Retail Giants Marketing Strategies: Kmart, Big W, Target Analysis

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Kmart, Big W, and Target Corporation in response to the evolving online retail landscape. It evaluates their marketing mixes, focusing on pricing, product diversification, promotional activities, and store presence. The...Read More

Running head: MARKETING
Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
The impact of the competition in the modern world of business is seen to increase in a
notable manner in recent years and that is considerably influenced by the effect of the
globalization (Ying, Chang and Lee 2014). The increment in the intensity of the competition
in the business world is seen to place the organizations in such a position where the
companies are facing the threat of survival. Majority of the business analysts are seen to
consider the entry of the new organizations to be one of the fundamental factors responsible
for the increment of the intensity of the business competition. On the other hand, some of the
researchers are able to term the rise of online retail as one of the main threat for the
established brick and mortar companies. The retail business industry is seen to face the heat
in the most prominent manner and that is pretty evident with the urge of the major
organizations regarding their business restructuring. The paper discusses regarding the
business alignment of the major organizations such as the Kmart, Big W and Target
Corporation in response of the evolution of the online retail business operations. The paper
provides a significant comparison regarding the marketing mix of the mentioned business
entities with a precise focus on the urge of the companies in creating a unique position in the
market. Along with that, the paper assesses the activities and the strategies that the companies
undertake for the creation of the value for their customers. Apart from this, the paper presents
an important analysis regarding the usage of the companies of the socially responsible
product decisions for capturing the customer value.
Market Evaluation:
Considering the dynamics of the retail market, it is understandable that the companies
with considerable amount of dependence on the departmental stores, are facing significant
amount of difficulty in maintaining their business growth intact for a longer period of time
and that is evident with the business operations of the organizations such as the Kmart, Big

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W and Target Corporation. However, the size of the departmental store market is seen to be
considerably limited for growing business of such stable business organizations. Along with
that, the increasing entry of the online retailers is seen to provide very little amount of scope
for the companies to operate in an efficient manner in the market. As the mentioned business
industry is notably limited in terms of providing the scope to conduct the sustainable
business, the fluctuations in the growth of one organization bears the positives for the growth
of the other organizations. The scenario is evident with Kmart’s decline in the performances
where the company failed to continue their store sales as it falls 0.6 during mid- December
(Afr.com 2019). This forced Wesfarmers to experience a significant down of nearly 5 percent
in their earnings (Afr.com 2019).
The decline in the performances of Kmart opened the doors for competitor
organizations such as Big W or Target and that is evident with the increment of same store
sales of Target of nearly 0.5 percent (Afr.com 2019). Along with Target, Big W was able to
capitalize the low profitability of their competitor which was visible with the expectation of a
2 percent rise in the December quarter (Afr.com 2019). The above mentioned statistics of the
improved business operations from the part of the mentioned company were identified as the
best sales performances of the company from the year 2013. However all the mentioned
companies were observed to face the impact of the shift of the customer focus towards the
online retailers (Afr.com 2019). The modern customers are observed to prefer the online
retailers in a more prominent manner than that of the discount department stores and under
such situation, it becomes important for the companies to make sure that they manage the
customer expectations in an efficient manner for staying relevant to the business market.

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Comparison of marketing mix:
With a precise focus on the marketing mix of Target, it is evident that the company
applies the economy pricing policy for their customers which enables the company in serving
their customers with lucrative discounts and products against low prices. Along with that, the
diversified products range of the company which includes the products such as the Apparel,
Books, Office supplies, Small appliances, Toys or games, Sports goods, Footwear, Gardening
materials, Jewellery, House wares, Furniture, Food products, Electronic items and
Accessories (Target.com. 2019). Apart from this, the strong connection of the company in the
form of more than 1803 number of outlets across the major cities of the globe is seen to be
significant in expanding the business network of the company (Target.com. 2019).
Considering the promotions, the company has strong presence in the various social media
platforms such as the Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Along with that, the
promotional activities of the company are seen to reflect the ATL and BTL promotional
policies (Target.com. 2019).
On the other hand, Kmart is also one of the companies with a strong product chain in
place for serving the varying demands of the customers and that is pretty evident with the
inclusion of the products such as the apparel, toys, pet supplies, jewellery, health and beauty
products, bedding and bath accessories, home décor, electronics, hardware, OTC medicines,
sports equipment and accessories and food items (Kmart.com.au. 2019). Along with that, the
mentioned company has the quality of applying low prices for their customers which is pretty
evident with the urge of the company in getting converted from a discount store to a company
that is based on Every Day Low Prices (Kmart.com.au. 2019). The company has started to
remove the big brands in an attempt to introduce their own brands with a price focus on their
intention of applying the low prices. The company is seen to have comparatively lesser
number of store presences than that of Target which is visible with the presence of the

