As mentioned in the case study, Panera Bread Company is known to be one of the leading bakery/café that offers freshly baked pastries and French inspired entrées across various states in the US. However in the recent years, Panera Bread faced a decrease in their usual high growth rate from 9.1% and 12.0% in the year 2000 to merely 0.2% and 0.5% of comparable sales and annualized unit volumes respectively.
The company likewise has already employed various strategies in order to maintain the high growth rate of the company. However these strategies is soon to reach its capacity to ensure growth. Based on the case as well, what seems to be lacking in the strategies that the company employed before is marketing, control of costs, and securing costumer loyalty.
Marketing
The marketing strategy of the Panera Bread Company relies heavily on the experience of each customer that eats in the café. The Company focuses their efforts in providing a milieu of elements that would appeal to the different senses of a customer. Their cafés were design so that each costumer can immerse himself or herself in an unforgettable experience and in doing so, they may endorse it to other people through word of mouth. Aside from this, the company recognizes the importance of sponsoring charity events in creating an image for them. By being visible in these events, the company has utilized not only in the quality of food and service they serve but also their sense of social responsibility, leading to more patronage and customer loyalty.
However, as any other marketing strategy, these become ineffective as time pass by. Because of this, there is a need to explore new strategies that the company hasn’t tapped yet. One of which is getting an ambassador/ e...
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...has been using before. This may become problematic since the strategy is not really that different.
O’Neill likewise mentioned the use of franchising to increase the scope of reach of the company. In my opinion this strategy can be very effective in reaching new market without spending much. By allowing franchises, the company is able to cater to wider market, ensuring the growth of the company in the long run.
In conclusion, the problem of Panera Bread with regards to the declining growth rate can still be addressed if the proper strategies are used to treat the root of the problem. One can say that for Panera, propelling the growth forward lies on the capability and openness of the company to explore strategies that they are not used to.
Bibliography
O'Neill, C., Kouki, Y., Kirby, D., & Titus, C. (2011). Panera Bread Company. Boston: Salem State University.
Did you know Panera Bread is one of the fastest growing franchises in America (Panera Bread Franchise)? The restaurant must have great qualities for people of all kinds to love it as much as they do. Visiting Panera Bread I had an awesome experience mainly because of its physical environment. Panera Bread has a great environment which is ideal for encouraging consistent business.
Panera is in a state of continuous improvement in adding to their menu to satisfy consumer wants. Panera also capitalizes on competitor weaknesses by offering higher quality pastries than the average Quick Service Restaurant. Most other breakfast restaurants do not have the variety and quality of gourmet pastries of Panera. Panera also uses preemptive strikes by attracting people with comfortable seating, an atmosphere conducive to study, and by the offering of WIFI. Panera exhibits low cost leadership by keeping behind the scenes and production costs lower making the company able to bring down the price to take business from competitors, but not so much that it takes away all of the profit. Panera has captured a niche by catering to the desires of those who want gourmet food without the gourmet price and also by their attention to creating the whole experience for that niche and not just
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The customer wants to believe that their food has the freshest, tastiest ingredients, and Panera Bread does just that through showing the hard work and fresh ingredients that go into Panera Bread salads. The commercial shows people working hard to cut, cook, and piece together every ingredient that make a Panera Salad. The salad is full of fresh, just cooked and cut ingredients, such as: corn, onions, and avocados. The commercial shows the salad being pieced together by hand. Piecing together the salad takes hard work and precision, and showing the hard work that is being put into these salads can allow for the audience to believe that every Panera Bread salad is made with fresh made ingredients. This appeals to a customer’s desire to have their meals made specifically for them. If a customer feels special, they will be more likely to purchase the product.
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