BUSM35436 Business Cases

F2021 – Canadian Tire Retail 1 – Learning Team Case Analysis Template REVISED

Learning Team #: 4 Due Date: Class #:

Team Members who completed the Individual Analysis and actively contributed to the case
discussion:
● Quoc Vinh Le
● Jimmy Nguyen
● Roheel Haidar
● Leslie Thompson
● Alexander Malz

By submitting this document, we confirm that it’s contents reflect our original work, and that
we are aware of and follow Sheridan’s Academic Integrity Policy.

Case Synopsis: Canadian Tire operates in an omni-channel environment striving to provide their
customers with a seamless shopping experience whether in-store or on-line. Visually, merchandising
is incredibly important to the shopping. Customers need to be able to walk down an aisle and find
what they are looking for. But just as importantly, Canadian Tire wants customers to be inspired or
surprised by almost every aisle that they walk down. In a digital space, that type of shopping
experience is just as important. Customers need to be able to find the product and have the same
level of inspiration and discovery as their in-store experience. Canadian Tire must determine how
best to replicate the in-store shopping experience using both still and video formats in a digital space
to satisfy both e-commerce and electronic catalogues while presenting over one hundred and twenty
thousand different products.

Note: Omni-channel is a multichannel approach to sales that integrates the different methods of
shopping available to customers and seeks to provide a seamless shopping experience, whether
shopping online from a desktop or mobile device, by telephone, or in a brick-and-mortar store.

Decision Maker: Allan Macdonald, President of Canadian Tire’s Retail Operation

Problem Statement: How can Canadian Tire replicate the in-store shopping experience, in a cost
effective manner to satisfy both e-commerce and electronic catalogues in both still and video
formats?

Decision Criteria/Goals:

● On-line experience must replicate the in-store level of inspiration and discovery for both e-
commerce and electronic catalogues.
● Online presentation must include both still and video presentation formats.
● Recommendation must be cost effective.

A. Business Case Segmentation – 25 Marks

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F2021 – Canadian Tire Retail 1 – Learning Team Case Analysis Template REVISED

A1: Background segmentation - considering the decision maker, problem statement and goals,
present the relevant business case facts that led to the problem and provides context to the problem.
i.e. Industry, Company, Financial, Marketing, Competitive, etc. Present relevant facts only, no
analysis and not your opinion. (10 marks):

Background Segmentation:

● Shopping experience is important for merchandising store

● Canadian Tire is a mass merchant store that provides a variety of products to consumers
● Canadian Tires has 4 departments as fixing, living, playing, driving that goes up against
specialty retailers in those divisions
● Factors like tangibility are unknown how it will impact the next generation in terms of online
shopping experience
● Canadian Tire is targeting a new group who didn’t grow up with it, are new types of users that
don’t have any particular use for Canadian Tire ex. Cars, lawns, homes
● In the consumer retail industry
● More than 10,000 employees

A2: Why is this problem important? (2 marks)

This problem is important because as e-commerce and online shopping is on the rise,
Canadian Tire must be effective in their way of illustrating and showcasing their products
offered

A3: How urgent is the problem? (2 marks)

● This problem is semi urgent, it should be dealt with soon but there isn’t an absolute rush for
them to find the solution for this issue.

A4: What timelines must the decision maker’s recommendations work within? (2 marks)

● 2 months

A5: Who are the key people and/or groups that you need to consider in solving the problem? (2
marks)

● Allan
● Customers
● Employees
● vendors

A6: Rank order any constraints or considerations that may limit the range of solutions i.e. cost,
timeline? (2 marks)
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1. The ability to provide the same type of experience to an in-store shopping experience

2. Cost savings: ability to be cost effective

A7: Identify and rank order the KEY ISSUES that must be addressed to meet the Decision Maker’s
goals. (5 marks)

1. Making catalogue visually appealing to customers

2. Solution must be cost effective

3. Matching in-store and online level of inspiration and discovery in terms of shopping experience

B. Situation Analysis – 20 Marks

Provide appropriate analyses - based on the Business Case Segmentation and Key-Issues identified
above.

