Market Entry B2C Failures

Firms enter into the international market as part of their expansion strategies. Several factors are taken into account prior to the entry. Setting an entry market strategy and understanding the competition are some of the key areas for consideration. There are firms achieved greater success in the foreign market but some of the expansion strategies failed miserably. This paper will explain entry market failures of firms. The firm which failed doing business in the Canadian market is Target (Wahba, 2015). The Canadian firm that failed in the international market is BlackBerry (Reguly, 2018).

Target

Target is a US based department store retailer and one of the biggest retail giant in the USA. The company has 1850 stores all across the US. The company has more than 350,000 sales force all around the globe. The global offices located in Hong Kong, China, and India (corporate fact sheet, 2019).When Target decided to enter into the Canadian market first thing they did was started acquiring existing properties that way they can save the time for set up new buildings and amenities. In the year 2011 Target decided to take over the stores of Zellers on lease conditions. Leasing on Zellers stores was one of the greatest mistake done by Target Canada because most of the Zellers stores are not in the right location for people to shop. Target opened its stores all across Canada within a short span of time. Opening 100 plus stores negatively affect the inventory management of the company. Most of the Target Canada outlet was running out of inventory, that also made a negative impression about the company in the mind of consumers (Wahba, Why Target failed in Canada, 2015).

Target set the price of their products based on the competitive environment. They want to create an image of the lowest priced player in the market. Once after Target started its operation in the Canadian market they had to face though competition from Wal-mart. Wal-mart started giving more offers and price -offs to the customers that also adversely affect the sales figures of Target (Strauss & Krashinsky, 2018). Target always trying to communicate with customers through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter. They usually share the latest news and offers through this platform.

PESTLE Analysis of Target

When Target came to Canada the political stability of the country is also taken into account. Canada is politically stable and supports investments from foreign players for their economic development. Target decided to wind up its Canadian operations at the end of 2015 after meeting $5.4 billion loss, around 17000 employees lost their jobs. The company care their employees and customers and try to give positive shopping experience to the customers. As part of their social commitment Target gives a percentage of profits back to the community for the community development. Target is a company which uses social media platform effectively to keep in touch with their customers  (Frue, 2019). Target had to follow all the legal procedures while doing its business in Canada, including “Environment laws, Labour laws, Privacy and security laws, and Employment laws” (Frue, 2019). Target try to reduce the waste as part of their Eco-friendly programme (Frue, 2019).

BlackBerry

BlackBerry, a Canadian, based smartphone manufacturing company, The company had a good brand image and reputation in the market when it first launched. Currently, the company lost its market share and facing tough competition from rival companies. There are numerous reasons why this Canadian mobile manufacturer lost their market share. Some of the important once are;

1.Failed to address market change and customer expectations

One of the noticeable features of BlackBerry phones was Qwerty keypads. It was very successful in the market when its first launched because of the easiness of sending messages and emails, but after that iPhone came into a place people started to use the touchscreen phones more often than plastic keypad ones. The company failed to identify the market shift and they still focus on the same old plastic keypad phones, this negatively affect the business of BlackBerry.The company later introduced its new model BlackBeryy 10 which support full touch screen and stylish design but it cannot bring back the market share BlackBerry had before in the market (Worth, 2016).

2.Unattractive designs

This is another reason why BlackBerry lost its market share in the international market. When iPhone introduced in the market its got much appreciation for stylish design and user-friendly features but BlackBerry followed the same old pattern and some of the models are really heavy and not user-friendly this is also set the company back in the race (Worth, 2016).

3.Competition

Competition from Apple is one of the reasons why BlackBerry lost its upper hand in the market. The customers easily get used to the touch screen technology and BlackBerry failed to understand the competition from Apple  (Worth, 2016).

The company facing pressure from certain countries especially India, Saudi Arabia regarding the encrypted service facility in the mobile device. These countries are putting pressure on Blackberry to provide some of the information generated through their devices (Hlliday & Wearden, 2010).BlackBerry enter into a partnership with Tata for making highly secure mobile devices for the Indian market. This collaboration aimed at manufacturing highly secure communication devices under government requirement and conditions (BlackBerry, Tata enter into pact, 2016).

Conclusion

Target and BlckBerry are examples of market entry failures. Both the firms failed to address the needs of the consumers and market conditions. These two firms are facing tough competition from their competitors and both firms are not moving as per the market demands. Target faced a shortage of inventory after they opened 100 plus stores and it clearly shows incapability of management and operations. Blackberry it was reluctant to change according to the market requirements.

References

BlackBerry, Tata enter into pact. (2016, October 06). Retrieved from The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/blackberry-tata-enter-into-pact/article7731059.ece#!

corporate fact sheet. (2019). Retrieved from Target: https://corporate.target.com/press/corporate

Frue, K. (2019, Januvary 23). PESTELE Analysis of Target. Retrieved from Pestele Analysis: https://pestleanalysis.com/

Hlliday, j., & Wearden, G. (2010, Auguest 12). India sets deadline for BlackBerry compliance. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/aug/12/blackberry-email-messaging-india

Reguly, E. (2018, May 11). The decline and fall of Canada’s global corporate superstars. Retrieved from The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-decline-and-fall-of-canadas-global-corporate-superstars/article13822902/

Strauss, M., & Krashinsky, S. (2018, May 11). The Target invasion: How pricing will be key to Canadian success. Retrieved from The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/the-target-invasion-how-pricing-will-be-key-to-canadian-success/article7550145/

Wahba, P. (2015, Januvary 15). Why Target failed in Canada. Retrieved from Fortune: http://fortune.com/2015/01/15/target-canada-fail/

Wahba, P. (2015, Januvary 15). Why Target failed in Canada. Retrieved from Fortune: http://fortune.com/2015/01/15/target-canada-fail/

Worth, D. (2016, October 07). 6 reasons BlackBerry crumbled in the smart phone market. Retrieved from the INQUIRER: https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/2473044/6-reasons-blackberry-crumbled-in-the-smartphone-market