ekelebeXstunner:
Yet none are owned by blacks. Tufia! Slaves in their own country. No wonder they’re always angry at non-SA blacks. Plantation mentality.

shortgun:
Some uninformed people will say the Chinese store is fake but in reality it's actually innovative.
This is one of the strategies used by businesses to get a share of the market.

etrange:


I disagree. This strategy might work when there is no direct competition (different region, industry etc.). Otherwise, taking a name similar to an established brand is very likely to backfire. It gives the impression that they are a fake version of the original company and. Consequently, consumers might find it hard to trust them, and they'd be right not to trust a company that couldn't come up with an original name.

Mass production requests and lack of control marred the image of Africa-bound Chinese products in the past. Due to cheap labour, people ordered low quality copies of known brands and sold them as the original and, as a result, made-in-China became synonymous with fake. Taking a name very similar to that of a big brand like Shoprite follows a similar pattern, and this might cast a shadow of doubt in their products even though they're just retailing company.

Such strategy simply makes you the imitator and like they say, an imitator can never be original. Search engines might even try to correct people searching for your company's name. Lol

shortgun:

Everything you posted is what anyone without a business training will say but it's a different ball game in the business world.
There are marketing strategies called market segmentation and market differentiation, look them up on Google

CoronaVirusPro:
China will clone anything!

What is “sharprite”

Those dwarfs will steal anything, and it will never be as good as that of the owner.

MzansiCoolio:


Not a single Nigerian business is able to outcompete SA businesses in Nigeria itself, your own country! All you do is wail about SA pricing all day. You can insert adjectives here (...) to describe your own underdeveloped and corrupt mentality.

Name one considerable Nigerian or African company in SA that would make SA "always angry at non-SA blacks".

Free lesson, all companies registered in SA are required by law to have a share of black ownership - it's called Black Economic Empowerment.

MzansiCoolio:
See TikTok video in link:

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2024-02-14-its-just-a-sharp-right-turn-from-sharprite-to-shoprite/

Belial06:


So basically all companies by law are forced to give beggars a share? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Companies you didn't create manage or empower must give a share to beggars not whites but the blacks.

It sounds like begging to me 🤣🤣🤣

bukatyne:


Somalians or Chinese?

etrange:


Sir, you did not address the point I raised. Neither segmentation nor differentiation suggests that copying an existing brand name is a good idea. When it comes to intuitive subjects like this, the ideal thing would be to look at the the market and draw conclusions from there. Can you sight a good number of case studies where this strategy made the newer organizations to actually level up with the competitor? I have an endless list of brands that did this and got labeled the 'fake' one even though thier products were as good as thier competitors'. Like I stated in my earlier response, this is a great idea only when there's no direct clash. Otherwise, a brand that copies its name from another is likely to have identity issues.

shortgun:

Well, not all businesses aspire to "level up" or become the market leader in thier vision and mission statements.For Some, the objective is to simply capture 0.6% of the market share and maintain that position.
If the feasibility study indicates that dissatisfied and disgruntled customers will purchase the copied product out of spite for the existing business and will help the new business achieve its projected 0.6%, why not?

etrange:


Again, another theory. You did not give an answer my question. How many have sustained thier businesses this way? Apparently, this will keep going in circles, so I'll just leave you with this.

The primary goal of a business is to maximize profit and stay in business.
This is the difference between you and I and it's a wide gap.
The primary goal of a business to a layman is profit making like you've stated but in reality the purpose of any business venture is to satisfy a need, a product in the market is not necessarily for profit but for solve a need.

Copying an existing brand that has the same portfolio and operates in the same region is not a tested and trusted strategy to achieve any of these as you claimed in your first comment. It has failed far more than it has succeeded.
Every product you can think of today were all copied from another product, Toyota did not invent the motor vehicle it copied from an existing product, Microsoft was the first company to launch a tablet PC before Apple copied and introduced the iPad, Google copied the search engine concept from Yahoo, AOL. Pepsi copied Coca-Cola in making pepsi.The first PC was by Kenbak Corporation today we have HP,Apple, Dell, IBM all copied Kenbak, i can go on and on.

