The case of Superior Supermarkets demonstrates the need for retailers to evaluate whether low pricing strategy is indeed the right solution and approach to increase competitiveness in the trade and for consumers. For Superior, the option to use EDLP as a pricing strategy must include an assessment of the retail grocery chain's pricing strategy prior to launching the EDLP approach. This way, Superior can best identify if the EDLP is the best approach after assessing pricing for all grocery items/product categories (i.e., do most or only few of the items need further reduction to increase pricing competitiveness). In addition, it would also be wise for Hall to determine, from consumer research results, the different "dimensions" that consumers give to the determinant "price." It is possible that "price" for consumers is simply looking at the price per se, and it is also possible that other consumers evaluate prices differently, attaching a specific value to it -- that is price plus quality of product/item, price plus shopping convenience, price plus consistency of pricing, among others. Dimensionalizing price will provide Hall with an indication if indeed, low prices or price reductions is the major determinant for supermarket preference and patronage, or maybe other factors or determinants come into play and are fused/integrated with consumers' perception of "price." DQ4: Please compare Superior Supermarket to a supermarket...

Are they trying to compete on the platform of EDLP or something else? What is the message they communicate to consumers using IMC?
Superior Supermarket compared to Wal-Mart would yield a different and uneven comparative analysis, as each supermarket has a different approach to pricing and marketing shopping convenience. While most supermarkets approach pricing promotion through the EDLP platform, competition between Superior and Wal-Mart are different in that the latter operates on a far larger scale than Superior. Further, Superior operates and yields an advantage as being a convenient supermarket/grocery store in Centralia, one of the closest grocery stores within a specific locality. Whereas, Wal-Mart operates on a far larger scope, servicing a wider radii of communities and localities within the state. In addition, Wal-Mart's centralized and far superior product distribution/logistics technology ensures that each branch are well-stocked on most of the grocery/product items it regularly provides, compared to Superior's limited logistics capability to replenish out-of-stock items and coordinate this quickly and efficiently with other Superior branches. Thus, Superior and Wal-Mart, while subsisting to the EDLP platform, use different IMC strategies, with Wal-Mart servicing a wider geographic coverage, and Superior catering to immediate grocery/shopping needs of consumers within a specific locality.