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1. What competitive pressures must Oliver’s Market be prepared to deal with? What do we learn about the nature and strength of the competitive pressures Oliver’s faces from doing five-forces analysis of competition? Which of the five competitive forces is the strongest?
The competitive pressures that Oliver’s Market must be prepared to deal with are the pressure associated with the market maneuvering and jockeying for buyer patronage that goes on among rival sellers in the industry and the pressure associated with the threat of new entrants into the market. They must be prepared to face with the rival stores, Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Whole Foods who had recently entered in the sales territory with brand new stores and so far Wal-Mart and Target also had announced plans to develop regional supercenter, that is, large –format discount center into their territory.
Oliver’s market competes with rivals by its pricing strategy. They set their everyday prices on traditional grocery items eight to ten percent below Safeway’s prices. They also price its natural foods just below Whole Foods. Beside that they use promotion and advertising as another weapon to compete in the market. They have a Direct to You program that offers a ten percent discount to seniors on Wednesdays before 4:00 p.m. They also have a staples program which compares prices to Safeway for everyday items.
For Oliver’s Market among the five Competitive forces, pressures associated with the threat of new entrants into the market are the strongest one. Because Wal-Mart and Target had announced plans to develop regional supercenters in the Sonoma county region. They are strong candidates for entering the ...