Whole Foods Social Media Analysis

Nordstrom is a part of every type of social media. They advertise their new arrivals on Facebook and Twitter. Nordstrom has an Instagram account for each store where they post different outfit ideas, or new arrivals in the store. Nordstrom employees always make every effort to let all customers know about what is coming in and what is trending. They help many fashion-forward customers, keeping them in the loop about what is being sold to provide them with optimal customer service. Nordstrom sends out emails and phone calls whenever they have a sale to promote it. Nordstrom gives card holders early access to all of their sales and bonus reward opportunities so they will visit and shop again (Shannon).

The third issue for Trader Joe’s is their lack of social media presence. Trader Joe’s from their beginning has used a customer newsletter and occasional radio ads in order to promote their brand, and these advertising methods have not changed with the introduction and prevalence of social media. Many brands nowadays are seeking to gain a competitive advantage over the

Last week I received a notification from Facebook to watch the live recording from the Houston Chronicle. I clicked the notification and saw that the reporter was on location at the Whole Foods Market on Westheimer and Wilcrest exhibiting what the new location looks like. If you are from Houston, TX you are familiar with the Westheimer area and know that Whole Foods Market has always been on Westheimer and Wilcrest, so what is going on? They literally moved across the street into a bigger suite! More square footage for all of the healthy, organic food and body items? Heck yes!

Despite these statistics only 31% of SME businesses actively operate a social media engagement strategy, this is an opportunity for the already tech-savvy company (Ravensdale, 2015). Doughnut Time 's social media team regularly posts photos of its gourmet treats on Instagram, where it has more than 80,000 followers, as well as on Facebook, where the Doughnut Time page has received more than 55,000 (Schlesinger, 2016). When analysing these main factors, Doughnut Time appears to be posed for product development, taking advantage of opportunities through the use of menu innovation and promotion deals (Newstex, 2014).

By October 6, 2013, Wegmans has 35,518 tweets and 61,083 followers. The number of followers has increased by 237 in the past three days since October 3, 2013. Of the 237 new followers, 38 of them are users without profile photos (just the original “egg” photos) and having few followers. In addition, 50 of the new followers have above 100 followers, and some of them are also influential users, like @XeroxCorp (57,023 followers), @mwachtel (19,751 followers), @phillygrub (9,386 followers), @anyadowning (5,490 followers), @FoodFotoGallery (4090 followers), @BostonianBows (2,743 followers), and @BelieveInSyr (2308 followers). These kind of followers would be helpful for Wegmans.

In 2010, Walter Robb is named co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, and A.C. Gallo becomes President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). In March of 2010 Whole Foods Market receives what is perhaps their most prized accolade. They are named to the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list by Ethisphere Institute. Honesty, integrity and ethics are valued by consumers in addition to quality, price and customer service. During the summer of 2010, Whole Foods Market hosted a seven-week fundraising campaign with the goal of improving school lunches through what they called “The Salad Bar Project.” Shoppers of Whole Foods Markets donated more than $1.4 million during this period and helped fund 570 salad bars in public schools. With their commitment to sustainability of fisheries, Whole Foods Market forms a partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute to color code wild caught fish sold in its fresh seafood cases.

Whole Foods in recent years has poorly performed in recent years. The company’s stock price plunged 46% year over year, as well cutting workforce, and changing the organization’s structure. Organic food has become the main trend, leading to stronger competition. The United States organic sales marked a new record of 43.3 billion in 2015, the industry is growing tremendously. Consumers are getting involved and concern about environmental and health issues; since the 1990s, the demand for organic products has been growing by double digits and 84 percent of American consumers rather buy an organic product over a regular product, according to Consumer Report survey. Millennials are the largest generation in the United States, not only that but

The grocery industry is highly fragmented, with a multitude of strong regional players (Safeway, Publix, Kroeger, Wegmans, etc.). The largest grocery retailer in the United States is Wal-Mart, with an estimated 33% share. Other major retailers are targeting this segment of the industry, focused on a relatively narrow selection of key commodity foods at relatively low prices (Forbes, 2011). Whole Foods competes in a segment occupied by differentiated grocery players including Trader Joe's, Fresh Market and a highly fragmented selection of local and regional upscale and health-conscious grocery stores. The big players in the industry usually carry ranges of organic and natural products as well, siphoning off some business from Whole Foods. As Whole Foods grows, it comes into competition with mainstream grocery retailers more frequently (McLaughlin & Martin, 2009).

