- All the companies are offering very similar products to the same clients – food and non-food retailers. However, their positioning strategies differ.
- The information needed for the analysis of the companies and their positioning strategies are easily available.
3. MARKET POSITIONING OF THE LIGHT INFO SYSTEMS
In order to efficiently examine the current product positioning of the companies involved in the manufacturing and marketing of LIS equipment an insight into the product itself, which is more than a set of tangible features, will be provided in the graph bellow.
The market position of LIS is defined by several important attributes that characterise this type of product. The following section will examine and explain how the manufacturers of LIS are attempting to position LIS in a way that will have an influence on consumer’s perception of the product. This addresses the following questions: What is the purchaser buying and how customers and final users perceive the product? The section bellow will deal with the most basic level, Core Product of LIS, and its current positioning strategies.
In the retail sector LIS are positioned as information devices through which a retailer can communicate with its customers, increase offered range of service, facilitate the purchasing process and personalise the relationship between the retailer and the customer. In addition to this, LIS provide an opportunity for a retailer to apply “one-to-one marketing” strategies by designing special promotions for individual customers. LIS can allow a retailer to obtain valuable information about the customer’s preferences, needs, wants and provide an overview of the consumer’s purchasing habits. As a result, the use of LIS could assists retailers in increasing customer attention while at the same time reducing the costs associated with personnel attendance with a client. Through the use of LIS, retailers could attempt to create their own unique image relative to their competitors. Further, LIS are tools that could be used in the improvement and organising of the logistic system within the store.
As for the final users, LIS are positioned as devices that facilitate consumers in their purchasing process by providing additional information about a certain product such as: bringing to customer’s attention special offers, price, promotional deals, discounts and other information about the product. The greatest benefits obtained by the consumers when using LIS are: a significant reduction in time spent by a customer when searching for additional information about a product, ease of price checking, as well as a decrease in time spent by customers queuing at the checkouts.
When observing product brochures of all manufacturers a conclusion can be made that all of them are positioning their products in a very similar way - that is, the positioning strategy is concentrated on core benefits and problem solving
characteristics of the product. Nevertheless, an insight into positioning strategies of the chosen companies in regards to Actual Product as well as Augmented Product will be analysed in the section that follows.
3.1 GEMPSY
Gempsy is a French company that is specialised in the manufacturing and marketing of a wide range of price verifiers that are used in both, food and non-food retail sector. The company’s core business is development of price checking devices and the company is pursuing a niche market strategy. According to the company, from 1987 till now, Gempsy has sold more than 10,000 units to approximately 1,500 different supermarkets and hypermarkets. The major Gempsy’s customers and users of the price verifying equipment were Carrefour, Continent, Auchan and GIB.
Genio
Positioning Strategy around Actual Product and Augmented Product
- Language options - the price verifier can display characters in Latin 1 for Western Europe and Turkish languages and in Latin 2 for Eastern Europe. Messages displayed by default are programmed to display 17 different languages.
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Communication network - Genio communicates with the central computer via wired and/or via radio frequency (RF). The active working range for RF is round 80 meters.
- Colour availability - the price verifier can be delivered in different colours in order to be able to match different store environments.
- Design – quite attractive with the clear exposure of the laser component.
- Delivery - Gempsy distributes and delivers the products predominantly in Southern Europe, the United States and in the UK through its offices and in the rest of Europe throughout selective distributive network.
- After – sale service – the selected distributor is usually responsible for the installation and repair of the equipment within the certain period. This is due to the fact that Gempsy is relatively small company with limited resources.
Compared to the rest of the companies analysed in the report a conclusion can be reached that Gempsy does not offer a strong customer support services - their distributors are usually responsible for the maintenance, the customer support and additional services. The positioning strategy is mainly concentrated on benefits provided by greater variety of features of their devices.
3.2 SYMBOL TECHNOLOGIES
Symbol Technologies was founded in 1975 and since then the company has grown into a global leader in the development and distribution of bar code data capture equipment for various applications. Symbol Technologies is the number one manufacturer in mobile data transaction systems, providing innovative customer solutions based on wireless local area networking for data and voice, application-specific mobile computing and bar code data capture. Today, some 10 million Symbol bar code scanners, mobile computers and wireless LANs are utilized worldwide in markets ranging from retailing to transportation and distribution logistics, manufacturing, parcel and postal delivery, government, healthcare and education.
