Whole Foods Strategic Analysis Paper

Whole Foods Market is a publically traded company within the New York Stock Exchange that hasn’t yet expanded in many countries throughout Europe. (Select a Store)

On averaged their stores are roughly 38,000 square feet and their locations typically carried 21,000 SKUs. They make two-thirds of its revenue by selling bakery, perishable items, and prepared foods. (Ager & Roberto, 2014). Peoples tend to shop at Whole Food Market because of their high-quality natural and organic food. In today’s world peoples are more concern about health concise and effect of pesticide products, more people choose to have organic fruits and vegetables. Whole Foods get most of their produces from local people which are natural and organic, which will help them gain more customer than other company because of increasing demand of organic food (Whole Foods Market History, n.d). They also have a strong brand image and they were the first supermarket who commit to completely eliminating disposable plastic grocery bags to help protect the environment. They also sell many USDA-certified organic

Whole Foods Market, Inc. has long been admired as an innovative company with quality standards, a devotion to community and environmental responsiveness, a healthy growth model and highly-regarded employment practices. However, the company has faced recent difficulties as a result of the economic recession, increasing competition, and complications from acquisitions. To revitalize the company from historical lows in its toughest year in history, Whole Foods Market must reassess its costs, refocus its expansion strategies, and promote its brand to compete for the diminishing consumer spending dollar.

Whole Foods continues to grow as the leader in organic and natural grocery supplier in the United States, Canada, and England. The company has continued to open new stores in new markets, as well as, opening two 365 by Whole Foods Market stores. Whole Foods became the industry leader by providing high quality natural and organic food products for consumers, which is a better and healthier product for consumers to consume. This is a big part of their competitive advantage. Other grocery stores are limited in their organic supplies, where as at Whole Foods, it is the primary focus. Another comparison is that with the help of Instacart, Whole foods is now the leader when it comes to delivery of fresh groceries then any other grocery in the industry. (Quarterly Results)

As discussed above with the SWOT Analysis of the company, Whole Foods certainly is a very financially sound and a major player in the organic food industry, however, it is important for Whole Foods, to continue striving upon increasing/ bettering the customer experience at all of its stores. Whole Foods, has a strong customer base,

In response to your request for a thorough analysis of the strategic position of Whole Foods Markets, and the industry in which it operates, an analysis has been performed and the results can be found below. In conclusion, a recommendation for Whole Foods Markets, based on the analysis, will be given.

As of September 2015 Whole Foods Incorporated had 431 stores in the United States, Britain and Scotland. Over the years since its inception Whole Foods Incorporated has grown steadily recording high revenues that have made it to be recognized as a Fortune 500 company. It has accomplished this by sticking to its original mission of retailing organic foods in a market where other retail stores mainly retail processed foods that are high in calories and hydrogenated fats. During the 2008 recession, revenues in Whole Foods Inc. dropped as this company struggled to meet its operation costs with a receding number of shoppers, this caused the company to close some of its stores in Britain for failing to meet is profitability targets (Market, 2008).

Whole Foods Market has evolved into one of the largest retailers of natural and organic foods. This company 's rapid growth and market success has to do with being a mission-driven company. Whole Foods is highly selective about what they sell and are dedicated to their core values. Whole Food 's integrated strategy consists of growth, differentiation, merchandising, and customer service. This strategic plan was aimed at expanding its operations to offer high quality and nutritious foods to more and more customers. It was also aimed at promoting organically grown foods, food safety concerns, and sustainability of the entire ecosystem.

This makes it easier on customers working full time and families to obtain healthy goods without having to waste their precious time. While Whole Foods has numerous ways of getting products to their customers, how do they obtain these superior quality products themselves? One main question consumers have about Whole Foods is how they get these products in a world where GMO crops are taking over? Well the short answer is that Whole Foods has a long list of trustworthy and reliable

Whole Foods' utilizes a differentiated strategy, focused on organic and natural foods. This distinguishes them from mainstream grocery competitors, and puts them into competition with other specialized grocery outlets (Urani, 2008). This differentiation, combined with more traditional grocery industry size and operations, gives the company an advantage over most of its competitors.

“With great courage, integrity, and love – we embrace our responsibility to co-create a world where each of us, our communities and our planet can flourish. All while celebrating the sheer love and joy of food” (Whole Foods, 2015). This is Whole Food’s “higher purpose statement”. This statement expresses and delivers what Whole Foods, as an organization, believes and what must be apparent to the consumer. As an organization founded with the drive to bring the freshest and most natural products to consumers, Whole Foods must maintain alignment with that core philosophy. Created in response to

The customers’ demands and attitudes toward healthier living and corresponding lifestyle changes are the driving force for Whole Foods Market to have the annual double digits compound growth rate in the industry. Consumers add more organic foods into the daily consumption as they are concerned more about salt, sugar, chemical additives, saturated fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates, and nutritional value that can bring Whole foods Market to develop more nutritious foods, and good-tasting products.

Whole Foods Market first opened on September 20, 1980 in Austin, Texas, which is the company headquarters. The founders were John Mackey, Renee Lawson, Craig Weller, and Mark Skiles where they decided that the natural food industry was ready for a supermarket format (Whole Foods Market History, 2015). The current CEO’s are John Mackey and Walter Robb IV. Whole Foods Market stock ticker symbol is WFM and their NACIS code is 445110 (WFM Morningstar, 2015). The industry sector the company is listed under is a grocery store and retail trade. Whole Foods Market is the eight largest companies in the United States with 427 stores located in North America, Canada, and the United Kingdom with a total number of employees more than 90,000 people (Newsroom, 2015). Whole Foods Market has a business to business model where they merged with multiple companies like the Bread of Life, Fresh Fields, Food for Thought, Amrion, Allegro Coffee and other organizations with the concept of expanding their enterprise. Whole Foods Markets purchase inventory from suppliers where consumer can buy fresh organic food online or in stores. Some of the products Whole Foods Market specializes in are seafood, meats, cooked foods, and bakery goods (Whole Foods Market History, 2015).

Whole Foods Market has expanded by a mixture of opening its own new stores and acquiring already existing stores. Today WFM does not follow this strategy, instead their motivation is to open its own large stores. This is due to noticeable sales differences in larger stores as opposed to smaller stores. WFM locates these newer stores in upscale areas of urban metropolitan centers and high-traffic shopping locations. Not all WFMs are isolated structures; some are located in strip malls. WFM offers a larger selection of natural and organic foods than any other grocery store. WFMs marketing expenditure is extremely small. They spend a measly 0.5% of their revenues on advertising. Their chief marketing strategy relies on word-of-mouth. WFM strives to meet or exceed customer expectations. This is so customers receive competent, knowledgeable, and friendly service and become advocates of WFM. The employees here have a decentralized team approach for store operations. This is so some personnel, merchandising, and operating

Whole Foods Market began in 1970 as a local supermarket. Over the past 31 years, Whole Foods Market has grown from a single store in Austin, Texas, to becoming one of the worldwide leaders in providing consumers with natural and organic foods. They have grown to over 300 stores in both North America and the United Kingdom. (Whole Foods Market, Inc., 2011) This report examines the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market has put into place. Also, it uses past financial data to provide an assessment of the condition of the company going forward. Those assessments include recommendations of future actions, along with concerns I have about the way the company is currently operating and some difficulties that may be on the way.