Trends in Retail Industry: Analysis of Eddie Stobart

This report discusses the current trends in the retail industry and analyzes the organization of Eddie Stobart using SWOT and Porter's Five Forces models. Recommendations are provided to address the challenges faced by the company.

Retail business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Explanation of trends in retail industry....................................................................................1
2. Explanation of analysis of organisation using two models......................................................2
3. Recommendation.....................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Retail businesses are those business which provide goods and services to the customers
according to the needs, demand, and requirements of the buyer at a particular geographic
location. It bridges the gap between the whole seller and the consumer, and perform accordingly.
In this report there is description about a firm named Eddie Stobart which deals in retail business
since very long time. The firm is of logistics nature and provide services all over the world. The
firm is on the verge of failing because of its inexperience management that has taken decisions
that was not very beneficial for the organisation. The firm is operating on less employees
because of low requirements of services which is due to improper arrangements that are done in
the company. It is also running out of funds because of low sales and increased expenses. This
report covers topics such as current trends of the retail industry, analysis of the organisation.
Apart from this it also covers recommendations that have been given after analysing all the
above aspects that is studied.
MAIN BODY
1. Explanation of trends in retail industry
Retail industry- It is a industry which provides the necessary things that a customers
wants. It acts as a mediator between whole seller and the customer (DA SILVA and CHEAH,
2020). Eddie Stobart is a retail logistics firm that is facing challenges due to the loop holes that it
possess and is going through a difficult phase. Different trends are explained briefly below in
reference with the firm-
 Delivery- It is a very important aspect in the current market environment as there is a
trend of supplying goods and services to the customer within a limited period of frame. If
the delivery is faster and convenient the firm can capture a great share of market. Eddie
Stobart provide its services all over the world and that too in a limited period that helped
it to gain an enormous share of market. It deliver products very quickly to the customer
because of the trend analysis that has been done and the firm doesn't want to be lacking
behind others.
 Digitalisation- Digitalisation of all the process that are done in a firm is in trend
nowadays and can be very beneficial too. It can reduce the time needed in various
activities and that time can be utilised in some productive work. Eddie Stobart is a firm
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that saw this trend coming and does the necessary changes that are required in its firm by
making it fully digitalised. From the above changes the firm gets more time and that is
utilised efficiently too with the help of various tools (Essel, 2019).
 Block chain- It is a process by which both supplier and the customer can see and verify
the details of the product and service that is in process. This is very helpful for supplier as
it can be cross checked in case of any problem. Customers are also benefited by this
because the details can be checked about the product like the time it would take to reach
the desired location, current location, etc. Eddie Stobart uses a strong network of block
chain that proved to be very helpful for the firm in growth as well as profitability. The
firm also ensures that the product reaches the customer safely and securely without any
interruptions (Fiarni, Maharani and Pratama, 2016).
 Artificial intelligence- It is a very important tool that can shift the working of a firm in
either way if used efficiently and effectively. This technology is widely used nowadays
because of the benefits that comes with it. Eddie Stobart uses artificial intelligence and it
is very helpful for the company. It takes decisions on the behalf of the firm which
involves research and analysis of data and then taking the decision which is in accordance
with the data. It does a lot of lengthy and important work of the company in a very
precise manner that helps in increasing the profitability and thus increasing the growth of
the firm in long run.
 Autonomous trucks- It is a trend which is highly used by majority of the businesses in
the current situation. In it robots are majorly used in operating trucks so that the products
can be delivered safely and securely to the customers with the help of technology. This is
a very useful method because it can reduce the workload from the drivers as well as the
remaining man hours could be deployed in some other work so that extra productivity can
be generated. Eddie Stobart uses this technology at a vast level because of the benefits of
doing so. This helped the firm to reduce their dependency on the drivers as well as it
helps in reducing breakdowns and burnouts. This also helps in easy clearance of the
trucks due to fast and reduced checks because of autonomous drivers that results in
reducing the time taken by the product to reach the customers and thus helping the firm to
grow at a larger level.
