Retailing Trends and Analysis: John Lewis Partnership

This report discusses the current trends in the retail industry and analyzes the retailing strategies of John Lewis Partnership. It explores the impact of shifting customer behavior, in-store shopping, private labeling, and insta shopping. The report also includes an organizational analysis of John Lewis Partnership and provides recommendations for its marketing strategies to expand globally.

INQUIRY BASED
LEARNING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
RETAILING TRENDS...................................................................................................................3
List of Retailing Trends...............................................................................................................3
ORGANISATIONAL ANLYSIS....................................................................................................4
PESTEL analysis.........................................................................................................................5
Marketing strategies to expand globally......................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The report deals with the onset of criteria that will help to analyse the retailing trends. The
retailing sector is regarded to be one of the vast sector and the different processes that are
involved in are included. The report will portray all the facts as well as the components in the
retailing trends. Inquiry based learning will help to analyse the prospects that are associated with
a particular study. The report deals with explaining these prospects with regards to John Lewis
Partnership. The John Lewis Partnership is one of the best clothing retailer in the United
Kingdom which is known for its brand. The report will help to deal with every aspect of the
retailing trends.
CURRENT TRENDS IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY
List of Retailing Trends
Retailing trends are said to be at the perk of every organisations. The retailing is said to be one of
the facts in industry that is usually occupying a huge amount of space in the present marketing
scenario. Retailers are said to be in a condition of blooming upon whatever objective and target
they are considering in exploring and to reach objective. In order to do this, the retailers follow
particular trends and out of which the main and major trends that persist in the marketing world
are as follows:
Shifting customer behaviour:
The first and foremost issue in the trends of retailing is shifting customer behaviour. It is noticed
that the businesses were mainly affected by so-called pandemics. Therefore, the number of
customers that visit a particular store are said to be changing their behavioural patterns because
of the circumstances that are pertaining regularly (Dawson and et.al, 2020). But according to a
research it is stated that 60% of the customers get habituated to new business and behavioural
patterns and stick to it even after being affected by certain conditions. This is certified to be true
to some amount of the community where the online shopping is said to be one of the boon kind
of factors for the retailers. Because of the changing customer behaviour is the retailers focused
upon introducing a method called online shopping where people can easily shop their goods as
well as the delivery patterns will be feasible. With this method many of the retailers have
extended their potential and this is one of the current trends that is pertaining and the world of
marketing.

In store shopping:
Many of the customers prefer the install shopping where the customers tend to go offline and
purchase goods by examining. Few people feel that there is a kind of trust that is developed upon
shopping physically. 61% of the population in any country prefer offline shopping there their
demands and needs can be met quickly and in a satisfied manner. With this particular trend the
retailers will have to focus upon developing methods that will help people that are going for
physical shopping with the latest technologies as well as the latest goods. The retailers will have
to make people believe that the online shopping is same as that of the physical shopping and this
can only be done with a proper interaction with the customer (Reinard and et.al, 2019).
Therefore, the stores will have to focus upon extending their interaction practices with the
consumer which will result in accomplishing the goals and their targets.
Private labelling:
Private labelling is considered to be one of the common factors that is existing in today's
scenario. The more branded the product is the more the private labels are. The private labels are
going for a huge demand than the branded product. Becoming a total mainstream the private
labels are running more than the ones that are going branded. This is the main reason for the
retailers to decrease their graph when compared to private labelling. The retailers will have to
identify this consequence in order to become competitive prevent from the threat of substitute.
The price variation for branded products as well as that for the private labels is set to be a where
different and people are opting for choices that are minimal and cost-effective.
Insta shopping:
The retailers will have to focus upon the social media tool kit where they can sell their products
to the customers that are using social platforms. The social media is now a big giant where
testing ways and load payment information is found in a very simple manner. Although it is still
an experiment in order to move forward with the social media therefore it leads to the growth of
the retailer company. The coming years, social media is said to be a boon for almost all the
sectors where purchases and shop in will be made possible. Using this platform as the best way
to sell goods will be a profitable aspect to the retailing companies. It is said that almost 6 million
population is found on Instagram and for projecting the products on Instagram will leave the
sales to turn up and we'll go for a growth trajectory (Bradlow and et.al, 2017). Adding a new
payment towards this Instagram purchases will make the retailer flourish in no time.

ORGANISATIONAL ANLYSIS
John Lewis partnership is one of the retailers that is operating in the United Kingdom. the John
Lewis partnership is a collaboration of department store and supermarket which are John Lewis
and partner, Waitrose and partners. The company's major focus is to of a product in the
categories of clothing watches and jewellery, giftware, cosmetics, houseware, furniture, beds and
bedding audio visual computing, photography and food direct services. It mainly focuses upon
the middle and upper class shoppers. the partnership council that is associated with John Lewis
partnership is regarded to be one of the largest partnership board. John Lewis partnership global
marketing strategy is based on the traditional business strategy where the company aims at
maintaining success in the United Kingdom and later on its plan is to enter into the Chinese
Market.
PESTEL analysis
Political:
John Lewis is an upcoming sensation in the market of UK is part of the European Union. There
in UK there is a sufficient competition among the retailers to enter into the market. The UK
government decreased the corporation tax to a certain level that is a benefit to the organisation.
Economic:
There is a recession in the entire UK economy. Since there is immense competition among the
retailers they are offering lot of incentives to the customers. This will impact John Lewis since
the prices are to be altered at lower rates.
Socio-Cultural:
The lifestyle and preferences of the customers define the opportunities to the organisation. the
shifting process and their interests matter (Arbab and Mahdi, 2018). Many opportunities are
induced by the way customer defines interest on the materialism. Since there are many new
brands evolving, John Lewis must concentrate upon introducing unbeatable brands into the
market to survive in the race.
Technological:
Internet shopping is the trending factor now a days. This for retail industry is a boon. It influence
the companies with profitable incomes. The operations and transactions are now being
performed in a paperless manner with the help of IT systems. John Lewis must incorporate this

