Spinneys Supermarket Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Spinneys Supermarket - Research Paper Example Spinney's supermarket has adopted the strategy by involving value chain and customer segmentation to ensure that it remains ahead of its competitors, while at the same time increasing its revenue. This paper will seek to address the differentiation generic strategy by Spinney’s Supermarket. The resources and capability of the firm in implementing this strategy will also be addressed. Differentiation generic strategy is the manner in which a company generically differentiates its products by classifying them in any possible aspect. The main aim of the strategy is to fight Porter’s five factors of competition, and to win the firm’s products brand loyalty from customers. Indirectly, points out Pradhan & Pradhan (2009),  this helps in eliminating any potential competition by the rest of the firms operating in the same industry. The direction taken by the organizations is influenced by the strategic plans of the organization. Factors organizations could consider as its strengths include brand superiority, resources available, market share, and employee capabilities (Bhatia, 2008). Although the manner in which these strategies are implemented is what is important, the selection criterion is equally important. There are various sources of differentiation that a firm can exploit. Some organizations choose to differentiate their operations in terms of their products and services, but others opt to align theirs with the market they serve (Harrison, 2010). Spinney’s grocery retail store has chosen to undertake both value chain and customer differentiation as methods of differentiation generic strategy. Through this strategy, the retail chain hopes to achieve customer intimacy and operational excellence, so as to improve on its revenue. Value chain is the specific chain of activities followed by a particular firm operating in the specific industry in order to offer goods or services that are of high quality to the customers. Products follow a series of activities in the value chain, and in every stage they are added value to improve their qualities. At the end of the chain, a product ready for the market is achieved (Bhatia, 2008). Two types of value chains according to their activities include physical value chain and virtue value chain. While traditional value chain, also known as physical value chain involves physically performed activities to improve the quality of products through experience, virtue value chain is the use of computer aided systems to produce goods. Each has its own perks and limitations. The preference is thus upon the strategic management team of the organization. Little comparison however exists between the two, as virtual value chains are more superior, offering quality products and increased ease of operations than the traditional systems. The choice by Spinneys to adopt virtual systems has significantly increased the quality of its products, in relation to other firms in the retail business. Al though not every operation in the store is computer operated, most of its operations are computer aided. Therefore, the speed of churning out quality products with increased ease has given the firm a competitive advantage over other firms in the industry. Fresh juices by the supermarket as well as its drinks are appealing to their customers due to quality. Along the various stages in a value chain, a number of differentiation sources can be exploited. Product differentiation is the diversification of a