer model versus HP's broader distribution network. Recommendations are provided for both companies to improve their strategies, such as product diversification, enhanced customer relationship management, and a focus on emerging market trends. The report also includes an interview with a store manager, providing insights into the practical application of these strategies.

Running Head: DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY
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HP AND DELL
Retail Management
Student name
8/11/2019

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 1
Contents
Background:...............................................................................................................................2
7 Ps of a retailing matrix:...........................................................................................................3
Dell:............................................................................................................................................3
HP:..............................................................................................................................................4
Comparison of strategies of Dell and HP:..................................................................................6
Recommendations:.....................................................................................................................6
Recommendations:.....................................................................................................................6
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................7
Appendix:...................................................................................................................................9
Interview with the manager of the store:....................................................................................9

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 2
Background:
Dell Inc. is previously known as PC’s limited and it is known Dell after the year
1988. It produces products which are required in consolidation with computers. Its
headquarters are situated in the country Round Rock in Texas. Its founder is Michael Dell
and started this company after having dropped out of college.
He manufactured his first computer which is known as Turbo PC and associates its
cost which has been sent on it. In the era of 21st century, it diversifies its product line and
includes television, cameras which are digital. In the year 2016, it purchases the other firm
that is EMC, American corporate so to take advantage of its specialization in its operations
(Dell, 2019).
It targets two groups basically that is business people and college-going teenagers. It
also frames a particular term for them that is ‘People on the go’ and ‘Future Leaders’.
The age group of Future Leaders which has been specified for this purpose ranges in
between 18 to 25 years and they are the individuals who are doing study and do part-time
jobs which are usually low-paid but, they buy this so to fulfil their requirements and it is
because they spent more than 8 hours’ time online (Parvez, 2018).
For the people on the go, consideration is given on 2-in-1 convertible books and it is
being implemented so to be in accordance with the future changes (Dell, 2019).
By doing this exercise, it was found that values segmentation is the most desirable
practice to be fulfilled. Traditional PCs are very much heavy and require large space for its
storage that’s why invention has been done for the laptops.

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 3
HP is established in the year 1939 by the two founders namely, that is William
Hewlett and David Packard, they have done graduation from the subject engineering from the
university Stanford. They get the first offer from Walt Disney Productions Company.
Its headquarters are located in the country of Palo Alto, California. It also provides
support to the army in the situation of World War second. In the year 2015, it is separated
into two enterprises that are HP Inc. for producing the PC As well as Printers products and
Hewlett Packard Enterprise provides goods and services to the operations of businesses (HP,
2019)
It targets all the groups of the population whether they are working or not incorporate
as well as in offices and for serving the purpose to give sound education facility to children.
Its products are very much commonly found in business as well as in sectors of government.
It provides value to the buyers by giving high-security service and also available
online so to solve the issue which customers face regarding the product. It offers care services
such as doing repairing, in the initial one or two years after the purchase has done (Packard,
2013).
7 Ps of a retailing matrix:
Dell:
Product: It is made up of the intention so to serve the changing demands as well as aspirants
of customers. It understands the role of packaging that it is needed not only for
protection but, also for promotion. Dell makes use of environmentally friendly
packaging. It also offers after-sales services by giving normal as well as the
additional warranty on the product (Samani, 2017).
Price: It has been set low so that more customers can get access to this product. It charges

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 4
fewer prices as compared to rival companies existing through direct distribution
channel which in turn, benefit in reducing the cost-effectively (Dell M. , 2010). It
adopts the same pricing strategy for all people so to avoid the principle of
differentiation.
Place: Its goods are available at the nearest local stores so to offer convenience in buying.
Promotion: Methods for promotion: advertisements given on televisions print media as well
internet. It recently started its promotion through the help of retailers such as Best
Buy and Walmart stores (Dell M. , 2010).
People: In this, both employees, as well as customers, are included who wanted to know
information about its offerings.
Process: It is followed by researching online and after that filling the specifications that are
wanted and then placing the order.
Physical: It displays attract full images of its products in its website so to have a lookup
option before buying (JayaniRajapathirana, 2018).
HP:
Product: It updates its products according to changes done in technology so to improve the
experience of using, which in turn benefit in increasing the brand image of the
organization. In its warranty, free hardware maintenance for 1 year and 24 hours
service and free installation of software. It gives discounts to new customers.
Price: It is according to the considerations of buyers so that they get worth of money spent
on it. It adopts a penetration pricing strategy so that to gain the proportionate share
in the market and to increase its brand value. It gives more preference to profit

