Contents

• This paper answers the following questions on the case study –
• QUESTION 1:There are a variety of segmentation methods available to segment a retailer's market. Identify the various segmentation methods available and discuss lifestyle / psychographic segmentation of the specialty coffee market for Starbucks.
• QUESTION 2:Levy and Weitz outline several opportunities for retailers to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. In what ways has Starbucks built its competitive advantage?
• QUESTION 3:Starbucks has several specialty sales agreements. Some of these partnerships involved serving Starbucks coffee, some were product developments and others were store developments. What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of such relationships?
• QUESTION 4:Comment on Starbucks decision to date of not allowing McDonalds a contract to serve Starbucks coffee. Recommend a strategy for Starbucks to pursue growth, while maintaining its brand image in the future.

Description

Marketing segmentation is about identifying and defining consumer groups based on specific characteristics (Hooley et al, 2002). Marketing segmentation enables companies to customize their products and services to suit specific needs of customer groups (Brady & Davis, 1993). If segmentation is done effectively, it will result in increased sales, customer loyalty and increased brad value. This paper analyses market segmentation as applied to Starbucks. case study. The paper analyses the efficacy of segmentation of Starbucks, its moves towards achieving sustainable competitive advantage and the company’s management of relationships with vendors