Topic: Gifted Education: Affective Development

Order Description use simple academic word can you but one reference for each discussion that is 3diffrent types of discussion please Put a line between each discussion with the number of discussion No. 1,2 and 3 each discussion have some examples The topic you will write it must be suitable for presentation in PowerPoint angst: From "Expect More" to "13-1 Less" When you hear the term discount retail, two names usually come to mind: Walmart and Target. The two competitors have been compared so much that the press rarely covers one without at least mentioning the other. The reasons for the comparisons are fairly obvious. These corporations are two of the largest dis-count retailers in the United States. Category-for-category, they offer very similar merchandise. And they tend to build their stores in close proximity to one another, often even facing each other across major boulevards. But even with such strong similarities, ask any consumer if there's a difference between the two and they won't even hesitate in offering a reply. Walmart is all about low prices; Target is about style and fashion. The "upscale discounter" label applied by consumers and the media over the years per-fectly captures Target's long-standing positioning: "Expect More. Pay Less." With its numerous designer product lines, of the two companies has always been huge. Walmart's most recent annual revenues of $419 billion are more than six times Target's $67 billion. But for many years, Target's grew at a much faster pace than Walmart's. In fact, as Walmart's same-store sales began to lag in the mid-2000s, the world's largest retailer unabashedly attempted to become more like Target. It spruced up its store environment, added more fashionable clothing and housewares, and stocked organic and gourmet foods in its grocery aisles. Walmart even experimented with luxury brands. After 19 years of promoting the slogan, "Always Low Prices. Always.", Walmart replaced it with the very Target-esque tagline, "Save Money. Live Better." However, none of those efforts seemed to speed up Walmart's revenue growth or slow down Target's. But as the global recession began to tighten its grip on the world's retailers in 2008, the dynamics between the two retail giants reversed almost overnight. As unemployment rose and consumers began pinching their pennies, Walmart's familial price "rollbacks" resonated with consumers, whereas Target' image of slightly better stuff for slightly higher prices did not Target's well-cultivated upscale discount image was turnini away customers who believed that its fashionable products and trendy advertising meant steeper prices. By mid-2008, Tar-get had experienced three straight quarters of flat same-store sales growth and a slight dip in store traffic. At the same time, Walmart was defying the economic slowdown, posting quar-terly increases in same-store sales of close to 5 percent along with substantial jumps in profits. Same So Dfhrer in p ha ti In the fall of 2008, Target acknowledged the slide and an-nounced its intentions to do something about it. CEO Gregg Steinhafel succinctly summarized the company's new strategy: "The customer is very cash strapped right now. And in some ways, our greatest strength has become somewhat of a chal-lenge. So, we're still trying to define and find the right balance between 'Expect More. Pay Less.' The current environment means that the focus is squarely on the Pay Less' side of it." In the few years since Steinhafel unveiled the new strategic plan, Target has gone through some drastic changes. The execu-tives at Target challenged every assumption about the brand and the business model that had formerly brought Target so much success. While this adjustment certainly meant cutting costs and prices, Walmart's decades-long lead in that department meant that Target would have to do more. According to Michael Francis, Target's chief marketing of-ficer, doing more is exactly what happened. "There was more innovation happening within Target during the recession than in any time in my 25 years with the corporation." For starters, Tar-get began a massive effort to redesign its stores. This included redesigning departments and making updates to store signage and lighting. But the biggest change to store design came from the PFresh concept, an expansion of the grocery section in regular Target stores to include fresh produce, meat, and dairy products. This new "mini-grocery store" was design to provide a narrow selection of 90 percent of the food categories found in full-size grocery stores while occupying only a corner of an existing Target store. Target's intention was to create mini-grocery stores to provide customers with a one-stop shopping experience. One shopper's reaction was just what Target was hoping for. A Wisconsin house-wife and mother of two stopped by her local Target to buy deodor-ant and laundry detergent before heading to the local grocery store. But as she worked her way through the fresh-food aisles, she found everything on her list. "I'm done," she said, as she grabbed for a 99-cent green pepper. "I just saved myself a trip." While the PFresh concept demonstrated promise for increas-ing store traffic, groceries are a low-margin category. That's why Target's second major operational change focused on stronger sales of higher margin goods. Target surprised many analysts by unveiling a new package for its main store brand . . . one with-out the familiar Target bulls-eye! Instead, the new Target store brand, "up & up," featured big, colorful, upward-pointing arrows on a white background. The total number of products under the store label was expanded from 730 to 800 and promotional ef-forts for the store brand were increased in weekly newspaper cir-culars. Kathryn Tesija, Target's vice president of merchandising, stated, "We believe that it will stand out on the shelf, and it is so