Instead technology can help support firms operations by creating value, and achieving differentiation through product deliverance. It can help organizations in innovating its business processes which in turn affect its bottom-line costs and thereby help in gaining a competitive cost advantage over rivals.

It changes industry structure and, in so doing, alters the rules of competition. It creates competitive advantage by giving companies new ways to outperform their rivals. It spawns whole new businesses, often from within a company’s existing operations.

A company can use this technology, for example, to build a barrier to entry, to build in switching costs, and even, sometimes, to completely change the basis of competition. The system yields a larger competitive advantage, adding value for customers and a substantial rise in their sales.

Having a business website can give you a huge advantage over your competitors. It can help expand your customer base, identify new revenue streams as well as increase your visibility and credibility in the market.

5 areas to drive competitive advantage

• MARKETING. How can your marketing team make claims about your product and the ability to deliver it without knowing the capabilities of your supply chain?
• FINANCE.
• HUMAN RESOURCES.
• LEGAL.
• CUSTOMER SERVICE.

What Is Competitive Advantage?

• Product quality.
• Strategic pricing.
• Customer service.
• Market positioning.
• Distribution networks.
• Innovation and access to new technologies.

Developing a sustainable, competitive advantage requires customer loyalty, a great location, unique merchandise, proper distribution channels, good vendor relations, a reputation for customer service, and multiple sources of advantage.

In most industries there are only four competitive advantages that meet the four definitional criteria, and they are innovation, culture, customer affinity and predictive analytics.

There are three competitive strategies that you can implement across your business: Cost-leadership strategies, differentiation strategies, and focus strategies.

A low-cost strategy works best when there is: vigorous price competition; the service is a commodity available from many vendors; it is difficult to achieve differentiation; the service application is standardized; switching cost is low; buyers have bargaining power; new entrants use low cost to build customer base.

Porter’s Five Forces is a framework for analyzing a company’s competitive environment. The number and power of a company’s competitive rivals, potential new market entrants, suppliers, customers, and substitute products influence a company’s profitability.