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Comparison between two retail companies picked are Walmart and Costco

The two retail companies picked are Walmart and Costco whose 2017 Financial statement links are provided below: WALMART https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ wmt/financials?query=income- statement COSTCO https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/ cost/financials?query=income- statement Both organizations are well known brands and position themselves well with their customer base. Walmart’s value proposition is “We save people money so they can live better”. On the other hand, Costco’s value proposition is “All-in-one convenience and everyday affordability”. Both retailers focus on cost saving for their customers. Looking at their financial statements and by analyzing them a few key areas are evident when comparing the two organization. Looking at the current ratio and quick ratio we can determine the short-term solvency of each organization. The current ratio can be determined by dividing the assets by the liabilities. Walmart’s current ratio sits at 0.86 while Costco’s sits at 0.99. The quick ratio is c...

Which benefit or benefits do you think are most likely to differentiate it from the competition?

In the twentieth century, the need to satisfy customers in increasingly growing and companies do strive to ensure that quality products and services reach their customers. In this assignment, characteristics of Samsung Galaxy 8 smartphone will be listed as well as an indication of the benefits each characteristic provides to the customer. The distinctiveness of a product or service is based on the extent to which its value supersedes competitors’ one. Thus, a clear elaboration of the product benefits which differentiate it others will be provided. Samsung is one of the leading smartphone giants which has gained the competitive advantage by the innovation and distinctiveness of its smartphones. In March 2017, it launched Galaxy S8 which has the following key characteristics according to (Goode, 2017) which bring huge benefits to customers: 

1. Infinity Display The Galaxy S8 has a 5.8-inch display crammed into what feels like a normal-sized phone, with a barely-there bezel. That alone is a feat of engineering, but the phone is also a creation of beauty to look at. It has a clean, unbranded face; a bright, fluid-looking display; and a mirror-like glass back; 

2. Force Touch The new Galaxy S8 phone does incorporate a similar mechanism into the bottom half of it, which means that when pressed on the (now entirely virtual) home button, it gives haptic feedback in response; 

3. Fast Face Scanning Considering that the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the back, this kind of face-scanning technology easily becomes the default mechanism for unlocking the phone.

4. Bixby Samsung has finally introduced its own virtual assistant: Bixby. Samsung is positioning it as a virtual assistant that’s largely focused on helping to get stuff done on the phone itself: the user can set reminders, search through photo galleries, and cast the phone screen to Wi-Fi-connected TV, all by pressing a dedicated Bixby button and talking to it. It’s also able to identify physical objects out in the wild. 

5. Dex Using only the phone to power an entire desktop experience has long been the dream of business people who at some point in their lives had to carry big boxy ThinkPads around, but most attempts at that so far have been iffy. That’s where Samsung’s DeX comes in, short for “Desktop Experience.” DeX is a plastic bowl-like stand with a USB-C prong, a couple of ports, and a fan. It supports the Galaxy S8 and effectively gives a PC-like mobile desktop on a display. Some apps are even optimized for the experience; although, the only browser it runs right now is Samsung’s own “Internet” browser. 

How would an advertisement reflect this information? 

An advertisement is one of the easiest but expensive parts of marketing and it is important to realize that there are different types of customers and their buying behaviour differs: complex buying behaviour, dissonance reducing buying behaviour, habitual buying behaviour, and variety seeking buying behaviour as stated by (Higgins, n.d.). Thus, based on these characteristics the advertisement should be framed in a way that portrays the innovation and the value brought by Galaxy S8 product to customers through adequate media vehicles such as social media, TV, newspaper, direct mails, magazines, radio, etc. It is imperative to understand what benefits, not product features only, the target market will receive by buying our product or service and this description should be crafted in words that communicate these benefits to members of the target market. Thus, the notion of “empathy” with the target market becomes critical. For example, given that S7 wasn’t successful due to exploding battery, target market first seeks the minimization of financial risk in their purchase, thus advertisement might choose to provide assurance that S8 has non-exploding battery, thirty-day money back guarantee in case of battery explosion and adopting promotion comprised of user testimonials dealing with the product. The advertisement should indicate through pictures and some video outlines the key benefits of S8 so that customers can see and hear- so doing customers will be more attracted to the product. 


The benefits which are most likely to differentiate Samsung Galaxy S8 from the competition are:

 1. The Galaxy S8 has a 5.8-inch display crammed into what feels like a normal-sized phone, with a barely-there bezel. That alone is a feat of engineering, but the phone is also a creation of beauty to look at. It has a clean, unbranded face; a bright, fluid-looking display; and a mirror-like glass back; 

2. Samsung has finally introduced its own virtual assistant: Bixby. Samsung is positioning it as a virtual assistant that’s largely focused on helping to get stuff done on the phone itself: the user can set reminders, search through photo galleries, and cast the phone screen to Wi-Fi-connected TV, all by pressing a dedicated Bixby button and talking to it. It’s also able to identify physical objects out in the wild; 

3. Using only the phone to power an entire desktop experience has long been the dream of business people who at some point in their lives had to carry big boxy ThinkPads around, but most attempts at that so far have been iffy. That’s where Samsung’s DeX comes in, short for “Desktop Experience.” DeX is a plastic bowl-like stand with a USB-C prong, a couple of ports, and a fan. It supports the Galaxy S8 and effectively gives a PC-like mobile desktop on a display. Some apps are even optimized for the experience; although, the only browser it runs right now is Samsung’s own “Internet” browser. 

Conclusion 

The benefits derived from a product and service serve the company as an advantage to grow a strong customer base as customers’ in nowadays, are more conscious about financial spending. Thus, advertisement plays a pivotal role to communicate to customers and it is pertinent to invest in advertisement and be able to use appropriate channels to make the product or service known. 

References 

Goode, L. (2017, March 30). The 8 most important features of Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 phone. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/30/15113000/samsung-galaxy-s8-phone-key-features-whats-new

Higgins, L. F. (n.d.). Principles of marketing: An applied, collaborative learning approach . 70.

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