Assignment Analysis on Canadian Supermarket

Running head: RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
RESEARCH AND ANALYIS
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
Summary:
The organization that has been chosen for analysis can be mentioned as Loblaws
Incorporation. The company is basically a Canadian supermarket chain and has its stores within
Alberta, Quebec as well as Ontario. The company was acquired by George Weston Ltd. and as a
result Loblaws Inc. was established. Initially Loblaw was created as a food empire by means of
the holistic purchase from the different grocery as well as retail manufacturers (Arasti et al.,
2017). The company was established in the year, 1919 and had its headquarters based at
Brampton (Arasti et al., 2017). Ontario. By the end of the year, 2005, the supermarket chain
emerged as the largest supermarket chains within the economic context of Canada and it acquire
more than 34.9% of the overall market shares (Beamish & Lupton, 2016). Loblaws is concerned
with the sale of different general grocery, pharmacy, alcoholic beverage products as well as other
general merchandise. The company is classified under the retail industry and the key market for
the brand is within Ontario, Canada. Also, as a company Loblaw aims at improving health and
wellness outcomes for the citizens of Canada by provisioning superior quality food products. The
report intends to conduct an external and internal strategic audit of the company along with the
evaluation on the environmental constraints. Further, a stakeholder analysis would also be
conducted and organizational structure and design would be discussed in detail. Also, employee
motivation strategies would be discussed and along with the same, organizational control and
recommendation procedures would also be discussed in the report.
SWOT Analysis:
The predominant strength of the company can be explained as its strong brand image.
The strong brand image has enabled the organization to sustain within the competitive market

2RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
place and at the same time continuously expand on its business strategies. Most importantly, the
operation of the company across the different Canadian provinces has enabled it to serve to a
broader customer base (Bui & DeVillers, 2017). Apart from the same, the availability of
president’s organic products has also enabled the company to generate increased amount of
company revenue. Also, Loblaw is considered to be an employee savvy organization and invests
significantly in training and development of the workforce. Also, it adapts significant measures
to ensure increased employee satisfaction and this can also be considered as a primary strength
of the organization. Also, the company enjoys an effective leadership position by virtue of which
it has managed to acquire 80% of the overall market share within Canada (Dang et al., 2020).
Further, it should also be mentioned that the company has effectively sustained within the market
against the market competitors which can again be mentioned as strength of the company. The
mentioned strengths can be utilized for better marketing and product promotion process.
On the other hand, the weaknesses can be mentioned as the ‘poor performance or
underperformance’ of some of the stores that has considerably impacted the growth of the
company within the retail industry. Another weakness can be considered as the inconvenience
experienced by the employees while locating stores (Bui & De Villers, 2017). This has also
resulted in deprivation of the customer base. Also, the lack of differentiation in terms of the
business model of the company has enabled the competitor companies or rival companies to
mimic the business model of Loblaw and enter the market (Dang et al., 2020). In order to prevent
the identified weaknesses from diminishing company revenue, an application would be
developed by virtue of which customers would be able to locate the stores across the different
regions and would also be able to browse through the available products. Also, the company

3RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
would need to strengthen the existing business model such that it cannot be mimicked by
competitor companies.
In terms of opportunities, there is ample scope for introducing improvement in terms of
quality standards and focusing on the provisioning of in-store experience to the consumers. The
company has exclusively focused on maintenance of quality standards but has been receiving
complaints within the low-cost category of goods. The company can effectively work on the
provisioning of quality over the low-cost range of times. Also, the company can work on
improving the in-store ambience and incorporate facilities such as self-checkout as well as
customized quality schemes for imparting customers with a unique shopping experience
(Beamish & Lupton, 2016).
Threats on the other hand, comprise of intense level of competition from the rival
competitor companies as well as diminishing Canadian economy. The demand for grocery retail
is diminishing considering the previous years and it is directly impacting the overall productivity
of the company against the competitor companies (Arasti et al., 2017). The mentioned threats
can effectively be tackled by introducing product innovation for attracting more consumer
demand.
Environmental Constraints:
In order to analyze the environmental constraints of the company, a PESTEL analysis
would be conducted. The PESTLE analysis would comprise of evaluation of the political,
economic, social, technological, environmental and legal aspects.
Political: