Radio Shack

Radio Shack
Name
Institution
Radio Shark
Radio Shark Corporation was founded in 1960 as one of the biggest consumer electronics retailers in the US with stores located throughout the country dealing with electronics part and accessories. The company has remained the most trusted brand in America as it owns 7,300 stores in different locations including mobile centers. These are some of the features that give the company a unique competitive advantage in terms of scaling up, reach and convenience. Some of its mobile products like Smartphones, tablets and e-readers are part of the fast growing segment of the electronic industry. However, the electronics company has been struggling financially after many years of drop in sales due to stiff competition especially from online companies. The company’s stock have since stumbled to more than 30%, the biggest drop experienced in 30 years closing at $ 7.18. The company has lost 83 % of its value since then, and it is said to be heading for bankruptcy (Hoovers D&B Company, 2015).
The four top competitors of radio Shark Corporation include Best Buys, Amazon, Wall-Matt Stores and Verizon. In 1990, Best Buys and Wall-Matt started running e-commerce sites while radio shacks did not take advantage of this opportunity as customers could not shop online. This gave the two other companies an upper hand as Radio Shack struggled to deal with several emerging problems from different stores. Best Buys became one of the best consumer electronics retailers in the country as it sold both products and services using three primary channels of retail stores, online and call centers. Best Buys also incorporated a variety of electronics accessories and offered installation, maintenance, technical support and subscriptions for mobile phones and internet services. These are some of the strategies used by Best Buys in edging out Radio Shack in the electronics market (Hoovers D&B Company, 2015).
Amazon also became one of the main competitors of Radio Shack by designing its market; in 2004, it repositioned itself as a lifestyle product rather than a gadget maker. Its products are affordable and are delivered in time making it the number one retailer as it has increased the number of online shoppers. Amazon mostly sells online, which is more convenient for customers who want to embrace the style. Furthermore, in 2009, the company moved beyond Kindled tablets and e-book by introducing some of the hardware products like fire TV, Fire phone and echo speakers, which gave their consumers an opportunity to interact physically with the company’s personnel as compared to the previous strategy they used for online interaction. Amazon became more creative by introducing offline services like opening kiosks, vending machines and lockers where customers could pick their different products; for example, in the pop-up store in San Francisco, the shoppers can check several products offered by Amazon both online a...