Introduction
Target Corporation remains as the second largest department store operating within the United States and has grown towards becoming on the most recognized brands in the country. Target Corporation is ranked at number 39 under the 2018 Forbes Fortune 500 list of prominent companies, which is a clear indication that the indeed the company seeks to position itself effectively. According to Target's company records, it operates more than 1,800 local stories stretched out within different locations throughout the United States with the sole expectation being towards capturing a more significant market share. The focus for this report is to embark on a marketing analysis of the company as a way of trying to understand some of the critical approaches that the company has undertaken in trying to establish itself as a leading brand within the United States.
Main Products/Services
Target Corporation operates as a department store retailer that has been involved in the stocking of differentiated products that clients may want within the consumer markets (Andreoli, 2018). Over the years, the company has been involved in the process of expansion of its stores with the sole focus being towards ensuring that it would be able to accommodate other products that include furniture among others. Additionally, the expansions were seen as crucial ways through which the company seeks to reestablish itself within the United States market taking into account the competition that it faces from other department store retailers including Walmart among others. The expectation for the company has been on increasing the range of products that it offers to help build overall capacity for it to achieve prospective results in matching consumer demands within the diverse market structures.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Marketing and Marketing Strategy
Target Corporation, being a department store retailer, believes in the need for it to focus on marketing as one the relevant ways through which to advance its position within the consumer market (Wilson, 2017). The company has been involved in a wide array of marketing campaigns aimed at providing clients with information on the products that it offers in its stores countrywide. The marketing approaches that the company has taken include advertisement on mainstream media, as well as, use of social media as one of the essential avenues for enhanced publications (Joseph & Sharaf, 2016). Generally, this has helped towards positioning Target Corporation as a leading brand in the market, as it has helped in creating demand for its products with more and more consumers having a clear understanding of the fact that the company remains committed to providing quality products.
The chief marketing strategy that the company has adopted to help deal with the competition that it faces is cost leadership with the aim of ensuring that clients would be able to access the same products but at a cheaper cost (Corrigan, Craciun, & Powell, 2014). Target was noted as one of the companies, operating within the United States, that has been able to advance overall efficiency towards promoting cost leadership as part of its marketing approach. The company reflects more on trying to build that proactive approach through which to ensure that the products it offers are priced slightly lower than a majority of its competitors. Generally, this means that clients are much more likely to get value for the products that they purchase through Target when compared to those that they purchase in some of its key competitors.
The Products
One of the critical approaches that Target Corporation has taken within the last few years has been to work with manufacturing companies directly with the sole intention being towards ensuring that the quality of products matches consumer demands. Target, being one of the largest retail stores in the United States finds itself at a significant disadvantage when dealing with cases where the quality of products that it offers reduce (Joseph & Sharaf, 2016). Thus, this has prompted the management to come up with a structured approach allowing it to engage with the individual companies offering these products. Additionally, the company also expects to receive a guarantee from the different companies that indeed the qualities of products that they offer match the consumer demands. The ultimate impact of this is that it has helped towards building overall capacity for the company in defining its success within the United States consumer market.
Product Mix
The product mix that can be associated with Target Corporation is somewhat significant taking into account that it deals with differentiated products depending on the needs and expectation from individual clients. The company operates as a retail store that seeks to stock products depending on the need and demand from the clients. In the event that clients may have different requirements from the products that it shares, it embarks on a process of having to ensure that it meets these demands (Corrigan, Craciun, & Powell, 2014). That has played a critical role in providing that the company is well positioned towards effectively competing in the consumer market. Additionally, this has also ensured that the company can establish itself as a preferred retailer for a majority of consumers.
Product Strategies
The primary product strategy that Target Corporation reflects on product quality considering that it seeks to create a front through which to ensure that the products it delivers to its clients meet not only their demands but also meets quality demands. Target Corporation has experienced significant challenges in dealing with issues of product quality considering that some of the retailers that it deals with tend to produce low-quality products (Hirsch & Strawser, 2014). Thus, this forced the company to adopt a policy that seeks to ensure that each of the products offered through the company remains of high quality. Providing high-quality products is essential for the company, as it helps towards promoting confidence among individual consumers, as well as, acts as a guide for them to come back to the store in the future. That has forced the company to focus much of its attention on the quality of products that it delivers to determine the overall demand among its clients.
Sales Methods
Target Corporation, being a retail store, focuses more on providing its clients with discounts as a way of ensuring that it would be able to build on its overall capacity to meet market demands (Hirsch & Strawser, 2014). The company has been involved in creating revenue through the discounts offered considering that they have played a key role in boosting sales significantly. Additionally, the company has also been involved in running promotions for its clients with the aim of awarding individual shoppers with shopping vouchers among other items. The expectation of this is that the company has been able to build on its capacity to deliver positive results in meeting some of its sales targets.
References
Andreoli, B. (2018). Strategic Analysis of Target Corporation. Journal of Business Marketing, 14 (3), 15-19.
Corrigan, H. B., Craciun, G., & Powell, A. M. (2014). How does Target know so much about its customers? Utilizing customer analytics to make marketing decisions. Marketing Education Review , 24 (2), 159-166.
Hirsch, K., & Strawser, B. (2014). When a drip becomes a flood: Lessons learned from Target Corporation’s first large-scale business disruption. Journal of business continuity & emergency planning , 8 (2), 114-121.
Joseph, A. M., & Sharaf, J. (2016). Building target corporation's customer loyalty programme through Tesco's club-card scheme. TRANS Asian Journal of Marketing & Management Research (TAJMMR) , 5 (12), 61-69.
Wilson, R. E. (2017). Target Corporation: Maintaining Relevance in the 21st Century Gaming Market. Kellogg School of Management Cases , 1-25.
