ASSIGNMENT #3

AAMIR IQBAL - 22124

Principles Of Marketing

CANADIAN TIRE
Miss Rakhshanda Mustafa Syed
Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................2
Product:......................................................................................................................................................2
Petroleum...............................................................................................................................................2
Retail:.....................................................................................................................................................3
Automotive parts...................................................................................................................................3
Clothing..................................................................................................................................................3
Sporting goods.......................................................................................................................................3
Party City...............................................................................................................................................4
Segmentation:........................................................................................................................................4
Geographic.............................................................................................................................................4
Demographics........................................................................................................................................4
Psychographics......................................................................................................................................4
Behavioural Segmentation:...................................................................................................................4
Targeting:...................................................................................................................................................5
Young families.......................................................................................................................................5
Young families, millennials...................................................................................................................5
Differentiation:..........................................................................................................................................5
Pricing strategy:........................................................................................................................................6
Canadian Tire Price/Pricing Strategy:.................................................................................................6
Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the
automotive, hardware, sports, leisure, and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include:
Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas stations and financial services
subsidiary Canadian Tire Bank), Mark's, FGL Sports (including Sport Chek and Sports
Experts), Part Source, and the Canadian operations of Party City. Canadian Tire acquired the
Norwegian clothing and textile company Helly Hansen from the Ontario Teachers' Pension
Plan in 2018.
Canadian Tire is known for its Canadian Tire money, a loyalty program first introduced in 1958
using paper coupons that resemble banknotes. The company's head office is in Toronto, Ontario
and it is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On September 15, 1922, John William
Billes and Alfred Jackson Billes invested their combined savings of $1,800 in the Hamilton Tire
and Garage Ltd. (established in 1909 as the Hamilton Garage and Rubber Company) in Toronto.
Hamilton Tire and Garage specialized in buying tires at a discount from manufacturers in the
winter then reselling the tires during the busy summer season. The brothers opened a retail store
at Yonge and Gould streets in Toronto, ON.
A product focus on tires was emphasized in 1927 with incorporation of the name Canadian Tire
Corporation Limited because, as A.J. Billes said, "...it sounded big”. During 1928, the first
Canadian Tire catalogues were distributed, consisting of price lists along with road maps.
In 1934, the first official Associate Store was opened in Hamilton, Ontario by Walker Anderson
on King Street. In 1944, to fund its growth, Canadian Tire Corporation became a public company
and sold 100,000 shares. By 1945 there were 110 Canadian Tire stores. In 1946 an employee
stock purchasing plan was implemented to encourage employee loyalty while discouraging
unionization.
The first gas bar opened in 1958 at the corner of Yonge and Church streets in Toronto. Canadian
Tire money that gave gas bar customers an in-store discount began in 1958. By June 1961, there
were 31 locations. The small financial services company Midland Shoppers Credit Limited was
purchased in 1968 and renamed Canadian Tire Acceptance, Limited. Canadian Tire entered the
clothing market by acquiring Mark's Work Warehouse in 2001.

Product:

Petroleum

A Canadian Tire Gas+ station at Richmond Hill, Ontario

Canadian Tire Petroleum (CTP), operating as Canadian Tire Gas+, is the division of Canadian
Tire which operates gas stations and car washes. CTP was founded in 1958 as a means of
increasing customer traffic to Canadian Tire stores. In Ontario, CTP also operates Pit Stop,
which provides services like oil changes and rust checks. The Canadian Tire money loyalty
program was originally launched through the gas bars as "Gas Bonus Coupons". CTP has opened
3 'Q' stop stores featuring a mini-grocery store as well as other items.
CTP also holds the concession to operate the 24-hour gas stations at ON route service
centres in Ontario along Highway 401 and parts of Highway
Retail:

