The trade area chosen for Metro Inc. is Montreal, Quebec. Montreal has been chosen as the trade location as it is one of the most promising location consisting of multicultural diverse communities. The economy in Montreal is strong and is one of the cities with highest economic growth in the country of Canada (Corpo.metro.ca, 2018). This means that it is a prime location for conducting business and similarly, competition in the Canadian market is oversaturated and metro Inc. (Www1.agric.gov.ab.ca, 2018). being a retail discounter has the opportunity to gain competitive advantage. On the other hand, operating cost is another prime factor favors the organization due to the regulatory laws. Therefore, the three aspects that has been selecting in choosing the trade location are operating cost, economic environment and competition in the market.
This store falls under the category of freestanding location which consist of a single building representing the food retailer and generally kept in areas of high traffic and connectivity. The reason for choosing this location is convenience as population can easily travel to the Super C stores due to high connectivity. Metro Inc. provides discounts to their consumers segments and have developed products for the high end consumers so they have different locations for different types of consumers (Sturgeon, 2014). The market attractiveness of Montreal is high due to decrease in unemployment, growth in the economy and adjacent population. Therefore, the three criteria for choosing the particular store location are consumer demographics and economic growth, convenience and specialty. The economic growth has diminished the middle income groups and that is why Metro has Super C and Metro plus that offer to different segments of consumers but the chosen location is the supermarket.
The site location that has been chosen is on the south shore of Montreal in the Sainte-Julie suburbs. This location is one of the prime locations for setting up of supermarkets due to the high disposable income of the population living in these areas. The competition in this segment is low when compared to the industry giants and traffic flow is also high (Trubint, 2016). This area is highly attractive as they will be able to target the premium segment of consumers. Thus, the three criteria for choosing the site are competition in the market, traffic flow and demographics of the surrounding area.
The balance between the design factors are essential for developing loyalty among the consumers and these factors are signage, layout and feature areas. The store outlet is targeted towards the premium consumers so the layout of the store is based on free form where the consumers are allowed space to move to identify products they would like to purchase. This develops a better ambience and overall experience of the consumers are enhanced. Metro Inc. also uses signage to communicate visually with the consumers by making them aware of the product locations and offers on merchandises. In case of the feature areas, the organization uses windows, end caps, promotional aisle and entrances to promote the quality of the products they offer and high end goods in the market.
Metro Inc. uses free form layout as it enables to portray their luxurious store and enhances the experience of the consumers. The main features of the stores in metro Inc. are pleasant ambience and provides exquisite experience to all the consumers. The lightening and color combinations on the walls are highly appealing to the consumers. Moreover, it is easier to locate different sections easily.
However, as the free form layout is not at all cost effective, a combination of racetrack and freeform layout has to be implemented. This will enable impulse buying among the consumers and increase sales volumes. The next change is use of diverse lighting to enhance the layout of the store.
This would be changed to make the organization more cost effective and reduce the chances of shoplifting. The stores should look like the following pictures:
Figure 1
Figure 2
Metro Inc. is a retail organization and it only categorizes products as per their brands and product segments. In Metro, each of the aisles will have a single product segment and diverse brands to provide the consumers with ample options. The complementary items are kept together for ease of access and unknown products are kept with the popular products to give them a push.
Metro Inc. caters to the premium segment so style/ item orientation is the merchandise presentation techniques used. The three characteristics of these type of merchandising are good music, lighting and shelving and displays.
The merchandise presentation can be improved by introducing bold colors and improving the signage.
Figure 3
13.
Metro Inc. has been using point of sale signage, category signage and digital signage. The three appealing features are fresh and up-to-date, consistency and less text and more images.
The signage and graphics can be improved by using typefaces and theatrical effects. This means complete use of digital signage.
Figure 4
Figure 5
14.
Metro Inc. has been instrumental in using different types of atmospherics such as lighting, color, music and scent. The lighting, display counters and music are key features that are quite appealing.
The two elements that needs to be changed are scent and music as it is essential to be up to date with the current music and keep on changing the scents to provide a different experience to the consumers.
15.
Metro Inc. has online presence and their official website follows a design that is consistent with the store which can be seen from the different sections as section of metro super C are designed differently to the interface of metro plus. This means that the designs are consistent with each of the stores. The website is simple, consistent with the store and provides a convenient layout.
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
The changes to the website that can be made are layout improvements and enhancement of the visuals.
The retailer is quite successful in the market but still needs a lot of improvement in terms of their growth rate. Metro Inc. is among the top 10 retailers in Canada but there is plenty of scope of improvement.
Metro Inc. has the ability to attract their chosen consumers as they are attracting both the lower and upper segments. This is the reason that they have different types of stores for different consumer segments. However, it is difficult for them to compete with companies with like Target and Wal- Mart so they will have to make improvements to their products segments and store aesthetics significantly.
References and Bilbliography
Arrigo, E. (2015). The role of the flagship store location in luxury branding. An international exploratory study. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 43(6), 518-537.
Corpo.metro.ca. (2018). Metro | Corporate Website. Retrieved from https://corpo.metro.ca/en/home.html
Farfan, B. (2018). Largest Canada, U.S. Grocery Retailers 2018. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/largest-grocery-retailers-2892905
Huang, T., Bergman, D., & Gopal, R. (2018). Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics for Location Selection of Add-on Retail Products. arXiv preprint arXiv:1804.01182.
Marianov, V., Eiselt, H. A., & Lüer-Villagra, A. (2018). Effects of multipurpose shopping trips on retail store location in a duopoly. European Journal of Operational Research, 269(2), 782-792.
Sturgeon, J. (2014). As middle shrinks, Metro targets grocery shoppers high and low. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/1274609/as-middle-shrinks-grocer-metro-splits-stores-into-high-and-low-end/
Trubint, N. (2016). Determining an optmal retail location by using GIS. Yugoslav Journal of Operations Research, 16(2).
Www1.agric.gov.ab.ca. (2018). Consumer Corner: Changing Food Retail Landscape in Canada and Alberta. Retrieved from https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sis14494
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