CanGo's competitive position across multiple retail market segments

CanGo: Competitive Analysis

Due to recent acquisitions and expansions of its operations as well as the changing nature of the retail industry as a whole, CanGo operates in several different market segments. This can make a competitive analysis of the company somewhat difficult to conduct with any degree of certainty and with concrete conclusions, as the complexities of a competitive comparison must take into account the differences in business model and operation that exist between CanGo and its various competitors in different market segments. The following paragraph will detail some of CanGo's major competitors across the company's different market segments of operation and penetration, in order to determine a more comprehensive and detailed analysis of the competition in the industry and CanGo's competitive position.

Amazon

A major -- according to many, the major -- innovator of online retail sales, starting with books but now including almost any imaginable consumer good, CanGo is in direct competition with Amazon when it comes to the sale of CDs, mp3s, books, and DVDs. The company has had enormous success as an online retailer, and due to its well-integrated supply chain, much of which is outsourced, it is able to offer lower prices than almost any other retailer for many items (Yahoo 2011). The company's "marketplace," which allows other sellers to use Amazon's website as a trading post, is also seen as a cost-saving and efficiency-creating service by consumers, and the company's Kindle could herald an entrance into other portable media deliveries (Yahoo 2011).

iTunes

In the area of music sales, one of CanGo's most significant competitors is Apple's iTunes store. The companies are in direct competition when it comes to sales of downloadable mp3s, and iTunes market penetration through the free availability of its iTunes media-playing and -- organizing software means CanGo faces stiff competition here (Mennecke 2008). Competition from iTunes also exists when it comes to CD sales, albeit indirectly, as the downloading of albums from iTunes more convenient and often cheaper than purchasing CDs.

Book Retailers

There is one area of CanGo's operations in which it appears to be on the winning side of a major competitive shift. Physical book retailers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble are facing incredibly hard times, as online sales of books and the increasing use of digital books and media rather than purchasing physical copies of such texts at all have rendered these companies largely obsolete (Hoovers 2011). Bankruptcies, store closures, and a gradual (or, in some cases, a not-so-gradual) disappearance form the market are already underway for many of the companies in the physical book retail industry, and this trend shows no signs of slowing or reversing -- nor would it, really, when the commodities being sold at these establishments are out of date and not especially useful in light of competing products (Hoovers 2011). CanGo is likely to continue seeing diminished competition from these brick-and-mortar retailers when it comes to the sale of books, although the company will still have to maneuver quickly and carefully in order to take a larger market share rather than seeing this advantage completely taken up by its other competitors.

Conclusion

In many areas of its business, CanGo faces intense competition. Given how new the company is, branding could pose a major difficulty in the face of such well-known competitors. Focusing on its most profitable areas of competition and building brand identity will be useful practices as CanGo moves forward.