Use whatever analysis techniques you believe are necessary to properly analyse the problem and
key-issues that you have identified, i.e. SWOT, Financial, Marketing, Competitive, PEST, Porter’s Five
Forces, etc. You must provide a summary of Conclusions and a summary of Implications for each
individual analysis that you complete.

You must complete the required analysis identified below plus any additional analysis that
you feel is important to the case:

(1) SWOT Analysis – Canadian Tire Corporation:

Analysis:

Strengths

- Omni-channel environment

- Many different categories like automotive, financial services

- Largest retailer of Canada

- High presence in domestic market

Weaknesses

- Only popular nationally not globally

- In a competitive industry with other big global competitors like Walmart, Amazon
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F2021 – Canadian Tire Retail 1 – Learning Team Case Analysis Template REVISED

- they are compared to speciality shops and not big retailer like Walmart

Opportunities

- Expand globally outside Canada

- Large brand awareness can be used as leverage

Threats

- Strong global competitors

- Change in customers’ shopping behaviors

- Disruptive companies that are not focus on profitability

Conclusions (Rank Order):

1.Canadian Tire is a strong competitor in the industry and has strong presence all over Canada

2.The industry they are in is extremely competitive and it is expected to change drastically in the next
five year

Implications (Rank Order):

1.There are many opportunities to growth due to the popularization of online shopping

2.Canadian Tire need to develop itself to match and catch up with the change of the industry

(2) SWOT Analysis – Canadian Tire Retail Experience:

Analysis:

Strengths

- Have both in-store and online shopping

- Many products categories

- High presence in every local community

- Attractive promotion offers

Weaknesses

- Price competing with other retailers

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F2021 – Canadian Tire Retail 1 – Learning Team Case Analysis Template REVISED

- Being compared with specialty stores

Opportunities

- Evolution of online retailing

- Improve customers’ shopping experience by match online and in-store experience

Threats

- Compete with specialty stores and other big retailers

- The market and industry can change drastically in the near future

Conclusions (Rank Order):

1.Retail experience is important to Canadian Tire’s business strategy

2.Improve customer experience is one of the most important objectives of Canadian Tire now

Implications (Rank Order):

1.Online shopping is the current trend that Canadian Tire should focus on

2.Matching online shopping experience and in store shopping experience

(3) Target Group Analysis:

Analysis:

Demographics

Age: Canadian Tire’s customers are mostly middle aged, so now the company is focus on 18-35 age
group

Gender: Gender does not have to be specific, anyone can shop at Canadian Tire

Income: Canadian Tire is famous for brand value, product quality with best deals and appropriate
pricing for all type of customers

Ethnicity: Mostly Canadian

Psychographics:

Personality: Does not have to be specific

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Motives: Customers choose Canadian Tire mostly because of its pricing, quality of the products and
brand’s reliability

Lifestyle: Most customers of Canadian Tire are middle class with a stable lifestyle, average good
income

Conclusions (Rank Order):

1.Consumers of Canadian Tire are very diverse but mostly middle-class Canadian families

2.The target right now is 18-39 age group as they are the next consumer generation

Implications (Rank Order):

1. Canadian Tire must develop suitable strategies to attract millennials generation as there could be
many changes in the futures such as urbanization and their shopping behavior can be very much
different from Gen X

(4) Competitive Analysis:

Analysis: Canadian tire has been in the process of transitioning into a more Traditional Big Box store
format. Upgrading the size of stores to be able to compete with big box stores which weren’t in the
Canadian market previously. The competitive advantage that Canadian Tire has in comparison to a
store like Walmart in Canada is the fact that Canadian Tire has a very rich history in Canada, giving
them a great share of mind of the common Canadian Consumer. Canadian Tire also has somewhat of
a niche retail market because of the large selection of tires and automobile products they carry. To
continue to be competitive in the big box store setting Canadian tire will need to match its
competitor’s vast online catalogs.

