Higher prices than local competitors, such Petco and Pet Supermarket are a considerable threat to PetSmart. Most are anywhere between 10 to 25 percent cheaper due to cheaper quality foods. Government regulations from everything from dealing with employees to the veterinary hospitals also with the handling of smaller animals to their transportation to the store, everything is closely monitored by the government (Wiki, 2012). A major threat is animal food recalls which continue to be an issue at one point there were major recalls from China, and since PetSmart mostly their food from there a lot of the food had to be taken off the shelves due to animals dying from the food. There have been a lot of issues from PETA due to the treatment of animals
Strengths. PetSmart offers a one stop shop experience to the consumer by providing value added services and products. PetSmart’s
A puppy mill is a place where people force dogs to reproduce in order to sell the pups to stores, people or anyone else who is willing to buy them so they can make money. Thousands of dogs are made each year by these mills, and because they make more dogs then they can sell an overpopulation of dogs begins to occur. A serious of conflict occurs from puppy mills. Since animals from stores are from breeding mills that means the mills are being supported to stay in business from anyone who buys a puppy from stores. Also since more people are buying from stores, less people are buying animals from a shelter therefore those animals have a higher chance of dying. Puppy mills also do not take care of the dogs whom are in their care. Some of the animals are abused very badly by these places. Female dogs are forced to reproduce every chance they can, and when they get to the point where they are physically no longer able to do so they get killed. There food is contaminated with algae or other bacteria that grows. (DoSomething.org) Also the living conditions they have the
PetSmart has been able to get a balance of services, price, and availability, which is critical when competing against mass merchandisers such a Walmart. PetSmart reevaluated their warehouse style and changed to a home inviting friendly environment. They even cut the store size and stocker fewer quantities of items on the shelves. To appeal to customers and encourage purchases they created eye-catching displays and promotions.
The success of Wal-Mart is so great, that many people believe that Wal-Mart is becoming a monopsony . Suppliers are forced to deal with Wal-Mart because of the large percentage of sales at Wal-Mart cash registers. As such, Wal-Mart also has the ability to dictate prices of the goods it receives from the suppliers. Every day, more and more retail stores close their doors for good because Wal-Mart controls such a huge margin of the retail sector.
Consumer Protection is governed by the Political trend. What does politics have to do with Walmart. In the case of Consumer Protections, it has everything to do. Walmart has seen its share of consumer protection class action suits because of its lack of protection where the consumer is concerned. Walmart however aspires to help make choices easier and more transparent for its customers. According to the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission,
Puppy mills are mass breeding facilities that show little to no care for animals. They are created so companies can breed animals to make purebreds. The animals are not well taken care of and many of them die from either disease or giving birth too many times in their life span. There should be laws and guidelines to regulate the operation of puppy mill facilities. Puppy mills bring torture to animals and need to be stopped.
The pet food industry as described by IBIS World is an industry in which "Major players compete on price, quality, ingredients and nutrients" (Pet Food Production in the US: Market Research Report, 2015). In this pure competition industry, there are dominant companies such as Mars, Inc. and Nestlé Purina sharing a 24 billion dollar market (Pet Food Production in the US: Market Research Report, 2015).
Subaru has always tried to bill themselves as pet friendly. Many of their commercials feature dogs, and the back of their wagons and SUVs are supposedly ideal for ferrying forth furry friends. Recently, they took a step beyond ads, and took the initiative to go beyond what any other automaker has done for pets. Subaru and the Center for Pet Safety have gone out and actually tested pet carriers and crates in crash scenarios.
Besides all the points that I have stated, Wal-Mart has had to pay fines due to breaking Child Labor laws and Illegal Immigrant laws; fines up to $11.5 million for just those two types of laws. Wal-Mart is not good for this economy, for the people, and the company, in a whole, is criminal. If the people let Wal-Mart stay on the track it is on, the United States will not have anything but Wal-Marts. Wal-Mart will become a monopoly and put everyone, who started with something more than greed, out-of-business.
Last, Wal-Mart is also in direct competition with large supermarket retailers. Production capacity in the grocery industry is quite populated and Wal-Mart poses a serious threat to many supermarket retailers, both large and small. Kroger, Albertson’s, and Safeway are all finding it very difficult to compete with Wal-Mart’s low prices. Because the industry is so crowded, even the large supermarket retailers are seeking to differentiate themselves in order to stay afloat.
The exotic pet trade is a booming industry, raking in millions of dollars every year. Everything from harmless leopard geckos to hyenas can be found in 30 of the 50 states. Of those 30 states, only 21 require permits to own these animals (Webber 2010). Indiana has just recently withdrawn its own requirement for permits, making 10 states that allow any kind of exotics without documentation (Kelly 2015). It is estimated that 15,000 big cats are being kept as pets in the United States alone, with more captive tigers in Texas than there are in India. Approximately 15,000 primates and 7.3 million reptiles are also being kept in the US (Webber 2010). What does all of this mean and, more importantly, what can be done about it?
According to Smithson, Walmart can expand its markets to new and emerging markets especially in the third world countries, which can significantly increase its revenues. Secondly, the company can reform is employment practices and improve the quality standard and in doing so, attract more customers and improve its brand image. On the other hand, the company faces threats such as the rising healthy lifestyle trend I that the company in most cases does not provide customers with healthy goods. At the same time, the company can capitalize on this aspect and increase its revenues. Aggressive competition from other discount retailers such as Target creates a great threat to the company (Smithson, 2015).
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in the discount, variety stores industry. It was founded in 1945, Bentonville in Arkansas which is also the headquarters of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart operates locally as well as worldwide. It operated 1209 discount stores, 1980 super centers, and 567 Sam’s Club by January 31, 2006. It has also extended its operations to many international countries. It runs its retail stores in two forms: Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Stores. The Sam’s Club sells assorted product lines such as hardwares, electronics, jewelry, and to mention a few. The Wal-Mart stores also offer similar products in addition to the following: health and beauty products, apparel for women, men and children, household appliances etc (www.yahoo.finance.com). The Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Values and Code of Conduct, Corporate Governance: Directors, Executive Management, Committees and Stakeholder will be the key elements that will discussed in this report as it relates to Wal-Mart. In addition to that, the major trends in the general/macro environment and industry will be analyzed.
The benefits or competitive advantage Wal-Mart derived over the years from its supply chain management practices is also covered. The reason Wal-Mart is ahead of their competition is because they invest in technology in the 1980s. This investment paid off in the long run. Wal-Mart invested heavily in IT and communication systems to effectively track sales and merchandise inventories in stores across the country. They have set up own satellite communication in 1983. Employees at the stores have the ‘Magic Wand’ at hand. These barcode scanners allow you to check the prices of items at that particular store by scanned the barcode on the product. This is especially helpful when there is clearance that isn 't always marked and sometimes clearance items are cheaper than they
...because it will affect shareholders interests if company not doing well their business. This paper discussed the reasons why Wal-Mart doesn’t doing well in global market. The main reason that Wal-Mart faced currently is internal and external problems. The internal problems included management and employees’ conflicts, while the external problems are suppliers and environment conflicts. These conflicts may cause Wal-Mart loss shareholders’ confidence to invest in their company and company’s share price also will affect. It will cause Wal-Mart difficulty to fight with their competitors in global market and spread their business to new market. To avoid these problems arise, Wal-Mart should find some solutions to resolve the conflicts. So that Wal-Mart can maintain a good relationship with their stakeholders and shareholders rather than break their relationship.