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Student Thesis
Level: Master Program in Business Studies
The international marketing strategy of grocery retailers – the
strategy of adaptation and standardization
Authors: Anna Tseltsova & Katharin Bohnert Supervisor: Lena Bjerhammar Examiner: Lenka Klimplova Subject/main field of study: International Marketing Course code: FÖ Credits: 15 Date of public presentation/examination: 4th^ June 2015
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Abstract
Research question – The research question, that this study attempts to answer, is, what and why grocery retailers, which specifically work with the strategy of standardization, adapt in their marketing mix to the host market. Main adaptations are analyzed with regard to psychic distance in terms of consumer characteristics.
Methodology – This study presents a qualitative research design. Secondary data, in-depth interviews and personal observations were used, in order to identify adaptations, which were conducted in a grocery retailer in Germany, which is its home market, and in Sweden, which is considered to be a host market.
Findings – The main findings of this research indicate that grocery retailers that specifically work with the strategy of standardization, adopt their core strategy at the host market, in order to keep their economy of scale. However, the standardization strategy may cause negative financial results, which is why adaptations, in order to attract new customers, are required. Conclusively, a mix of both, the adaptation and standardization marketing strategy, has to be utilized.
Keywords: Retail internationalization, retailing marketing mix, grocery retailer, adaptation, standardization, international marketing strategy, consumer portrait, psychic distance, physical distance
Paper type: Case Study
1. Introduction
1.1. Research Background
“Global connectedness is a powerful engine for peace and prosperity”, says CEO of Deutsche Post DHL, Frank Appel, in DHL global connectedness index 2014 report (Deutsche Post DHL, 2014). This report shows almost every country on its merchandize trade visualization map, which means that all parts of the world we are living in, are tightly interconnected. It is easy to notice, that nowadays, practically every well-known company is either already operating in the international arena or planning to do so in the nearest future. It is no longer profitable for companies to exclusively run their business in their home country. The demand for international operations is growing worldwide along with the competition and companies try to increase the number of new customers (Levitt, 1983; Vrontis & Thrassou, 2007).
In order to be profitable on international markets, companies need to carefully estimate the potential of the market they are planning to enter , while finding and maintaining an appropriate balance between the international marketing strategy of standardization and adaptation of the marketing mix elements (Schmid & Kotulla, 2011). According to Buzzell (1968, p.103) the fundamental elements of standardization have to do with “offering of identical product lines at identical prices through identical distribution systems, supported by identical promotional programs in several different countries”. This is a low cost strategy as standardization enables the achievement of economies of scale, savings in research, reduced marketing expenses and reduced managerial complexity (Samiee & Roth, 1992; van Mesdag, 2000; Theodosiou & Leonidou, 2003). Proponents of the adaptation strategy, instead, argue that firms tha are not taking into account local sensitivity, experience a decline in their profitability (Hofstede, 2001, De Mooij, 2010). Due to cultural diverse markets on an international level, product adaptations are required in order to be able to attract the attention of new customers, to satisfy their needs and tastes (Theodosiou & Leonidou, 2003). From this perspective the concept of psychic and physical distance is of great importance. Psychic distance describes factors that differentiate countries in terms of its culture, market economy, the development of technologies, social perspectives, government policy, laws and regulations as well as consumer characteristics. Physical distance is described as the geographical distance of a company’s host market to its home market, where differences in transportation time and costs, different time zones, climates and seasons can be expected
(Johanson &Vahlne,, 1977; Doole & Lowe, 2008; Agndal & Axelsson, 2012; Akgün, Keskin & Ayar, 2014). Many scholars agree that physical and psychic distance have a great influence on a company’s marketing mix choice because if it misses to consider and adapt to the differences in foreign markets, the company may fail to position itself and become profitable (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977; Doole & Lowe, 2008; Akgün, Keskin & Ayar, 2014).
Both international marketing strategies can be implemented by defining the company’s marketing mix tools, which are widely known as the 4 P’s: product, price, place, and promotion. Product refers to the creation of an international product portfolio. The price tool includes the process of price settings. Place defines the actual location the products are sold at and promotion includes promotion activities, that are targeted to consumers, to encourage them to purchase promoted products and, furthermore, to become aware of the brand itself (Doole & Lowe, 2001; Burt, Johansson & Thelander, 2010).
