Kmart and Sears
Kmart and Sears
Kmart and Sears
consumers fall under the umbrella of retailing. Over the past couple decades, there have been sweeping changes in the general retailing business. What was once strictly a made-to-order market for clothing has changed to a ready-to-wear market In some parts of the world, the retail business is dominated by smaller family-run or regionally-targeted stores, but this market is increasingly being taken over by billion-dollar multinational conglomerates like Wal-Mart and Sears. The larger retailers have managed to set up huge supply/distribution chains, inventory management systems, financing pacts and wide scale marketing
huge assortment of goods and services. Discounters - These also tend to offer a wide array of products and services, but they compete mainly on price. Demographic - These are retailers that aim at one particular segment. High-end retailers focusing on wealthy individuals would be a good example.
offer a good selection of items at low prices and are mostly self-service. Department stores, such as Sears or JC Penney, generally have higher prices but tend to have better quality products as well as salespeople that can better help you. A discount store is a type of department store, which sells products at prices lower than those asked by traditional retail outlets.
INTRODUCTION
November 17th 2004 Two oldest US based
retailers signed the Merger Agreement. KMART bought Sears for $11 Billion It would be named Sears Holdings Company Man behind this deal was Edward S. Lampert. Would generate synergies worth $500 million
K-MART
1899Formed as S.S. Kresge by Sebastian Spering Kresge. 1937- First Suburban shopping centre in Kansas City. 1962- First Discount Store in Michigan
K-MART
Sears
1886Started as R.W. Sears Watch Company in Minneapolis by Richard Sears.
Sears
1925First retail store in Seattle 1945Sales exceeded $1 Billion 1970Leader in the US retail Industry
Sears
It lost its No. 1 Position to Walmart.
10
Sears
2003- New stores concept to fight competition
2003- 65,000 jobs were taken away to reduce debt worth $28.5 billion. He also sold the credit card division to CitiGroup for nearly $32 billion.
11
Sears and Kmart to obtain greater long-term value. Increase their merged company's market presence. Higher market shares often result in greater purchasing power over suppliers.
12
Marketing Challenges
Operating Independently
13
pharmaceutical, health and beauty products and packaged foods. Shoppers of Metro Detroit welcomed the merger. K-Mart Discount retail chain- Sears products? K-Marts products has an advantage- More Sale as more distribution. More Sears Stores were expected. ( speed up sales)
IT Challenges
The conversion would require significant IT
14
changes. Both employed various IT systems. K-Mart IBM SurePOS 700 System. Sears- IBM SurePOS740 System In 2003 Sears signed a 10-year IT outsourcing deal worth $1.6 billion with Computer Sciences Corp. Integration would require considerable time. Back office applications was going to be a serious difficulty.
HR Challenges
There will be also lay-offs which SHC need to
15
Financial Challenges
K-Mart- Declining Sales and Market share.
was difficult. Belief- Low prices of K-Mart and reputation of Sears; a good strategic fit.
16
Competitive Advantage
Overall cost leadership : If they offer low prices
17
means they will compete directly with Wal-mart which is a leader in low-prices, and SHC cant afford such direct competition with them. Differentiation: Launch unique and valued products, and high quality customers will pay more so price is not an issue. SHC a merger company of Kmart and Sears can not be easily perceived by customers as a high-quality company and the high prices they will offer will push the customers away. Combination of low cost and differentiation: Best Strategy
Recommendation
The quicker they manage to change their
18
previous identity into Sears Holding Company, the better. SHC must be placed as a discount store since department stores are no longer liked by customers. They need to have one identity and show improvements and finally get some attention. The best move is to compete against Target and Lowes who are more easily to compete rather than Wal-Mart which is from several years the largest US Corporation.
THANK YOU!
BY : SHIBANI BORDIA ROLL NO. 9 LIBERATION BUSINESS SCHOOL
19