Business Strategy 

Five Forces (Mikayla)

The core industry that ShopRite focuses on is the food retailing industry.

Force	How does this affect the food retailing industry?	Force Strength	Why?
Bargaining Power of Customers	Customers of this industry can often demand the highest quality products for the lowest prices. They also have the power to switch supermarkets easily.	Medium	This is a moderate force because consumers of ShopRite’s products can ask for a discounted price, but ShopRite is providing necessities, so consumers are willing to pay various prices. However, the customers do have the power to shop at rival stores if they please. ShopRite has been able to tackle this force by having a large customer base, so losing a few customers will not affect them indefinitely.
Threat of Substitutions	Consumers can grow their own food, or use an online grocery service, like HelloFresh.	Medium	Consumers using an online grocery service would be a high risk because it would be very convenient for them, and those types of companies' popularity has grown exponentially in recent years. However, a substitution like growing your own food is a very low risk, because most people don't want to take the time to garden or they don't have the knowledge of how to successfully do it.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers	There are many suppliers of all grocery products.	Low	This force does not impact Shoprite powerfully because of how many suppliers there are for all grocery products. One example is that there are over seventy suppliers of cereal in the United States alone.
Threat of New Entrants	Overall, in the whole industry, it is easy to start a grocery store business, so some smaller firms would be at risk because of this force.	Low	There would have been a higher threat here if ShopRite had low brand loyalty, but most customers of the supermarket chain stay with the company for generations. How well-known and trusted ShopRite is in its area would make it hard for a brand-new grocery store to take their customers.
Rivalry	There is an estimated amount of over sixty-three thousand supermarkets in the United States, so rivalry among them is intense.	High	Shoprite has thousands of competitors that customers can start buying from for low switching costs.

The food retailing industry is profitable as you are selling necessary goods. Meaning people will be buying the products all the time. Although grocery stores typically have modest profit margins most stores make up for it in huge sales volumes. In ShopRite’s case, they come in with large sales volumes, annually making around $630 million. 

Competitive Strategy (Mikayla)

ShopRite follows a low-cost industry-wide competitive strategy. This is because ShopRite advertises itself to a broad range of market segments. ShopRite also prioritizes its low pricing strategy, as its slogan is “Why pay more?” The supermarket chain can keep its costs down the same way all other grocery stores do, by buying their products in larger volumes. This keeps their unit prices down which results in them being able to make the product price cheaper and still come out with a profit. ShopRite also provides their store brand products at the lowest price making them the most appealing to consumers, and in the end, they earn the profits from selling a large number of their products and those of their suppliers. This strategy helps the supermarket chain fight the toughest threats going against them, the threat of substitutes and rivalry, by making them seem more enticing to consumers with low prices. In simpler terms think about it this way, would you want to spend $3 on cereal at ShopRite or pay an extra dollar for the same product at Wegmans?  

Value Chain (Yahilyn)

Inbound Logistics- “Receiving, storing, disseminating inputs to the products” (Kroenke, 2021). 

To supply clients with goods and services, Shoprite Holdings has a strong network of suppliers which adds up to almost 20,000 spread across 13 other countries and 15 African nations. 

Operations/Manufacturing- “Transforming inputs into final products” (Kroenke, 2021). 

Employees are in charge of maintaining inventory on their designated racks and checking the expiration dates of products. They must handle cash and credit, and when a client leaves, security personnel or workers must check receipts to prevent shoplifting.

Outbound Logistics- “Collecting, storing, and physically distributing the products to buyers” (Kroenke, 2021). 

Customers visit the store and purchase items. ShopRite then receives payment through self-checkouts or cashier registers. Clients can also decide on delivery or pick up by placing an online order through ShopRite from Home. 

Marketing and Sales- “Inducing buyers to purchase the products and providing a means for them to do so” (Kroenke, 2021). 

Shoprite utilizes sales as a way to induce consumers into purchasing their products. Such as "Extra ways to save this February," "Extra back to school savings” and  "Act for change,". They also provide a Price Plus Club where customers can access weekly deals and discounts. ShopRite also uses newspaper ads, posters, online ads, and their dynamic marketing process to advertise. In their dynamic process, the company employs Instagram to reach their consumers cheaply and easily. This operation will be further explained in the “Dynamic Process Analysis” section.

Shoprites sales process is also known as their structured process where information systems like the IBM SurePOS 700 and the ShopRite app are used. During checkout, they accept payments in the form of credit, debit, Paypal, and even EBT access cards online and in-store. You can checkout yourself or with the help of a cashier. 

Customer Services- “Assisting customers’ use of the products and thus maintaining and enhancing the products value”(Kroenke, 2021). 

ShopRite is well-known for providing exceptional customer service and honesty. They maintain their credibility, friendliness, and dependability; they correctly scan, price, and bag products as needed, and retrieve proper payment while providing proper change as needed. In addition, they handle customer returns and refunds correctly and in accordance with company policy. They also have a help desk where they handle customer inquiries in person, or you can call them.

Information Systems Used by ShopRite (Frantz)

In Shoprite, one of the main information systems used is their website. They use it to help their customers shop for their products online. Once customers make the order for their products, they can have their products delivered to them or they can pick them up in the store. They use it to categorize all of the items in their shopping aisles. Additionally, their website is used to offer deals for specialty items, post ads on it, and offer different coupons to persuade customers to shop more at their stores. Lastly, they use it to keep track of their customer’s past purchases in case they want to make the same purchase again. The company's app has the same functions as its website.  Shoprite uses Instagram as their main social media platform as another way to connect more with their customers. They use it to post about career opportunities in their organization and upcoming sales. Shoprite sometimes emails their customers about special in-store coupons and other discounts. During their sales process, the IBM SurePOS 700 and IBM 4690 operating systems are used to process customer checkouts. 

Product and Process Implementations (Segun)

The purpose of having an information system that has a competitive advantage is to make sure the customers are locked into the improved service, suppliers are locked in, the cost is reduced or the barrier to market entry rises. The article “New Digital Business Hub Refines Shoprite’s Precision Retailing,” expresses the innovative information systems that Shoprite has introduced to the public. The newest innovation is ShopriteX. ShopriteX wants to innovate the shopping experience by using customer information and data to create a more personal shopping experience.  The retail location for ShopriteX is similar to Amazon Wholefoods self shopping center. It brings AI and cameras to the store where customers just need to grab the products they need, leave the store, and whatever products the customer takes out of the store, their card is automatically charged. This innovative store can be considered a newly created and differentiated service of ShopRite. 

In South America, Shoprite Sixty60 is the number one grocery delivery app. It has been downloaded over 1.5 million times and it delivers groceries to customers in under 30 minutes. Shoprite has solidified its position in South America by implementing this service in its 40 stores nationwide. Xtra Savings is a reward program for Shoprite customers. Over 20 million members have signed up electronically and customers have saved R5.3bn ($275,836,000) in 2021. Lastly, 750 million personalized offers have been sent to customers. These implementations have given Shoprite a strong advantage in South Africa, and through Covid, these implementations solidified its position. It allowed Shoprite to lock in its current customers, gain new customers and reduce costs and prices.