The “right” choice of the marketing mix decision is therefore highly dependent on the chosen international marketing strategy of the company (Doole & Lowe, 2008), which again is related to physical and physic distance factors. But what and why are companies willing to adapt when the company is specialized on the standardization strategy?
1.2. Problem formulation & research question
Retailing companies are vivid representatives of the internalization trend. Berman and Evans (2001, as cited in Peterson & Balasubramanian, 2002) describe retailing as a business activity which focuses on selling of goods and services for personal, family, or household utility. Seven out of the top ten retailers in the world belong to the grocery group which determines their main focus on the international marketing strategy of standardization: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Tesco PLC, Carrefour S. A., The Kroger Co, Schwarz Unternehmens Treuhand KG, Metro AG and Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG. (Deloitte, 2014).
A big number of these retailers have been operating on the international market for quite a long time. However, when examining existing literature, we found out that research on the question of the retailers’ adaptation or standardization choice when operating abroad, remains underexplored. This area of research might be of importance for marketing managers, as in their everyday work, retailers closely work with the final customer, who purchases the product and hence is of high importance (Evans & Bridson, 2005). We assume that retailers
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1. International marketing strategy
One of the most remarkable trends in today’s business environment is the globalization of firms and markets. The possibility to enter new and foreign markets, have increased significantly. With new emerging markets, consumer preferences in different countries became more similar and improvements in information technology enabled the creation of foreign subsidiaries and increased operations across borders (Tatoglu, Demirbag, Kaplan, 2003). Within the past two decades, retailers have discovered possibilities of expanding its businesses internationally as a means of strategic growth (Tatoglu, et al ., 2003). Before the 1980s, retailers were more seen as a localized, domestic industry. However, they realized that international expansion creates advantages, as for instance the increase of sales and profits, the expansion into underdeveloped markets or the achievement of goals that were not realizable in their home country. Furthermore they saw their expansion as a strategy to reduce competition when their domestic product, which is successful in their home market, is new in the foreign market they are entering. The ability to distinguish from similar mature markets can therefore be profitable for the firm (Williams, 1992).
Besides its advantages, Williams (1992) highlights that retailing across borders is not an easy process. Apart from lacking required resources and managerial culture, he also mentions the obstacle of consumer-, market- and structural differences which challenges the acceptance of the retail offer by foreign consumers. When going abroad, firms need to find the appropriate balance between their international marketing strategy of standardization and adaptation in order to be profitable, to allow the firm to exploit its strength and to overcome market threats (Schmid & Kotulla, 2011; Sousa & Bradley, 2005). This process is fundamental as it influences the organization in how it will compete (Ang & Massingham, 2007, as cited in Brei, D’Avila, Camargo & Engels, 2011). The general question of what is the most effective marketing strategy in terms of adaptation or standardization, has been posed by many academicians (Levitt, 1983; Walters, 1986; Cavusgil & Zou, 1994; Zou & Cavusgil, 2002; as cited in Ryans, Griffith & White, 2003). This issue has been widely discussed within international marketing and business research over the last 50 years, and arguments in favor for each of the three approaches - standardization, adaptation or mix of both - have been debated (Schmid & Kotulla, 2011). Ryans et al. (2003) note that even though a lot of research has been conducted, the progress of one developed unifying theory is unclear.
