For Introduction to Marketing the class had to get in a group, and that group had to choose a company to do a Marketing Audit on. My group chose Weis Markets.

1. Marketing Audit: Weis
Markets
By: Whitney Maconeghy
Tyler Bonick
Samantha Rivera

2. History
● Founded in 1912 by Harry and Sigmund Weis
● Originally was Weis Pure Foods
● Today Jonathan Weis overseas the company
● Stores are located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New York, New
Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia
● 19,000+ employees
● Self reliant and supports local farmers
● Supports local food banks and food pantries
● Raising money for foundations

3. Part I: Marketing Strategy, Organization, and
Environment Audit

4. Business Mission, Objectives, and Goals
● Weis Markets’ business mission is to deliver an exceptional shopping experience
by offering the best service, quality, and freshest products while being good
stewards of their environment and giving back to the community they serve.
● They put their customers first and want them to have the best shopping
experience they can.
● Their vision/goal is to become the number one supermarket in their communities
by offering the most inviting buying environment while saving their customers
time and money and building their brand to premium status.

5. Strategic Planning Process
● SWOT Analysis
○ Strengths - initiatives to promote in-store energy, promotional programs, and
debt free capital structure
○ Weaknesses - product recalls, and geographical concentration of operations
○ Opportunities - increasing preference for online shopping, and growing
demand for private label brands
○ Threats - increasing labor wages, conversion of brand drugs to generic, and
intense competition
● Strategic Imperatives
○ Establish a sales driven culture, continuously upgrade organizational talent
pool, become more relevant to consumers, significantly improve support and
measurement, and focus on sustainability strategies

6. Marketing Information System
● Loyalty marketing system:
○ Customers can get a Weis Preferred Shoppers Club Card to get discounts
and if they spend over $3,500 in 3-6 months they can become a Gold Card
Member.
● The difference between the two different cards is the Gold Card Member card has
the customer’s name on it and coupons are linked to the card.

7. Marketing Organization
❖ Chief Marketing Officer:
➢ Richard A. Gunn, who reports his work to Kurt A. Schertle (COO)
➢ Both have very similar responsibilities, except Schertle is in a higher
position
➢ The two men both have experience in food retail
➢ Schertle has been in the position since 2014 as Gunn has been since
2015
➢ Gunn’s job focuses on marketing communications, advertising,
public relations, and increasing sales through market strategy

8. Marketing Organization Continued
❖ Marketing Structure:
➢ Work their market along functional grounds-builds a loyal market
➢ Gives customers discounts, promotions, and fuel rewards
➢ Unfortunately, they lack in geographical lines
➢ Mostly located in central and northeast Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Baltimore, and New York
➢ All revenue comes from east coast
➢ Trade area is vulnerable to social and climate change because they
are not widely spread
➢ They have had the opportunity to online shop

9. Marketing Organization Cont.
❖ Communication:
➢ They keep research updated to see what promotional ideas and
advertising is working for them and what is not
➢ They focus on the shopping experience and customer service
knowing that that is where their profits will come from
➢ They look for new ways to look after the environment which also
could bring in prospect customers
➢ They know that the way they market their brand and their products
has a big part of bringing in customers who will want to purchase
from their store , which gives the company sales

10. Marketing Environment
● Weis continues to strive in offering their customers the lowest price possible per
region
● Current trends are leaning more towards online shopping and also other
electronic means, and weis is implementing these means as another convenience
for the customer.
● Leading competitors include Wegmans, Price Chopper, Kroeger, and really any
other local or major markets in the region of the stores.
● Weis’ main catch is there prices, and biggest threat is competition. The have
customers, but others have the money, which can make it hard for weis to keep
up.

11. Part II: Product and Price

12. Marketing Segmentation
● The division of the market for a product into groups of customers with
identifiable needs and characteristics
○ Weis uses geographical market segmentation
■ When a business divides its market based on geography
○ More specifically they use rural market segmentation
■ A function which manages all activities in asserting, stimulating, and
converting the purchasing power of rural people into an effective
demand for specific products and services and thereby achieving the
goals of the organization

13. Targeting and Positioning
● Targeting: the selection of potential customers to whom a business wishes to sell
products or services
○ Weis Markets targets people in the middle and upper classes
● Positioning: a marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct
position relative to competing brands, in the mind of the customer
○ Weis positions prices at affordable prices

14. Products
❖ Product Line Objectives:
1. Creating Meaningful Differentiation: Offering competitive prices on name
brands and training workers to provide quality, service and value in their
products (buyers have best shopping experience)
2. Establish a Sales Driven Culture: Invests in new stores and remodels to
increase market shares and shareholder value
3. Become more Relevant to Consumers: Building customer loyalty by checking
on satisfaction of customer to see what they do and do not like about their
company (research)

15. Products Continued
❖ Product Line Objectives:
1. Significantly Improve Decision Support and Measurement: Always keep
technology systems and distribution networks which keeps store
conditions organized and shoppable conditions
2. Focus On Sustainability: they try to be environmental friendly.
a. Four main pillars is green design, natural resource conservation, food and agricultural
impact

16. Product Line Outcome
❖ Since 2016- 9% increase in sales compared to 2015
■ Contributes to new location of 44 Weis Markets
➢ The different products and brands engage more customers and keep
them coming back for more
➢ In addition, adding Everyday Lower Prices on purchased items brings
in more sales
➢ They have a good source of different products and there is nothing
more there should really add to their product line
➢ Their weakness seems to be their response to intense competitors
■ Walmart, Whole Food, Kroger, and others

17. Price
● Weis’ goal is offer customers the lowest price for the product they are receiving.
There are 2 ways they go about this
● Everyday Low Pricing: offer customers consistent low prices without the need for
weekly sales. They know what to expect every week.
● Lowest Price Guarantee: Using regional statistics, Weis will pick certain products
and offer the lowest price on them compared to local competitors, ensuring that
their price won’t be beaten.
● Even in a tough market, Wei stands by their approach as it has been a key factor
in customer loyalty. Customers know they will receive the best deal for their
wallet when they walk into weis, and that is what keeps them going.

18. Part III: Distribution and Promotion

19. Distribution
● Weis has maintained solid relationships with their suppliers and
distributors. They get what is needed on their end, and the supplier is well
taken care of for it.
● The availability for key resources is still looking favorable, but only time
will tell.
● Advancements in technology and rise in inflation could affect weis’ share.
● As long as Weis continues to be successful, they should be able to keep on
track.

20. Profitability
❖ Greatly impacted by their cost of oil
❖ Fluctuating prices affect the delivery cost and distribution center to Weis
stores
❖ The company experienced a decrease in distribution costs, but did not
have much of a decline with their fuel because of the high demand
❖ The company has recently raised hourly wage rates
❖ This was to attract and keep employees wanting to work at Weis
❖ 60% of Operating, general and administrative expenses has to do with
employee cost of working for Weis

21. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
❖ Since money has gone to employing workers Weis has decided to not
raise their prices
❖ They have noticed utility cost dominating their budget and costing a
larger amount than other areas
❖ For this reason they are trying to decrease this cost with using
conservation technologies and associating energy awareness
❖ With the above knowledge we are aware that management periodically
checks their profitability and marketing costs to make sure everything is
going smoothly and their annual-plan objectives can be achieved