A Survey of Competitive Strategies Adopted Hy Supermarkets In Nairobi

Abstract

This management project was done with two objectives: to determine the competitive strategies adopted by supermarkets in Nairobi and whether these strategies vary according to the dynamics of the firms in the supermarkets industry. Firms formulate competitive strategies that reflect their internal strengths and external threats and opportunities.The supermarkets in Kenya are faced with a lot of challenges. These include demands of customers and expectations, external factors such as political,economic and legal development and intra-industry competition. All these call for sound competitive strategies, both general and firm specific. The study was survey design. There are about 226 best -known supermarkets in Nairobi or which 65 were sampled. 46 supermarkets responded to the questionnaires 66% response rate) Stratified sampling was done where location. size and ownership were the basis stratification. The data was collected using the questionnaire. The results of the study show that supermarkets in Nairobi practice competitive strategies but mostly do it informally. Growth strategies, cost leadership, differentiation, location strategy, customer service and communication strategies were the most common competitive strategies supermarket firms applied. 63% of the firms reported that lack of capital, high taxation in form of Value Added Tax (VAT), employee pilferage and intra-firm competition were the greatest challenge faced by supermarkets. Most firms 52% stated that the future of the supermarkets in Nairobi was bright. Success they said depended on internal resources, leadership and specific strategies the supermarkets pursued at a given moment.