In this assignment I will be analysing how market research helps organisations with their marketing planning
In this assignment I will be analysing how market research helps organisations with their marketing planning.
Marketing planning is the process of analysing one or more potentially interesting marketplaces to determine how a business can optimally compete in them.
SWOT
SWOT analysis is a study undertaken by an organization to identify its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis is very important ad it enables a business to know its strengths and weaknesses and identify open opportunities to the business and its threats. There are two types of SWOT analysis internal and external:
Internal analysis is a complete evaluation of the internal situation/environment and the strengths and weakness.
Examples (describe)
Explain how this affects the business and why
STRENGTHS
It has about 352 stores in the UK with many employees
They keep in touch with their customers through social media platforms.
Waitrose is one of the top retailers in the UK and was voted the best supermarket in 2017.
By introducing the customer loyalty card, it helps encourage customer loyalty.
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It has effective online services which can enable customers shop for their groceries online.
Since they have these many stores in the country, they can get lots of customers from all over and this will help Waitrose get lots of profit and expand.
With the use of social media, Waitrose can get feedback from customers and this will help them either maintain their standards or change it to offer better customer experiences and be a better retailer.
Since Waitrose is a large retailer and is one of the best super markets, it will attract more people to come instore and shop with Waitrose.
Having the loyalty card is a very effective tool in ensuring customer loyalty because of the benefits they offer. This will attract the customers to come patronize their products more.
The online services are very useful for Waitrose because it helps increase profit as more customers are beginning to shop online because of how convenient it is.
WEAKNESSES
Social media backlash regarding an article published in the magazine Waitrose Kitchen
Intense competition means price wars, hence lesser margins
Participative decision making slows down the decision-making process and makes it difficult to take tough decisions
Because of this, some customers will be put off from shopping with Waitrose and this might affect their sales and profit.
Since Waitrose’s prices are not as low as the other retailers e.g. Aldi and there is lots of competition, some customers will want to shop at stores that have bargains, and this will lead to Waitrose having lesser profit margins.
One other weakness is that since the employees are allowed in the decision-making process it can slow down the process especially if an important decision will need to be made.
OPPORTUNITIES
Can expand into the North West geographical region where it has minimum presence. Can even plan to expand overseas.
By creating awareness about Organic food, it sells, it can create a niche market segment for itself.
Can use the predictive analytics model to better organize the stores and supply chain.
Since Waitrose dose not much branches in the Northern regions they can set up some stores over there and even internationally and with this they will be able to attract more customers and get more profit.
If Waitrose should advertise their organic foods more, it will be able to attract more customers who like the organic food range and those who would like to start buying organic products.
If Waitrose should do this, they will be able to improve efficiency and reduce wastage, by combining the staff´s expertise with technology.
THREATS
Price differences during economic hardship.
New competitors with similar business models may pose a threat.
Reliance on small geographical location and narrow market segment increases the overall risk
During recession, the customers become more price conscious and their customers may move to cheaper competitors like Tesco and this will lead to Waitrose losing customers due to their high prices.
Other retailers like Aldi, Lidl and the others will be a threat to Waitrose since they will offer the same products and services as Waitrose with some added perks and will give Waitrose stiff competition.
Since Waitrose does not have as many stores as the other retailers their market segment will be narrow and that can be risky for the business.
PESTLE
PESTLE analysis describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management
Examples (describe)
Explain how this affects the business and why
POLITICAL
Government action.
Waitrose can be affected be this since the government can set some laws and restrictions on how the business should trade and operate. Some examples will be the national minimum wage, setting tax rates such as tax or Corporation Tax, low trade restrictions, some government support and many more.
ECONOMIC
Brexit
After the Brexit vote there become some economic problems an example will be how this has led to the fall of the pound. Due to this, whatever Waitrose would want to import will become more expensive than it was. This will also lead to inflation and the prices of goods will increase due to the weakness of the pound. This can worsen should the UK continue to be in the EU and not finalize anything before 2020.
SOCIAL
Demographics
There have been some changes in the demographics in the nation like the ageing population in the country. The current average middle age is at 40 years. The population helps bring out opportunities which Waitrose can use. The pensioners will have higher wages since they have been employed full time for a long period this will have a positive impact for Waitrose because they will buy most of the products that will be suitable to the elderly.
TECHNOLOGICAL
Food retailing
Due to new technologies food retailers are beginning to rely on the internet. The network now represents 10% of supermarket sales which opens the competitive space to food and sales. Waitrose is now beginning to strategize their consumers buying habits and provide more of what their customers need. Waitrose is one of the largest food retailers in the UK due to this and using online services to sell and deliver their products.
LEGAL
Pensions legislation
There have been some changes in the legal factors concerning pension legislation. It is now compulsory for there to be a deduction in pension addition from workers’ payslip.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Increase in ethically conscious consumers.
There has been a rise in ethically and environmentally conscious consumers who continually demand firms to adopt practices such as paper packaging and use of recycled materials. Due to this, Waitrose is putting things in place to make sure that they contribute to the sustainability of the business.