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2. Explanation of analysis of organisation using two models
SWOT ANALYSIS- It is an analysis which describes the strengths, weakness,
opportunity, and threats that a company possess so that necessary changes and rectification can
be made accordingly that are beneficial for the company (Fiedler, 2020). SWOT analysis of
Eddie Stobart has been explained briefly below-
Strengths Weaknesses
 Strengths refers to the competences of a
business that give it advantage over its
competitors (Jørgensen and Pedersen,
2019).
 The expansion of the firm helps it to
generate new revenue stream and create
brand image.
 The firm is dedicated with its customers
relationship management will helps firm
to achieve higher level of customer
satisfaction with existing and potential
users.
 Weaknesses stop an organisation to
perform in well manner and it refers
bad debts or liabilities of the firm.
 Eddie Stobart expand its business but
the company needs to put more money
in technology to integrate with its
vision, because the invested money is
not sufficient to achieve its vision.
 The profitability ratio and revenues are
below from the firm's average.
Opportunities Threats
 Digitalisation is the biggest opportunity
for Eddie Stobart logistics as it can help
the firm to achieve a lot more than now.
It is very beneficial too because of its
efficiency and effectiveness.
 New and improved version of
technologies are available and Eddie
Stobart can use this opportunity so that it
can be beneficial for the company's
growth and profitability.
 Market environment is very dynamic
in this industry and a firm has to cope
up with that. This is a big threat to
Eddie Stobart because the competitors
have already made changes
accordingly which is affecting the firm
badly.
 Increase in fuel cost is a huge threat
for Eddie Stobart's business and traffic
situation worsens the rest of the things.
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Porter's five forces- Porters five forces model indicates the forces to gain competitive
advantage of an organisation and it helps in determine firm's strengths and weaknesses (Lee,
Zhao and Lee, 2019). The model helps Eddie robust to gain competitive advantage. These five
force company use includes:
 Bargaining power of the supplier it refers the power of supplier on the company by
rising price, if company has fewer suppliers than it has less alternative to switch towards
cheaper product or vice versa. Suppliers in dominant position can decrease the Eddie
Stobart's profitability because powerful suppliers can use negotiation power to charge
high price of products and goods. In Eddie Stobart the firm has low bargaining power.
Organisation has to build efficient supply chain with multiple distributors and
experimenting with product design using different materials (Marinakos and Daskalaki,
2016).
 Bargaining power of the buyer it indicates the pressure of the customers on the firm to
provide cheaper and better quality products. In case of Eddie Stobart buyers are
demanding a lot they wants best products by paying minimum price. Smaller and
powerful customer base of Eddie Stobart indicates higher the bargaining power of
customers and they seeks to increasing discounts and offers.
 Threat of substitutes- Firms are concerned about is when substitute products or services
place their own. When substitute products available on cheaper price or provide
attractive offers than customers switch firm's products to substitutes (Overdiek, 2018).
Threat of substitutes is high of Eddie Stobart if it offers value proposition that is different
from its current offerings. Firm can bit this threat by being service oriented rather than
only product oriented and by understands the needs of customers rather than their
buyings.
 Rivalry among the competitors- Rivalry refers competition among existing competitors
by cutting their price, attractive offers, promotional activities and their spendings on
products or services. Eddie Stobart operates in a high competitive industry. It can intense
industry to drive down prices and decrease its profitability (Sewell, Mason and Venter,
2017).
 Threat of new entrants it refers to the threat of new comers into the market to pose
existing players within an industry. Eddie Stobart has high threat from other businesses
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that are doing things in new and innovative way. It can put pressure to the pricing
strategy and reducing cost of the firm's goods and services. Company can reduce this
threat by innovating new products or services on lower prices, and spending more money
on research and development (Tepanon and Thatriroth, 2016).
