Marketing Segmentation at Food Lion the Point

Marketing Segmentation at Food Lion

The point of market segmentation is to allow businesses to center on a product or service that sells and why it does. Food Lion Grocery stores carry a variety of milk ranging from Whole, Low Fat or Skim, Fat Free, Soy, Organic, and Lactose Free from local and countrywide distributors to provide a variety of milk products that will allow the biggest return for the company. Like other grocery markets in the area, this company must classify and evaluate the dairy products to decide if it brings profitable results because the milk consumers are very important to this type of business. The marketing teams can divide the grocery store's milk products in to psychographic, geographic, demographic, and behavior segments to decide if they are providing the kinds of milk their customers want to buy.

In looking at the milk products from a local grocery store with psychographic segmentation, customers are viewed according to their everyday life which can include the consumers' daily activities, their opinions, and what they value in life. The Food Lion in the area supplies local neighborhood consumers in rural areas of middle to upper class families with close by retirement parks and elderly neighborhoods with assisted living facilities. This allows the marketing department to determine what milk should be sold considering: is whole milk as popular in this location as others, are healthy and organic milk being bought for consumers with special diets and who believe in healthy living, and are supplemental milk products available to children and elderly who are intolerant and have deficiencies. Food Lion can verify if the regular dairy products are as plentiful and competitive as neighborhood grocery stores by comparing what other local stores offer at what price and which products are being bought and which ones are not. The grocery store can learn the interests and opinions of consumers by surveying and asking the customer opinions who do come in and purchase milk to find out how they truly feel. Many shoppers will express their concerns honestly when asked especially if they are not singled out or if they feel their opinion can make a difference.

If Food Lion used demographic segmentation variables such as: age, gender, family size and income, background and social classes they will determine what are the main types of customers that come in to the grocery store. Once Food Lion has determined their target customers, they can decide if they are meeting the needs of that particular customer by the types of milk they stock. In this particular store, the number one consumer is middle to upper class men and women who shop for their families and Food Lion can determine which kinds of milk products are required to keep these consumers coming back. The grocery stores will need to consider the prices of their products and other competitive stores in the region so they can get the most out of each gallon or other types of milk they supply. It is very important for Food Lion to look at the minority shoppers that do business with them and what their needs are and if they supply a variety of milk products they like and can afford such as a generic brands and variety. The minority groups that shop to keep Food Lion in business are important because these consumers keep sales viable in other areas and levels of marketing.