A Canadian Tire retail store in Richmond Hill, Ontario

Moody's observed the chain's unique position in Canadian retail as being "often both
misunderstood and underestimated" and "completely foreign" in comparison to U.S. retail, citing
its variety of products (ranging from auto parts, to sporting goods, to outdoors products, and
grocery at some locations), and that "its proprietary 'currency,' Canadian Tire money, which is a
by-product of its loyalty program, has been accepted across Canada by multiple retailers and
could almost be described as a 'sub-fiat' currency."
In 2009, the chain introduced a new store concept it dubbed the "Smart store"; they feature
"boutiques" that prominently showcase products within the chain's core product categories.
Popular product categories such as auto parts and home goods were moved towards the front of
the store to improve their prominence, and some locations began to sell common groceries as a
pilot project. In June 2015, the chain opened its largest location to-date at South Edmonton
Common, which features two floors, widened and expanded departments, various interactive
experiences (including a driving simulator and virtual reality), as well as a rotating exhibit
of Hockey Canada memorabilia.

Automotive parts.

In addition to the Canadian Tire stores' Parts department CTC owns Part Source, an automotive
parts and accessories specialty chain which has 91 stores across Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, and Alberta. It serves commercial automotive installers and do-it-yourself
mechanics. Before November 2013, some stores were owned and operated by franchisees; all
currently belong to Canadian Tire.

Clothing

A Canadian Tire with a Mark's integrated into the store

In 2001, Canadian Tire acquired Mark's Work Warehouse (now branded as Mark's), a retailer of
business casual and work wear, for $116 million. Along with standalone stores, some Canadian
Tire locations feature integrated Mark's locations. However, some smaller Canadian Tire
locations removed their Mark's department when remodelled into the "Smart store" format due to
space constraints.

Sporting goods

In May 2011, Canadian Tire announced the purchase of Forzani Group, a Canadian sporting
goods retailer that operates various brands, including Spot-check, Atmosphere, Intersport,
Hockey Experts, National Sports, Nevada Bob's Golf, S3, Sport Mart, Sports Experts, Tech
Shop, Pro Hockey Life, and The Fitness Source. In February 2021, Canadian Tire announced the
closure of all National Sports stores, citing a focus on efficiencies and core assets.
Party City

In October 2019 Canadian Tire closed its acquisition of Party City's Canadian business. As part
of the deal, CTC signed a 10-year supply agreement with Party City's parent company Am scan.

Segmentation:

Geographic: Canadian tire is spread all over Canada with 1200 stores across the country. 2.
Market size: 90 per cent of the Canadians visit CT every year. One third of sales are driven by
strong in-house brands leading market share in many of key lines in business. 3. Market density:
Canadian tire is one of the most shopped general merchandise retailers. A CT store is within 15
minutes reach of 90 per cent of Canadians and has 1200 stores across Canada. 4. Climate: The
climate in Canada has great variations and weather patterns across the country. Snow tires, warm
winter clothes are important products in many regions of Canada.

Demographics:
1. Age: Canadian tire’s average shopper is middle aged, so Canadian tire really gets into the 18-
35 age groups. 2. Gender: Canadian tire is not gender specific; it appeals to both males and
females. 3. Income: Canadian tire is preferred mostly by Gen X. They are the money-making
generation and they are more likely to shop at Canadian tire for its brand value, good products,
best deals and appropriate pricing. 4. Race/Ethnicity: According to popular surveys, it has been
observed that Canadian tire is mostly visited by 90 per cent of ‘Canadians’.

Psychographics 1. Personality: People of all age groups, shapes and sizes, colours and races
visit Canadian tire. 2. Motives: The motive of consumers who visit Canadian tire is to get the
best product at best price. Canadian tire is a brand name people choose CT because of its
reliability, durability of products and appropriate pricing. 3. Lifestyle: Lifestyle is an important
factor in determining customer purchasing behaviour. Canadian tire customers are people with a
stable life style, good income and can be called as “middle class” people.

