Rfid At The Metro Group
Retail Industry Facts
- Major players include Wal-Mart, Tesco of United Kingdom and Carrefour of France
- The market is mature and continually seeks innovative ideas to enhance competitive advantage
- Highly capital intensive
- Low to moderate labor intensiveness
- Low margin; high volume – they take advantage of economies of scale
- Characterized by high volume holding capacity controlled through Information Technology
Company Facts
- Metro Group was Germany’s biggest retailer (250 stores, 10 warehouses, 100 suppliers) that operates globally in 6 divisions: Metro Cash & Carry (wholesale), Retail (hypermarkets), Extra (supermarkets), Media Market and Saturn (consumer electronics), Praktiker (building materials), Galeria Kaufhof (department stores)
- Metro Group (hereafter, Metro) is the world’s 3rd-largest retailer
- Having the capacity to carry large volumes of inventory and have it adequately controlled and managed by cost efficient Information Technology resources
- Increased company international expansion overseas
- Metro is seeking to improve product accessibility:
o Having products consumers want in locations consumers can find them easily
o Reducing shrink in the Supply chain
o Having little to no Out of Stock occurrences
- Launched the Future Store Initiative in September 2002 to test different initiative aimed at improving all aspects of the customer experience
Competitive Environment
- Porter’s Five Forces
o Supplier Power- Relatively low; products can be procured from many different places at low price. Products have low differentiation
o Substitutes- High threat with established companies such as Walmart, Tesco, and Carrefour in the same industry.
o Buyer Power- Moderate level of buyer power. Customers are sensitive to prices, brand names and are willing to investigate substitutes
o Barriers to...
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