Canadian Tire Case Critique
Canadian Tire Case Critique
Canadian Tire Case Critique
CRITIQUE
SUBMITTED BY:
SUBMITTED TO:
OSAMA J. BUTT
0
CANADIAN TIRE CASE CRITIQUE
This critique intends to critically analyze the solution which the earlier team has suggested for
the Canadian Tire. They have claimed that in order to be more competitive, CT has to adopt the
Family Foundation Strategy. The six reasons have been pragmatically examined to validate
The core ideals of Supports Canadian Tire: Canadian Tire’s vision “to be a recognized
leader for active participation and caring community support.” explicitly focuses on the
community at large that includes families, youth, kids and environment concern. Its core values
also include community responsibility. Canadian tire being the socially responsible firm is
perusing prevention, waste minimization pollution and resource conservation. In addition there
has been many recent examples which suggest how actively Canadian tire is working to serve
society at large. It has served people during hurricanes Earl and Igor. CT has taken a step
forward to reduce green house gas emission. It’s working to grow its business profitably without
increasing footprint of net carbon the economy. It emphasizes on community involvement and
good corporate citizenship through community support that is core to the culture of company.
Creates differentiation among its competitors: Brand longevity is possible when you
establish and deliver on a promise that is more meaningful beside just unique. Wal-Mart is a
"store of the community" which is helping by providing financial and volunteer support to more
than 100,000 organizations. It is focusing on four areas as shown in exhibit1. Home depot’s
exhibits both of the major competitors are already focusing on families but beside this they are
covering many other aspects of the community. The competitors are contributing to larger
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segment of society and CT is targeting only half of its target market (families) the strategy would
not be successful. If you want to stand out, don't be just different; be outstanding. Your strategy
should be relevant and competitive according to your target market. Standing out from your
Relevant to its target customers or high value customers: In this segment company has
included customer of age 25 to 54 with high purchase pattern. It is good to target them but it is
risky to narrow your focus on such small scale. Youth has low current purchasing power but they
can be potential buyers in future with increase in their income. Old people also have high
purchase pattern of luxurious products so company should convert them to high value customer.
Canadian society is shifting from family culture to individual and in 2009 more than 51% of the
people with age of 15 or more were unmarried which was 38% 20 years earlier. This shows
diminishing interest towards family so it’s risky to base your marketing strategy on dying trend.
Just 68% earnings belongs to retail and mark’s segment and from them 27% and 42% are
financial and auto mobile segments are different from home segment.
Influence the shopping behavior of the customers: Shopping behavior is not directly
related to marketing tools and techniques of the company. Their frequency and quantity might be
changed but it difficult to say that your behavior will be changed. Customers are of different
types and each customer group has its own preferences and priorities. In case of CT its customer
base can be divided in different and diverse groups based on its products. Customers can also be
families company can target just domestic customers of retail business and other segments of
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population are neglected. For example industrial or commercial customers who comprise 47% of
Improve perception in the eyes of target customers: It’s important for the company to
focus on the employees, suppliers and other stake holders while building their social marketing
strategies, as they all contribute in the progress of the company. Employees are the biggest asset
of the company and their motivation directly affects the performance and the revenues of the
company. If the company starts some free workshops to enhance the skills and provide training
session, this will be beneficial not only to motivate them and increase their skills but also
increase the socially responsible image of the company. Suppliers lie on the same page, the get
attracted and feel better by working with a company which works for a community as a whole
rather than just focusing on the families alone. There are other stake holders like banks,
insurance companies, stock holders etc that need proper attention for the company to outsmart
Canadian Tire’s product mix: It tends to have a broader description than just focusing only on
the family-oriented product line but also encouraging diversified business activities which
include automotive parts, accessories, sports and leisure products, apparel, financial services and
petroleum as well as family oriented products or services in Canada. Canadian Tire, together
with its dealers, franchisees and petroleum agents also operates 1,168 general merchandise and
apparel retail stores and gas bars that lead to the promotional activities of diversified target
market of corporate leaders as well as households. They modify their inventories to meet the
varying needs of customers in different communities, and have customary in-store promotions.
Its diversification of product mix also can be signified by looking at the segments of Tire
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EXHIBIT 1
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Exhibit: 2
Exhibit: 3
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Exhibit: 4
Exhibit: 5
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Exhibit: 7
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Bibliography
(2009). Canadian Tire Annual Report . Canadian Tire.
The Fact Book. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 25, 2010, from Centeral Intelligence Agency:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html