Studies about the international marketing strategy of standardization started in the 1960s. The standardized marketing strategy implies the offering of identical product lines with the same price, promoted in an identical way and within the same distribution system across countries (Shaoming & Cavusgil, 2002, as cited in White & Absher, 2007). This definition evolved from Buzzell (1968) and is seen as to be too extreme according to Omar and Porter (2011). They argue that the global environment influences the standardizing elements greatly and the focus should be made on the appropriateness of standardization, which requires flexibility in strategic and operational developments within the firm. Szymanski et al. (1993, p.1, as cited in Ryans et al., 2003, p. 592) view the standardized marketing strategy as the “standardization of the pattern of resource allocation among marketing mix variables across national markets”. Proponents of this approach believe that the world has been homogenized by the ongoing improvements in communication and transportation systems. Consumers will tend to have the same preferences and tastes which increase the demand for similar, standardized products (Shaoming & Cavusgil, 2002, as cited in White & Absher, 2007). Samiee and Roth (1992) support the idea as they figured out that many observers see the world as becoming more similar which is why a standardized approach towards the companies’ marketing, production and sourcing is required. Advantages of the standardization approach are the achievement of economies of scale, the presentation of a consistent brand image across countries, reduced marketing expenses, and savings in research and reduced managerial complexity (Samiee & Roth, 1992; van Mesdag, 2000; Theodosiou & Leonidou, 2003). Ryans et al. (2003) highlights the goal to achieve economies of scale as the main reason for companies to apply some degree of standardization as they expect higher costs with modifications. This way of lowering costs is more effective and hence, increases the margins of the firm (Peebles et al ., 1978; Levitt, 1983; Jain, 1989, as cited in Ryans et al. , 2003). According to Samiee and Roth (1992, p.14), “the ultimate decision criterion for a firm which considers global standardization, is long-term performance”. It is important that a firm considers that the standardization approach is only appropriate to an extent that it has a positive influence on the financial performance.
Strong arguments have been evaluated against the standardized approach more recently, as literature has shown that retailers can benefit significantly by adapting and tailoring their marketing mix to foreign markets (White & Absher, 2007). The difference between consumers’ needs, laws and regulations, culture and traditions, infrastructure as well as technical developments, are still too high and require the consideration of adapting products
The marketing mix consists of four tools: product, price, place and promotion. Each of them are described in the paragraphs below.
In retailer contexts, the product is the service offered by the retailing company. Therefore, product does not only belong to the creation of an international product portfolio of the company presented in the store (Doole & Lowe, 2001; Burt, et.al, 2010), but also to the store’s in- and outside format and its opening hours.
The store format is of great importance as it helps consumers to differentiate stores from one another. The main types of store formats are defined as follows:
Supermarkets are characterized by more than 400 square meters (sqm) in sales space and offer a broader assortment at a lower price than previously common small self- service stores (Kulke, 2006). They are meant to be the smallest modern stores of the grocery retailing industry (Herrmann et al., 2009). Hypermarkets have a sales space of more than 1,000 sqm and their assortment consists of food and non-food products (Nielsen, 2004, as cited in Herrmann et al., 2009; Kulke, 2006). Discount stores offer a very limited assortment of articles (660 to 1,300). Discounter can be subdivided into hard and soft discounter. Soft discounter are distinguished by having a larger product mix and complexity than hard discounter which are known for its highly limited assortment (Bundeskartellamt, 2005). Nevertheless, the distinction between hard and soft discounter is increasingly blurred as hard discounter emphasize an increasing number of brand products which is usually common for soft discounter (also known as brand discounter) (Twardawa, 2006).
Beside the definition of its store format, retailers need to choose the most attractive assortment of products for the international market. A proper chosen product portfolio fits the market the company is operating in and wins new customers. Here the company also defines the product line (including private brand and its length (number of products in the line) and depth (number of product types within one line) (Doole & Lowe, 2001; Burt, et al ., 2010). A brand is part of a product and is just as important as the products presented in the shops. While some customers are ready to consume higher priced and well-known brands, which are produced by famous manufacturer, others prefer to purchase private store brands, which are offered for a lower price and are “produced on behalf of some retailers to sell them under their
own brand names in their own stores” (Seth & Randall, 2005; Baltas, 1997, as cited in Thanasuta, 2015, p.102). When deciding on whether to standardize or adapt products, the company usually examines a cost-benefit ratio (Doole & Lowe, 2001). Most of the time, it is easier to maximize profits when they keep its products standardized. Other advantages of standardized products include the “easier control of product management and the possibility to reduce costs through economy of scales”, (Doole & Lowe, 2001, p. 297). However, most of the products on the international market are adapted to different extents. The product adaptation may include the adaptation of the product or service variety, the design, features, the brand name, quality, packaging, its image, pre-sales and after-sales services (Vrontis, 2012).
