Retail Management Analysis: Real Canadian Superstore vs. Walmart

This report presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of two major retailers: Real Canadian Superstore and Walmart. It begins with a description of each retailer, highlighting their mission statements, operational structures, and product offerings. A detailed situation analysis follows, exploring the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of each company. The report then examines their current market positioning, customer satisfaction levels, and strategies for customer identification. Furthermore, the report delves into the overall strategies, pricing models, and promotional approaches employed by each retailer. It utilizes concepts and terminology from retail management, providing insights into their competitive advantages, strategic directions, and market dynamics, based on the course BUS 265 requirements. The report concludes with a comparative overview, drawing parallels and distinctions between the two retailers' approaches to the market.

Running head: MARKETING
Retail management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1
MARKETING
Table of Contents
Description of retailers...............................................................................................................2
Situation analysis.......................................................................................................................3
SWOT analysis...........................................................................................................................4
Current positioning and satisfaction of public...........................................................................5
Identification of customers.........................................................................................................6
Overall strategy..........................................................................................................................8
Pricing strategy...........................................................................................................................8
Promotional strategy..................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

2
MARKETING
Description of retailers
This report processes by using such information related with two retailers and the
main action of this report is to make comparison between two retailers including Real
Canadian superstore and also Walmart (Wang et al., 2016). The Real Canadian superstore is
stated as a series of supermarkets which is maintained by a giant food retailing company
Loblaw Companies. This supermarket carries several good including grocery items as well as
electronics, households and also clothing items. In the period of 1979, the retail market is
opened in the location of Saskatoon and later this retail has been spread across the Western
Canada. During the period of 1980 to 1990, the superstore turns its superstore format for
unsuccessful launch of supercentre format. Later, the Loblaw introduced this superstore in
new location of Ontario by inducing a new section of grocery items and therefore it has come
within the competition of other retailer Walmart. The mission statement of this superstore is
to improve the health as well as well-being of the Canadians by approaching them each and
every day with the personal responsibility and also commitment (BANK, 2019). The number
of employees existing in this organization is almost 201-500 employees.
On the other hand, the Walmart is also referred as multinational retailer which
incorporates the sections including hypermarkets as well as discount departmental stores and
also grocery stores which headquarter is located in Bentonville. In the year of 1962, the
retailer is initially opened and with the increment of years this retail has grown as regional as
well as multinational store and from this year of 2020, this company has operated by almost
11,503 stores as well as clubs in approximate 27 countries (Klymasz-Swartz et al., 2019).
Moreover, this company also has a mission statement of saving people money so that they
can stay better which actually reflects on the price of this retail’s products which are

3
MARKETING
affordable for the persons. In addition to this, the number of employees belong in this retail
are almost 202 million across the world.
Situation analysis
As described in the description part, the Real Canadian Superstore does not change
their mission statement and this statement relates the improvement of the health as well as
well-being of the Canadians. This retail approaches each of the day to the customers with
their personal responsibility and also commitment. Moreover, this company provides its
services to the clients with full of integrity as well as respect and also sincerity. However, this
company integrates their business with innovative technologies for achieving greater
performance. The parent company of this retail is Loblaw Company and according to
management structure, this general manager is the top position of this company and under
this position, there belongs other three positions including operation manager as well as
training and development and also maintenance manager (Hobin et al., 2017). Under the
operation manager, it consists of senior supervisor and under this position, warehouse clerk
and also supervisor belong. Under maintenance manager, this only occurs maintenance
supervisor. In accordance with products, this company delivers a variation of products
including bakery, beer, clothing, grocery, frozen foods, meat, poultry as well as snacks and
also wine etc.
On the other hand, the Walmart has also a unique corporate mission of saving people
money so that they can stay better which actually reflects on the price of this retail’s products
which are affordable for the persons. Similar as the above retail, this Walmart always
provides the service to the customers with full of respect for completing the excellence
(Picker et al., 2015). This company is owned by Sam Walton and in accordance with the
management structure, the structure has been categorised into two categories including

4
MARKETING
hierarchical and also functional. In the case of hierarchical, the CEO is the top position and
under this, the directors and also middle managers belong. At the ending sections, it delegates
a number of employees who involve in operational section. In the case of functional structure,
it contains human resource department as well as IT department and also marketing
department (JOHNSTONE, 2015). This retail offers a number of electronic products
including MP3 players, laptops and also other products like baby products, jewellery, books,
sports items and also grocery items.
SWOT analysis
Real Canadian superstore
Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats
Though the parent
organization is
Loblaw Company,
therefore one of the
strength relates with
its strong name of
brand.
The retails are
performance under
expectation.
Options for online
retailing
Competition with
Walmart
Largest distributor in
food department
Management is very
weak
Introduce a new
segment like
discount segment
It attracts the foreign
investors
Covers a wide range
of geographic areas
Having no strong
strategic direction
Products along with
innovative abilities
Food market does
not grown rapidly
Walmart