Behavioral Segmentation:
Company has some product that are mostly shopping and convenient products except from some
that are speciality. Most of the products that company sells have high usage rate and usage
pattern is quite fluent. Occasional products are very rare. Most of the product are personal.

Benefits segmentation divides up the market based on the benefits customers seek from using a
product. Canadian tire’s customers have different reasons for shopping at CT. Canadian tire
caters to a wide variety of needs of customers from automotive, living, apparel, kitchen sports
and financial services, so customers find it beneficial to find them under one trusted brand name.
USAGE RATE 1. Former: Till the 1990’s Canadian tire was the popular choice for consumers to
shop at. Ever since Wal-Mart and Home Depot crossed border in 1990’s Canadian tire has
struggled to maintain primacy. Potential: Canadian tire still has the potential to overcome its
competitors by working on its products, pricing and marketing. 3. Light/Regular: The usage by
Canadian customers is regular at Canadian tire as 90 per cent of them visit CT every year. 4.
Medium/Heavy: The usage of Canadian tire for shopping by Canadians is between medium to
heavy presently due to competitions from Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot. Canadians turn to
Canadian tire for shopping mostly when there are great deals and discounts going on good
products.

Targeting:
In the case of the main Canadian Tire stores, the new primary target is shifting to families led by
parents aged 30 to 49, Medline said. And the head of Mark's Work Wearhouse said the male-
oriented clothing store is moving away from a customer with an average age of over 50 to one
that's 34 years old.

Young families

At Canadian Tire, the core of the business remains automotive services sales, home
maintenance and care as well as sports equipment, like hockey gear. But like across the rest
of Canadian Tire’s corporate umbrella, the target customer is getting younger.

In the case of the main Canadian Tire stores, the new primary target is shifting to families led
by parents aged 30 to 49, Medline said. And the head of Mark’s Work Wearhouse said the
male-oriented clothing store is moving away from a customer with an average age of over 50
to one that’s 34 years old.

Young families, millennials

Canadian Tire’s future is zeroed in on targeting young families and millennials – and
leveraging the emerging field of data analytics to drive each group to shop more at the “Tire”
and its other chains, like Mark’s Work Wearhouse and Sport Chek, either in store or online.

Differentiation:
• Exciting, new &
 exclusive products
• Impactful
 merchandising
• Inspiring events &
 promotions
• Right selection &
 quality
• Price assurance
• Friendly, quick &
 helpful assistance
• Products in-stock
Pricing strategy:

Canadian Tire Price/Pricing Strategy:

Pricing strategy of Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd. is such that it does not compromise on the
quality but it does offer products at different price levels to target a variety of customers.
Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd. has a variable pricing strategy that depends on the market, the
product and competitive dynamics. The company also has an online platform to sell its products
and offer a lot of discounts which can be availed using promo codes. They also have a loyalty
programme called the Canadian Tire money which looks like actual money and has coupon rates.
Any consumer can buy products and avail that percentage of the coupon rate in their next
purchase. This Canadian Tire money is very popular and was introduced as early as 1958.
Canadian Tire has expanded its loyalty program by shifting to triangle rewards which are same
as Canadian Tire Money but instead of paper they provide something called a Triangle Card
where the customer can earn reward points.
Company follows market penetration strategy as it has many products that have to be competed
in the market. Company runs promotion to sell its products its follow variable pricing strategy
depending upon the product. Sometime follow competition based sometime cost based sometime
value based. Company also follows product mix product line, by product and captive product
pricing strategy. Discount allowance, promotional strategy, and segmented pricing are some
price adjustment strategies used by Canadian Tire Company.

Bibliography

https://marketing-insider.eu/price-adjustment-strategies/

https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/17683-canadian-tire.html

https://www.google.com/search?
q=canadian+tire+company+differentiation&oq=ca&aqs=chrome.0.69i59l3j69i57j0i433i512j69i61j69i60l2
.6339j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://corp.canadiantire.ca/English/our-banners/default.aspx