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company in 300 different locations (Kmart.com.au. 2019). Considering the promotion, the
company is seen to be considerably active in various social media platforms for effective
marketing of their products and recently the company’s focus is observed to be based on
targeting the female customers and mothers which is prominent with the marketing activities
of the company.
Other than this, the Big W is observed to be associated with Woolworths Limited
where it is able to provide a large number of products with optimum level of quality to their
customers such as Sunglasses Belts, Gloves and Hats, Purses and Bags, Ponchos, Wraps, and
Scarves, Watches and Jewellery, Sandals, Boots, Wedges, Formals, Shoes, Pumps, and
Sneakers, Shapewear, Socks, Thermals, Slips, Camis, Bodysuits, Lingerie Sets, Underwear,
and Slippers, Sportswear and Apparels (Bigw.com.au 2019). The association of Big W with
Woolworths enabled it to have significant amount of reach to their customers through the
strong presence of Woolworths. Big W uses the departmental stores of Woolworths and along
with that, the brand name of Woolworth is considered to be one of the important factors that
influence the purchase intention of the customers in a notable manner. With a precise focus
on the business operations of Woolworths, it is evident that the company applies the premium
pricing policy for their customers whereas Big W is observed to apply a mixed pricing
strategy where the pricing of the company is based on the factors such as the products, related
market and the pricing of the competitor organizations (Bigw.com.au 2019). Big W’s
promotional activities are true reflection of the promotional policies of Woolworths where the
focus is on conducting innovative marketing. Similar to the competitor organizations, Big W
also has a strong presence on the various social media platforms for interacting with the
customers as the main objective of the CRM system of the company is to identify the
preferences of their customers to design their products.

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Comparison of the activities for the development of values:
With a precise focus on the business activities of the three mentioned companies, it is
evident that all the companies are trying their level best for creating the value through their
business for the customers. The business practices of the companies are seen to be influenced
with the urge of the organizations in managing the threat of the online retail organizations.
Target is considered to be one of the organizations with the capability to reach out to the
customers with the products and services and that is evident with the opening of more than
1803 number of departmental outlets of the company across the globe. Along with the strong
connectivity, the company is seen to be focused in the application of the low pricing for the
customers which is seen to provide notable amount ease to the customers in purchasing the
products of the company. The application of the pricing policy and the strong connectivity of
the company are considered to be crucial for the company in developing the value for their
customers.
On the other hand, Big W is seen to be based on the strong brand recognition of
Woolworths Limited. Similar to Target, the strong presence of the company in the form of
the departmental stores, is one of the main factor that provides the required level ease to their
customers in purchasing from the sores of the company. Other than this, the diversified
product chain of the company is an important aspect of the business of the mentioned
company in delivering the varying requirements of the customers which not only increased
the customer loyalty amongst the customers of the organization but also enabled the company
in serving a larger number of customers. Other than this, Kmart’s approach in delivering the
values for their customers through the business operations of the company is seen to be
largely dependent on the ability of the company in applying the continuous low prices for the

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products and the services that they offer to their customers. The company is seen to try for
converting their business from discount stores to Every Day Low Prices with an attempt to
ease out the difficulty of the customers regarding the prices of the products. The company’s
objective of providing the products at the lowest prices possible is significant for the
customers of all income groups in purchasing the products of the company.
Socially Responsible Product Decisions:
All the three companies are seen to be notably concerned regarding the increasing
intensity of the competition and one of the prime strategies that is used by the companies for
the effective management of the competition is seen to be the product development. The
companies are focused in the continuous expansion of the product chain and under such
situation, all the three companies are observed to undertake considerable number of activities
that focuses on the socially responsible product development. All the three companies are
observed to put strong emphasis on the suppliers’ code of conduct to make sure that they
source the raw materials with precise consideration towards the ecological balance. This
makes sure that the organizations are focusing on the environmental sustainability which is
an important aspect of the modern business world. Along with that, all the three companies
notably focused in maintaining a good reputation in the business world and that is evident
with their try of ethical sourcing of the raw materials for the development of the products. In
addition to this, the companies are observed to be pretty conscious regarding the formation of
the patents and the development of the products with a precise focus on the developed patents
is observed to be one of the top most priority for the organizations to avoid any sort of
violation of the copyrights which has the potential to provide a significant reputational
damage and monetary penalization.

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Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it is visible that all the three companies are facing significant
level of competition in the departmental store industry with the evolution of the online
retailers. The departmental store market is seen to be limited for sustainable business
operations of all the three market giants such as Kmart, Big W and Target. Under such
situation, the companies are in need to apply strong focus on the marketing mix and strategies
or the effective management of the competition of the market.

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References:
Afr.com 2019. Australian Financial Review. Kmart's pain is Target and Big W's gain but is
there room for three?. [online] Available at: https://www.afr.com/business/retail/kmarts-pain-
is-target-and-big-ws-gain-but-is-there-room-for-three-20190115-h1a2nu
Bigw.com.au 2019. BIG W | Australia's Lowest Prices Everyday. [online] Available at:
https://www.bigw.com.au/
Kmart.com.au. 2019. Home. [online] Available at: https://www.kmart.com.au/
Target.com. 2019. Target : Expect More. Pay Less.. [online] Available at:
https://www.target.com/
Ying, Y.H., Chang, K. and Lee, C.H., 2014. The impact of globalization on economic
growth. Romanian Journal of Economic Forecasting, 17(2), pp.25-34.