5
MARKETING
Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats
Brand recognition is
also considered as
strength of this
retail.
In the working
condition of
employees, it detects
few criticism and
also lawsuits
This retailer has
spread its market to
a huge number of
locations including
china, Latin America
etc.
The competition
with Costco is
considered as threat
This retailer also
expands across the
globe.
This retailer
achieves thin margin
regarding profit
This retailer has
create a strong
bonding with large
organization for
improving their
strategies.
This retailer has
political as well as
legal issues
This retailer has the
strong resource
management
The business model
of this retailer has
always copied and
does not have any
particular model
This retail also
enhances its HR
practices.
This retailer has
some technical
issues in website
Current positioning and satisfaction of public
According to the current positioning of the Real Canadian Superstore, this
supermarket is mentioned as the state of art of the country of Canada. Though this store is
owned by the parent organization of Loblaw Companies, therefore this superstore stands on a
good position in the competitive market (Elliott, 2019). This organization offers a variety of
grocery items which are beneficial for the customers. Not only the grocery items, but also this

6
MARKETING
superstore offers a huge range of other items including electronics items or personal care as
well as baby care etc. This superstore also delivers the products of home decorating or
furniture which is referred as another reason for attracting the customers. Moreover, this
superstore also provides the facilities of the online shopping to the customers. However, in
modern days, the online shopping is latest trend which is too much helpful for the customers
because they can easily buy their products sitting in their home locations (Prabakaran &
Parthiban, 2019). Apart from that, the company provides a special facility of weekly flyers
that includes the interesting as well as attractive discounts to the customers. Moreover, the
customers can buy their products of beauty products or grocery items with these attractive
discount vouchers. In addition to this, in the case of online shopping, this organization
supports proper customer services including clarifies customers’ requirements as well as
product delivery on time etc. Due to these factors, the customers are attracted towards this
superstore.
In the case of Walmart, this organization also supports the customers’ services as
Real Canadian Superstore. However, according to the customers’ review, in the case of
grocery items or vegetable items, they have obtained the fresh items. Also, their variations of
grocery items attract the customers (Pope & Pope, 2015). Each of the stores of this
organization maintains the cleanliness as regular basis. According to analysis of survey, 75%
of the customers have provided the review that they are satisfied with the overall shopping in
Walmart. The CEO of this organization has told that this organization has integrated with the
e-commerce technology by which they can more interact with the consumers and with the
help of this technology, they have sold their products at lower price as well as huge discount
rates. During the session of any occasions including Christmas and others, the organization
has instructed to all of their stores to decorate with interesting or attractive items (Ellickson,

7
MARKETING
2016). Moreover, this organization have spent a huge level of money in online technology so
that they can easily pick the online orders.
Identification of customers
There are some of the reasons existing in the Real Canadian Superstore and the
reasons are as follows:
 Though this superstore has been supported by the parent organization of Loblaw
Companies, therefore it offers a variety of items including grocery items, electronics
items or personal care as well as baby care and also other products (LeCavalier,
2016).
 This organization is popular due to having discount rate on the products (Muda,
2018). However, this superstore gets the popularity because of having freshest
products at the lowest prices as compared with other stores such giant boot or longest
bridge etc.
 Another advantage is that this superstore offers a high level of discount on each of the
products which is considered as one of the most important competitive advantage for
this company. Moreover, the online marketing strategy makes the superstore special
for the customers.
On the other hand, the Walmart has also few factors which are considered as the
competitive advantage for this organization. The competitive advantages of this organization
are as follows:
 The strength of this organization is on its store as well as online shopping on grocery
items. However, due to integration of e-commerce technology, the customers can
easily but a variety of grocery items by clicking such electronics devices (Elder &

