Food-Oriented Retailers in Terms of Width and Depth Assortment (Essay Sample)

Retailing Strategies
Name
Institution
Part A.
Assortment classification involves classifying retailers/marketers according to the number and type of products displayed for consumer selection and purchase. There are two major types of categorization; depth and width of assortment strategies. Depth of assortment considers the number of varieties of the same product that a retailer markets, while width of assortment focuses on the number of different products on sale (Rafiq, 2014, p. 192).
Iku Wholefoods, an Australian-based marketer of wholefoods falls under the wide variety category. The company markets different types of green-based (vegetarian) foods, thus offering vegetarian consumers a wide range of non-animal foods.
In contrast, Campbell Soup, a U.S-based retailer of canned soups and related food products, falls under the deep assortment category. This is because the company specializes in canned soups and baked food products, which provides customers with different variations of soups and baked products.
Part B.
The growth of combination stores and food-based superstores means that conventional supermarkets are facing greater competition not just from new entrants, but from product and market segmentation oriented retailers. For instance, food-based stores are focused on selling food products, which provide them with a competitive advantage in terms of branding and meeting customer needs. To effectively compete against food-based super stores, conventional markets will have to increase their level of depth and width assortment (Rafiq, 2014). This will allow them to offer a wide variety and range of food products at the same level (or better) offered by food-based stores.
Part C.
Market saturation is a situation in which a product or...