Divertive Competition

Most people go to a particular store because they want to purchase certain items, and many have to go all over town in order to get all of their shopping done. This can be extremely inconvienient for most busy people, so they often go to department stores or super centers where they can do most of their shopping all at once. Some reatilers have began capitalizing on this trend and constantly come up with strategies or create a wider selection of goods in order to keep the customer coming back to their store. Divertive Retailers constantly think of new ways to take business from other stores and add it to their own. Some retailers add on gas stations, or grocery sections, pharmacy's, or even doctor's offices, and hair salons just so cunsumers will opt to shop at their store instead of going elsewhere. It is a pretty smart move actually, but can make it difficult for other retailers to get a head or even compete with these super chains or divertive retailers. Wal-mart is among one of the top divertive retailers and takes a lot of business away from other stores because they have almost everything imaginable in their stores, making it convenient to the customer, and they are able to keep their prices lower than most competitors. It is kind of ironic that stores are going back to this trend of having everything all in one place because most stores started out this way a hundred years ago when they began as general stores and selling dry goods. I think this is a trend we will continue to see develope because even typical pharmicies like CVS have make-up sections, photo sections, and sell DVD's and Cd's. Most stores sell a wide assortment of items besides what they are typically known for, which in turn has greatly benefitted them (Dunne, P., Griffith, D., Lusch, R., Retailing, Ed. 4, 2002, Pg. 118).