implementation to meet the customer needs which is a more flexible approach for increasing
sales.
Environmental:
The renewable resources used for producing the cloth are cotton and wool. These are considered
eco-friendly. The threat caused by using other materials is long term and there will be legal
penalty that will be induced if it is creating a havoc (Shin and Konrad, 2016). Many of the
companies are not following this for the sake of short-term benefit but in a long run this would
impact the organisation legally. John Lewis focused upon manufacturing eco-friendly cloth as a
merchandise that is not harmful as of now. source of resources used in production, namely cotton
and wool are environmentally friendly.
Legal:
National legislation has strongly ensured the health and safety as well as own materials for
making clothes. John Lewis is operating on producing their own material which is a more
revenue generation.
Marketing strategies to expand globally
There are different marketing strategies that are associated with companies all over the world.
Some of the best marketing strategies that will come in place of John Lewis partnership are as
follows:
Understanding the cultural differences:
While expanding the business Overseas it is a mandatory to research upon the Global marketing
issues around the world. Every country operates upon a different culture and that will definitely
impact the organisation if not resolved properly (Souiden and et.al, 2019). Therefore, it is the
duty of the management to resolve the issues of culture in the country that the company is going
to expand. Being a retailer John Lewis partnership will face the demographic challenges where
people will have to get have created to the trade. Therefore, the company will have to conduct a
research in order to know the demographics and interest of the population.
Tie up with local partner:
In order to know the tastes and the accessibility features of the particular area it is mandatory to
tie up with local vendors who better know what the likes and dislikes of the population is. It is a
prerequisite test for any company before expanding into the local market where there will be a

good subsidiary and fully owned sets that are confidently going ahead. A good understanding of
the local market even before entering will leave with a growth trajectory in the future.
RECOMMENDATIONS
There are a set of recommendations that fall in regard to John Lewis partnership. In order to
move ahead with maximizing the company's growth as well as in order to also increase the
strength and opportunities of the organisation the entire company and the management involved
in it will have to focus upon the positioning and international markets (Pantano and et.al, 2018).
The most prominent aspect with regard to the organisation is its low cost pricing strategy which
is regarded to be one of the most prominent and affordable pricing strategy that has the lead to an
increase of profitability standards of the organisation. This is not the hand but the company will
also have to strive hard in order to move ahead using the technological implementations that are
required for its to gain a good reputation and also increase a positive customer base.
This will also attract the potential to which they can work for the new customers and that can
increase the sale to a very next level. Technologies like that of a implementation can be useful in
order to increase their place in the Global markets. The delivery service of the organisation will
have to be focused upon and will also have to be improved at regular intervals of time such that
the weaknesses of the organisation can be altered. The profit margin will have to be enhanced by
the partnership that are being selected by the organisation and also the delivery strategies will
have to be uplifted according to the use of customers. It is not until when the organisation
improves its physical presence that it can get good expanded base in other countries (Souiden
and et.al, 2019).
All the defects that are arising as a part of its product will have to be identified and also have to
be addressed because the customer centric approach is necessary in order to draw the
opportunities that are related to the organisation. This is a necessity because every organisation
will strive hard in order to get into the pace of competition and that can only be possible while
entering new markets and mainly us and Europe. One of the most prominent aspect that is
observed in almost all the developing companies as the consistency and the role it plays in
uplifting the economy of the organisation. The organisation John Lewis partnership will have to
maintain consistency towards the approaches as well as the strategies in developing such that the
firm can attend a place in the deals of sustainability. Sustainability cannot be achieved unless the

organisation practices the policies that are related to reducing all the Environmental effects that
can be minimised and monitored at times. Growth will have to be the first priority for every
organisation and that with regard to John Lewis partnership is said to be one of the considerable
aspect. It is not until when a business model is properly and consistently implemented the growth
opportunities will fall in regard to the organisation. In this regard the company will have to
identify the supply chain policies such that the sources as well as the company procurement can
therefore be fulfilled.
CONCLUSION
The report concludes upon bringing out the PESTEL framework of the company where one can
understand the factors that are associated with PESTEL factors. Use of marketing and the trends
of retailing will help to understand the prospects that are existing ruling retailing sector.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Dawson and et.al, 2020. The retailing reader. Routledge.
Reinard and et.al, 2019. The impact of digital transformation on the retailing value chain.
International Journal of Research in Marketing. 36(3). pp.350-366.
Bradlow and et.al, 2017. The role of big data and predictive analytics in retailing. Journal of
Retailing. 93(1). pp.79-95.
Souiden and et.al, 2019. New trends in retailing and services.
Pantano and et.al, 2018. A new approach to retailing for successful competition in the new smart
scenario. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
Online
Trends in retailing: [Online]. Available through: < 10 Future Retail Trends & Forecasts for
2021/2022 - A Look Into What’s Next - Financesonline.com >
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