MGMT1101 Research & Analysis: Loblaw Supermarket's Strategic Overview

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Loblaw Supermarket, a major Canadian supermarket chain. The assignment delves into Loblaw's mission, core values, and vision, examining how the company targets diverse customer segments through geographic, demographic, and behavioral segmentation. It explores the company's corporate and business-level strategies, including its growth stage and the use of cost leadership and differentiation. A detailed SWOT analysis is presented, highlighting Loblaw's strengths (strong brand image, wide geographic coverage), weaknesses (underperforming stores), opportunities (improving quality standards), and threats (intense competition). The report also includes references to relevant academic sources and discusses the company's market leadership position within the Canadian economy. The analysis is presented in the context of a MGMT1101 assignment, focusing on the application of management concepts.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Abstract
The assignment has been capable of analysing the mission and core values along with vision
of Loblaw Supermarket which is situated at Canada. It has been noted that the company is
capable of targeting all the customers from different income groups which helped them in
serving the customers with effectiveness. In addition, it has been noticed that the company
has been able to serve the customers through the usage of the cost leadership and
differentiation strategy which impacts their effectiveness successfully. The company is in the
growth stage wherein they are planning to innovate different other organic products for their
existence. Lastly, the SWOT analysis will be capable of helping them in understanding their
position in the competitive business environment which will be capable of growing them in
the competitive market.

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Table of Contents
Summary of Loblaw Supermarket.............................................................................................3
Customer Base...........................................................................................................................3
Mission and Core Values...........................................................................................................4
Vision.........................................................................................................................................5
Corporate Level Strategies.........................................................................................................5
Business Level Strategies...........................................................................................................6
SWOT Analysis.........................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Summary of Loblaw Supermarket
Loblaws Inc is considered to be the Canadian supermarket chain with their stores
located in different kind of provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Loblaw was mainly
acquired by George Weston Ltd and Loblaw was built as one of the food empires through the
proper purchase of the different manufacturers of grocery or retailers. In the year 1919, the
company was founded and it was headquartered at Brampton, Ontario (Loblaw.ca, 2020). In
the year 2005, Loblaws was considered to be the largest supermarket chain in Canadian
economy with the market share that was estimated to more than 34.9%. The President’s
Choice and the name control brands are considered to be the consumer-packaged number one
good brands in the Canada market.
The different products and services which are sold by Loblaw includes general
grocery, pharmacy, alcoholic beverages which includes wine along with general
merchandise. The company falls under the retail industry wherein province of Ontario has
been key market in Canada and it is biggest market of Loblaw. Canada has been capable of
developing the well-established grocery store sector with high standards. The values of
Loblaw include improving health and well-being of different Canadians as well as acting
with respect as well as integrity in the market every day (Loblaw.ca, 2020).
The report throws light on analysing the core values, mission and vision of Loblaw
Supermarket along with analysing the customer base which is served by them. Moreover, the
business and corporate level strategies are needed to be analyzed along with understanding
the internal and external strengths, weaknesses, opportunities along with threats.

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Customer Base
The customers of Loblaw Supermarket include geographic, demographic and
behavioral segmentation which helps them in attracting the maximum number of customers.
Firstly, the age groups include individuals from all categories such as the one who are
working, housewives or the infant products are available. Both male and female customers
are attracted whose income can be low and they can be belonging from middle-class
(Schommer, Richter & Karna, 2019, p.290).
The personality of the individuals who will be purchasing the products are cost
conscious and it is helpful for them in buying products at lower prices. Both rural and urban
areas are covered under the category of customers who are preferring to purchase the
products from Loblaw (Richards et al., 2019, p.190). With the help of undifferentiated
targeting strategy, the company has been able to capture the global market and the low
pricing strategy of Loblaw has been capable of growing and becoming the largest
supermarket in Canadian economy.
Mission and Core Values
The mission of Loblaw is to become the Canada’s best health, home and food retailer
through exceeding the expectations of the different customers with the help of innovative
products offered to them at the great prices (Loblaw.ca, 2020).
On the other hand, the different core values of the Loblaw supermarket include the different
facts such as:
Care- It includes the health as well as proper well-being of the different Canadians
and the employees who are working with Loblaw Supermarket as they are considered to be
the major asset of the company (Loblaw.ca, 2020)

