1800Mattress.com Competition
Now Viewing 1800Mattress.com's competition in: Internet and Catalog Retailers
Call Preparation Questions
Customers, Marketing, Pricing, Competition
What kind of customer does the company target? - Catalog retailers pioneered target marketing, collecting a wealth of data on their customers to better anticipate their future needs.
What forms of marketing does the company find most effective? - National advertising campaigns include network, cable, and print advertising; Internet retailers design personalized emails and use cooperative advertising with partner vendors.
What is the company’s advertising budget? What is the mix of print, TV, and online advertising? - Total Internet advertising is expected to more than double by 2009.
Who are the company’s primary competitors? - Increasingly, traditional retailers are entering the online retail business; thus, competitors may not be limited to other dot-coms or catalogers.
How does the company position itself versus competitors? - Large firms leverage their brand awareness. Smaller firms compete on outstanding customer service and providing niche products.
How does the company stay abreast of market trends and consumer preferences? - Due to lead times required for catalog production and distribution, catalog retailers may be unable to respond as rapidly as traditional retailers or Internet retailers to changing customer product preferences.
How is the company building customer loyalty? - Some retailers are using customer reward programs, such as frequent shopper discounts and online coupons.
What is the company doing in the way of one-to-one marketing? - Marketing segmentation techniques have become so specialized that retailers can personalize catalogs and websites.
How is the company increasing website traffic? - Companies improve search engine capabilities, advertise on other sites, and develop general marketing campaigns to get more “hits” and increase the likelihood of purchase.
Competitive Landscape
Demand is driven by consumers’ personal income. Profitability of individual companies depends on effective marketing to build a customer base. Larger firms enjoy central purchasing efficiencies and economies of scale in inventory management, customer service, and telecommunications. Smaller firms compete on outstanding customer service and providing niche products. Average annual revenue per worker for a typical company is about $400,000.
Business Challenges
CRITICAL ISSUES
Demand Depends on Consumer Income - Catalog and Internet retailers sell primarily discretionary goods and services, so demand varies with changes in personal income. Consumers delay or cut back on computers, new clothing, home furnishings, and other discretionary items when the economy weakens.
Competition from Traditional Retailers - Traditional retailers are becoming the dominant online retailers by leveraging high consumer awareness. Consumers are moving to large brands that have online capability and that they're familiar with. Internet retailing has been growing rapidly. Traditional retailers that offer multi-channel marketing will profit from serving online customers.
Industries Where 1800Mattress.com Competes
- Retail
- Home Furnishings & Housewares Retail(primary)
- Nonstore Retail
- Direct Selling
- Internet Retail