The p rice element is used by companies to set an appropriate and efficient price for the product. Price efficiency depends on the company’s strategies and objectives. When the company uses the strategy of price standardization , the product prices on the international level remain exactly the same as on the domestic market, but the final customer will additionally pay for logistics and import fees to his country (Doole & Lowe, 2001). The adaptation of the price strategy can be implemented through various price strategies. Usually the company examines how the price will affect indicators such as demand, revenues, volume, profit and relationships with a customer (Woodruff, 2004).
Place defines the process of how the product is made available for the customer. It includes the retailer’s distribution system, which means the process of how the goods are transported from the manufacturing to the final customer. Furthermore it includes the actual location of the stores of the company. By standardizing theses operations, the retailer can cut costs of the company. According to Seth & Randall (2005), the most competitive companies are constantly adapting the place element by searching for the best solution for every specific market.
The promotion element includes various promotion activities that are targeted to the final customer, which helps him to decide in favor of the promoted brands. This category includes channels such as TV, radio, printed materials, in-store campaigns, and in-store navigation (Doole & Lowe, 2001; Burt, et al ., 2010). Standard communication helps the company to avoid promotion costs, increases the perceived value for the customer through widely recognized images, and increases the awareness of the product (Doole & Lowe, 2001). However, adaptations in promotion activities are essential for some markets. They include the
the company will face when it enters this market (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977; Doole & Lowe, 2008; Akgün, Keskin & Ayar, 2014). Many retailing companies usually start its internationalization by expanding to markets that are located closer to their domestic markets, which means that they tend to choose countries with lower psychic distance. This way of internationalization is called ‘traditional’ pattern (Burt, et al ., 2011).
An example shows that psychic distance can be of great importance to international consumers, who differ in their preferences regarding to one or another country (Agndal & Axelsson, 2012). In their research, Safari, Thilenius & Hadjikhami (2013) identified that Swedish consumers tend to buy online products from countries with less psychic distance, such as Nordic countries, Great Britain, Germany and the USA. Countries with higher psychic distance (Russia, Poland, African and Middle East countries) were perceived as unsafe and are unreliable countries with a high level of uncertainty. The language was also one of the faced difficulties in distant countries. The importance of consumer characteristics might be one of the reasons, that lately the marketing world has been paying a lot of attention to the target audience of the brand, and product strategies are often focused on the preferences of final consumer (Fournier, 1998; Roberts, 2004).
Therefore, this study will focus on consumer characteristics in various countries when a company chooses the international marketing strategy. Consumer characteristics include their behaviors, customs, traditions and language (Prime, et al., 2008). Thus, consumer characteristics greatly affect our purchasing behavior, for instance. In their article Prime, Obadia and Vida (2008) mention pattern of thoughts to be one of the main problem when communicating with foreign partners, as each consumer has a particular way of thought expressions. This makes it difficult to predict the behavior of foreign partners or consumers: ‘‘A Japanese will never say that he’s not interested in your product. He will tell you that your product is very interesting, but one must know, by decoding the way he says it, that, in fact, he’s not interested at all’’ (Prime, et.al , 2008, p. 192). This elaborates into a problem of understanding the behavior of foreign partners or consumers, as in every culture people are used to act in a different way.
In his research, Pehrsson (1995) found out that most of the companies try to focus on similarities between consumers in different countries in order to produce standard popular
products at lower costs. However, in most of the cases, it will be difficult to keep all marketing mix elements standardized. Marketers need to precisely examine the differences between consumers in local and foreign countries, in order to launch successful marketing campaigns (Roberts, 2004).
Examined literature shows that by taking into consideration the consumer differences, the product is usually kept standardized for both local and foreign markets in terms of store in- and outside format and product assortment (Doole & Lowe, 2001). However, Akgun et al. (2014) found out that some product characteristics such as the package, design, language and colors, are subject to the adaptation strategy. Safari, et al. (2013) found out that the language is one of the most significant factors, that needs to be adapted in order to become accepted by foreign consumers, while the brand name and the logo are kept standardized in order to increase the brand awareness (Akgun et al., 2014). The example of McDonald’s can be applied here: even though the main strategy of the company is standardization, in order to be able to deliver the same taste of its products worldwide, the management of the company understands that some of the products need to be adapted to the local culture, its tastes, the religion and laws. Thus, McDonald’s started to sell “beer and McCroissants in Germany, yogurt drinks in Turkey and Big Macs with no cheese in Israel, due to the requirement of kosher food to separate diary and meat products” (Vignali, 2001, p. 99).
