By: Rohan P.

Desai
S.Y.Mba-3(Marketing)
 Sustainable Competitive
Advantage

 Final element in a retail strategy
 Retailer builds a wall around its position in a retail
market
 By building a high thick wall retailers sustain their
advantage, minimize competitive pressures, and boost
profits for a longer time
Sustainable Competitive Advantage is the key to positive
long-term performance
Seven Ways to Develop an
Advantage

 Customer Loyalty
 Location
 Human Resource Management
 Distribution and Information Systems
 Unique merchandise
 Vendor Relations
 Customer Service
 Customer Loyalty

Customers are committed to buying merchandise and services from a particular
retailer. Having customer loyalty is an important method of sustaining an
advantage over competitors
Ways to build loyalty
 Develop a strong brand image
 Develop a clear and precise positioning strategy
 Create an attachment with customers through loyalty programs
 Less Sustainable
 Habitual repeat purchasing
 Repeat purchases because of limited competition in the local area

 More Sustainable
 Building a brand image with an emotional connection with customers
 Uses a database to develop and utilize a deeper understanding of customers
 Location

Location is the critical factor in consumers’ selection
of a store

 More Sustainable
 Convenient locations

 People are more likely to shop by where they live and

by what is more convenient for them.
 Human Resource
Management

Successful companies know that to be successful you
must have a strong employee base because they play a
major role in providing services for customers and
building customer loyalty. Knowledgeable and skilled
employees committed to the retailers objectives are
critical assets that support the success of many companies
 Less Sustainable
 More employees

 More Sustainable
 Committed
 Knowledgeable employees
 Distribution and
Information Systems

The use of sophisticated distribution and information
systems offers opportunity for retailers to achieve
efficiencies.

 Less Sustainable
 Bigger warehouses
 Automated warehouses

 More Sustainable
 Shared systems with vendors
 Unique Merchandise

 Less Sustainable
 More merchandise
 Greater assortment
 Lower price
 Higher advertising budgets
 More sales promotions
 More Sustainable
 Exclusive merchandise
 Private Label Brands (store brands)
 Products developed and marketed by a retailer and available
only from that retailer
 Vendor Relations

 Less Sustainable
 Repeat purchases from vendor due to limited alternatives
 More Sustainable
 Coordination of procurement efforts
 Ability to get scarce merchandise
 Develop strong relations with vendors, retailers may gain
exclusive rights to
1. Sell merchandise in a specific region
2. Obtain special terms of purchase that are not available to
competitors who lack such relationships
3. Receive popular merchandise in short supply
 Retailer and vendor relationships are developed over a
long period of time
 Customer Service

 Less Sustainable
 Hours of operation

 More Sustainable
 Knowledgeable and helpful salespeople
 Excellent customer service
 Hard to build a good customer service reputation
 Takes considerable time and effort with customers
 Multiple Sources of
Advantage

 Retailers typically do not rely on a single approach, such
as low cost or excellent service
 They need multiple approaches to build as high a wall
around their position as possible.
 Good value
 Good customer service
 Brand name
 Great locations