The main objective behind starting any businesses to many people is the profit motive to many people. Therefore, it is necessary for businesses to be strategically position to hedge against any competition from the business rivals and to make the maximum from the least inputs. In relation to Kroger Grocery Store, to accomplish local responsiveness using the global standardization strategy, the prices for the products should be flexible in a way that they would prove to the people that the international market trends influence the pricing of the groceries. The pricing of the products can never be fixed due to the unstable environment factors (Bradley, F., (2005). By adjusting the prices, the people can make their informed decisions regarding the products. The influence from the international markets is inevitable, therefore, necessitating the grocery shop to alter the prices. The products should also be aggressively advertised in the world to gain a considerable market share by informing the people about their products.
The products must however be considerate of the different tastes and preferences of the people and their cultural value. The availability of the groceries at the different countries determines the prices of the products. If the products is scares, the Kroger Grocery Store can take advantage of the situation and charge high prices to maximize their profits and vice versa. The products should be diversified to satisfy the different tastes of the consumers (Gabel, H., 1987). The products should be differentiated to help in acquiring a greater market share that in return contributes to the increase in the profits of the company. The distribution channels must be effective to avoid customer disappointments due to the delays.
International strategy solely relies on the changing the country at hand. The cultures of the different states should be responded to differently. Before going international, the requirements must be adhered to. The language barriers need to be addressed for ease of communication among the citizens. The store could either liaise with some of the already existing grocery stores in the countries to pave way for their research (Bradley, F., 2005). The involvement of the locals would help in solving the language barriers and would also help in marketing their products. The locals would direct the personnel of Kroger Grocery Store how to go about the business. Some of the staff could even learn the language used their, for efficiency. It avoids distortion of information that can cause huge financial losses if not handled properly.
Localization strategy entails the use of the scrutiny of the various cultures existing to avoid conflicts. It is unethical to provide products that are unacceptable by the people. Therefore, it is the obligation of the Kroger Grocery Store to inspect the different cultures of the people from them to respond positively in terms of provision of the groceries (Dunne, K., 2006). Availing the unacceptable would only result to losses as the consumers would not be willing to buy it. Customer loyalty is affected together with the public image of the company. When all these are combined, massive losses are incurred by the company. The branding of the products and the information contained in them must not offend the people in any way. The consumers tend to shun the products.
The differences in the in the strength of pressures for cost reduction versus those for local responsiveness would affect the strategy for Kroger Grocery Store. To be able to diverse to many countries as possible, the store must be willing to incur some expenses (Gabel, H., 1987). It is never guaranteed that the company would realize profits in a given country. The element of uncertainty results to the Kroger Grocery Store embracing aggressive advertising to gain the popularity. Advertising requires a lot of cash for it to be aired in the media.
Cost reduction would be difficult in the company when it is engaged in all the activities of marketing. Kroger Grocery Store has to find a way to recover the costs incurred and it is achieved by transferring the burden to the consumers. The products are highly priced to cater for the expansion activities, the research involved and the diversification of the products. Therefore, cost reductions would be far from being achieved, if the products are not easily available. Some of the consumers might opt to change the brands of the products by moving to other suppliers due to the increase in prices. The decline in the sales results to massive losses in the company.
References
Bradley, F. (2005). International marketing strategy. New York: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.
Gabel, H. L. (1987). Product standardization and competitive strategy. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Dunne, K. J. (2006). Perspectives on localization. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co.
