E-Project - Business Analysis of Wawa Inc - Case Study Example

XXXXX No. XXXXX E-PROJECT BUSINESS ANALYSIS WAWA INC XYZ 14 November, PART THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT Introduction Wawa Inc is one of the leading chains consisting of private gas stations and convenience stores located countrywide in United States of America. Its areas of operations consist of about 17000 employees working at more than 570 locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia (http://www.wawa.com). By 2009, company had a revenue balance of about $5890 millions. The main products of Wawa Inc are coffee, hoagies, fast food items, dairy products, fresh salad and fruit. Around 200 stores sell gas. Besides these stores and gas stations, Wawa Inc possesses about 1000 hospital, schools and other institutions. Although company has deep roots in history and it has a history of more than 200 years full of struggle and progression, however, the first convenience store was opened in 1964 (http://biz.yahoo.com). George Wood set up the first dairy store in Wawa, Pennsylvania in 1902. The Wood family still has a share in 52% of the company. Competitive Challenges The Convenience stores and Gas station industry has a worldwide competitive environment especially there is strong competition in United States. Wawa Inc is presently the leading company of the industry in U.S., however the company is facing serious challenges from several market rivalries like Royal Farms, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, 7-Elevn Inc, Sheetz, and Green Valley Acquisition etc. Royal Farms has shown a great progress in terms of providing fuel in a very clean environment and this category it is surpassing Wawa Inc as it is exceeding all Federal EPA necessities for cleanliness. Further, Royal Farms has controlled the market of Mid-Atlantic region by providing high class beverages. Wawa Inc has experienced the Subway as a very strong competitor in food industry. More than $16.2 billion strategic assets and 35625 restaurants in about 98 countries across the world are the real strength of Subway which has reduced the market capitalization of Wawa in some states (http://www.subway.com). As compared to Wawa Inc, Dunkin Donuts has a global sphere of operations. It has about 9800 stores in more than 30 countries. It has dominated the consumer market from Wawa Inc as about 6700 Dunkin Donuts branches, offering 52 varieties of donuts and a dozen of coffee beverages, are operating in 35 states of USA (http://www.dunkindonuts.com). Basically Wawa Inc has been affected by its rivalries due to their strong strategic installation on global as well as national scale. Economic Challenges The activities and peak of convenience stores and gas station industry is generally characterized by peaceful environment and high earning elasticity of the general public. Therefore, like few other business fields, this industry is also directly proportional to the peaceful environment and stable economy of the country. An economic instability occurred due to war in Iraq and war against terrorism, therefore during last few years, the fuel cost has risen tremendously throughout the world as well as in USA (http://www.whatmattersweblog.com). In response of fuel cost, Wawa added more investments to meet its requirements. Further a slight decline in GDP is also a serious concern for the industry. In case, the global economy falls down, corporate environment decreases, and ultimately less number of people will use the fast food restaurants for spending leisure and exciting weekends. PART 2 – MANAGEMENT PLAN Career Opportunities Jobs Description Assistant General Manager (i) To supports the General Manager in all store operations, (ii) To supervise day-to-day task assignment, (iii) To hire, train, manage store associates, (iii) To plan and execute sales strategy, (iv) To deliver exceptional customer service Customer Service Associate (i) To support the store management team to successfully complete the day-to-day tasks, (ii) Food preparation, (iii) Cash register duties, (iv) Customer service, (v)General housekeeping Inventory Merchandise Manager (i) To manage in-store inventory and work to maximize sales by reviewing performance and analyzing sales trends, (ii) To manage the training and coaching of Customer Service Associates, (iii) To ensure exceptional customer service, (iv) To coordinate daily task assignments Fresh Food Manager (i) To manage and train the fresh food team, (ii) To coordinate daily menus, (iii) To ensure food service program execution, (iv) To deliver exceptional customer service Salaries Jobs Assistant General Manager Customer Service Associate Inventory Merchandise Manager Fresh Food Manager Salary $700/week to $908/week $7.25/hr to $11.50/hr $11.00/hr to $15.75/hr $11.00/hr to $15.75/hr Compensation and Benefits Wawa Inc provides a healthy, supportive, and competitive environment with high quality benefits to its employees. The company provides several benefits which include medical and dental facilities, life insurance, and Employment Assistance Program, study loan programs like Loan Forgiveness and College Graduate Leadership program. Wawa offers a great program to its workers i.e. Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP). In 2010, about more than 8000 associates of Wawa participated in this program and presently these associates have 28% share in company’s market capitalization. Training and Development Opportunities Wawa does not provide the jobs as just a matter of job rather it offers career development opportunities. The teens who joined Wawa about 20 years earlier are now working as leaders of the firm. Just in 2010, Wawa promoted about 22% of its staff to higher seats i.e. more than 3700 employees. Wawa provides comprehensive training manual to new entries regarding its history, culture, and values. Wawa University guides the workers through comprehensive training and educational programs which are conducted on-site, off-site, on the job, and in the classroom. Business Strategic Plan Internal Factors Strengths Weaknesses (a) Nationwide brand recognition (b) Quick and friendly customer service (c) Kick ass hoagies (d) Private label products (e) Very strong strategic assets (f) Multi product firm (g) High level confidence by customers as well as workers (a) Competitive environment in market (b) No draw tickets (c) Pricey desserts and candy (d) Huge recruitment (e) Heavy payroll External Factors Opportunities Threats (a) Innovative brand products (b) Choices to enhance menu (c) Variety of food (d) New locations for diesel service (e) Countrywide horizontal expansion (f) Draw schemes (g) Sale of gas at certain locations (a) New energy resources like CNG (b) Workers’ unions (c) Hypermarkets with gasoline (d) Strong competitors like 7-Eleven, Sheets, Turkey Hill, Royal Farms, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, and Borland Farms PART 3 – MARKETING PLAN Product Description One of the best products of Wawa Inc which gained widespread popularity in United States is its coffee. It is a make of freshly infused coffee introduced by Pennsylvanian branch of Wawa. This freshly brewed coffee is the most successful product of the company as stores of the company sell about 195 million cups of coffee in a year. These coffees can be ordered in various varieties like in original, decaf, hazelnut, or French vanilla flavors as well as in the form of iced coffee (http://www.wawa.com). the coffee is available in number of flavors like Dark Roast, Hazelnut, Hot chocolate, 100% Columbian, Decaffeinated, and French Vanilla etc. Target Market In terms of target market, Wawa Inc stands for anyone who wants to eat healthy food and wants to use these convenience stores to meet its requirements in the different regions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Generally young male generation is considered a primary target market for such stores. In this regard Wawa is quite rich company as it has a huge target market to increase its sale in above mentioned states. The following table provides a brief description of target market of Wawa Inc. State Per-Capita GSP($) Total Population Age Group Under 18 18-65 Above 65 Pennsylvania 39830 8,791,894 23.8 60.6 15.6 New Jersey 54,699 8,791,894 24.8 62.0 13.2 Delaware 34,199 897,934. 23.1 60.8 16.1 Maryland 43500 5,615,727 24.1 61.2 14.7 Virginia 45299 8,001,024 23.4 64.5 12.1 Above demographic features of the states are very promising where Wawa Inc is operating. Statistics of all states display that about more than 60% of the population is direct target market of the company to sale its product. Further, Per-Capita GSP of each state is also quite healthy showing the stability in the bargaining powers of buyers. The 4 Ps of Marketing Products. The products for which Wawa Inc has got wide range recognition include coffee, cappuccino flavors, and made-to-order hoagies. Wawa also offers different varieties of hot breakfast. ‘Sizzli’ is one of the most appreciated brands of breakfast. Beside these products, convenience stores of Wawa Inc offers fast food items like chips, sandwiches, drinks, juices, dairy products, iced tea, and branded water. Beer is sold in Virginia and Maryland. The super Wawa stores also provide gasoline. The leading factor that why do people prefer the items of Wawa is the freshness and innovation of its product. Pricing. The core purpose of Wawa business is ‘To Simplify Our Customers Daily Lives. Wawa Inc pricing tends to be one of the most effective in the convenience store market. The reason is sure i.e. its competitiveness structured pricing has enabled it to stiffly contend with some other refreshment providing corporations. Because the manufacturers products are generally consist of distinctive dimensions, the pricing of Wawa products are generally based on the quantity. Place (Distribution). ‘Passion for winning’ is one of the core values of Wawa Inc. By the appeal of this winning desire, the distribution strategies of Wawa have given it plenty of revenue and progressive standings in the convenience store and gas station industry. Primarily, the customers have the opportunities to access the products of their choice through the company’s stores, located at about 570 places in five rich states of USA. These stores assist the headquarters in disbursing the particular produced items. Furthermore, almost at all these stores there are processing plants which smoothly execute the job of products’ circulation. Promotion. Through utilizing the full marketing channels available, Wawa Inc has been able to build and sustain a successful corporate image from the birth of the company. Wawa advertisements can be seen everywhere in all states of U.S. The company has made sure that wherever there are potential customers for its products, their presence is made known through advertising offers on products’ costs. In a highly competitive market, Wawa Inc marketing team has to sustain a strong advertising strategy and look to implement new marketing ideas so that they are not losing out of their customers and their confidence. In recent years, Wawa has taken much greater advantage of online advertising and with the increasing personal use of the Internet; this has considerably enhanced Wawa’s consumer reach. National media is another available marketing option to promote the products. Much of Wawa promotional strategies have concentrated on making an impact at a local level which has enabled it to adopt the methods of marketing to the local customers they are addressing. Wawa website acts as an effective distribution channel for e-marketing with all information accessible to the customers, thus reducing material costs. The use of new economy technologies has improved flows of information, allowing Wawa to update the brands and prices of its products immediately, thus maximizing profitability. Although technology provides advantages in terms of cost reductions for Wawa, however its competitors have followed suit and have established websites of their own, offering the consumers extremely competitive rates in comparison to Wawa Inc. Consequently, Wawa needs to constantly adapt it strategies in order to retain a competitive advantage. References http://www.wawa.com/WawaWeb/Beverages.aspx http://www.dunkindonuts.com/content/dunkindonuts/en/company.html http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/default.aspx http://www.whatmattersweblog.com http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/40/40525.html Read More