Those who do it usually have a temporary surge when thier products are confused with the "original" after which they fade away. No serious business strategist who wants to stay in business for long would rely on this your "great idea". The only reason this Chinese company is trying it is because they're retailers that may not have in-house products. I don't know what they teach y'all in school, but one needs to have worked in branding to know the real life impact of certain business decisions.

You obviously have limited knowledge on this subject, you shouldn't be showing this level of arrogance in ignorance....

Ciao !

shortgun:


Every product you can think of today were all copied from another product, Toyota did not invent the motor vehicle it copied from an existing product, Microsoft was the first company to launch a tablet PC before Apple copied and introduced the iPad, Google copied the search engine concept from Yahoo, AOL. Pepsi copied Coca-Cola in making pepsi.The first PC was by Kenbak Corporation today we have HP,Apple, Dell, IBM all copied Kenbak, i can go on and on.

etrange:


I'm replying this cause this is the only part of your response that seems remotely relevant to our chat.

We both know we are talking about copying brand names and how it's a terrible or good strategy. But here you are telling me about the the products itself. So it's either you don't even understand the conversation or you're deliberately changing the goal post. I said you should give me a list of organizations that have succeeded by copying the brand names of existing big brands, and you're listing organizations with similar products. Ok, you said the purpose is to satisfy needs, does that mean copying the names of existing brands helps the organizations satisfy needs? How?

In my first response, I gave you a detailed breakdown of why I disagreed with you. I was hoping, you'd counter my points or at least tell me why you think it's a great strategy, but you did not. In my second response, I asked you to list organizations that have succeeded this way, you did not. You just want to say to it's a great strategy without backing it up with details and facts/figures. Is that how you present business strategies in your board meetings? Lol

shortgun:

I see where your confusion is stemming from. In a marketing organization, there's no difference between a brand name and a product. Every element, including the brand name, product,labeling and down to operational techniques are all crafted to fulfill consumer needs. It's impossible to disconnect one part from the others....
When you buy a Toyota car, you are buying the brand, the product, the logo, their business model and everything about Toyota.
Do you follow?
I'll be taking fees for my next reply 🙂

MzansiCoolio:
'SHARP' MEANS 'THUMBS UP' IN SOUTH AFRICA

Social media is abuzz after some people found it weird that just opposite the popular retailer Shoprite on Robert Sobukwe street in Sunnyside, Pretoria, there is a store named Sharprite.

While some see it as “pushing your luck” due to the familiarity, some think the competition between Shoprite and Sharprite is welcomed.

TimesLIVE visited both supermarkets on Wednesday.

As one stands outside the door of Sharprite and looks on the “sharp right” turn, opposite the street you find Shoprite.

Inside Sharprite, the store boasts about eight aisles stocked with everything from sugar, bedding essentials to water taps. But what sets the store apart from Shoprite is that many of their products are offered in bulk.

Sharprite also has no fridges in store so there are no refrigerated items in stock.

During TimesLIVE’s visit to the store, a man who wanted to buy a cold drink turned back empty-handed after inquiring about the fridge aisle for the drinks and he was told there are no fridges there.

Besides sounding similar, there are other similarities between the two shops. Both have their names written in bold red, Shoprite has a white outline to its text. Sharprite also has a big yellow smiling emoji in front, displaying a ‘sharp’ or thumbs-up gesture.

A bottle of 2l cooking oil at Sharprite starts from as little as R43.99 [vs R59.99 Ritebrand Sunflower Seed Oil 2L at Shoprite], while a carton of six milk 1lt boxes starts from as little as R89.99 [Ritebrand R98.99]. A 10kg bag of flour costs R127.99 at Sharprite, while similar flour of the same size costs a few cents more at Shoprite at R129.99.

While in the area, TimesLIVE noticed that a lot of the foot traffic is at the Shoprite as people buy daily essentials, including cold drinks and water. A few people also entered Sharprite to buy tools and other essentials.

While Shoprite, which is one of Africa’s leading brands is owned by South African, Christo Wiese, TimesLIVE understands that Sharprite is Chinese-owned.
The store has extended its reach from Pretoria and is also found in Middelburg, Mpumalanga province.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2024-02-14-its-just-a-sharp-right-turn-from-sharprite-to-shoprite/

coputa:
They are the biggest creditors to your country, they are the manufacturer of the device you used to type this nonsensical comment