Inquiry Based Learning in Retail Industry

This report explores the concept of inquiry based learning and its application in the retail industry. It discusses the current trends in the retail industry, analyzes the performance of Wagamama Restaurant, and provides recommendations for success in the industry.

Inquiry Based Learning

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Retail Trends................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of Wagamama Restaurant.............................................................................................5
Recommendations........................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................9
Appendix.......................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Inquiry based learning is an approach to learning that involves asking questions,
addressing problems etc. The concept promotes deeper understanding of a particular concept and
also helps in improving different skills of a person (AKTAMIŞ, HİĞDE and ÖZDEN, 2016).
Organization chosen for this report is Wagamama, which is a restaurant chain headquartered in
London, United Kingdom. The company was founded by Alan Yau in the year 1992. The
restaurant serves Pan-Asian food that is primarily based on Japanese cuisine and in order to
expand its brand, Wagamama has released two cookbooks. The report describes the various
current trends in the retail industry, background of the chosen organization and a SWOT analysis
of the selected company. Lastly, recommendations regarding what can the company focus on to
ensure continuous success is also provided.
MAIN BODY
Retail Trends
Industry Data and Literature Search
The retail industry, today, has evolved completely from how it was few years ago and
continues to grow constantly. The industry is among the largest employers in the private sector in
the United Kingdom (Van Uum, Verhoeff and Peeters, 2016). The retail industry in the UK
provides various employment opportunities in different sectors like customer services, online
retail, visual merchandising, supply chain, warehousing, distribution and logistics. The retail
industry provides both part-time as well as full-time job opportunities to the people. According
to the view point of Jemma Smith, the retail industry is one of the most important sectors that
contributes significantly towards the UK economy and generated retail sales worth £381 billion
(Overview of the retail sector in the UK, 2020).
Retail Industry Trends
The retail industry is changing at an unmeasurable rate constantly and thus there are
various opportunities as well as threats that come associated with the same. The behavior of
customers is changing and their expectations are also increasing gradually. Therefore, it has
become important for the retailers to understand the current trends of the market in order to
ensure that they are successful. The various trends of the retail industry are described below –

 Rise in E-commerce – E-commerce has reduced the amount of effort as well as time that
buyers take while making a purchase. The process has been made a lot easier by
introduction of various mobile apps (Buchanan and et. al., 2016). Also, the number of
people who shop online has also gone up drastically as they can shop from various
platforms like Instagram, Facebook etc. Because of this, marketers of different companies
have different ways to influence customers so as to increase their brand following and
overall sales. The boost in e-commerce has also introduced various digital wallets
through which payments can be made by the customers easily and without facing any
problem. These wallets are widely adopted by different retail organizations across
different markets.
 Customization of Products – Customization refers to giving a personal or customized
touch to the products and services according to the choice of customers. This allows the
customers to associate themselves with the brand more closely. Customization can be
offered in the size, shape, color etc. of the products. Personalized or customized products
in one retail trend that is estimated to only grow bigger in the coming years. Through this,
the customers can order products that are according to their preference. Some brands
even offer the facility of designing own products to the customers (Top 5 trends in retail
industry, 2019). This helps in establishing a long-term relation with the customers and
also gaining their loyalty. Thus, the company can gain competitive edge by providing
customization in its products to the customers.
 Omni-channel Retailing – Omni-channel is another current trend in the retail industry
that most companies are adopting. It can be defined as a model in which all existing
channels within a company are integrated with each other so that the customers get a
lasting experience. The trend has become important as the customers can communicate
with the retail outlets much more easily and easily obtain whatever they need (Chu and
et. al., 2017). This not only ensures that the company as well as the customers are
satisfied, but also encourages the customers to purchase more products. Omni-channel
retailing also helps the retailers to keep a track of their inventory as well as also ensure
that the customers are satisfied.
 Augmented and Virtual Reality – AR and VR are two mega trends that have taken
almost all industries, including retail industry by storm and are estimated to grow even

bigger. Many retail organizations are increasing their use of these concepts in their
systems wherein the customers can get a real time experience of a company’s products
and services. Incorporating AR and VR in the system can help retail organizations in
growing their overall business in different markets as well as attracting a large number of
customers.
Analysis of Wagamama Restaurant
Background of the company
Wagamama is a British chain of restaurants that was founded by Alan Yau in the year
1992. The restaurant is known for serving Pan-Asian food which is basically based on the
Japanese cuisine, particularly ramen (Dobber and et. al., 2017). The company opened its first
ever restaurant in Bloomsbury, London and today operates in a number of locations like
Denmark, Greece, Ireland, the US, Turkey etc. The company was acquired by The Restaurant
Group in the year 2018 in a deal having value of nearly £559 million.
Interview of an industry analyst was conducted, wherein questions relating to
Wagamama’s strengths and weaknesses we asked some of which are explained below –
Q.1 What is the Unique Selling Proposition of the company?
Wagamama is a well-known restaurant chain in the United Kingdom and offers Pan-
Asian meals that are based on the Japanese cuisine.
Q.2 What are the opportunities that Wagamama can utilize in order to expand its business
further?
The company can provide the facility of customization of the products to customers. This
will not only help it in understanding their requirements but also satisfy the same and gain their
loyalty.
Q.3 What are the potential threats that Wagamama can face?
One of the major threats that respective company can come across is competition from
other players in the market. Also, there is a threat of new businesses entering the market and
offering similar products.

SWOT Analysis of the Company
SWOT Analysis can be defined as a strategic tool that can be used by individuals as well
as organizations in order to identify their strengths as well as weaknesses (Galan and et. al.,
2017). The framework also provides an access to different opportunities as well as potential
threats that can impact the overall performance of an organization. The SWOT analysis of
Wagamama Restaurant, based on the results and observations obtained above is described below
–
 Strengths – One of the major strengths of the company is that it provides Pan-Asian
dishes to its customers that are based on Japanese cuisine. Also, there is a wide of
products that are priced at affordable rates.
 Weaknesses – Wagamama does not extensively promote itself in the market which is one
of the reasons why many people are still unaware of the company. Similarly, the
mediums through which the company advertises itself are also very limited.
 Opportunities – The company has potential and can thus utilize the opportunity of
expanding its business across various markets that are not tapped by its competitors. This
will also help in increasing the overall sales.
 Threats – There is a threat of rival brands offering similar products to the customers at
much affordable rates. Also, the rising prices of raw material can pose a serious threat to
its business operations.
Performance of the respective company against industry trends
Wagamama is considered to be the one of the leaders of providing the service of casual
dining to the customers. The company’s one of the major strengths is that it provided a large
variety of Pan-Asian dishes to the customers (Marian and Jackson, 2017). The dishes are
originally based on the Japanese culture which is an advantage. The company has been keeping
up with all the recent trends of the retail industry and as a result, has been able to leverage its
business around the world in different untapped markets. It is made sure that all health and safety
measures as well as standards are met and there is no compromise in the same.
Constant innovation in the products and services of the company has led to an overall
improvement in its overall performance. Another reason behind an improvement in the

company’s overall performance is that it pays importance to its customers the most and knows
that they have the power to make or break a business. The company has also incorporated the
latest technology in its system so as to increase the overall efficiency of its business processes.
Recommendations
The main goal of any organization is to build a business that is not only sustainable but
successful as well. In context to Wagamama Restaurant, it is already known that the company is
a well-known brand and has a considerable number of customers (Ramnarain and Hlatswayo,
2018). So, if the company wants to be successful in other regions of its operations as well, it is
recommended that should focus on making its products and services different from other players
in the market. This can be done by adding new features, revising the prices, changing the
packaging of the products etc. This will help the company to gain an advantage over competitors
and thus stand out in the market. Also, the performance of the competitor brands should be
analyzed from time to time.
A market research is another helpful tool that can help in getting an insight about the
various opportunities as well as threats that can impact the overall productivity of the company
in the industry. Thus, Wagamama Restaurant should seek different ways to innovate its products
and be unique from others. Foremost thing is to innovate the customer service so that they are
not only satisfied but also loyal to the brand. One the company gains loyalty of customers; it
should be consistent in the same. It is also recommended that if Wagamama Restaurant wants to
be successful and grow its business, it should partner up with the market leaders of the different
untapped markets. This will not only help it in expanding business, but also, cut down on various
unnecessary costs.
It should also practice Corporate Social Responsibility because a large number of people
are increasingly becoming aware of the environment and want to associate themselves with
similar brands (Song and Wen, 2018). Also, the company should have a complete understanding
of its customers, their like sand dislikes. After this, it should revise its product offering in the
menu according. Incorporating these considerations in its system will help Wagamama in being
successful and standing out in the market.
Action Plan

An action plan for the respective company to be successful is explained below –
 Wagamama Restaurant should first set its goals clear. For example- if it wants to be
successful, it should analyze the various resources that are available and how can they be
utilized to their maximum capacity in order to achieve the desired result.
 Market analysis and the performance of competitors should be evaluated to know how
are they performing and what is that is helping them set their business aside (Turnip,
Wahyuni and Tanjung, 2016). Different people should be allocated various tasks so that
the final goal is achieved in an effective manner.
 Deadlines and a time frame must be set so that the progress of the activities can be
measured. This will also help in monitoring the performance of all members of the team.
Also, the various resources that will be needed should be assessed and used to their
maximum capacity so that the desired output can be generated.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that inquiry-based learning not only helps an
individual but also organizations to grow. It has gained importance over the years as the
understanding about a particular subject can be enhanced. There are various trends that
companies operating in the retail industry should adopt in order to grow their business and thus
increase sales. This will further lead to an increase in their overall profitability and for this,
various frameworks like SWOT analysis etc. can be used which helps in identifying the strengths
as well as weaknesses. Therefore, companies should carefully formulate strategies if they want to
sustain in a highly competitive environment.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
AKTAMIŞ, H., HİĞDE, E. and ÖZDEN, B., 2016. Effects of the inquiry-based learning method
on students’ achievement, science process skills and attitudes towards science: A meta-
analysis science. Journal of Turkish Science Education. 13(4). pp.248-261.
Buchanan, S. and et. al., 2016. Inquiry based learning models, information literacy, and student
engagement: A literature review. School Libraries Worldwide. 22(2). pp.23-39.
Chu, S. K. W. and et. al., 2017. 21st Century skills development through inquiry-based learning.
Springer Singapore:.
Dobber, M. and et. al., 2017. Literature review: The role of the teacher in inquiry-based
education. Educational Research Review. 22. pp.194-214.
Galan, D. and et. al., 2017. The experiment editor: supporting inquiry-based learning with virtual
labs. European Journal of Physics. 38(3). p.035702.
Marian, H. and Jackson, C., 2017. Inquiry-based learning: a framework for assessing science in
the early years. Early Child Development and Care. 187(2). pp.221-232.
Ramnarain, U. and Hlatswayo, M., 2018. Teacher beliefs and attitudes about inquiry-based
learning in a rural school district in South Africa. South African Journal of Education.
38(1).
Song, Y. and Wen, Y., 2018. Integrating various apps on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) into
seamless inquiry-based learning to enhance primary students’ science learning. Journal
of Science Education and Technology. 27(2). pp.165-176.
Turnip, B., Wahyuni, I. and Tanjung, Y. I., 2016. The Effect of Inquiry Training Learning Model
Based on Just in Time Teaching for Problem Solving Skill. Journal of Education and
Practice. 7(15). pp.177-181.
Van Uum, M. S., Verhoeff, R. P. and Peeters, M., 2016. Inquiry-based science education:
towards a pedagogical framework for primary school teachers. International Journal of
Science Education. 38(3). pp.450-469.
Online
Overview of the retail sector in the UK. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/retail/overview-of-
the-retail-sector-in-the-uk>.
Top 5 trends in retail industry. 2019. [Online]. Available through:<
https://www.nextmsc.com/blog/Top-5-trends-in-retail-industry>.

Appendix
Product range of Wagamama Restaurant