3. Recommendation
It can be recommended from the above explanation that there is both positive and
negative aspects of the firm that is Eddie Stobart logistics. It can do some changes and
rectification so that any loop holes that the firm possess can be solved without much delay. Some
of the points that are recommended to the company are as follows-
 It can analyse the latest trends that are prevailing in the current market condition so that it
can benefit the firm in a positive way. The firm can speed up its delivery so that it can
reach maximum number of people within a limited time of frame that can attract a lot of
new customers which will benefit the firm. Digitalisation of the processes can also be
done so that wastage of time and efforts can be reduced so that time would be invested in
doing something productive that can increase the sales of the firm.
 Block chain method should be used by Eddie Stobart in a much wider scope due to the
potential that it carriers. It makes a firm very transparent so that every step can be
checked, verified and further can be cross-checked, cross-verified so that there would be
no scope of errors. Artificial intelligence is also a much better option for a firm that is
looking to increase its sales. It reduces the chances for errors and the process of decision-
making can be quick with the help of this method. Further autonomous trucks can be used
by the firm so that there is increase in the effectiveness and efficiency in the working of
the firm.
 Eddie Stobart is a logistics firm which is well established and has strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats that play an important part in deciding the working of the
business. It is a company established since a long time ago and enjoys a pool of loyal
customers which is one of the big strength of the firm. Since it was started with a boom
slow and steadily it has lost the shine because of inefficient working which is a big
negative point for the firm.
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 Digitalisation is the biggest opportunity that it has which can be used in accordance with
the business. Various competitors are entering the industry which possess a big threat for
the firm as it has to cope up with all the challenges that it faces.
 Supplier power in case of Eddie Stobart is very high and it can change the flow of the
working of the business on either side. Similarly, customer power is also very high and
the buyer can switch to another company which can badly affect the firm.
 The firm also has high threat from the substitute products as well as competitors which
can affect it due to the alternatives that a customer have. Also the industry in which it
operates has no barriers so it has to cope up with that also.
CONCLUSION
Retail industry is a industry which provide goods and services to the customers willing to
purchase the product. There are various trends that are digitalisation, delivery, artificial
intelligence, autonomous drivers, and block chain are some trends that a firm must look up so
that it can be positioned better as compared to other. There are two types of model analysis that
are done which is SWOT and Porter five forces analysis that can help a firm to better understand
its operating. Apart from that it is recommended that the firm must use digitisation and block
chain methods for the business that can be beneficial in the long run.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
DA SILVA, G. and CHEAH, S. M., 2020. Developing an innovative retail concept to showcase
the smart home of the future.
Essel, B., 2019. Employee Retention in Small Retail Businesses.
Fiarni, C., Maharani, H. and Pratama, R., 2016, May. Sentiment analysis system for Indonesia
online retail shop review using hierarchy Naive Bayes technique. In 2016 4th
international conference on information and communication technology (IcoICT) (pp.
1-6). IEEE.
Fiedler, M., 2020. Erfolgreiche Mitarbeiterführung und Steuerung im Retail Business. Springer
Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH.
Jørgensen, S. and Pedersen, L. J. T., 2019. Toward smart and sustainable business models in
retail. In Innovation for Sustainability (pp. 177-192). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Lee, C. H., Zhao, X. and Lee, Y. C., 2019. Service quality driven approach for innovative retail
service system design and evaluation: A case study. Computers & Industrial
Engineering. 135. pp.275-285.
Marinakos, G. and Daskalaki, S., 2016. Viability prediction for retail business units using data
mining techniques: a practical application in the Greek pharmaceutical
sector. International Journal of Computational Economics and Econometrics. 6(1).
pp.1-12.
Overdiek, A., 2018. Opportunities for slow fashion retail in temporary stores. Journal of Fashion
Marketing and Management: An International Journal.
Sewell, W., Mason, R. B. and Venter, P., 2017. Socio-economic developmental strategies as
retail performance indicators: A balanced scorecard approach. Development Southern
Africa. 34(3). pp.365-382.
Tepanon, Y. and Thatriroth, S., 2016, June. Retail Service Quality in hypermarket. In 2016 13th
International Conference on Service Systems and Service Management (ICSSSM) (pp.
1-4). IEEE.
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