Aldi Case

1. Briefly analyze the following relative financial performance information for various leading global retailers. What are your key takeaways from this analysis? How could Aldi's particular financial performance results be best explained by its major strategic marketing decisions?

Company	Gross Margin %	Net Profit Margin %
Aldi	11.50%	4%
Target	30.54%	3.92%
Wal-Mart	23.70%	3.34%
Kroger	20.59%	1.6%
Whole Foods	35.95%	4.47%
Macy's	40.8%	3.56%
Nordstrom	37.8%	5.33%

Notes: (1) The key marketing decisions for retailers include merchandise mix, pricing, store location, communication, customer service, in-store shopping environment, target market, and positioning (or key-value propositions). (2) As Aldi is a private company, the 4% is a close estimate of its net profit margin percentage (it is higher than the number given in the case).

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2. Identify and discuss key internal and external factors that may limit Aldi's ability to replicate its core business model based in the German market in other countries as it seeks international growth beyond the German and European markets?

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