This paper analyzes the Sears brand within the broader retail industry, evaluating how the company positions itself against major competitors including Walmart, Target, and Amazon. The paper profiles Sears's brand identity, which centers on quality proprietary products such as Kenmore and Craftsman alongside in-home installation and maintenance services. It examines market share data for leading competitors, identifies Sears's primary and secondary target demographics, and outlines the brand's points of parity and points of difference. The paper concludes that Sears's unique selling point is its emphasis on quality goods and services — a differentiator that sets it apart from discount-focused and convenience-focused rivals in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.
Sears is a retail company that offers a range of products and services through brick-and-mortar locations and online shopping portals. Its brand focuses on offering quality proprietary products and in-home services in an industry currently led by larger retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon — the e-commerce giant that is single-handedly changing the nature of retail today. In order to stay competitive, Sears is focusing on building brand loyalty among a young target market with disposable income — the 25–30 year old demographic — and is differentiating itself from competitors by emphasizing quality products and services rather than simply discounted options. Sears's main selling point is therefore its quality proprietary brands — like Kenmore and Craftsman — which appeal to homeowners, especially new homeowners who are in a prime position to develop lasting loyalty to the types of appliances and services that only Sears can offer.
The Sears brand is rooted in the traditional brick-and-mortar approach to retail: Sears is dedicated to providing consumers with a place to shop, find trusted merchandise and home appliances, and obtain services they desire. To make itself more appealing, Sears offers a number of proprietary brands, including Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard — spanning home appliances, kitchen goods, hardware, construction, and automotive products. In this way, the Sears brand has broad appeal across numerous customer bases. Both men and women are attracted to the brand because of its diverse offerings, from kitchen and home appliances to garage tools and hand tools. The Sears brand is also focused on providing home services — that is, company representatives visit the customer's home to install purchased products, including air conditioners, dishwashers, washing machines, and more.
In this sense, Sears has always focused on delivering quality rather than projecting an image as a discount retailer. The Sears brand is built on developing loyalty through years of trusted product use, the goodwill generated by in-home service calls — Sears makes "more than 14 million service and installation calls annually" (Sears, 2018) — and the ease of access provided by a physical retail environment where products can be purchased or picked up. This personal touch is increasingly rare in an era of internet buying and e-commerce. The Sears brand stands out as one that remains committed to doing things in a time-honored way, and that carries meaningful weight for customers who value a brand with a strong reputation for quality products like Craftsman and a long business history they can trust.
Sears operates in the retail industry. Its leading brand competitors are Walmart, Target, and Amazon. Walmart has nearly 12,000 stores in over 25 countries and serves more than 200 million customers every day (Karbastera, 2016; Jurevicius, 2018). Walmart's revenue is considerable: it recorded year-over-year revenue of $485.873 billion USD in 2017, nearly a 1% increase from 2016. However, the company's net profits declined — $13.643 billion USD in 2017 versus $14.694 billion USD in 2016, a fall of more than 7% (Jurevicius, 2018). This decline can be partly explained by the rise of Amazon, the e-commerce giant that continues to put pressure on traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. Walmart's market share stands at approximately 25% (Hochschorner, 2016). Amazon has dominated online shopping by providing consumers with the ability to select products for home delivery without ever leaving their homes. Amazon's share of the entire retail industry is around 4%, while its e-commerce market share stands at 38% (Molla, 2017). Target's retail market share is around 2% (Hochschorner, 2016).
Walmart's brand is built on the idea that consumers can get quality products at the lowest prices in mega-stores that function as all-in-one destinations — places where customers can eat, shop, purchase home furnishings, buy groceries, and find virtually anything else they need. Target's brand is similar; while it is not as large-scale as Walmart, it provides convenient access to a wide range of products, from clothing and furniture to household goods and groceries, all at low prices. Amazon's brand is built on the simplicity of shopping: consumers order products through Amazon's website, which hosts an expansive platform for third-party sellers who then ship directly to the consumer. For all three competitors, ease and convenience of shopping, combined with low prices, are the core pillars of brand appeal.
"Primary and secondary consumer demographic groups"
"How Sears compares and differs from competitors"
"Quality as Sears's core differentiator"
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