AOL Money & Finance

Wal-Mart or Target -- who's copying who?

More

at targetWith Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) being so successful in being the larger version of the "anti Wal-Mart" in many respects, the nation's second-largest discount retailer seems to have found a magic formula for competing with the scale and low-price arena that is the hallmark of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). In fact, Target has done so well, it's not surprising that Wal-Mart is now examining Target's strategy in detail (and probably has been) to see if it can take marketshare away from Target.

Target's now perceived to be a "cooler" and more affluent store, with higher-end goods -- and margins, probably -- combined with a public perception of being the discount retailer that does not drive small businesses out of business or that haves constant issues that always crop up with Wal-Mart about labor and employee health insurance. Truth is, Target may have some of these issues, but the iconic Target sure doesn't get the attention that Wal-Mart seems to invite, being the biggest target after all (heh).

But when Target copies Wal-Mart's new generic prescription drug program a few hours after Wal-Mart announced theirs, this kind of smacked of being a strategy copier. Not that this is bad - it happens constantly and is even expected. Bold new moves by any company in any industry are usually copied in some form by the competition out of fear of customer loss. But, is Wal-Mart really "out-Targeting Target" as this article suggests? I'm not sure Wal-Mart's bold new generic drug pricing plan was something Target would do to grow sales and get new customers in the door. Wal-Mart seems hell-bent on getting foot traffic to increase in its stores, which is easily evident by all the recent strategy moves that should result in that fact.

So, who is copying who?

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-14.2810,318.16
NASDAQ-10.782,146.04
S&P 500-3.521,091.38

Last updated: November 22, 2009: 02:39 PM

BloggingStocks Exclusives

Hot Stocks

DailyFinance Headlines

Latest from BloggingBuyouts

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

WalletPop Headlines