Costco Wholesale Corporation is a global but US-based company that deals in a wide range of products. The company’s business is done through e-commerce using the organization’s webs. The prime motive of the company is to aid small and medium business entities to spend less in buying products for resale. Therefore, most of the company’s products are cheaper as compared to other wholesalers and retail organizations. Besides retailing, the company also manufactures products ranging from food packaging and optical labs
The value chain is one of the main factors that give the corporation a competitive edge over other firms in the industry (Mascarenhas, 2004). Through Information Technology (IT), the company can create an efficient business model that gives it a competitive advantage. As such, information systems and the company’s management are the primary sources of the power. One of the essential components employed by the firm is the enhancement of its communication through the use of smartphone applications to make an individual judgment and to gauge purchases. Costco also uses social media platforms to facilitate its online sales (Finne, 2008).

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Nevertheless, Costco acknowledges that through the use of smartphones, customer’s privacy is a major hurdle (Williamson, 2014). In most cases, the use of smartphones renders clients’ data susceptible to infiltration. As such, customers’ right to privacy is hindered. Additionally, smartphones have the capability of diminishing the use of cash, and this can negatively impact on the business. Therefore, the corporation should improve security on the social platforms to improve customers’ privacy (Porter, & Millar, 1985).

Although Costco is still young in the industry, it has done exceptionally well in the market. Overall, most of the company’s plans have been successful due to effective strategies employed by the firm. However, customer’s privacy is a major bottleneck when using data from smartphones. Nevertheless, if it is rectified, I am more than convinced that the firm will become a leader in the retail and manufacturing sector.

    References
  • Finne, S. (2008). The Retail Value Chain: How to Gain Competitive advantage through Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) strategies. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • Mascarenhas, O. (2004). Customer value-chain involvement for co-creating customer delight. Journal of consumer marketing, 21(7), 486-496.
  • Porter, M. E., & Millar, V. E. (1985). How information gives you competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, 63(4), 149-160
  • Williamson, G. (2014). A Simple but Powerful Strategy That Can Lead To Multibaggers. Retrieved from: http://www.dailyfinance.com/ Value Chain Analysis Strategic Management Insight.