Redesigning Target's Pharma Division

Executive Summary:

In today's economic recession and one of the most troubling times for Americans everywhere, Target stands apart from its competitors by offering top quality merchandise and service at prices anyone could afford. This is important to all customers in these stressful economic times, and Target looks to build on its success more than ever before. In their quest for market share success, Target has identified an important area that must be improved if they would like to jump into the realms of international fame, a la Wal-mart: the Target Pharmacy and its entire image.

Now when people think of CVS or Wal-mart, they think pharmacy and the prevalence of that particular part of the store; this is not the case with Target and holds the popular company back from additional success in the drugstore industry. With our recommendations for the pharmacy department, Target can certainly look take command in terms of market share in the drugstore industry and help establish their currently weak pharmacy. Currently, Target offers four dollar generics and 10% off shopping after 10 full prescriptions are filled, promoting great value to its loyal pharmacy customers and new consumer alike. Moreover, the personalized prescription bottles enhance brand recognition. By filling an average of 1000 prescriptions a week, the pharmacy department of Target takes in $40 million dollar every year, which is just four percent of Target's overall revenue.

Throughout this report, we will explore the current market and industry Target's pharmacy competes in, as well as the internal strengths and weakness and external opportunities and threat present to the pharmacy. Additionally, we will instill our recommendations to enhance the image and market share of Target's pharmacy and the potential success associated with our strategic plans.

Economic Trends:

The economic climate present in today's market affects all aspects of business throughout the country, and Target is no exception. High unemployment and slow job growth, both now rampant thorough the country, have had an impact on Target, its employees and its hiring policies within both the store and pharmacy. In this difficult recession, the big name retailers—including Target and its main competitors CVS and Wal-mart—are certainly overshadowing the independent drugstores in the United States, making this market certainly unattractive to new entrants into the industry (explored in the next paragraph.) The biggest trend would undoubtedly be the Baby Boomer generation maturing in age and needing more prescriptions and health care; this leaves remarkable opportunity for Target and its pharmacy to increase its market share in the drugstore industry.

Preliminary SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis is an essential part of the planning process. The analysis