Merchandising Strategies Competitor Best Practices Instructions: Comparative analysis or Benchmarking of competitors is done in the industry on a regular basis. The point of the task is to identify strengths

and weaknesses of your store's merchandise mix and overall business processes in comparison to the competitors'. ● Created by Professor Catherine Geib Update by Professor Blumenthal ● How are you offering the consumer unique positioning in one segment of your business, but not in others? How are you leading or in fact are you following to that of the competition? Are you under- or over-developed in certain classifications? What is your "best at" compared to that of your competitors. Consider how you are positioning your assortment. How is your pricing? Presentation? Projection? in relation to your competition Do you observe business opportunities that no one has addressed yet (market voids) based on consumer and industry trends. Retail Businesses are rebounding after almost two years of restrictions due to the pandemic. We have heard this over and over. In the week 2 lecture I spoke about the reality of online business growing however the bulk of business is still done in actual retail stores. Competition in the online space is growing tremendously but the consumer is going back to stores! The book on retail companies is continuing to be rewritten! The bottom line is companies have to figure out how to thrive and grow the business for 2024 and the future. Our Sponsor Company is tasking FIT with this project. This is an individual homework 1. Research two competitive companies or brands. Using substantiated (cited) research to illustrate what these companies have successfully achieved and how our client can benefit from their best practices. 2. Create a visual presentation of these best practices in Powerpoint and add your research directly on to or below the slides. Use both visuals and text to illustrate your ideas. Remember this could help fuel your strategy for the final paper and presentation and will support your SWOT work in the FIT corporate analyzer in the weeks to come. Upload work as a PDF. 3. All research must be cited in APA. 3. Some examples may be but are not limited to a new classification of business, innovative project created, brand expansion, license deals, new ways to target the customer, fulfilling a market void (white space), rebranding of a category of business, etc.. Open your mind and dive deep into this assignment. You can have some creative license on what company or brand you may use AS LONG AS THEIR BEST PRACTICES COULD BE UTILIZED BY OUR Client COMPANY IN YOUR POTENTIAL STRATEGY IDEA! 4. You may also go back pre-pandemic to great new ideas delivered by companies or Brands as long as you have the research to illustrate, and they are still relevant for 2025/6. Sometimes the smallest businesses may have the best ideas.