MK 1000
The Micro Kiosk 1000 (MK 1000) from Symbol Technologies is an interactive, automated customer self-service terminal. Its display can be used as an electronic billboard for the text messages to promote seasonal sales and/or to display the product price. The programmable function keys enhance the MK 1000’s in-store and enable for consumer interaction. It can be installed over a wired network or it can use radio frequency to communicate with the host server.
Positioning Strategy around Actual Product and Augmented Product
- International language support – the product is able to display various languages.
- Connectivity options – wired and RF network.
- Definable buttons – increased application possibilities
- Delivery and distribution - in the global markets its numerous satellite/branch offices represent Symbol Technologies. Throughout its extensive network the company is able to fully satisfy its customers meaning that the company can deliver its products on time and it can satisfy major clients. Further the company delivers the products through certain number of the distributors.
- Software support - Symbol offers a software module that makes easy to connect price checkers to retailer’s store computer. It is necessary just to install on the in-store computer the Price Checker interface software and no additional hardware or software is required. This is known as “turn key solution”.
- Installation of the equipment – provided by the company.
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After purchasing support – provided in all countries where the company is represented. Free telephone consulting (0800), 24X7, 365 days a year, questions answered by technical experts. E-mail requests and online support is also available.
- Reparation of the equipment – provided by the company.
- Warranty – guaranteed by Symbol.
When observing the above-mentioned benefits that the company offers to its clients a conclusion can be made that Symbol has established an excellent after-sale service that gives the company a distinct competitive advantage relative to its competitors.
3.3 INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONIC ENGINEERS (IEE)
Industrial Electronic Engineers was established in Van Nuys, (California,USA) and it has been existing in the market for more than 50 years. The company specialises in developing information displays, as well as integrated display solutions. IEE provides an extensive line of display-integrated products to different industries such as, retail, military, aerospace, etc. In the family of Lite Info Systems products the company has developed the following product:
ScanVue Price Checker
IEE has developed a price-checking tool that allows a consumer to obtain the price of a product, as well as other additional product information. Another objective of the ScanVue is to bring promotional announcements and special discount offers to consumer’s attention. ScanVue can be easily mounted on a flat surface such as store walls or it can stand independently on a specially designed pole.
Positioning Strategy around Actual Product and Augmented Product
- Colour - the product is offered in a range of various colours suitable for retailer’s store environment.
- Display - the company is specialised in developing displays and one can expect high resolution and good image presentation (TFT Display).
- Design – attractive product design.
- Sales Customer Service – answers on sales related information available through phone or e-mail.
- Technical Support – engineers available to answer on all questions concerning product-related questions.
- Service Centre – warranty, repair services, etc provided by IEE
- On-line Support – clients can join the online customer support chat and ask questions about sales and technical support.
- Downloads – product specifications can be downloaded from IEE’s home page.
The most important aspect of the product positioning is the focus on high-resolution display that enables the company to seek the opportunity in both, food (advertising special offers, price, etc) and non-food retail sector (promoting product’s colour, size, additional info, availability of offer, etc.). Further, as presented above, IEE offers an extensive rage of after-purchase customer support.
3.4 SCANTECH INTERNATIONAL BV
Scantech International BV is a Dutch based company and it was established in 1987. The company’s headquarter is based in Amersfoort and it has several “satellite offices” in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Scantech International BV is one of the leading European manufacturers of optical devices. The company specialises in manufacturing and distributing of bar-code laser scanning equipment for the food and non-food retail sector. A core business of the company is production of Electronic Point Of Sales (EPOS) equipment. By being the first company ever to successfully implement the laser diode in Omni-Directional bar-code scanners, Scantech International BV has upgraded the quality of this industry.
Discovery SG-20
Positioning Strategy around Actual Product and Augmented Product
- Colour - the product is offered in a range of various colours suitable for retailer’s store environment.
- Display – the LCD display is capable of displaying medium resolution images.
- Design – very appealing design.
- Definable buttons – increased application of the product. It contains four definable buttons that encourage a customer to interface with the Discovery SG-20 even further.
- Delivery and distribution – Scantech distributes its products through a certain number of selected distributors.
- Warranty – provided by Scantech, implemented by distributors.
- Repair services and installation – provided by selected distributor.
- Customer Support – on line request as well as telephone line information availability. The customer support has regional responsibilities.
