Blackmores - a Strategic Analysis free essay sample

Market growth is increasing due to recent pushes towards complementary healthcare, for instance the work of the Complementary Healthcare Association lobbying the government and surveys undertaken by industry help to spread awareness of complementary healthcare among the aging baby-boomer population. The impact of regulatory bodies. E. g. f the Therapeutics Goods Administration tightens quality constraints, may erode profit margins of smaller firms, lead to push for economies of scale There are low switching costs between brands for consumers, though the Pan Pharmaceuticals debacle highlighted the importance of strong brand equity to maintain customer patronage. Also, if the healthcare products are viewed as commodities, buyers will focus upon price and service as their differentiators. One of the biggest competitors to Blackmores continues to be lower priced alternative complementary medicines.Bio-Organics and Herron are two brands that are competing directly with Blackmores and given their lower price products are sharing much of the market share with Blackmores. We will write a custom essay sample on Blackmores a Strategic Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Additionally, there are added incentives to purchase Guardian products, such as Guardian loyalty cards. These factors help to boost Guardian owned products. Therefore, a possible improvement in the future for Blackmores is to introduce a loyalty scheme that will help retain their customers. The bargaining power of buyers: Bargaining power of buyers is moderate to weak. Many buyers mostly accounting for a small proportion of total sales.The complementary healthcare industry utilizes 3 major distribution channels Chemists, grocery stores and healthcare stores to access a wide range of consumers who generally all purchase relatively low volumes (ASMI, 2006). Blackmores has sought to differentiate its product via a quality focus and some competitors have a cost-focus. This Differentiation strategy helps to develop brand loyalty and is aimed at nullifying the impact of higher prices on consumer demand. No real threat of backward integration – given the diversity of customers.The customers are end-users, so there are no resale issues The absence of any real switching costs favorably influences buyer power, as it allows dissatisfied customers to change readily within the healthcare brands. Again, the focus on brand image and service helps to offset this lack of switching costs. The retail stores and distributors, however, have some bargaining power because they are able to influence the amount of shelf space given to Blackmores. However, Blackmores has a good working relationship with distributors and has a good share of shelf space amongst retail outlets.