whole foods case analysis
TRANSCRIPT
Joy Li, Maengheui Lee, Shiho Sakai, Jamie Wong and Emma Lamoreaux
What is Whole Foods?● American supermarket
chain specializing in organic food
● Supermarket Prototype for natural food industry.
Company HistoryWho: John Mackey, Renee Lawson Hardy Craig Weller and Mark Skiles
Natural Goods Store: SafeWay
Clarksville Natural Grocery
Company HistoryWhen: September 20th, 1980Where: Austin, TX
Company History
Early Whole Foods Market: Texas, 1980’s
Core Values1. Sell the highest quality natural and organic products available
2. Satisfy, delight and nourish our customers
3. Support team member excellence and happiness
4. Create wealth through profits and growth
5. Serve and support our local and global communities
6. Practice and advance environmental stewardship
7. Create ongoing win-win partnerships with our suppliers
8. Promote the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating
education
Target Audience● People aged between 18-39
● Concerned about eating natural/organic food
● More interested in natural supermarkets
● Strong connection with environment
● Post Graduates (MRI)
● Home value > 500,000 (MRI)
● Better educated
Positioning StatementFOR Customers desiring fresh organic and natural foods
WHO Enjoy healthy food
Whole Foods Is a market Grocery Chain...
THAT is able to provide fresh organic and natural food on a daily basis
UNLIKE traditional grocery stores, provides a large selection of fresh organic and natural foods on a daily basis
Lifestyle Imagery (First People to Use)
Lifestyle Imagery (Later/Current People to Use)
The Value Matter Campaign The Value Matter Campaign
Promoting an idea of their customers defining themselves by what they buy
With this, they will want to shop at their store!
“The Highest Standards Didn’t Exist SO We Created Them”
To differentiate themselves against competitors
Whole Foods values of humanely and sustainably food & fair labor practices
For consumers to stay loyal to the organic products at whole food
Values Matter TV Campaign (2014)
Health Starts Here ● First major health program/mini campaign● 2009-Ongoing ● Promotes:
○ plant based, whole foods, low fat, nutrient dense
○ mindful approach to healthy eating● How?
○ “health starts here” stickers so you can choose healthiest foods
○ in store healthy eating specialists● Stronger relationship with customer/ more than
just a business ● Advertising: (below) Videos, In-store classes
Below-the-Line Marketing: In-Store SamplesWhole Foods offers various samples in their
store.
Customers enjoy these samples and taste
them as they're walking around.
This helps Whole Foods with their sales!
→ consumers might buy a more
expensive organic popcorn snack at
Whole Foods instead of buying at the
larger market they usually buy their
snacks at such as Shaws, Market Basket,
etc.
Scandal: “Thumb on the Scale” Whole Foods routinely overcharged customers by
overstating the weight of prepackaged meat, dairy and
baked goods in stores in New York and California.
It was caused by human error.
Customers can get refunds for any items that have been
incorrectly weighed or priced.
BUT not all the reported Whole Foods mislabeling was
bad for customers.
In investigation, the Daily News found that some items
that were actually underpriced.
Social Media Following
Social Media PurposeConnecting with Consumers on 3 Main Topics -
1. Shopping on a budget at their store
Social Media Purpose Continued...2. Promoting overall health and nutrition
“Whole Kids Foundation Celebrates4,000 Salad Bars with Let’s Move! and Whole Foods Market”
Social Media Purpose Continued...