8
MARKETING
Dauvergne, 2015). Also, this organization offers all of the grocery items at the lower
prices and also brand collection is one of the strategic way for this organization.
 Another point of view is related with the financial services. This organization
provides the financial services to the customers by establishing the smart banks in its
store. This segment is more beneficial for the customers because at the same time,
they can continue both of two workings including purchasing grocery items as well as
financial services.
 There also exists another competitive advantage for this organization offering pet
products which is attractive for the pet owned based households.
Overall strategy
This organization of Real Canadian Superstore offers a variety of items at the lower
prices or at high discount level to satisfy the customers. The main goal of this organization is
to attract the customers and satisfy their requirements (Marr, 2017). In that case, this
organization accepts all mode of payment including visa or credit cards etc. There belongs
various loyalty programs which includes special vouchers or discount offers that are
mentioned as the major ways for attracting the customers. Moreover, this organization
connects with parent organization of Loblaw Company and for that this organization offers
private brands of Loblaw including President’s Choice as well as Life at home and also Joe
fresh, DrugStore pharmacies and also PhotoLab photo finishing.
On the other side, the Walmart organization offers the major brands like George,
Terra & Sky, Time and Tru, Wonder Nation etc. This organization also offers the customers
by providing the grocery items at lower prices. Moreover, the broad financial services attracts
the consumers and also pet items to pet owning households (Hwang & Park, 2016).
According to location strategy, this organization establishes their stores near to the urban

9
MARKETING
areas so that they can direct interact with lots of customers. Moreover, the materials or goods
are all time available in order to achieve the target of the company.
Pricing strategy
According to the pricing strategy, the Real Canadian Superstore offers all variety of
items at the lower prices. Not only the lower prices are the main attractions of the clients but
also during many festive sessions, this company offers a huge level of discounts on all variety
of products. Moreover, due to having technological advancements, this organization offers
the online shopping to the customers and in this way, they have achieved their business
targets.
In the case of Walmart, this organization also offers the grocery items at the lower
prices and this discounts is provided by this company on every day to the customers and as
result, this affects the economic level of the company.
Promotional strategy
Both of the company supports their promotional strategy through the advertising of
radio or television or other media (Michelson et al., 2018). Moreover, these organizations
follow the digital advertising through various social media like facebook or twitter etc. Both
of these companies follow their official websites to make attraction with the customers.

10
MARKETING
References
BANK, R. F. (2019). Food procurement.
Elder, S. D., & Dauvergne, P. (2015). Farming for Walmart: the politics of corporate control
and responsibility in the global South. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 42(5), 1029-
1046.
Ellickson, P. B. (2016). The evolution of the supermarket industry: from A & P to Walmart.
In Handbook on the Economics of Retailing and Distribution. Edward Elgar
Publishing.
Elliott, C. (2019). Assessing Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements Marketed to Children in
Canada. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(22),
4326.
Hobin, E., Bollinger, B., Sacco, J., Liebman, E. L. I., Vanderlee, L., Zuo, F. E. I., ... &
Hammond, D. (2017). Consumers’ response to an on‐shelf nutrition labelling system
in supermarkets: Evidence to inform policy and practice. The Milbank
Quarterly, 95(3), 494-534.
Hwang, M., & Park, S. (2016). The impact of walmart supercenter conversion on consumer
shopping behavior. Management Science, 62(3), 817-828.
JOHNSTONE, J. (2015). In Transit: The Poetry of Karen Solie.
Klymasz-Swartz, A. K., Allen, G. J., Treberg, J. R., Yoon, G. R., Tripp, A., Quijada-
Rodriguez, A. R., & Weihrauch, D. (2019). Impact of climate change on the
American lobster (Homarus americanus): Physiological responses to combined
exposure of elevated temperature and pCO2. Comparative Biochemistry and
Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 235, 202-210.

11
MARKETING
LeCavalier, J. (2016). The rule of logistics: Walmart and the architecture of fulfillment. U of
Minnesota Press.
Marr, B. (2017). Really big data at Walmart: Real-time insights from their 40+ petabyte data
cloud. Forbes. com, 23.
Michelson, H., Boucher, S., Cheng, X., Huang, J., & Jia, X. (2018). Connecting supermarkets
and farms: the role of intermediaries in Walmart China's fresh produce supply
chains. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 33(1), 47-59.
Muda, I. (2018). Dimension of an Islamic Model Value on the Existence of Syariah Walmart.
In Proceedings of MICoMS 2017. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Picker, N. W. O., Welder, M., Cook, L., Janitor, N. S., Aide, R. C., & Nurse, L. P. (2015).
Job Opportunities.
Pope, D. G., & Pope, J. C. (2015). When Walmart comes to town: Always low housing
prices? Always?. Journal of Urban Economics, 87, 1-13.
Prabakaran, S., & Parthiban, U. (2019). Consumer Buying Behaviour with Special Reference
to Ponnu Super Market at Avadi. Our Heritage, 67(2), 773-784.
Wang, S., Lin, C., Liu, Y., Shen, Z., Jeyaseelan, J., & Qin, W. (2016). Characterization of a
starch-hydrolyzing α-amylase produced by Aspergillus niger WLB42 mutated by
ethyl methanesulfonate treatment. International journal of biochemistry and
molecular biology, 7(1), 1.