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Ownership- The main approach of Loblaw is the personal commitment along with
accountability which enhances the growth prospects of the company successfully.
Respect- Respect is the key aspect which needs to be implemented and Loblaw
Supermarket acts with proper integrity, openness and respect each and every day which will
be helpful for achieving the proper outcomes (Loblaw.ca, 2020)
Excellence- Loblaw is leading with proper innovation along with superior excellence
which makes them effective in comparison to other competitors which are present.
Vision
The main vision of the company Loblaw Supermarket is to become committed
towards the strategy which has been developed under the three main and core themes which
are described as follows: Simplify, Innovation and Grow (Loblaw.ca, 2020). Moreover, the
company is planning for investing in businesses which helps them in generating positive cash
flows through the help of the stable along with generating high quality operations
successfully. The company’s vision is to create economic value for the different investors
with the help of active management of the portfolio companies through using culture of
excellence (Prajogo, 2019, p.249).
Corporate Level Strategies
From the analysis of the company’s financial performance, Loblaw Supermarket has
been categorized in Growth Stage. In the respective stage, the company has the high level of
capability in increasing the number of products which are offered with the help of
diversification (Postavaru et al., 2019, p.50). Loblaw has been constantly trying to upgrade
themselves technologically through introducing the different kinds of services such as self-

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service checkout system like Woolworths to make themselves highly competitive. As there
are only few competitors available in the market, therefore, there is significant level of
increase in revenue and it impacts their performance to a large extent as well (Olson et al.,
2018, p.72).
Business Level Strategies
Loblaw Supermarket uses the combination of cost-leadership along with
differentiation strategy as a whole to attract the large group of customers in the market of
Canada. Loblaw Supermarket is considered to be the low-cost producer of the different retail
services as well as pharmaceutical products and they are able to mainly compete based on the
low selling prices. The low-price selling is the fundamental aspect of the pricing strategy and
fundamental strategic objective of company (Martinez-Conesa, Soto-Acosta & Palacios-
Manzano, 2018, p.2383). In addition, Loblaw tries to use the differentiation strategy through
selling the different variety of products with low pricing approach and it impacts the
effectiveness of the company successfully.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Firstly, the strong brand image of Loblaw Supermarket is the strength as the high
organizational size along with wide range of offerings of the products and services are
helping them in growth along with expansion simultaneously. The wide geographic coverage
of the company in different Canadian provinces are the other aspect which helped Loblaw
Supermarket in improving their effectiveness to a large extent (Gorondutse & Abdullah,
2017, p.161).

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Moreover, the President’s Organic Products is the second aspect which is considered
to be the strength of Loblaw wherein the company has gained strong level of revenues and
market share within the specified time limit and it impacted their performance in Canadian
economy as well.
Employee Related Policies is the other strength of Loblaw Supermarket wherein the
company is considered to be the people savvy employer. Loblaw has been highly conscious
always in ensuring that the different employees are well trained as well as their health is fine
(Dang, Jasovska & Rammal, 2020, p. 101042). For ensuring their satisfaction, there are
different loyalty programs along with bonuses offered to the customers which help them in
generating high level of effectiveness and generate profitability in the market.
Market Leadership position has been adopted by Loblaw Company wherein they
have been successful in covering more than 80% of the market share in Canadian economy.
Loblaw has been effective in reducing the level of competition from existing players and the
new entrants through the usage of the organic products which are sold by them (Bui & De
Villiers, 2017, p.24).
Weaknesses
Underperformance of the Stores is the major weakness which will be impacting the
effectiveness of the company which will be impacting the growth of the market. The
operating margin dropped to more than 1% in the year 2006 and due to the same, it is
impacting the effectiveness of performance of the company negatively (Beamish & Lupton,
2016, p.175). Moreover, the customers find it highly difficult to locate the stores and there
are problems in distribution system such as delayed goods delivery.
Business Model can be copied is the other weakness of Loblaw Supermarket wherein
as the business model can be easily copied by other new companies which are planning to