Marketing has customarily been seen and regarded more as an operational as opposed to vital capacity in Whole Foods Inc. It has concentrated on choices identified by examining and selecting target markets, item and brand improvement, advancement, and channels of dissemination. This maybe to some single degree point of view presents showcasing as an assignment of making, advancing and conveying products and administrations to customers and

Every one of the major candy brands has accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They frequently offer specials and have other promotional items on their pages. This engages their consumers and keeps a public interest alive. Currently, Deborah Ann’s only has a Facebook account that is seldom used. This lack of social media utilization may be to blame for Deborah Ann’s less than great customer acquisition rate.

Marketed as ‘America’s healthiest grocery store’ the company has successfully grown to 408 stores across the world with sales of $14 billion in 2014 (Whole Foods Market, 2015). The firm is positioned as an upmarket grocery due to the emphasis on natural, organic origins, and as a result are able to charge a premium for their products. Through efficiently running its operations and stores, Whole Foods are able to maintain healthy 4.02% profit margins (Financial Times, 2015) and operating margins well above the American grocery store industry average at 6.58% (Bloomberg, 2015). Looking at 2015’s quarter 1 figures it is clear to see that Whole Foods have had a hugely successful year with sales of $4.7 billion, up 10% from the same period last year. Furthermore, they opened 9 new stores and have signed a further 11 new leases.

Digital media is becoming powerful in the way grocers are communicating and engaging with consumers today. The use of paper, leaflets, newspapers and posters or it can be known as ‘‘traditional advertising’’ is now being switched to digital media platforms. Millennials are utilising digital platforms such as websites, apps and social networking sites as a new way to advertise (The Voice of Food Retail, 2016). Aldi uses Facebook as a form of promotion for advertisement purposes and to increase their brand awareness by providing incentives likewise inspiring followers to interact with their daily posts (Evonimie, 2015). Another social media platform used by Aldi is Twitter in order to interact with shoppers. By interacting through social media,

Whole Foods Market has expanded by a mixture of opening its own new stores and acquiring already existing stores. Today WFM does not follow this strategy, instead their motivation is to open its own large stores. This is due to noticeable sales differences in larger stores as opposed to smaller stores. WFM locates these newer stores in upscale areas of urban metropolitan centers and high-traffic shopping locations. Not all WFMs are isolated structures; some are located in strip malls. WFM offers a larger selection of natural and organic foods than any other grocery store. WFMs marketing expenditure is extremely small. They spend a measly 0.5% of their revenues on advertising. Their chief marketing strategy relies on word-of-mouth. WFM strives to meet or exceed customer expectations. This is so customers receive competent, knowledgeable, and friendly service and become advocates of WFM. The employees here have a decentralized team approach for store operations. This is so some personnel, merchandising, and operating

Whole Foods Market began in 1970 as a local supermarket. Over the past 31 years, Whole Foods Market has grown from a single store in Austin, Texas, to becoming one of the worldwide leaders in providing consumers with natural and organic foods. They have grown to over 300 stores in both North America and the United Kingdom. (Whole Foods Market, Inc., 2011) This report examines the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market has put into place. Also, it uses past financial data to provide an assessment of the condition of the company going forward. Those assessments include recommendations of future actions, along with concerns I have about the way the company is currently operating and some difficulties that may be on the way.

McDonald’s can use the power of social media to interact with its consumers to understand their grievances. Perhaps the negative publicity that the company has received is due to lack of proper interaction with the customers (Selcke, 2012). Through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the company can enlighten the public on the quantity of calories that is present in every food item. Millions of McDonald’s customers can be reached via Facebook and Twitter. The company should use its Facebook pages to apologize for any bad decisions, set the record straight, and even seek advice from its consumers to enhance positive publicity (Selcke, 2012).