The IGA Marketing Strategy

Today, owning an IGA store in the country implies that an individual belongs to one of the largest and leading independent grocery brand in Australia. Independent retailing can be described as an exciting and evolving industry to work in. However, the enormous success that the IGA retailers have registered over the past few years can be contributed by the development of their unique style and enthusiasm for doing business. The market has embraced the IGA brand and continues to grow due to the fact that it continues to assert its presence by making significant initiatives, sale drivers, promotions and programs. The strong promotional and marketing techniques such as the creation of a unified and unique store design and layout, provision of extraordinary customer services, and offering of quality goods at the lowest prices assert the IGA presence in Australia and at the Global stage. The professional support network offered at IGA backed up by strong promotional and marketing programs equips it with a uniform and competitive voice across its entire stores.  

Store Design and Layout

All the IGA stores in Australia have different and unique designs and layouts. For instance, each IGA store has a unique outlook on its entrance with a different logo and design. In this regard, as an industry that is more focused on uniqueness, the different outlook on IGA stores entrances make them adaptable and accessible to the locals and encourages different store owners to be more creative and design their own ideal designs without affecting the IGA brand. For instance, is one of the IGA's stores, the entrance of the Summer Hill retail supermarket is designed in such a way that it has a modified Italian Apeliono feature. In a bid to combat the growing pressure from competitors such as Aldi, IGA has employed a number of visual merchandising techniques to attract and retain the existing customers. One of the visual merchandising techniques that the IGA stores have employed in order to make some of their products accessible to customers is the introduction of a perfume counter which is located in a separate location within the store (Bell & Ternus, 2017). In addition, in order to boost retail sales and reduce cases of shoplifting, IGA stores have invested substantially in digital advertising systems. The new digital system is designed in such a way that it revolves around double-sided, HD digital monitors that are mounted near the checkout counters. The screens display customized messages such as in-store promotions and advertisement content that the customers can watch while waiting at the checkout. Moreover, in a bid to create a modernized look, IGA stores such as the Summer Hill have designed their interior in such a way that it is composed of different geometric combinations (Bhatti & Latif, 2014). One of the retail atmospherics that the IGA new stores have employed is the introduction of a dining unit where customers can relax while eating their ready-made meals and further introduced a beauty and health section where different product brands such as Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein have been fully stocked (IGA, 2018). In addition to these changes, the IGA has introduced in-house product assistants such as "cheese masters" who will be responsible in advising the customers on the products that they should purchase.

Retail Pricing

In a bid to make local shopping more appealing to the customers, the IGA stores across the country introduced a price match promise as a pricing strategy which will enable people to get more value for their shopping. The price match pricing initiative will enable customers who previously found it more expensive when shopping to save a lot of money while at the same time support the local community since the program will be raising funds for charity organizations (IGA, 2018). Although IGA stores across the country have the mandate to create their own logos and designs when it comes to pricing, it also advocates for standard pricing in all the stores. Independent retailers who are under the IGA banner are expected to match prices for hundreds of everyday products such as pasta and cereals. IGA retail stores owners in Australia target the middle-high earning local community members who cannot afford to spend huge while shopping. The IGA retailers employ the location-based marketing strategy due to the fact that their main target market is the local community. By targeting the middle-high income class which relies on physical stores, the retailers have been able to offer stiff competition to non-local competitors and other established firms such as the Aldi. Thus, by targeting the middle-high earning community members, the local independent retailers have been able to convert the local traffic into sales through online advertisements or in person (IGA, 2018).

Customer Service

The SERVQUAL model is a qualitative analysis tool that determines or measures the customer’s service quality experience (Naik et al., 2010). The SERVQUAL framework can be largely relied upon to expose the shortcomings of the service provided and address them. In a bid to improve customer satisfaction, reduce the cost, up surge the profit margin, and maintain competitiveness, organizations should apply the concepts of service quality (Daniel & Berinyuy, 2010). Thus, it is significant for firms such as IGA retail stores to clearly understand how to measure different constructs from the consumers’ point of view in order to understand their needs. The recent move by the IGA to introduce a price match program in all its retail stores across the country has up surged the number of shoppers with other grocery stores such as the Aldi experiencing its impact. The move enabled customers to buy quality products at relatively low prices. As a result of this pricing strategy, most customers have exhibited a sense of satisfaction in the services offered, particularly due to a drop in the prices of goods (Udo et al., 2010; Nagle & Müller, 2017). The fact that IGA realized that its retail stores required to be upgraded and responded quickly by instituting significant changes such as renovating its major outlets indicates how it values its consumers by providing quality and prompt services.  IGA promised its customers that there would be a drop in the prices of its products and within a very short time, it introduced the price match program across all its outlets. In this regard, IGA showed that it can be relied upon by the consumers due to the fact that it kept its promised service in an accurate and dependable manner.

Although online channels have revolutionized the way of shopping, the process can be hectic, particularly if the customer service techniques are poor (Park et al., 2015; Ha et al., 2007). The introduction of online shopping option at the IGA did not disappoint the organization since the marketing team employed practical customer service techniques. One of the approaches that IGA applies to increase the number of online shoppers is the use of a simplified and easy to use website. For instance, the shopping website has a list of stores where customers can easily pinpoint the nearest store make a purchase. In addition, in order to be more convenient, IGA has designed their email services in such a way that they can respond to customers’ queries within the shortest time possible.

Recommendation for Alternative strategies

The fact that IGA focuses on making each retail store unique may adversely affect the overall performance since the disparity may pose a problem, particularly in the current market environment where consistency, convenience, and price matters to the consumers (Stein & Ramaseshan, 2016). Thus, the IGA stores should ensure that there is no price discrimination and customers can shop at any of its stores without the fear of spending more than anticipated. Thus, by putting the same price tag in almost all the independent retail outlets across the state, IGA will be able to maintain a certain level of trust and loyalty.

References

Bell, J., & Ternus, K. (2017). Silent selling: best practices and effective strategies in visual merchandising. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

Bhatti, K. L., & Latif, S. (2014). The impact of visual merchandising on consumer impulse            buying behavior. Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, 2(1), 24-35.

Daniel, C., & Berinyuy, L. P. (2010). Using the SERVQUAL model to assess service quality and             customer satisfaction. An Empirical study of grocery stores in Umea.

Ha, Y., Kwon, W. S., & Lennon, S. J. (2007). Online visual merchandising (VMD) of apparel             websites. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International            Journal, 11(4), 477-493.

IGA. (2018, September 15). Price Match Promise | IGA Supermarkets. Retrieved from             https://www.iga.com.au/price-match/

Nagle, T. T., & Müller, G. (2017). The strategy and tactics of pricing: A guide to growing more     profitably. Routledge.

Naik, C. K., Gantasala, S. B., & Prabhakar, G. V. (2010). Service quality (SERVQUAL) and its effect on customer satisfaction in retailing. European journal of social sciences, 16(2),          231-243.

Park, H. H., Jeon, J. O., & Sullivan, P. (2015). How does visual merchandising in fashion retail     stores affect consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intention?. The International Review                    of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 25(1), 87-104.

Stein, A., & Ramaseshan, B. (2016). Towards the identification of customer experience    touchpoint elements. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 30, 8-19.

Udo, G. J., Bagchi, K. K., & Kirs, P. J. (2010). An assessment of customers’e-service quality        perception, satisfaction, and intention. International Journal of Information       Management, 30(6), 481-492.