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enter in the market of Canada. There are no such competitive differentiators in the business
model which needs to be improved for generating efficiency in the performance of the
company successfully.
Opportunities
Improvement in the Quality Standards is the first and foremost opportunity of
Loblaw Supermarket wherein they have the exact opportunity in addressing the concerns of
different customers using the low-cost strategy in different segments (Arasti, Khaleghi &
Noori, 2017, p.252).
Focusing on Providing Proper Experience is the second opportunity which can be
implemented by Loblaw Supermarket wherein they can be creating difference in the in-store
experience (Beamish & Lupton, 2016, p.174). There can be inclusion of the self-checkout
system as well as personalized quality schemes which will be impacting their growth
prospects in a successful manner. Loblaw is the only effective supermarket wherein they can
be differentiating the supermarket by availing such services successfully.
Threats
Intense level of Competition is the first and foremost threat which is impacting the
growth of the company in a negative manner. In the current scenario, the different retail
companies are trying to introduce the different kinds of products which are inclusive of the
organic products that is impacting performance of the company negatively (Beamish &
Lupton, 2016, p. 173). The different small-scale companies are trying to introduce and
imitate the same business model of Loblaw for entering in the retail industry in Canada.
Goodwill is constantly dropped in the Canadian economy of retail industry wherein
the grocery market sales are declining in comparison to last few years and it is impacting

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performance of the company to a great level in comparison to the other competitor companies
that are performing (Beamish & Lupton, 2016, p. 163).
References
Arasti, M., Khaleghi, M., & Noori, J. (2017). Corporate-level technology strategy and its
linkage with corporate strategy in multi-business companies: IKCO case
study. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 122, 243-252.
Beamish, P. W., & Lupton, N. C. (2016). Cooperative strategies in international business and
management: Reflections on the past 50 years and future directions. Journal of World
Business, 51(1), 163-175.
Bui, B., & De Villiers, C. (2017). Business strategies and management accounting in
response to climate change risk exposure and regulatory uncertainty. The British
Accounting Review, 49(1), 4-24.
Dang, Q. T., Jasovska, P., & Rammal, H. G. (2020). International business-government
relations: The risk management strategies of MNEs in emerging economies. Journal
of World Business, 55(1), 101042.
Gorondutse, A. H., & Abdullah, H. H. (2017). Influence of differentiation strategy on
performance of hotels: the moderating role of environmental munificence. Journal of
Business & Retail Management Research, 11(4), 150-161.
Loblaw.ca (2020) Loblaw Companies Limited (Online) Retrieved from
https://www.loblaw.ca/en.html [Accessed on 27th February 2020]
Martinez-Conesa, I., Soto-Acosta, P., & Palacios-Manzano, M. (2017). Corporate social
responsibility and its effect on innovation and firm performance: An empirical
research in SMEs. Journal of cleaner production, 142, 2374-2383.

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Olson, E. M., Slater, S. F., Hult, G. T. M., & Olson, K. M. (2018). The application of human
resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on
business and marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing
Management, 69, 62-73.
Postavaru, N., Draghici, G., Filip, C., Mohammed, A. R., & Mohammed, S. M. (2019).
Business Management Strategies for Business Development. Organization of the
Territory and Planning of Construction Works. Ovidius University Annals of
Constanta-Series Civil Engineering, 21(1), 45-50.
Prajogo, D. I. (2016). The strategic fit between innovation strategies and business
environment in delivering business performance. International journal of production
Economics, 171, 241-249.
Richards, G., Yeoh, W., Chong, A. Y. L., & Popovič, A. (2019). Business intelligence
effectiveness and corporate performance management: an empirical analysis. Journal
of Computer Information Systems, 59(2), 188-196.
Schommer, M., Richter, A., & Karna, A. (2019). Does the Diversification–Firm Performance
Relationship Change Over Time? A Meta‐Analytical Review. Journal of
Management Studies, 56(1), 270-298.