Generic Strategy for Competitive Advantage
- Generic Strategy for Competitive Advantageorder for CVS to attain competitive advantage, it employs cost leadership generic strategy which reduces costs related to healthcare services, management and retail pharmacy enterprises. According to Namada, for an enterprise to be successful in cost leadership, it has to price its products at a lower price so that it can make huge profits from that (95). In CVS pharmacy, the enterprise plan involves employing strategic positioning as the essential cost giver in the market of retail pharmacy to provide reasonable pricing. The generic strategy makes sure that consumer’s healthcare needs are at a lower cost. Besides, it promotes a competitive advantage, which allows CVS to accomplish its corporate vision and mission.
- CVS retail pharmacy partially employs focus and differentiation generic strategies to make the products competitive in the market based on the brand. However, all the generic strategies impact the development of operations in the business and the competitive position. The cost leadership strategy maintains the effectiveness of CVS business models; Click and Mortar, and Pharmacy Benefit Management business Models. Besides, cost leadership determines the retail pharmacy and healthcare operations will prioritize the intensive growth strategies (William).
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Recommendations
- To improve CVS brand and ensure that customers have the best experience at the store, the store must adopt a proper brand positioning. A good positioning which will assist them in clarifying to the customers what CVS is all about, its uniqueness from other competing firms and the reason for consumers to buy and utilize it. Brand positioning will involve instilling the right information about the brand to the desired group of customers to increase the potential benefit of the company (Alhaddad 30). To uphold excellent brand positioning, CVS will have to determine the nature of competition and the target market.
- Nature of competition
- is a dynamic approach that is focused on development and innovation while seeking profit opportunities through recognition of shifts in demand curves and cost (Namada 90). A company has effective competition when it identifies new and efficient processes of production, removes excess profits, and recognizes what customers need for satisfaction. In competition, farmers target a segment of consumers to purchase their products; therefore, the brand must choose to focus on specific kind of customers (Keller 79). As a result, critical analysis of the nature of competition is critical to determine whether competition completion of other firms is based on intentions, available resources, or distribution channel.
- for CVS to establish an optimal positioning that is deliverable, differentiating, and desirable, must consider the competition, and the consumer by choosing points of difference. Deliverable entails the brand meeting its inherent abilities, differentiation is linked to the competitors, and desirability is according to the view of the customer. When the brand operates as a point of difference, customers would view the attribute or significance of the product as highly essential, believe that no other firm could serve to the same degree, and have confidence that the firm has the ability offer the benefits. When the brand achieves the criteria, it is easier for it to attain sufficient strength, uniqueness, and favor from the customers (Rahman and Areni 17).
- Target market
- the targets for consumers is essential because various consumers possess distinct preferences and perceptions for the brand due to differential brand information structures (Keller and Oliver 162). Failure to comprehend consumer target may result in challenges in determining which brand should be regarded as unique and favorable. According to Alhaddad, a market involves a set of potential or actual buyers who have enough desires of the product, income to purchase it and have accessibility to the product (13). Through market segmentation, the market is separated groups of consumers with similar interests and behavior and demanding the same marketing mix. Therefore, by CVS making market segmentation, the more it will be able to execute approaches that satisfy customer’s requirements in any given segment. Some market segments include:
- Customer’s behavior: frequency of use, rate of consumption, loyalty to the brand, and benefits obtained.
- Geographic location: international or local.
- Demographic features: gender, age, sex, and race.
- Psychographic factors: opinion, values, attitude about the product.
Conclusion
- strengths are enough for positioning the company against competitors as one of the biggest retail pharmacy in the United States. Shopping at one of the stores helped me to understand how their generic strategy and intensive growth strategies promote the success of the business models. Their strategy of market penetration determines the economies of scale of the retail pharmacy, which in turn gives support to the cost leadership competitive generic strategy. Besides, the CVS takes advantages of the strengths to counter its weaknesses. Through increased market penetration and high positioning of the brand, the company creates entry hindrances for new firms, thus reducing the impacts of direct completion and enterprise imitation. To improve the business brand and customer experience, I recommended strategies like determining the nature of competition which will help in analyzing the likely intentions and capability of other firms; and identifying the target consumer based on their psychology, demographic factors, geographic location, and behaviors.