Publix Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)
Marketing Strategy of Publix analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on Publix marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the Publix Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:
Quick Glance:
Publix Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in Publix marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
Publix is a supermarket chain which mostly deals in Food and Pharmacy. The products could include grocery, bakery, deli, seafood, meat, flowers. Apart from these, there are even pharmacy stores, liquor stores, cafes, in-house restaurants, and also parking facilities available as its marketing mix service offering. Publix also has a unique service for its customers. This includes a “special order” service which provides the customer with a choice to pre-order some of the products which are not generally stocked at many grocery stores and rare items.
These items could be ordered at the customer service counter and they can be delivered to the customer. In addition to these services, Publix also provides some monetary services which could range from the Western Union money transfer and the likes, to check cashing. Home cleaning services and lottery centers are also present in the supermarket premises.
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Publix Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Publix marketing strategy:
These stores are mainly targeted at the middle and upper-class families and the products are priced accordingly. The prices segmented based on the financial status of the customers.
Some products have a different range of pricing and have options for different brands so that the shoppers can choose according to their will. Publix aims at providing their customers with the best quality. It has shown low switching ratio amongst their customers as it provides them competitive price as compared to its competitors like Walmart, Blackrock etc.
Read more about Publix
Publix Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Publix marketing mix:
It has over 1000 stores in the U.S. making it the third largest grocery store in the country. Out of all the stores, the store in St. Augustine Florida was designed to be energy-efficient with motion sensor doors and freezers designed the same way. This lead to saving electricity bills which cut down huge variable and maintenance costs for the store. Currently, it serves 7 states in the U.S. namely Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia; Virginia is the newest location for its stores. Generally, Publix services are aimed at providing food and grocery. But at some places, Publix also has cafes, restaurants, cleaning services, money transfer centers, lottery tickets are being sold. There are Apron’s kiosks present within the supermarket where an employee demonstrates cooking instructions for some of the products sold with the supermarket such as ready-to-make and ready-to-cook products. Publix operates 11 cooking school under the Apron’s name where students are mentored by chefs, celebrity cooks, authors of famous cookbooks, etc.
There is also the GreenWise market which is aimed at providing Natural and Organic foods, and Publix Sabor which provides items staple to the Hispanics.
Publix Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Publix marketing strategy is as follows:
To attract the customers to the store, Publix forayed into different sections rather than just providing food and groceries. It has made its customers shopping experiences easier and enjoyable by providing them various shopping options rather than the conventional one. One could order groceries from the store and get it delivered to their home. Publix runs various promotional campaigns on TV and newspaper. Although Publix is not into many digital marketing or social media marketing strategies, it has awards and accolades which proves its worth and credibility as a service to their customers. It was featured on the Forbes 2010 list of America’s Largest Private companies on the 8th position. Apart from the services it provides to its customers, they have also various facilities for their employees. They issue stocks only to those associated with Publix internally. They get their stocks free of cost if they fulfil certain pre-defined criteria.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Publix.
Physical Evidence:
Publix has large supermarkets which provide a range of items. It also has opened a FoodWorld store which is the largest in the South East. Apart from food, it also sells medicines, there are restaurants and cafes in some of the premises. Some places provide money transfer and check cashing options. While some sell lottery and others provide home cleaning services.
People:
People in the Publix network are of utmost importance to the brand. This can be seen in the stock offering of Publix where only the prior and current employees of Publix are entitled to purchase its stock. In addition to it, the members of Board of Directors are also eligible to purchase it. Employees can buy the Publix stocks through EPSS. But, it cannot be sold to any outsider until it is sold back to Publix for repurchase. In addition to that, if an employee has completed a year in the organization, and he/she has worked more than 1000 hours in that year, the employee is entitled to receive free stocks equal to some proportion of their pay. This is the Profit Plan.
Process:
Apart from Grocery and Pharmacy brick and mortar stores, there are products from Publix available for sale online. Publix Direct is for ordering groceries online and they will be delivered to the customer’s doorstep. Publix Curbside was a second attempt at providing online ordering of products. Through this, you could search and order groceries online but you need to pick it up at a partner store, like a drive-thru. But it failed to meet expectations the first time it was introduced. It was re-introduced and it partnered with Instacart which delivered the groceries to the customers. Publix has Presto which is an ATM machine owned and operated by Publix. Whenever you make a purchase, you could use your Debit or Credit card or EBT cards to make payment for your purchases. This completes the marketing mix of Publix.
About Publix:
Publix is a Supermarket chain which is employee-owned and has its headquarters in Lakeland, Florida. It was founded by George W Jenkins in 1930. It has its presence in the United States and is the largest employee-owned chain in the world. This chain is owned by whoever has been employed by Publix currently or in the past. Its operations are currently only in the South-eastern states in the U.S.
Its stock is listed and is adjusted quarterly and is available for purchase only by employers and its internal members. It is a one-stop shop for all the grocery and daily home needs.
This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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