Archives tagged: market share

Strategic Movements: March 2019

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 24, 2019

I know Elon Musk is a Silicon Valley type person, but is he being rational with distribution and price? Tesla announced in late February a plan to end all physical dealerships and move to an online-only distribution. Their justification: to reduce vehicle price to the mythical $35,000. Is this smart?

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Strategic Movements: February 2019

By Tim J. Smith, PhD February 27, 2019

Netflix is raising its prices from $8 to $9 for its “good” version that allows for streaming to one device at a time and from $11 to $13 for its “better” version that allows for streaming to two devices at a time. They justify it to customers by claiming it is for the development of better content (good PR plan).

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Evolving Product Strategy in a Growing Industry

By Tim J. Smith, PhD January 30, 2019

Between the highest- and the lowest-priced products, other products will be positioned. A plethora of product positions in price and benefits should be considered the norm as an industry moves from introduction, through growth, and into maturity.

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Federal Court v. Apple on Tying Arrangements

By Tim J. Smith, PhD December 31, 2018

As of November 27, 2018, the Supreme Court is determining whether a group of consumers have standing to sue Apple Inc. over the way they manage iPhone apps (1). The probability of this suit being adjudicated by the Supreme Court is definitely non-zero.

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Major Commercial Policy Design Issues

By Tim J. Smith, PhD October 30, 2018

In this missive, I examine how companies selling to end customers through distributors and retailers can design their commercial policy.

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The Decline and Fall of Sears

By James T. Berger October 30, 2018

Sears was once the greatest retail employer in the nation. It was both the Walmart and Amazon of its day. But, the end of the 20th century brought the beginning of the retail icon’s end.

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How to Manage Price During a Trade War

By Tim J. Smith, PhD August 23, 2018

Executives in industries impacted by the tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, and threatened future tariffs must react. The playbook for executives in this trade war will vary.

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Strategic Movements: May 2018

By Tim J. Smith, PhD May 23, 2018

Walmart took a 75% stake in Flipkart for about $15 billion. Flipkart was recently valued at $11.6 billion in April 2017.  Nice premium.  Big value of Flipkart: they know how to compete online.  Jet.com wasn’t good enough for Walmart.  Now it is going abroad.  Good thinking. We are all on this planet together.

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When Price Doesn’t Matter

By Kyle T. Westra March 26, 2018

If you find yourself in this situation, reducing price can help to clear existing inventory but it will not solve the fundamental problem of lacking a product that people want. Better to preserve what profits you can and invest them into developing a product that addresses a customer need.

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dollar general

Dollar General Looks Good Today. Will Tomorrow Be Different?

By Tim J. Smith, PhD March 26, 2018

From a business strategy standpoint, Dollar General has positioned themselves to avoid direct competition with Amazon and Walmart, having successfully demonstrated a way to deal with the duopoly’s increasing presence in the retail market.

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