A taxonomy of competitive retailing strategies

An important aspect of any scientific investigation involves classifying the phenomena being studied. This research focused on a taxonomic analysis of the limited domain of competitive retailing strategies employed by U.S. supermarket chains for generic brand grocery products. Using cluster analysis, an empirically derived taxonomy was developed, and the characteristics of firms in each of the four strategic groups were examined. In addition, the performance of particular strategic groups was analysed. Firms in one of the strategic groups (aggressive initiators) consistently indicated higher levels of success.