Conclusions (Rank Order):

1.Canadian Tire must become more Online based to compete with the likes of Walmart

Implications (Rank Order):

1. If Canadian Tire fails to make successful Online catalog, they will potentially lose business

(4) Additional Analysis:

Analysis: 4 P’s of Marketing

Product

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● They offer car services

● Financial services
● Seasonal products

Place

● over 600 locations in Canada

● products can be purchased at sport check and mark’s
● online and in store

Price

● customers are prices sensitive

Promotion

● Canadian tire money

● points system
● sales

Conclusions (Rank Order):

1. they have many locations and subsidiaries for customers to shop

2. Living, playing, fixing, driving is the divisions Canadian Tire has implemented to sort products

Implications (Rank Order):

1. since their customers are price sensitive increasing prices could drive away to bigger

C. Alternative Solutions:

Six alternatives are presented in the video case. Based on your case analysis, you may add
additional alternatives if desired.

1. Not using photography or video on the website for the majority of the products and avoiding
the costs in that case. There is an argument that it only adds value in certain areas.
2. Shoot it all internally to make sure that there is a consistent look and feel.
3. Select certain products that are very relevant to our customers or are high value in terms of
revenue and profitability and represent a portion of the catalogue online and have the rest with
text description.
4. Provide hypertext links to the manufacturer website and use their catalogue.
5. Ask vendors to submit both video and photography on our behalf.
6. Have consumers submit photography videos on behalf of the organization.

D. Alternative Analysis – 20 Marks

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F2021 – Canadian Tire Retail 1 – Learning Team Case Analysis Template REVISED

Provide at least 3 PROS, 3 CONS, the MOST LIKELY OUTCOME and RATING for each Alternative.
(Pros/Cons - 10 marks, Most Likely Outcomes - 8 marks, Rating – 2 marks)

Alternative 1: Not using photography or video on the website for the majority of the products
and avoiding the costs in that case. There is an argument that it only adds value in certain
areas.

Pros: Cons:

● No additional cost and resources ● No videos and picture formats which is

● Does not involve too much work to make
and maintain
● Focus on important products with large
profit margin
required for goals
● Causes more confusion for consumers as
they won’t know how product looks
● Manufacturers can be dissatisfied with
the company

Most likely outcome:

● The company will save money on marketing but eventually lose customers’ interest due to
poor shopping experience

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is this alternative to meet the stated Case Solution 2
Goals?

Alternative 2: Shoot it all internally to make sure that there is a consistent look and feel.

Pros: Cons:

● Picture quality up to standards ● Time consuming

● They can capture the important features ● They will have to buy photography
software to edit photos which can be
● They can control what they want to costly
customer to see
● More administrative work for the
● Mimics the shopping experience of being company
in person
● More upfront cost
● Retain more users; customers will
browse for longer and thus increase
discoverability and inspiration.

Most likely outcome:

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● They will take their own pictures that will meet their standards, but they will have to pay for
software and cameras to edit and take pictures. However, this would give the proper
shopping experience online with a consistent look for all products.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is this alternative to meet the stated Case Solution 8
Goals?

Alternative 3: Select certain products that are very relevant to our customers or are high
value in terms of revenue and profitability and represent a portion of the catalogue online
and have the rest with text description.

Pros: Cons:

● High demand or valued products may be ● Not very consistent

shown first
● Limited discoverability if you are only
doing select products; discoverability
should not be limited to best-selling
products

● text will not encourage users to look at it

and will not be pleasant to the user’s
experience

● Inspiration for other products will be

limited

Most likely outcome:

● Although this is cost effective and higher demand products can be shown first to customers,
this is not a very consistent alternative and other goods that are lesser in value in terms of
revenue for Canadian Tire, pictures will not be uploaded.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is this alternative to meet the stated Case Solution 5
Goals?

Alternative 4: Provide hypertext links to the manufacturer website and use their catalogue.