Previous research found out that most of the companies have been lately focused on consumer characteristics as the main marketing factor while setting the appropriate price strategy in the market. Today one of the main price strategies is when pricing correlates with the consumer’s perceived value (Doole & Lowe, 2001; Akgun et al., 2014). Therefore consumers don’t see the product price level as the way to maximize profits of the company but to provide him or her the real product value (Woodruff, 2004). This trend evaluated due to the development of internet technologies, which have increased the price transparency of retailers all over the world (Doole & Lowe, 2001). Consumers can easily find lower prices of other markets and switch from one product to another. However, consumers realize that a certain brand belongs to a certain segment (low, middle or premium) and the price is part of a brand segmentation on the market. This is the reason why sometimes a brand’s price has to be adapted for two different markets: A Chrysler 300C costs almost the double price in the Swedish market, related to the USA. The price variation can be explained with different brand segmentations in the market: A Chrysler 300C is considered to be an exclusive car in Sweden, however in the
3. Research Design
3.1. Research Strategy
To discuss the grocery retailer’s international marketing strategy of standardization and adaptation, a concrete example of one international grocery retailer was chosen and studied with the help of secondary data, in-depth interviews and our personal observations.
We think that the qualitative study is the appropriate method for this research in order to reach the paper’s aim. According to Lewis, Thornvill and Saunders (2007), this data technique generates non-numerical data, by conducting in-depth interviews or observations. The collected data should be analyzed in order to understand the meaning. As our aim is to find out what the company adapts in its marketing mix and why, open interviews, as well as the interpretation of secondary data and own observations seemed to be the best way to get as much information as possible in order to see the whole picture of what the company standardizes or adapts, and to fulfill the study’s aim.
A case study method was chosen for this research. A case study describes a problem or an incident, which is based on a real-life situation and is meant to be analyzed or solved. One of the main purposes of this approach is to bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and realities (Roselle, 1996). Therefore we chose a case, which is up-to-date, widely known, of interest and relevant for the aim of the paper. By picking an example that fulfills these criteria, the study is expected to be of academic and especially of managerial interest. Furthermore we are customers of the retailer ourselves, and it is interesting to see how the company implements required adaptations. The case we chose is of the international retailing company Lidl, which is the biggest grocery retailer in Europe, that started its internationalization in the 1990s (Lidl UK GmbH, 2015; Andersen & Poulfelt, 2006) and plans to expand its business beyond the EU intensively in the near future (Mirror, 2014). Lidl is a significant example for discussing the choice of a company’s international marketing strategy. The core strategy of Lidl is a strategy of standardization of all processes in terms of its marketing mix. This strategy is implemented in the home market of Lidl and the retailer tends to enter foreign markets with the same standardized marketing strategy. Due to its unwillingness to adapt to the market at first, Lidl experienced market failures in foreign countries like Norway and Lithuania (Eide, 2010; Schramm-Klein et.al, 2013).
The research will study the choice of the international marketing strategy at Lidl Germany and Sweden in terms of its marketing mix. Lidl is part of the retailing market in both countries, therefore it is important to comprehend the current overall situation of each retailing market, evaluate competitors and define the portrait of general consumers in terms of their purchasing criteria. As all of these factors are expected to have a direct impact on the marketing strategy choice of the retailer, we will examine adaptations that have been made on two markets in terms of psychic and physical distance factors. This study aims to answer the question of what and why Lidl adapts to foreign markets and can shed light on the necessity of prior adaptations in distant countries.
3.2. Data Collection
Information from both primary and secondary data sources was collected for this case study. Firstly, secondary data about retailing markets in Germany and Sweden as well as each country’s consumer portrait were gathered. Online news and articles, as well as journals, reviews and books, were carefully examined from data platforms such as Google scholar, Libris and the online library of the Högskolan Dalarna. Data about the consumer portrait helped us to identify the most popular consumed product categories in Sweden and Germany, which were used to limit conducted interviews and observations. Secondly, general information about Lidl and its international marketing strategy was collected from secondary data. We evaluated a variety of articles, newspapers, reviews, journals, books and the retailer’s website, in order to provide information about the case.