Similar to Gempsy, Scantech uses distributors often called “system integrators” for distribution, installation and maintenance of its products. Both companies have no financial potential to fully satisfy its customers and they are forced to use middleman. In addition to this, they are lacking software expertise and they can provide only limited software support.
4. CONCLUSIONS
In today’s business the majority of competition takes place at the production augmentation level. Successful companies are not only offering additional benefits that will satisfy but also that will delight the customer. A company engaged in the production of LIS must provide clients with complete solutions to their problems by offering additional services such as: warranty on parts, quick repair services, fast delivery, network compatibility, etc. To the clients, all of the augmentations are an important part of the total product.
After comprehensive analysis of the LIS positioning strategies a conclusion can be made that these strategies differ from company to company. The greater the company (in terms of size and financial potential) the greater the additional benefits provided by the product. This is due to the fact that bigger companies (Symbol and IEE) have much more extensive product range that the smaller companies (Gempsy and Scantech). Symbol can be considered the biggest company of all four and has the most extensive distribution network. Having a wide product assortment, they provide worldwide customer service in order to keep customers loyal and satisfied. On the other hand Gempsy and Scantech, are rather smaller company. These companies do not have the financial resources to support such a big distribution network and additional customer service (in case. Instead they have to rely on their distributors who are responsible for distribution and till some extent for the positioning of their products. The obvious disadvantage here lies in the incapability to guarantee a good service since it is not in their hands.
The additional benefits and augmentations are an essential part of a product. Moreover, they are a basis for an efficient market positioning of the product. If a company offers greater Augmented Product than its competition one can assume that the company will gain more competitive advantage and that it will be in better position to satisfy its customers.
Based on the analysis of the positioning strategy a conclusion can be made that Symbol followed by IEE offers the best product in terms of additional services provided. Both companies are truly international and they are providing its products virtually to every country. Especially Symbol has realised the importance of these services and the company is currently number one world’s manufacturer of Data Capturing equipment. However, the other companies also provide after-purchasing support but to a lesser extent. Scantech’s and Gempsy’s positioning strategies are predominately aimed to satisfy the European clients. Both companies are not able to satisfy the world markets and they are trying to gain a competitive advantage in Europe by assuring timely deliveries of their products as well as the spare parts. This is important to European clients since a delay in delivery of the products and spare parts could disrupt retailer’s operations.
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to improve their positioning strategies on all levels the following can be recommended to all of the companies analysed in the report:
Gempsy
Since the company is relatively small with limited financial resources, they should concentrate on niche markets by focusing on the improvement of existing products especially in the area of technical performance (for example: including definable button option). Besides the possibility for clients to submit an on-line request form, customers have no other choice to receive qualified and technical after-sales support. Therefore, the company should concentrate its efforts in the field of customer service meaning to extend technical and product consulting, provide information about warranty and availability of spare parts. As a consequence of extending their customer services, clients would surely feel more secure about their purchase.
Symbol Technologies
As mentioned earlier, apart from offering extensive product range, the company offers a wide range of additional services and benefits, which clearly makes the company a market leader in manufacturing of Data Capturing equipment. However, the company should consider design improvements as well as colour availability. It appears that its distribution network is quite stretched ad in order to deliver its products more efficiently the company should take into consideration outsourcing manufacturing in Europe and Asia.
IEE
Since IEE’s product has the best display performance the company should position the product more in the non-food retail sector. The product is capable of displaying high-resolution images and therefore it is well equipped to serve this retail sector. Further, by adding definable buttons on their price verifier, IEE could offer a greater variety of different applications. IEE should also offer more ports on their devices that will allow for connection to other devices such as thermal printers and hand held scanners.
Scantech International BV
Scantech International BV should focus on product’s improvement and extension of technical performance such as including radio frequency communication network. Since the company is dependent on the distributing partners it should built a healthy and long-lasting relationship. Having a strong relationship with its partners will allow Scantech to understand the needs of its clients even further as well as to develop its strategies accordingly
6. APPENDIXES
The following tables summarising the technical characteristics of all products analysed in the report:
Source:
Source: www.symbol.com
Source: www.ieeinc.com
Source: www.scantech.nl, www.scantech-id.com NA: Not Available
Comparison table
Yes Optional
OD: Omni-Directional Scanner Design: 1 Least Attractive, 5 Most Attractive
