An Internet Project



Hands-On 1

Answer 1

The following are the two pairs of web stores, whose market segments overlap with each other and, that that have been chosen for the study:

www.sportsauthority.com vs. www.soccer.com

www.petco.com vs. www.healthyfoodforpets.com

Answer 2

a.

Upon examining the contents of the two pairs of websites, it is evident that the markets or market segments for the pairs differ considerably. For example, for the first pair of web stores which are essentially vendors of designer sportswear and sports goods, SportsAuthority.com and Soccer.com are targeting different market niches with their products (Friedmann, 2007). The former has devised a marketing strategy that is aimed at providing sports goods to a wider audience and products that are suited to a wider range of sports. For example, the web store offers shoes for basketball, ice hockey, soccer, football, volleyball and baseball. Moreover, types of shoes also include fitness products, clothes, shoes and accessories. On the other hand, Soccer.com targets a specific audience by keeping a range of products that is related to a specific sport - soccer. Hence, it is evident that the website is dedicated to the billions of frenzied soccer fans around the world. Hence the target market of this web store clearly differs from SportsAuthority.com

Similarly, the target markets and market niches of Petco.com and Healthyfoodforpets.com differ too since the former targets a market niche that comprises of price-sensitive and price conscious customers who are base their decision to purchase pet foods primarily on the price of products. This can be seen from the fact that it offers handsome discounts on all its products while a majority of products are reasonably priced. On the other hand, Healthyfoodforpets.com targets a market niche that consists of customers who are more quality conscious. This is evident from the fact that the main page of the web store emphasizes on the fact that it sells natural and holistic pet food products that consist of no harmful fillers, human grade ingredients and chemical additives. Hence, they put more emphasis selling high-quality products to a more quality-conscious market niche.

b.

The competitive pressures of SportsAuthority.com and Soccer.com differ considerably. SportsAuthority.com sells a wider range of products which means that is has a diversified product portfolio. This allows the business to maintain a wide competitive moat in the target market since it has more products to sell a wider audience to cater to. On the other hand, the competitive pressure on Soccer.com is greater since its target market is narrowed to soccer fans alone which is also the unique selling point for its products.

As for Petco.com and Healthyfoodforpets.com, competitive pressures for both are starkly different. This is because the products on both the web stores have their own unique selling points. Petco.com offers discounted and reasonably priced products whereas Healthyfoodforpets.com emphasizes on providing quality.

c.

As the pairs of web stores have different competitive pressures, their competitive strategies also differ considerably. Soccer.com has a competitive strategy that attempts to maintain a strong competitive edge in a particular sport whereas the competitive strategy of ...