• Increased competition o More stores offering natural and organic foods a lot cheaper o There is also the option to get natural and organic foods online • Whole Food store prices are too high o Customers go to competitors that sell the same products for cheaper o The company is planning to cut 1,500 jobs or 1.6% of the workforce, just added 9,000 jobs last year, to make cuts in the stores and company. • Cannibalization of stores o Sales growth at stores open at least a year is 1.3% o Customers are being brought to the new stores from current, better established chains o The old stores are not getting quality maintenance and have poor customer service • Brand equity being demolished with the opening of a new chain, 365 by Whole Foods Market, to sell …show more content…
o Accused of massive overcharging products by using labels that listed incorrect weights o PETA is suing the company for having consumers pay high prices for meat from animals on farms that differ from the industry’s paltry minimum standards • Same-store sales dropped from last year by 0.2% • Total sales increased by 6%, weakest since about 2010 • Profitability is also down Growth strategies/ Solutions Rebuild their tarnished reputation o Market the products with better prices o Scan the internal and external environment of the company and make corrections o Deal with the lawsuits and allegations against the company o Remind the social media what Whole Foods stands for and what the goal of the company is Lower prices o Have occasional discounts, especially around the holidays o Sell items in bulk packages o Instead of creating a chain that will create doubts in the current loyal base, change the pricing strategy for all stores that considers price-conscious buyers Expand their “Non-Whole Foods” items o Implement items that are not only natural and organic, but regular everyday items o Some of the items that should be sold cheaper than the organic items are: bananas, chicken, ground beef, milk, and