We collected primary data by implementing personal observations at Lidl stores from a customer perspective, which means that we compared the retailer’s marketing mix in terms of products and prices, for the most purchased grocery category, as well as promotion and place in Germany and Sweden. During observations, pictures of the store in- and outside format, product location, assortment range, prices and promotion were taken with the permission of Lidl’s personnel. Later on, the observed data were used to compare Lidl stores in the two countries according to the 4P’s of the marketing mix: Product: the in- and outside format, the product allocation and presentation were defined. Based on the most purchased category by consumers in both countries, the product types, brands, package design and the language were compared. Price: Prices for one product from the most purchased category were compared.
3.3. Research Questions
According to Gillham (2010), clearly stated research questions are a vital part of the research structure. Thus, a preliminary question list was made for the interviews. It can be found in the Appendix 1 at the end of this paper. The questions were used as a guideline and were developed, if it was required by the interview process. The initially prepared list of questions was a tool that helped us to gain the required knowledge in order to fulfill the research aim. Some of the questions can be applied to both Sweden and Germany. The raised questions were not anyhow related to consumer characteristics, in order to avoid that the respondents get influenced in their answers about the reasons for marketing mix adaptations. We tried to cover the required information for the research about Lidl’s international marketing strategy choice with prepared and complementary questions. The questions were separated into three blocks:
1. General questions can be applied for both Germany and Sweden. These questions helped us to understand the case by receiving general information about Lidl, its values and consumer portrait. 2. The Marketing strategy in Germany and Sweden : this part was aimed to examine information about Lidl’s prevailing marketing strategy of adaptation, standardization or a mix of both strategies. What factors influenced its marketing strategy choice? Is Lidl profitable on the market? Here we got some knowledge about the readiness of Lidl to adapt its services. 3. The Marketing Mix: this section helped us to find out how the marketing mix of the 4 P’s is applied at Lidl stores in both Germany and Sweden and what kind of adaptations were made.
Firstly, we planned to raise the same questions to each interviewee. However, due to the respondent’s lack of time or lack of knowledge, we had to modify or skip some of the questions during the meeting. Therefore, we did not receive the same amount and content of information in each interview. Moreover, secondary data helped us to understand that the company has the same standardized concept within one country. Thus, we did not ask the questions we already had answers for from previously researched secondary data. Due to that, we saved our respondents’ and our time, but also gained additional information by discussing questions that were not part of the guideline (Appendix 1a).
3.4. Data Analysis Methods
In his book, Yin (2014) describes four types of case study analysis strategies. For this paper we chose the strategy of developing a case description or descriptive framework. The idea for our research design came from reviewed theoretical literature where we found a gap on the retailer’s international marketing strategy choice. Our analysis is based on the questions asked during the interview, secondary data and our personal observations (Yin, 2014). All gathered pieces of information were carefully compiled into one whole picture.
Questions about the marketing mix section led us to the development of four main categories for data analysis such as price, place, product and promotion. Hence a table was created that includes these four categories and it was filled by evidenced data, collected during the information review process from all three data collection types. The table with the findings helped us to get answers on our research question of what has been adapted within the marketing mix of the retailer, as each marketing mix component could be compared to visualize the differences. To understand the reasons for the discovered adaptations, we reviewed the gathered information again and again. This enabled us the identification of “different kinds of evidence bearing on the same issues of the research” (Gillham, 2010, p. 95). The recognized similar patterns were categorized as indicators for either signs of the standardized or adapted strategy of the retailer, which is why we developed codes that sum up the similar answers of the same matter. In order to define these codes, we referred to the content of our secondary and primary data findings. Here we identified the main components of Lidl’s marketing strategy. As these components could be generalized on one or another piece of gathered information, they were chosen as the main codes, and helped us to present information in a more structured way.
By analyzing the data, we realized that the main codes are too broad which is why sub-codes were created in order to separate the ideas that belong to this umbrella term. Hence, the study findings table has been developed by adding the codes to its related statements. The combination of all findings from our three data sources, with the related main- and sub-codes, can be found in the Appendix 16.
The coding procedure built up a connection between different parts of contents and combined them into a chain of evidence, which helped us to understand the meaning of the gathered