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 5
rather than on sales (Jackson, 2016).
Place: Its products are also available at its various subsidiaries situated in Miami, Geneva,
Tokyo, Ontario, and Victoria. It sells its merchandise directly and indirectly.
Promotion: It makes use of its website so to aware the consumers and for building interaction
with buyers it uses a phone, email as well as social networking sites. It also launches
‘trade-in program’ so that customers can trade old product in order to get a new
product on discount (CorleyII, 2013).
People: It employs 321000 employees in its organization and gives them a good
environment to work efficiently. It also runs a website so to enhance the skills for
the career development of the individual. It supports the minority workers through
their collaboration with Inroads and GEM enterprises (Packard, 2013).
Process: It makes use of design for supply chain system. It gets in touch with the retailers so
to know whether there is a shortage of products in order to deliver in the specified
time limit (Parvez, 2018).
Physical: It is good, as it utilizes varieties of colours in its products so to create distinction and
which in turn also helps in identifying the products easily. It uses special shelves so
to get attention easily.
Comparison of strategies of Dell and HP:
Although Dell fulfils the needs effectively than the other competitors, as it maintains
the direct relation with buyers but, it not makes up its own product and rely on supplier for
this and not put efforts on the creation of relation with dealers which can harm it and if

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 6
customer required urgent goods (JayaniRajapathirana, 2018). It cannot meet up easily
because more time required for customizing the product. So, it becomes hard to survive in the
market as in this industry various competitors already exist (Khalifa, 2016).
Recommendations:
 It has to focus on diversifying its product line.
 Make use of different marketing tools that are available (CorleyII, 2013).
 Increase its target market segment.
HP is a company which is famous for its quality of products and diversify its product
line according to changes done in the environment (Altaf, 2016). But, the demand for PCs
declines as compared to the usual because of the invention of smartphones (Khalifa, 2016).
Its battery starts draining quickly and due to this, its life is less. It does not include the high-
ending gaming feature.
Recommendations:
 It has to focus on building a bond of relationship with the customers.
 Focuses on the printers as its demand increase due to the new concept of 3-D Printing.
 Put efforts on enhancing the after- services in the developing markets (Chevalier,
2012).
Bibliography

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 7
Altaf, M. (2016). Strategic Information System: A source of Competitive Advantage.
Information and Knowledge Management, 6(9), 24-34.
CorleyII, J. K. (2013). Internet marketing: a content analysis of the research. Electronic
Markets, 23(3), 177-204.
Dell. (2019). Dell Technologies Timeline. Retrieved from Dell Inc.:
https://corporate.delltechnologies.com/en-us/about-us/who-we-are/timeline.htm
Dell, M. (2010). Direct From Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. Harper
Collins.
ENTERPRISE, H. P. (2019). ABOUT HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE. Retrieved from
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development : https://www.hpe.com/us/en/about.html
Jackson, G. (2016). Dawn of the digital age and the evolution of the marketing mix. Journal
of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 17(3), 170-186.
JayaniRajapathirana, R. (2018). Relationship between innovation capability, innovation type,
and firm performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(1), 44-55.
Khalifa, N. Y. (2016). A Comparative Analysis of Strategies and Business Models of Dell
Inc. and Hewlett Packard (HP). International Journal of Research in Management,
Economics and Commerce, 6(6).
Packard, D. (2013). The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company. Harper
Collins.
Parvez, M. (2018). Profit Maximization of DELL Inc. through Build-to-Order Supply Chain
for Laptop Manufacturing. American Journal of Industrial and Business
Management, 8(6), 1657-1671.

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 8
Samani, F. S. (2017). Investigating the Role of Marketing Mix Elements (7Ps) and Strategic
Planning in Development of Iranian English Language Departments. International
Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL), 5(4), 50-59.
TL, P. (2019). Retail Management: An Effective Management Strategy for Retail Store
Managers. Prabhu Thankaraju.
Appendix:
Interview with the manager of the store:
1) What is the differentiation in the company’s products over its competitors?

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 9
In Dell, the manager believes to focus on consumer-aspect more and that’s why he
does customization in its products according to needs. In HP, manager’s core
competency focuses on developing a new range of products so to attract not only the
current but also the prospective ones.
2) What are the marketing channels that you have experience working in?
In HP, marketing channels used from the last 6 are not only for retailers but, also for
enterprises. He classified consumers on the basis of demographics and on geographic
segmentation. In Dell, channels used from the last 8 for those people who are high-tech and
classification are done on the basis of psychographics and demographics trend.
3) If a customer left a negative review on a website or an online platform, how will you
respond to the customer?
In respect to Dell, he is quick to answer the comments made so to give at least importance
to the customer and don’t give unnecessary argument so to give harm as these rumours it will
spread out quickly and spoils the reputation of the brand. In respect to HP, he takes himself in
the position of the consumer, so to find out the problem made and to give propose solution.
4) Can you give us a customer trend that is happening in our industry right now?
In Dell, the manager understands the trends related to software as well as changes done in
hardware so to manufacture its product accordingly just like to utilize 4 gigabytes in the
processor. In HP, manager understands that the life of PC is becoming 6 years old and SSD
cards replace the hard disks which are used.
5) Where would customers buy your products or services?
HP products are located globally that’s the reason manager said that it is available at both
online as well as offline modes so to capture the market easily. In Dell, the manager utilizes
the local store for its selling and use only direct modes and not indirect so to make up trust
with buyers.

DISCUSSION ON 7P’S AND STRATEGY 10