Cango: Competitive Analysis Due to Recent Acquisitions

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).

eBay

eBay and it's spinoff half.com are also major competitors of CanGo, especially when it comes to the online sale of books. Though neither eBay nor half.com engage in the manufacturing of books nor do they even (typically) even deal with new items, instead focusing on the resale of previously used items (and specifically previously used books in the case of half.com), these are well-known sites for individuals seeking discounted books via online sales (Wang 2005). These competitors are far more narrow in their affect on CanGo; eBay deals in a wide range of goods just as Amazon does, though it intersects with CanGo on book sales and to a lesser degree on CD and DVD sales, whiel half.com is a major competitor when it comes to books, as even fairly new books can usually be found on the site at discount prices (Wang 2005). As book sales, including manufacturing, has been a key segment of CanGo's business model, competition in this area should be cause for consideration.

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