BJ’s Wholesale Club was a concept that was introduced in New England in 1984. It is a concept that has expanded its boundaries and has become one of the most important warehouse chains in the Northeastern United States. BJ’s Wholesale Club operates approximately 194 clubs and has three cross-dock distribution centers that serve its members in 16 states. BJ’s Wholesale Club was established as a warehouse club in the mid-1980s in the northeastern United States. The chain has increased its operation from Maine to Florida and even the state of Ohio (BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc., 2018). The mission of the organization is to offer its customers high-quality, branded merchandise at affordable process. The prices are significantly lower than the ones found at supercenters, supermarkets, drugstores, departmental stores and specialty retail operations as well.
Use of Social Media
BJ’s Wholesale Club has a privacy policy that respects the right of its customers. The company appreciates and cares about the manner they collect and share information. The club acknowledges that it collects customer information offline and also online on websites andBJs.com. BJ’s Wholesale Club used social media and joined Facebook in 2009. By 2014, the club had 157,000 likes (BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., 2018). The club tends to upload new posts every day. The management of the club insists that the Facebook page is a community where it allows its members to communicate and actively engage with the club and each other. The club uses the media as a family-friendly page. The club has noted that the Facebook page has been informative to its members and even to potential members (Miller et al., 2014).
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The Club’s emphasis on the page is seen on the Facebook posts that comprise of recipes, new offers and other promotions showing the club’s surprises. Most importantly, BJ’s Wholesale club takes time to ask its customers about their habits or plans. It is a strategy to encourage its members to communicate its needs to the warehouse chain. These posts are done after one to two weeks, and they significantly receive many comments than other posts made by the club.
BJ’s also uses Twitter differently to Facebook. The tweets look like a list of the coupon offer. It uses the tweets as a means of self-promotion. However, the use of social media comes with the dilemma of the manner to react to dissatisfied customers as well as employees who voice their disappointment s of the club online for the whole cyberspace to see. Nonetheless, BJ’s Wholesale Club is quick to respond and address unhappy employees and customers to maintain the company’s image (Miller et al., 2014). The club tracks the experiences of a member and keenly follows their sentiments. The company tracks the overall net promoter scores, shopping satisfaction and also the member’s engagement with the clubs team members. The club also responds to parties who are dissatisfied on Facebook too but tends to view Twitter as its social network to address and tackle negative comments. BJ’s has an elaborate explanation on the company rights to delete inappropriate content on the Facebook page.
BJ’s Wholesale Club has a mobile app that has become the most convenient and most accessible way for members to save. The club’s members can access digital coupons through the app and shop thousands of products using the mobile app. The app also provides information on the current gas prices, the location of BJ’s Gas as well as the closest club to the member. On the other hand, the Add-to-Card feature permits the members to digitally select and also save coupons on their membership cards on the mobile app. The Add-to-Card coupons are automatically updated when a member checkout of the club, thus saving time and money (Datamonitor, 2009).
Strategies
In 2011, the club sought to go private to gain financial flexibility to help the company expand beyond its eastern markets and also to strengthen its position in consumables and food. The Club counts supermarkets as its main competitors and thus aims at becoming the consumer first choice for grocery by offering small packages at lower prices than the competitors (Datamonitor, 2009). The club has also diversified its selection of organic produce, desserts, restaurant-branded items and even fresh as well as frozen appetizers.
The club in its management strategies had to close its underperforming clubs in the Atlanta market, Charlotte, NC and Sunrise FL. The club made the difficult decision to close these branches due to its strategic plan to optimize its performance and also build the future by enhancing shareholder value. The clubs that were closed had a history of underperforming and after much deliberation by the management they concluded that the improvement of the clubs was unlikely. The savings from these clubs were invested in new clubs, remodeling on the existing ones and on information technology, which is all vital to the Club’s competitiveness, profitability, and future growth (Miller et al., 2014).
Conclusively, BJ’s Wholesale Club has recognized that social media is an online communication tool that facilitates easy sharing of information. It has also enabled the club to make the club a community by bringing its members together to share ideas through the internet. Notably, the club uses the media as a marketing tool as it allows them to understand what the customer appreciates or criticizes. On the other hand, the club has in place management strategies to ensure business continuity, profitability, and competitiveness.
References
BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. (2018). Company Background . Retrieved from http://www.bjs.com/company-background.content.about_background.A.about
Datamonitor. (2009). BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. SWOT Analysis, 1-8.
Miller, R. K., Washington, K. D., & Richard K. Miller &, A. (2014). Consumer Marketing 2014-2015. Loganville, GA: Richard K. Miller & Associates.
