Month: October 2010

The world’s largest retailer, has taken the first place in people’s minds when it comes to a departmental store that sells about anything and everything.

Through the comm101 class yesterday, I finally had a better insight into tactics and strategies, the difference between them, and how companies would apply them. Having read an article about WalMart in talks to buy South Africa’s Massmart, I’d label that as a strategy taken by WalMart in order for them to expand their customer base as well as for the companies to look for alternative forms of revenue due to the declining sales in the future.

Their previous strategy of offering steep discounts on selected products had turned out to be ineffective as they had not increased sales by a lot due to the recent financial crisis which caused everyone tightening up their pockets. The shift in strategies would be a smart move, by expanding they would be less reliant on the US market and this increases their opportunities for further development and expansion of the company!

This also made me realise that in order for a company to survive, they have to be vigilant about the current economic situation and the changing needs of the consumers and hence look for alternative strategies or tactics in order to survive in this world of cut-throat competition.

credits:

Wal-Mart feels the squeeze in the US

Wal-Mart in talks to buy South Africa’s Massmart

In my recent comm101 class, we learnt about the Porter’s five forces and an article caught my eye which was related to one of the five forces – buyer power.

The company, Made.com, is an online-only furniture retailer and customers are encouraged to submit their designs for furniture and prototypes will be made for the selected ones, others will then vote, and then the furniture will be sent to manufacture after preorders are taken in. This concept is still relatively new and few companies have implemented it but it is an excellent way for a company to start up as the main advantage is that they do not have to keep an inventory of stock, they just have to manufacture according to the number of orders, which is simple and more efficient! In this way, the customers will feel more attracted to the products, it could be a selling point for their products,  originality and creativity and innovation will be inculcated in their products which would be a good way to advertise as well! The company saves on getting their own designers and paying them rocket high salaries, and empower the customers, its a win-win situation!

Here’s one of my favourites from their collection!

Credits;

Made.com

Crowdsourcing : Turning Customers into Creative Directors

With the rise of social media, online communities have become more active than ever and just one video, a blog post, or even a passing remark on the World Wide Web would be able to reach out to a wide audience. Companies are riding along the internet wave as well, making the most out of social media. I chanced upon an article about how Twitter can be used to predict box office hits!

“Our intuition was that the faster people tweet, the more likely they are to go and see it.”

By analysing the torrent of tweets about a movie in particular before it is being screened, computer scientists are able to predict the first weekend box office revenue for the movie! I like how social media has made it so much more efficient and easier to do research or gather feedback, as compared to the old school way of doing one-on-one surveys.

We analysed the different advents of social media in class and it hit me how powerful it truly is, its shocking how many people trust the internet more than doctors prescriptions! While the internet has the power to reach a large audience, there is a greater risk that a mistake might be witnessed by someone. It can make or break a company’s reputation.

So the next time you post something on the internet, please think twice.

Credits:

BBC News : Twitter used to predict box office hits