Publix is one of the largest hidden gems that exists within the United States. If one has the good fortune to live in Florida, they will witness the diverse product offerings that Publix offers to its customers. One aspect that makes Publix culturally unique is how they cater their business to the Hispanic community that exists within Florida. Examples of this can be seen in their produce, frozen, and sauce departments that have exotic foods from all over South America. Additionally, Publix has added their Sabor locations that cater even more to the existing Hispanic demographic that exists in Florida. Publix’s Hispanic product offerings aside, Publix has made their stake in the market due to their incredible service, quality, and price. Many suspect that Publix could in fact end up rivaling giants such as Walmart due to their similar prices and better quality that Publix possesses over Walmart.
In discussing Walmart’s inefficiencies, Publix has superseded Walmart’s business model because they have from the beginning positioned themselves to deliver top-rated service to their customers, (Soloman, B., 2013). Even though Walmart has been historically the one that advertised their low prices, many customers have opted to not shop at Walmart due to the lack of quality and service that are provided at their locations all over the country, (Soloman, B., 2013). What has transpired as a result is that Publix has positioned themselves to take a great deal of Walmart’s market share in Florida as a result, (Soloman, B., 2013).
Publix has gotten the attention of many with their impressive figures and the fact that they are one of the top ten supermarkets in the country, (Thayer, W., 2008). For example, for the first quarter of the year, Publix’s sales rose 6% to $5.9 billion and their overall earnings jumped from 8.1% to $343.2 million, (Thayer, W., 2008). These profits are clearly demonstrative of what their price margins are doing for their overall profits, (Thayer, W., 2008). In order to compare their business models and their pricing is successful between the two companies, one can clearly see a correlation between Publix’s low prices and their high quality of service versus Walmart’s low prices and low quality of service, (Thayer, W., 2008).
As Walmart clearly demonstrated, price is not everything. In fact, service plays a bigger weight than low prices. Where Walmart’s business model invariably fails is that their low prices both sacrifice the quality of their products and the services that their employees give to their customers, (Soloman, B., 2013). In the end, this has deterred a higher end customer from shopping at Walmart. Additionally, Walmart has obtained a great deal of bad press due to how their factories in the third world have violated human rights laws pertaining to fair working conditions, (Soloman, B., 2013). This has also put a damper on support Walmart’s products due to the fact that they are low quality and tainted to consumers, (Soloman, B., 2013).
As a result of Walmart’s negative press, Publix has been revered for their quality, high level of customer service, and affordable prices that they provide to consumers, (Thayer, W., 2008). Pertaining directly to quality, Publix’s quality and unique ethnic product offerings is a great way to cater to the needs of the local community in Florida. If Publix keeps continuing to deliver this level of quality to customers, they will surely have a very prospective future pertaining to market share against their competitor Walmart.
Thus, there is some truth to the statement that Publix does have the potential to challenge Walmart’s business model due to their affordable prices that are also matched with their high quality of customer service and products for sale. It will be fascinating in the years to come to see how Publix diversifies their client base by expanding to many more sectors of the United States. That being said, Publix has every capability of becoming a major competitor to Walmart if they keep up what they are doing and expand it to a larger scale.
Works Cited
Soloman, B. “The Walmart Slayer.” Forbes. 24 July 2013. Print.
Thayer, W. “Why Publix Is So Darn Good.” RFFRetailer. 2008. Print.
