FREE ESSAY ON DISCOUNT STORES: WAL-MART VS SHOPKO

DISCOUNT STORES: WAL-MART VS SHOPKO

Competitive Advantages in Discount Stores
When you walk into Wal-Mart the first that that hits you is a display of household items
that are point of purchase items. There tends to be laundry detergent, Kleenex, and
toilet paper. These items are sometimes on sale and are usually the ones that people
forget to put on their list. The store itself is very crowded, but the atmosphere is
friendly. Most of the shoppers are in Wal-Mart to get low prices and a lot of variety. I
agree that Wal-Mart has a lot of items, but the kinds of brands tend to be that of a
lesser quality than you would find at Shop-Ko. It is easy to locate products and has
large variety of brands. 
The parking is absolutely terrible, after all, how many handicap people are there? The
only way to get fast checkout is by using the register in the garden center or film shop.
Another advantage of Wal-Mart is that they have one-hour photo. Pulling up to the lot and
seeing all of the cars is a major turn off! Wal-Mart products are the least expensive and
they take pride in that. After all, their slogan is everyday low prices guaranteed.
One question to ponder, why is there smoking inside Wal-Mart? This does not make sense
and gives a lower class kind of image to the store. Wal-Mart has an optical center and a
hair salon. An optical center does not seem out of league, but hair cutting in a discount
store? That tends to make one think that the qualifications of the stylist may be
discount also. To work at an optical center, there are strict restrictions in the trade.
The outside of the store looks like a serve all kind of store. There is an automotive and
garden center visible from the outside and when looking at the Wal-Mart sign you see a
big yellow smiley face.
K-mart and Shop-Ko must compete because they are usually the second choice to Wal-Mart.
There are not nearly as many brands at K-Mart as there are at Wal-Mart, but there are
groceries that help to make it a one-stop shop. Customers have always been K-Mart
shoppers and that is why they continue to shop there. Customer service is right where you
need it, and is accessible at almost any time. The traffic situation is not even an issue
because there is plenty of front row parking. 
The aroma from the food court is a nice way to stimulate customer appetite for sales.
Another advantage is that there is a nice little kiddy horse-go-round. When I was little,
before Wal-Mart existed, my mom took us to K-Mart and if we acted on our best behavior we
were allowed to ride the horses. When approaching K-Mart you notice the fast food places
right outside, which would be ideal for a parent that has hungry children in the car. If
mom or dad needs to stop off for a few things the kids get a treat too. Also they have
the advantage of being located in a mini strip mall. Fashion Bug, Eagle/Osco, and the
Dollar Tree are all very close.
Shop-ko however seems to have the highest quality of products. This stored is designed
for people that feel spending the extra money buys quality. They carry Paul Mitchell and
Red Ken hair products at less than salon prices, and hair a wide selection of picture
frames and candles. For students that are accustomed to shopping at Target, Shop-ko is a
perfect alternative. 
Workers seem to bend over backwards, is it boredom or just great customer service? I do
not know, but it pleases shoppers. The parking is another advantage Shop-Ko has over
K-Mart & Wal-Mart. It does not share parking with anyone else. The addition of Payless
Shoe Store contributes greatly to the needs of consumers. Payless has a good reputation
among "poor" college students and should attract some students away from Wal-Mart. The
outside of the building looks very new and well kept. 
2. K-mart definitely has the competitive advantage as far as location. It is not the
extra mile out of town and has other shops nearby. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart is superior
enough to have the drawing power of customers. Shop-ko seems to have higher quality and
higher priced products, but does not have as large of a variety as Wal-Mart or the
everyday low prices. K-Mart is kind of the middleman; it has more similar merchandise to
Wal-Mart, but tends to charge a little bit more. Overall, Wal-Mart is the cheapest
discount store with the largest variety of brands. The best service is given by K-Mart
and Shop-ko. Both stores have customer service located right in the front and the lines
are not that long. Wal-Mart seems to have the most point of purchase approach compared to
Macomb's other discount stores. There are very large signs clearly showing the price off
all sale merchandise. At Shop-ko some items are not even correctly priced. 
I don't think that Shop-ko will be driven out of Macomb because they have higher quality
merchandise. It is also a convenient alternative to the chaos of Wal-Mart. The new
addition of Payless should be a good investment. There are not very many "shoe" stores in
Macomb and Payless is popular and successful. Plus the customer service skills seem to be
better than the other two stores.
I think that Internet will impact all of the stores greatly. If a person is looking for a
specific brand or an item the internet enables them to find the exact product wanted. I
think that "brand affirmation" will be the only advantage of using the store online. The
cost of shipping would be ridiculous for the amount of time it actually takes to just go
to the store. The only way the internet will be extremely successful is if the stores
offer to have an order ready at a certain time, at the store for the shopper. It would be
convenient to have all the products a consumer desires bagged and ready to go. The
internet may also be used for stockholders, people interested in learning more about the
store, and people looking for employment.