Inquiry Based Learning: Trends in Retail Industry and Analysis of Sainsbury's

This report discusses the current trends in the retail industry and analysis of Sainsbury's through inquiry based learning. It includes a SWOT and PESTLE analysis of Sainsbury's and recommendations for the company to continue its success.

INQUIRY BASED LEARNING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
The trends in retail industry.........................................................................................................3
Analysis of Sainsbury's................................................................................................................4
Recommendations........................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Inquiry based learning refers to the effective and more active learning experiences which
is used in incorporate the training process. The current report will be based on Sainsbury's, which
falls under the category of leading organizations in the UK. The study will explain the current
trends in the retail industry and analysis of chosen company. It will define recommendations on
what that firm need to do focus on continuing its success.
MAIN BODY
The trends in retail industry
The biggest retail industry trends including social media commerce is on the rise,
improved efficiency with the inventory management technology, consumer want to see
continuing community support and connecting the online and offline world.
Social media commerce in on the rise- The competition in the retail marketing pushes
the retailers to innovate the idea via social media and accommodate the online existence with
extending the customers shopping experience which included the Instagram and Facebook.
Nowadays this trend is more effective for the organization and as well as consumers hwo can
easily but the products through this. About many people in UK has shown their direct purchase
from social media which shows the strong connections between the brands and their online
owners (Avinash and Babu, 2018). As many of the independent retailers are selling their
products with the use of social media while some are still not using that they have planned to use
this facility about next year. Retailers are expecting to change the new technology on the next
year which influence them to sell more products online.
Improved efficiency with inventory management technology- The trends are moving
forward by adopting several changes of services and combine the online and offline worlds.
Many retailers are started taking involvement in the inventory management technology,
investment which shapes their business for the better outcome. Some UK retailers looking at the
inventory technology to modify its efficiency while few are already using it, which shows the
real time of inventory. By digitizing the bushinesses which can make it easier for retailers to
develop and expanded the inventory to meet their customer's demand. Many retailers have
already planned to invest in this technology in upcoming year while some are still expecting the
improvement in stock market and inventory management. Many companies including the
manufacturing, retail and food industry are avoiding to tying up the inventory to the necessary

with minimizing the wastes and decreases. Some successful companies who accomplish their
goals by using these inventory models.
Connecting the online and offline world- Many retail businesses has suffered from the
loss during the pandemic, so it is become an important part to link up the online and offline
worlds. This new trend helps the retailers in the market to connect with the consumers. The
retailers have changes their way to do the business, it has setting up the online stores and offer
the audiences home delivery (Haydock and Smith, 2019). These step is taken during the days
when the streets and shelves were blank. Merger of the online and offline areas will help to
increase the business opportunities which create the connections for the customers at the time of
sales. It creates a good business awareness to utilize various strategy, by allowing for the
increasing in sales and repeat the customers. Some retailers varied to meet the demand by
estimating the home delivery and same time in store take away, appealing to many customers
who are missed this comfortability of having what they have bought instantly. These
modifications of the speed delivery options will also increase the sales of giving customers for
incentives to fill and complete the online checkout.
Consumer want to see continuing community support- In increasing the gross income
of a company and increasing the online existence has proved important. As the customers also
belief to value the general community involvement and to see the support from the retailers. This
trend is very important for the industries because it depends on the customers point of view
which they want more support from their retailers. Throughout these several lock downs and
ongoing travel limitation the research find that the independent retailers will meet the demand of
supply chain interruption with the customer engagement (Mostaghel and et.al., 2022). By the
upbringing community connections and perception to local market the retailers can help to fulfil
the condition which is accommodated the general demand and inventory requests. Some
customers wanted to see the change in the business regarding donating the food and some
supplies to the charities and local communities.
Analysis of Sainsbury's
SWOT analysis of Sainsbury's.
Strengths
 It has a uniqueness in the company's
strategies.
Weaknesses
 Its product has a lower price because
rising in competition.

 It has a social media presence.
 Counted on the listed company in UK.
 The company is Financially unstable.
 Sometime their risk can occur due to
switch in brands.
Opportunities
 It has an opportunity to International
expansion.
 It is has a 24-hour availability in the
market.
 It has a major growth in rural areas as
well.
Threats
 New competition in the market create a
major threat on the company.
 Moving to international market create
barriers for them to accept their culture.
 Change in rules and regulations in the
country creates a negative threat.
PESTLE analysis of Sainsbury's
It will help to evaluate the current situation of the market which affect the Sainsbury's
supermarket chain.
Political factor- This factor is used to determine the government policies and change in
new rules and regulation which directly affect the company. It has a negative impact on the
Sainsbury's market because of Brexit. It means England is not a part of the European union
which increased the import rates (Naidoo and Gasparatos, 2018). It increases the pricing of the
product which lead to lost many customers and have a direct impact on organization. It will
create a harmful condition to this brand.
Economic factor- This factor is related to the economic conditions of the country which
affect the organization such as employment rates and interest rate. It has a negative impact on the
Sainsbury's because new economic changes like rising the fuel costs and rising salaries.
Increasing the fuel costs will decrease the profitability of the organization and increases the
transport prices which affect the organization's productivity as well (Von Briel, 2018). The
market competition creates a strong impact on the company because the competition asked to be
paid salary to their employee at higher pay scale.
Social factor- It refers to the activities which shows the change in trend as well as the life
style of the peoples which affect the company's commercial activities. Such as lifestyle trends
and consumer beliefs (Ozcan and et.al., 2021). This has a positive impact on the Sainsbury's
market because of change in new trends which is adapted by the organization and put in on as

