Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Essays

Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Essays Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Paper Strategies Used by Rite Aid Pharmacy Paper On the second day of the conference, Samson valued her dream of a new store model that was aligned with health wellness and makes the pharmacy the star of the store. Rite Aid had a new marketing theme, With us. Its Personal, This consisted of a more welcoming corner entrance In the store as well as change to the exterior of the store to look warmer and Included a covered drive through pharmacy. The Interior of the pharmacy was to Include wider aisles and nicer waiting areas for customers. At the end of the conference, Samson reiterated Rite Aids six goals: Marketing, merchandising and ammunitions programs supporting Its Neal ; wellness positioning; Hilling, training and retaining quality store associates; Optimizing the chains infrastructure; Unveiling a new store prototype; Rationalizing the store base; and, Pursuing growth opportunities (Long 2004). Rite Aid continues to value the importance of customer service and puts programs in place to stress the importance of greeting customers and assisting them with their purchases. Rite Aid recently implemented new technology to help employees perform tasks faster and easier which will give them ore time to focus on the customer. In 2012, Rite Aid increased the amount of money they spend on training their employees on their customer service skills. (Rite Aid 2012) Another strategic action that Rite Aid has taken to execute its strategy is the consistency of their training to their employees. Rite Aid created the Rite Aid University to bring their entire employee training in one area and under one rooftop make sure that what they are teaching their employees is staying consistent over time. The Rite Aid University has over 75 different training programs from employee management and time management to being taught to use the pharmacy automated dispensing system. (DEER 1998) By keeping their employees training consistent and investing in the newest technology, Rite Aid is taking steps to maintain a cost leadership strategy. Another strategic step Rite Aid has taken is implementing the wellness + loyalty program in 2010. This is a free program for customers that provide incentives to members who enroll based on how many points they accumulate for prescription purchases. You are able to achieve a Fold, Silver and Bronze level in this program. Rite Aid stated that those involved in the wellness + have higher purchases than their non-member customers and they also achieve larger prescription retentions. Wellness + members can also able to receive more rewards and additional savings for future shopping trips. Rite Aid continues to add more enhancements to this program making it more appealing to their customers. They recently added Loader which is a coupon management program and Rite Aid is the first drug retailer to implement this program. This allows customers to save, manage and redeem Rite Aid and manufacturer coupons available throughout he internet via their wellness + card (Rite Aid 2012). Rite Aid has also formed a strategic alliance with NC under which they have opened over 2,100 NC stores- within-Rite Aid-stores NC is a leading nationwide retailer of vitamin and mineral supplements, personal care, fitness and other health-related products. (Rite Aid 2012) Customer Service is the main target for Rite Aid along with technology. Rite Aid stores have implemented a common information system. This new system allows customers to fill and refill their prescriptions in any Rite Aid store throughout the country. Also, customers are now able to order prescription refills over the Internet through www. Irritated. Com or over the phone and they have also added a mobile phone app that gives them the same options as their online website. Rite Aid continues to enhance their technology to better serve their customers. (Rite Aid 2012) All of these steps that Rite Aid has taken are critical to the companys success and helps to keep them on the path of a cost leadership company. Rite Aids strategic alliance with NC, their wellness+ loyalty program and their common information system and new technology could possibly be sources of temporary or sustainable nominative advantage. To evaluate whether they have a sustainable competitive advantage we must use the BRIO framework. First we will we evaluate Rite Aids strategic alliance with NC. We ask ourselves if the alliance is valuable. Meaning, Do resources and capabilities enable a firm to exploit an external opportunity or neutralize an external threat? I believe the answer to this question is yes. Next, we ask ourselves if this alliance is rare, is It currently controlled by only a small number of competing firms? The answer to this question would also be yes. Regarding the question of immutability, do firms without a resource face a cost disadvantage in obtaining or developing it? Yes. Lastly we ask ourselves if a firm is organized enough to exploit the full competitive potential of its resources and capabil ities. I believe that Rite Aid is able to exploit the potential of this strategic alliance. Therefore, Rite Aids strategic alliance with NC is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. (Barney Westerly, 2012). Next, we will evaluate Rite Aids wellness+ loyalty program. I believe this program to be very valuable but due to the brand loyalty. I also believe that this program is rare. Although, Walgreen has a similar program not many other drug retailers currently have a program this beneficial to their customers. Although this program is valuable and rare, I do not believe it would be costly to imitate. Therefore, Rite Aid only has a temporary competitive advantage over its competitors. Rite Aid also incorporates new technology in their stores. They currently have a common information system as well as smart phone applications and online filling and refilling of prescriptions. I believe their use of technology is ere valuable. Most people now prefer to use the internet and their phones for tasks such as these. It is a convenience to customers who do not want to have to go into the store to deal with their prescriptions. Although this is very valuable in the society we live in now, it is not very rare. Many drug retailers are pursuing and currently have the same technology that Rite Aid does. Because of this, Rite Aid only has competitive parity. Rite Aid and Environment Based on my research of Rite Aid, I do believe that the companys strategies and abilities fit within the drug retailer industry environment. Although many strategies they are pursuing are also being pursued by their top competitors, Walgreen and C.V., they are maintaining competitive parity within the industry. These strategies include their development of technology through managing prescriptions online and smart phone applications. Rite Aids main focus is their customer service and they are able to build brand loyalty through their wellness + program. Although Walgreen NAS a salary program, IT Relate AI Is addle to craw In customers to use their program instead then they will build that loyalty with their customers and have the ability to keep them returning for future purchases. In the industry analysis, my group concluded that the drug retailer industry average level of anticipated performance is high due to the Porter five forces model showing that the risk of entry by possible new customers is moderate because the four barriers to entry are somewhat established. The intensity of rivalry within the industry is moderate. Although product differentiation being low increases the threat of rivalry here are millions of people who need drugs so this reduces the threat. The bargaining power of buyers is moderate, as is the bargaining power of suppliers and the threat of substitutes is very high because of general merchandise stores, supermarkets and superstores. Although Rite Aid is not the industry leader in this industry, I believe that they are positioned to keep growing within this industry. I feel that their strategic alliance with NC, who is a well-known nation-wide retailer, will help them continue to grow as well as their continuing use of technology, their ointment to customer satisfaction and their consistency in employee training.