This essay sheds light on the reasons why customers choose to shop at one business over another similar business. Additionally, how Target's loyalty-building and retention strategies helped Target become far more profitable than Kmart is explicated and the reasons why Kmart has succumbed to becoming a severely declining brand is delineated in this essay. Typically, it is fascinating to discover why people shop at one business over another business when many two businesses are nearly identical in almost every facet. Many traditional businesses have dreadful customer service, sell homogeneous products at the same prices, have dreadful loyalty programs, are located within a very close proximity to one another, and do not offer exceptional value to their customer's shopping experience. A paradigm of this scenario of two business providing similar shopping experiences is demonstrated when customers opts to shop at Target over Kmart or vice versa when the aforementioned businesses are nearly identical to one another in nearly every single way. Another question that should be analyzed is why do people prefer to shop at one grocery store over another or why do people prefer to shop at one convenient store over another when the two stores are extremely similar to one another and are even located across the street from one another? The successful implementation of loyalty-building strategies and retention strategies come to mind when meticulously analyzing why shoppers may prefer to shop at one business over another, such as shopping at Target over Kmart. Target for instance offers their customers the option to obtain Target's red card credit card. "This red card discounts purchases at Target by 5% and allows Target's consumers to receive free shipping on product purchases from Target's website when they charge their purchases to their red card" ("Redcard(R),"). Kmart also offers their consumers a loyalty program. However, Kmart's loyalty program is not as heavily advertised nor aggressively pushed onto consumers by cashiers as Target's red card is advertised and upsold to customers by cashiers. Therefore, the transparency of Target's red card in the eyes of the public helps to distinguish Target apart from competitor brands, such as Kmart, in a positive manner. Unfortunately, Kmart's loyalty program is relatively unknown compared to Target's red card. "The lack of a clear concept about how to reach the market is the single most important factor in explaining why Kmart's fortunes have fallen so far, compared to its two rivals. Without a clear way to play, and capabilities to support it, a company cannot achieve the coherence it needs to truly excel at what it does, and thus outpace competitors. Kmart, the least successful of the discounter group, is struggling to define its way to play, describing itself as a 'mass merchandising company that offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands and labels.' Yet, that definition could describe just about any retailer. As a Wal-Mart customer, you know you'll save money and still feel welcome. At Target, you know you'll get fashionable products at prices that feel reasonable. One may ask, what then is Kmart's niche" (Mainardi & Leinwand, 2010)? People prefer to shop at Target over Kmart, because Target, unlike Kmart, has clearly defined its' unique image variable to set it apart from other discount retailer in the consumer's mind. "Target's way to play emphasizes design-forward apparel and home decor for image-conscious consumers. Everything from store layout to advertising to inventory conveys an eye for style. Its capabilities system supports this way to play with image advertising, 'mass prestige' sourcing (with the use of private brand and exclusive offerings), pricing, and the management of urban locations. In product and service mix, Target is similar to Walmart in many ways, but Target satisfies the needs of its image-conscious shoppers" (Ma