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Pros: Cons:

● Saves the company money ● Copyright concerns if not give permission

by manufacturers
● Save time
● If the manufacturer's website goes down
● Less administrative work for the company it can cause viewing issue for the
customers

● No control over picture quality or product

description

Most likely outcome:

● This will help the company save money and time but theirs is no control over the content that
is being shared with customers

● If manufactures site is not working customers may become disinterested and not buy

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is this alternative to meet the stated Case Solution 5
Goals?

Alternative 5: Ask vendors to submit both video and photography on our behalf.

Pros: Cons:

● Cost effective ● There will be some cost associated for

● Less time consuming since they don’t
have to take to pictures themselves
● Good quality pictures
the service
● The vendor may not capture the
important features of the product
● The service could take long to complete

Most likely outcome:

● It will save the company money by not hiring an expensive photography company to take the
pictures but there will be an extra cost for the vendor to complete the service\

● The vendor may not capture the important features of the product if the company does not
clearly direct them to.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is this alternative to meet the stated Case Solution 6

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Goals?

Alternative 6: Have consumers submit photography videos on behalf of the organization.

Pros: Cons:

● No cost for the company ● Picture quality may be low

● Creates customer engagement ● Pictures may not be submitted on time

● Create relatable product reviews ● Customers may not show case to

important feature of the product
● Gather more reviews about the products
and their shopping experience

Most likely outcome:

● Although it will be free for the company, the picture quality could be questionable and may
cause customers not to purchase as the product does not look appealing.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is this alternative to meet the stated Case Solution 5
Goals?

E. Recommendation – 20 Marks

E1: Clearly state the alternative solution that you plan to implement to meet the Case Solution
Goals. You can combine alternatives if you feel that would be best. (3 marks)

We choose to implement Alternative 2: Shoot it all internally to make sure that there is a consistent
look and feel.

E2: Present and defend the rationale for selecting each of your recommended solutions, referring
back to your Analysis of Alternatives and Decision Maker Goals - use this section to convince the
reader why you chose each recommended solution. (10 marks)

1. We feel Shooting it all internally is the best option because although they will have to pay for
photography equipment and editing software it will allow Canadian Tire to take pictures and
videos that will create an online experience like their in-store shopping. They create content
that they want customers to see. This is a very cost-effective alternative along with it giving a
sense of consistency while emulating the in-person shopping experience.

2. it will provide a more cohesive experience for users when exploring online on the same level
as in store experience of inspiration and discoverability. Because of its good quality, there will
be greater discoverability as there will be longer session times. This brings into their target
group which they specifically want to target the new generation with aesthetically pleasing sites
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that have good flow and thus increasing the average time spent on the site and is likely to
increase the online shopping experience to a greater extent.

3. Compared to other alternatives like providing hypertext links to the manufacturer website, does
not offer the same experience, it makes it harder for discoverability and inspiration as users
have to leave the website and it may or may not even have videos and/or still images of the
product you are looking for.

E3: Present any important assumptions and/or external references you made beyond the information
provided within the case. (2 marks)

● Customers are price sensitive and will always look for the best price.

● E- commerce is becoming very important due to Covid-19

● Many retailers are expanding Online operations

● Consumers are preferring to order things Online

● Good Online catalogs are crucial

F. Implementation Plan – 10 Marks

Provide a step-by-step implementation plan, including who, when, where and what.

1.Determine the overall aesthetic, look, and feel of how each image and video to add
cohesiveness to the overall experience of online shopping and browsing

2.Within the first week, Allan Macdonald needs to hire photography experts and video productions
to be posted on the website and catalogue

3.Incorporate innovativeness that allows users to be inspiration with creative videos and images
that stand out in catalogues and on the website

4.Have some Gen Z testers go test out the website and ask for their opinion and feed and monitor
their overall touchpoints and interactions as well as their engagement to other products based on
the newly created videos and images

5.Implement easier steps, and enhance the touchpoints for consumers to find what they need

G. Overall Quality (logical consistency & readability – to be completed by Professor) - 10 Marks

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100 Marks Total

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