Question

Why Target failed in Canada?  

How did McDonald's succeed in China?

Answer 1

Answer: There were a number of reasons which were behind the failure of Target in Canada. Firstly the company was unable to understand the consumer behavior and expectations and were not able to offer the lower prices as expected by the customers. The company was unable to open on good locations and inventory management of target in Canada was very poor and many of the shelves were empty. The   company was also not able to develop strong competitive strategies to deal with the players like Wal-Mart which already operated in the country.

McDonald was successful in China because of several reasons. Firstly the company got the first mover’s advantage as it entered China in early 1990’s when there was nearly no other western fast food chain present in China. The company’s pricing strategy put it in high end restaurants as the per capita income was low in China at that time. Thus Mc Donald became a favourite of the white collar customers who wanted to look western in their behaviour.   The company also localized its tastes as per the local Chinese tastes. All this coupled with a Western Mania resulted in making Mc Donald’s successful in China.