Competitive advantage : Meaning and top 8 requirements

Competitive advantage

Organizations are using various tactics to increase their sales volume. With the increase in the competition for almost every product in the world, the organizations have to change the marketing techniques they use to create more demand for their products. The concept of competitive advantage has been evolved around this.

Competitive advantage is a condition or situation that creates a positive demand for a product over all other competitive products. It can be the quality of the product, price reduction or any other positive change that makes the product stands out in the market. It is an ability that is harder to imitate or duplicate by the competitors.
There are several key requirements that can be identified in any product who achieved a competitive advantage.

01. Quality

The product quality should be standard or higher for the product to achieve a competitive advantage. Even if the price is low, people tend to reject the product if it has low quality. The quality of the product plays a huge role in achieving a bigger market share.

02. Price

The price of the product should be moderate or low for many consumer goods to achieve a competitive advantage. The price of the product should be affordable for the target market and it should work as a major attraction factor for the customers to purchase the product.

03. Distribution channel

The product distribution channel plays a major role in achieving a competitive advantage for any product. There should be an uninterrupted distribution and the product should be available in the market whenever the consumer intends to buy it. The distribution method should cost a minimum for the product to fluctuate the prices of the product. Apart from that, the distribution channel should be safe and secure. The damage in distribution should be minimal.

04. Product Development

The product should be developed in a way that it can provide something extra to the consumers than the other competitive products. The features of the product should grow continuously to face growing competition.

05. After-sales service

Most of the products need after-sales service to increase the sales ad capture more market share. Selling the product to the consumer is not enough and the seller should provide after-sales help and services to the consumer. This helps to increase the positive attitude towards the product and eventually it helps to achieve a competitive advantage.

06. Customer Service

The organization should have a good customer service team to take the product to the consumers. The customer service team represents the entire organization and they can create a huge impact on achieving competitive advantage. Bad customer service has become a burdening problem in the modern business world and the customers change their preferred product due to the unfriendliness of the customer service. This emphasizes the importance of customer service to achieve a bigger and better market share.

07. Product differentiation

When achieving a competitive advantage, differentiating products to each target market is important. This requires a proper understanding of the marketing segment the organization is targeting to achieve. The product or the service can be differentiated based on the special requirements of each market segment.

08. Marketing Method

This is one of the main requirements to achieve a competitive advantage. The company should make its target market aware of the specialty of the product and create awareness within the target market. For this, using a proper marketing method and advertising method is important.

Above mentioned requirements work as key requirements for any product or service to achieve a competitive advantage over its rivalry products. Competitive advantage is usually considered as short term as the rivals quickly find better ways to introduce new product options that can win consumer attraction. However, through product development, an organization can try to maintain a competitive advantage for the long term.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *