Three Approaches
Differentiation:
Thirty-One Gifts is a company that has substantially grown and continues to grow. They have found ways to differentiate themselves from other direct sellers with in multiple ways. The ways that stand out to me are its focus on women, tie to a biblical passage, hours of operation, and product. Its focus on women also ties to the company’s biblical connection. As stated in an article, “the very name of Thirty-One comes from the Bible. The company’s official materials say that Proverbs 31 ‘celebrates hard working women who are compassionate, gracious and inspiring to their families and the people around them” (Feran, 2011). The bags and goods sold from Thirty-One are all sold as direct-sales where the sales consultant typically sells at hosted parties; however, it also includes sales online. This allows for all hours shopping which was an intentional reason for starting the company; the CEO was in Atlanta before the company existed, attempting to shop at gift stores and “when she realized that the shops selling those products all closed at 6pm, something clicked” (Feran, 2011). Lastly, their product itself is differentiated, and one main way is that the bags and most items can be monogrammed.
Cost Effectiveness:
Krispy Kreme is my example for cost effectiveness. First, Krispy Kreme significantly outperformed the market estimates for earnings per share for yearend 2011 by posting $2.01 EPS while the estimate averaged at $0.06 EPS. This, along with its increase in margins displays cost effectiveness. A more specific catalyst for its pursuit of cost effectiveness shows in a recent agreement they made with NCR Corporation to “implement the NCR Aloha restaurant technology solution in all of its US based corporate-owned sites” (Krispy Kreme deploys NCR , 2012). This system keeps local management and operations in place but allows for