per the customers demand. In today's time the people are more health conscious so the company
are on to the innovative ideas for the new products which fulfil the consumer needs.
Technological factor- this factor is used to the new technological facilities which the
country is adapting which affect many companies technologies such as, automation of the
equipments and new technology infrastructure. This has a positive impact on the Sainsbury's
because change in new technology itself increases the productivity of the company which help
them to adapt the requirements of the people. The new technology advancements used to do the
online shopping facility for the customers which create its profitability as well.
Legal factors- This factor appears from the changes in the regulatory and laws which
have a broader economy rate and affect the particular industries or some individual company. It
includes some industry regulations, licensing and permissions and the laws for the protection of
employees (Panzone, Larcom and She, 2021). This has a positive as well as create a negative
impact on the Sainsbury's because change in rules and regulation creates difficulty to the
company to provide better experience to the customers. Whereas, the new laws help the
organizations and their employees to work with an establishment without any kind of fear.
Environmental factor- This factor help to recognize the physical changes in the
environment which create the risk as well as opportunities for the companies. This includes
climate changes, extreme weather events and carbon footprint. This creates a negative impact on
Sainsbury's because it creates the pressure on the brand to make the sudden changes which will
not harm the environmental conditions and favourable for the company (Rohwer and Topić
2019). The supermarket chains create more carbon footprint which directly affect the
environmental condition. This creates the environmental laws which will not in the favour of the
company. It has a more plastic wastes which is a major contribution to increasing the carbon
footprint.
Recommendations
To be more successful in the market Sainsbury's can involve its employees in the
decision-making process which can help to increase its productivity. Involvement of employee
can help the company to give more input for the planning process. It can build the trust between
the employee because some employees are not full dedicated and attentive towards their work to
be more successful Sainsbury's can build the trust between them.

To be more successive the organization can learn the techniques which its competitors
are using to bring their business upward. This is because it is possible the rivalries are doing
something unique which create the positive aspect for them to make the more money. So
organization can implement their techniques as well to survive in the current market situation. It
can have customer feedback in regular basis which can increase its productivity of work place.
This can help the company more about the customer's point of view which can help them to do
changes or modify the things.
It can calculate the risk factor as well which can help the business to grow and move
forward to its success. It can be more creative towards their business idea which improve the
way of looking from the customer's point of view to recognize its competition in the market. To
be more creative the company can have a example of Amazon which is started their business as a
normal book seller and now they are a big e-commerce retailer shop. The organization need to be
more focussed towards their selling and retailing process. It can provide better services to the
customers which can help to move towards their goal.
For a successful business, providing the good services will help to gain the positive
customer experience towards the organization. In the current competitive market environment
company need to be more focussed on their customers from which they can gain the business
advantage which help them to create a competitive environment for the business. Increasing
more sales can help the business owners to increases its advertisement incomes which can
include the offers for the recommendation and with the help of the existing clients. It can deliver
more quality product which will help the business to gain more advantage for their growth and
survival rate in the market. It can provide the delivery on the time which will help the business to
increases its growth rate. It can be more successful for their business, if they do not leave any
tasks unsuccessful which can help to increase their growth rate.
It can create the collaborative environment which reduces the competition within the
organization. It helps to ensure that they can have a smooth workplace environment which
encourages more employees to focus on their work instead of competition with their co-workers.
It can put the good marketing effort in the business which can help to grow its business rate. The
organization can have a specific mission and vision which can help them to accomplish their
goals and increases its survival rate. Business can allot many passionate leaders which can help

them to get more successive towards their goals and ideas. There is need for the successful leader
who always gets their employees to be more active about their tasks.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it has been concluded that the new trends in the retail industry
creates a positive aspect towards the businesses. With the help of the SWOT and PESTLE
analysis it ensures the impact on the Sainsbury's market condition in today's business
environment. It has been concluded the recommendations which include decision-making
process which helps to enhance the successive actions which is can be taken by the organization
to survive in the market.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Avinash, B.M. and Babu, S.H., 2018. Big Data Analytics–Its Impact on Changing Trends in
Retail Industry. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer
Engineering & Technology (IJARCET). 7(4). pp.379-382.
Haydock, J. and Smith, T., 2019. No magic dust: The relationship between the national and local
assessments in Sainsbury’s/Asda. Journal of Competition Law & Economics. 15(4).
pp.538-558.
Mostaghel, R. and et.al., 2022. Digitalization driven retail business model innovation:
Evaluation of past and avenues for future research trends. Journal of Business
Researc. 146. pp.134-145.
Naidoo, M. and Gasparatos, A., 2018. Corporate environmental sustainability in the retail sector:
Drivers, strategies and performance measurement. Journal of Cleaner
Production. 203. pp.125-142.
Ozcan, S. and et.al., 2021. Technology roadmapping using text mining: A foresight study for the
retail industry. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 69(1). pp.228-244.
Panzone, L.A., Larcom, S. and She, P.W., 2021. Estimating the impact of the first COVID-19
lockdown on UK food retailers and the restaurant sector. Global Food Security. 28.
p.100495.
Rohwer, L. and Topić, M., 2019. The communication of Corporate–NGO Partnerships: analysis
of Sainsbury’s collaboration with Comic Relief. Journal of Brand
Management. 26(1). pp.35-48.
Von Briel, F., 2018. The future of omnichannel retail: A four-stage Delphi study. Technological
Forecasting and Social Change. 132. pp.217-229.

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