Crafting Your Future: Professional Practice and Research

CRAFTING YOUR
FUTURE: PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE AND
RESEARCH

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Research Essay................................................................................................................................3
Background of the retail industry................................................................................................3
Competitive environment analysis of retail industry...................................................................4
Changes and trends in retail industry...........................................................................................5
Required skillset against the opportunities in the retail industry.................................................6
Creative and ethical leadership skills required in retail industry.................................................6
Reflection.........................................................................................................................................7
Personal Analysis...........................................................................................................................10
Setting Goals..............................................................................................................................11
Personal objectives....................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

Research Essay
Background of the retail industry
For this essay, the chosen industry is the retail industry of UK which is considered to be one of
the most important industry indicating a robust growth from many years. In UK economy, this
industry is very much vital and vast in terms of generating employment in the economy by
creating jobs for around millions of workers. This industry has generated hundred billions of
sales in the economy which is what contributing majorly to the economic growth and GDP of the
UK’s economy. For understanding what this industry is concerned about, it can be defined as the
sale of goods and services to the public or final consumers without the purpose of reselling it.
Retail industry can take the form of retail outlets at distinct region of the country (Chkoniya and
Mateus, 2019). It can be seen through supermarkets, shops, departments, stores, stalls, internet
retailers and sales person conducting sales by visiting customers personally. This sector provides
for plenty of opportunities for those who are aiming to build their career in heading or
managerial position involving customer facing role in order to generate sales by dealing with
customers in day to day business operations. For an individual who is holding a heading or
managerial position in this industry has a role of identifying current trends and accordingly
framing strategies and making decisions for the business.
Retail industry offers employment opportunities in the retail areas such as online retail,
distribution and merchandising, provision of customer services, retail management, warehousing,
and logistics, managing supply chain, buying and preventing loss by ensuring security of retail
outlets and products & services.

Almost all different categories of products produced in the economy has a role of
retailing such as fashion, entertainment, food, health and beauty, general merchandise, sports and
leisure and technological products (Pantano and Gandini, 2018). One can choose to build their
career in retail sector concerning any of these specific industries.
Head office or managerial position concerning the retail sector include roles such as
finance manager, human resource management, marketing management and information
technology department in the retail companies.
In UK, retail segment has been categorized into different forms such clothing retail, online
shopping and supermarkets. The four major recruiter and player of the UK’s retail sector are
Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrison who are dominating the whole retail industry of the UK
economy in the form of supermarket chains.
Retail companies have their physical outlets in various forms such as head offices, retail
branches and distribution facilities in terms of warehouses (Balaji and Roy, 2017). There seems
to be good pay to the retail employees whose main role is to generate sales for the company in
order to ensure the attainment profit making objectives of the company.
Competitive environment analysis of retail industry
In this research essay critical evaluation of the retail industry of UK will be done through
Porter’s five forces model to study the competitive environment prevailing in the grocery retail
sector.
Bargaining power of buyers: (High) There are large number of buyers controlling the industry
and are much price sensitive and accordingly there is high power of the customers. They can
compare prices through online retail shops and make an informed decision. Also, there is low
switching cost which allows customers to switch from one brand to another. Accordingly, there
is high manpower requirement who are specialized in the field of marketing and thus creating an
opportunity for those looking their career in the field.
Bargaining power of suppliers: (Low)There is a high power of supplier existing in the market
through which they are able to dictate the prices of their supply and the retail firms must the
same without bargaining for reducing the price as if they will not pay what has been demanded
then they will not get their goods (Fitrianingrum, 2020). But in case of large retailers like Tesco,
these suppliers needs to consider their terms and must reduce the prices as per retailer’s desire

and if would not happen then they will be going to lose their market share. So, in UK supplier’s
bargaining power is low.
Threats of new entrants: (Low) It seems to be not easy for new entrants to make their survival
possible in this industry as the already established players of the industry has gain enough market
share without leaving any scope for new comers to gain any abnormal gain in this industry.
Therefore, the threat of new entrant is very low as it requires huge investment and strong
financial support in order to survive even at a loss in the initial period.
Threats of substitutes: (medium) With a very diverse range of products offered by different
players in the industry does not allow for stopping customers from switching brand but if brand
resorts to a very unique offerings in terms of excellent quality which can lead to customers
keeping their purchase restricted to one single brand. So, innovations in the industry acts as an
opportunity for new entrants to capture considerable market share.
Rivalry among existing players: (high) The competition among retail companies in UK is very
high due to the strong of existing players and the long duration from which they are operating in
this industry (Moorhouse, tom Dieck and Jung, 2018). So, in order to survive in such a
competitive environment, there is a need of fresh talent having skills and expertise in dealing
with the issues of highly competitive environment and accordingly opens door for those
interested in building their career in the field of marketing.
The retail industry is quite attractive in terms of building career due to the requirement of skills
and experts having enough knowledge of marketing and promotional tools to create competitive
edge for the companies in the field.
Changes and trends in retail industry
There are many changes and emerging trends that can be noticed with reference to retail industry
of UK, some of which are as follows:
- A great deal of digital transformation can be seen in the industry where firms are highly
dependent on online platforms for marketing, promotion and selling their products and
services.
- Firms are striving hard for providing personalized experience to the customers in order to
retain them for long time by fulfilling their needs and expectations.
- Use of machine learning is much impressive and thus allowing for better forecasting of
future demand trends (Xu, 2018).
- Virtual fitting rooms provide for augmented reality which allows customers to make
better choices among available products by virtually trying it before purchasing it. This
concept is widely used by retail companies dealing in clothing and shoes.

- The retail stores are now cashier less where the payment for the purchase are made
through online payment options which helps in providing discounts and attractive offers
to facilitate more sales.
Required skillset against the opportunities in the retail industry
To build career in retail industry and excel in the same by opting for marketing profession there
are many skills required by an individual to exploit the available opportunities in this field. Such
as:
Communication skills: The most important skill required to exploit the opportunities existing in
the retail industry is communication. Those having excellent communication skills are really on
the top of their career in retail industry.
Customer service skills: One must possess skills of how to provide services to the customers to
make sure their repetitive purchase with their retail outlets. A better skills of customers service
allows for ensuring that the company is providing personalized experience in their store which is
what an emerging trend of this industry (Tian and et.al., 2020).
Selling skills: Most of the companies invest major amount of funds in hiring sales people for
their company who can aid in generating sales. This skill involves ability to persuade customers
by detailing the particulars related to products in such a way that leads to generation of sales for
the company. Therefore one must have command over this skill to confront the customers and
succeed.
Commercial awareness and attention to details: Skillset also involves knowledge of what
competitors are doing and using the same to influence customers towards their brand. This
requires enough attention to the details that came in the way of marketing manager and exploit
the same for attracting customers towards their brand.
Creative and ethical leadership skills required in retail industry
Ethical leadership ensures how to deal with customers in creative manner to attract them towards
the brand without violating moral values and principles of the society. Such skills are as follows:
Encourage initiatives: This skills must be present in the marketing manager to establish their
brand in the market in a unique manner. They must allow their followers to share their ideas
opinions meant for building brand image.
Respect others: It is necessary for the marketing and sales personnel to respect the expectations
of customers and deal with them accordingly (Pantano and Gandini, 2018). This leads to
retaining customers for long time.