3. Healthy recipes using products from their store
About Social Media Numbers:
➔ An extremely low number of likes per post
➔ 60-70 likes per post
➔ Facebook shares roughly 10-40 per post
➔ 1,841,833 like the page
➔ 1,398,061 have posted statuses saying they’ve been to a Whole Foods Market at least once
About Social Media Numbers:
★ 57 boards
★ 5,400 pins
○ 82 likes→ Very low
○ 273,800 followers→ Ok
★ On average, Whole Foods get a few hundred pins on their boards○ This is low considering the number of followers
they have
About Social Media Numbers:
1,421 Posts Total
671,000 Followers (Low)
5,000-10,000 Likes Per Photo (Very Low)
About Social Media Numbers: 196,000 Tweets Total
4.8 Million Followers (High)
Average Less than 100 Likes Per Tweet (Very Low)
Average Less than 50 Retweets Per Photo (Very Low)
Social Media Numbers:● Joined September 18, 2006
● 37,516 Subscribers (Low)
● 12,323,270 Views Total → Extremely Inconsistent
Number of Views Per Video
→ One video has 57,888 Views
→ Another video has 701 Views
Media MixRadio
● “Passion for Food” (2010, around holidays)
● 1 minute spots highlighting organic local food, variety (experimenting)
Television/Online
● “Values Matter”: documentary style TV spots feat. suppliers (farmers,
fisherman etc.)
● Modern Family, Jimmy Kimmel, The Voice
● YouTube: 22 Video ads, (30 second segmentS)
● Magazines and Newspapers
● Men’s Health, Rolling Stone, New York Times
SWOT AnalysisSTRENGTHS
● High quality fresh and organic products
● Catering, seasonal products, recipes and in-store-events
● Wide product line: seafood, grocery, meat, poultry, various bakery items
WEAKNESSES● Higher priced than its competitors
● A weak international operation system
● Lack of promotion through social networking
● US gov. has subsidized by providing more money to support corn industry rather than the organic farmers, so less companies using the organic ingredients.
OPPORTUNITIES● More people have became aware of healthy eating.
→Whole Foods come to people’s minds first.
● Offering a free reward card, a discount on the next
purchase and, a buy one get one free offer
THREATS ● Competitors in the market like Wal-Mart, HEB
Central market, trader Joe’s and so on
● In US, when food becomes expensive the customers might be unwilling to buy the organic food items.
Competitors Trader Joe’s (cheaper)
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.
Kroger
Wal-Mart (leader, organic foods)
Target
Groceries:● CVS
Other● Safeway, Winn Dixie, Wild Oats, Roach
Brothers (local)
ExpansionMajor Markets● People in major Whole Foods markets spend more on
food than in less-populated areas. Need to shrink its average store size to scale to smaller markets
Opening more stores in smaller markets● Locations in Pennsylvania, West Des Moines, Iowa…
Lowering prices on fruit and vegetables● Training employees to help customers pick fresh foods
with the purpose of making healthier food more affordable
Brick and Mortar Expansion
・Dedication to quality and service extends beyond the Brick and Mortar of the
store
・Many of the major cities
・Close to offices and colleges
・“Whole Foods Market is devoted to serving the community in every way. We
strive for lasting relationships with local organizations, working closely with
them long before opening day,” - Jorge Trejo, Store Team Leader, Whole Foods
Market West Loop in Chicago
Global/National Expansion● The company has a weak international
operation system
● There are only seven stores in Canada and five stores in the UK.
● Canada in 2002
● UK in 2004
● Competitors in US but more competitors in other countries
What Would You Do Differently? ● Social Media:
○ Facebook enhance quality of photos, incorporate more hashtags in posts for
more traction,
○ Pinterest: quality re-shared pins, power pinners outreach, more creative/catchy
board ideas relating to brand products.
■ ex. recipes, crafts find way to decrease prices
● Find a way to cut spending and reduce prices for customers ○ Avoid thumb on scale scandal
● Offer more rewards to those that DO spend a lot
● Attack digital marketing EARLIER
● Not every store the same (size, location, culture)
Moving Forward● Enliven Brand Image
○ online shopping, own delivery service
● More customer interaction online via social media (pinterest, facebook, twitter)
○ deals/promos
● Third party endorser to combine education and audience outreach
○ celebrity chefs
● Develop marketing/sales (essential)
○ loyalty card,reward points for eco. friendly products
● Special events: specialized
● Grow International Stores: more across europe
○ sub brands beyond 365
Thank You Any Questions?