Current Trends in Retail Industry: Analysis of Sainsbury and Recommendations

FY028 Inquiry Based Learning

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Current trends in retail industry...................................................................................................3
Analysis of the organisation.........................................................................................................4
Recommendations........................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1
APPENDIX......................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
The report is based on the inquiry based project that will highlight the current trends in
the retail industry with the help of the business models and analysis form the research study
conducted through interview. Furthermore, it also covers the recommendations for the company
to ensure future success in the retail industry. The chosen company is Sainsbury.
MAIN BODY
Current trends in retail industry
The retail sector the business that is involved in selling the products directly to the end
users and includes shops , departmental stores, supermarkets , door to door sales and various
internet retailers. The retail sector of UK is important for the economy and provides
employment to over three million people(Jin, and Shin, 2020). It has been analysed from the
research is that it consist of over 300,000 separate business and is the also the source of
employment and help in increasing the employment rate of the country. It also focuses on
providing quality products and services to its customer by understanding the needs and
requirements. Due to Covid-19 crisis has resulted into various changes that has taken place in the
retail industry.
It has been analysed that most of the retailers has made modifications in their business
models by looking at the current situation of the market. From the studies it has been observed
that 87% retailers have shifted to selling their products online. In the beginning they faced
various challenges by expanding its business online as it is necessary to stay ahead in the
market and offer wide variety of the products to the customers(Kaur, Arora, and Bali, 2020). In
order to cover and balance the losses, and to serve wide variety of audience, companies have set
up the online stores and also offered home delivery which was the various steps that was taken
by the company. From the research it has been analysed that the retailers uses direct to customer
approach i.e. B2C business where the company sells its products to the customers. This kind of
the model is used by most of the retail companies i.e. Sainsbury as carries higher margins but
sometimes also results into high cost and distribution risk(Kunc, and Križan, 2018). Considering
the increasing in the scope of technology , the company has move towards installing effective
software systems in their management in order to receive the relevant information and data
regarding the requirements of the customers and about the current trends in the market. Various

retailer have applied Artificial Intelligence which has enabled the company and its systems to
work together and has also helped in optimising the customer experience, forecasting the trends
and also helps in management of the inventory(Har, and et.al., 2022). With the help of this
technology it has helped the company to connect with customer and communicate in order to
understand their preferences and requirements and operate accordingly. With the help of digital
transformation has helped the company to get better and reliable data which acts as a driver and
results into better business outcomes. It has been analysed that due to machine learning has
helped the company gain knowledge about the customer , growth opportunities and leads to
innovation(Arli, Bauer, and Palmatier, 2018). Current research shows that due to the pandemic
and with the return to indoor shopping , the safety measures have been taken by the stores. The
company is bound to follow the restrictions imposed by the government. In order to ensure safety
, it has been observed that 62% has introduced contactless and online payment in their stores for
better customer experience(Chen, and et.al., 2020). This has helped the industry to recover the
losses. With the help of these it has helped the company to provided better experience to its
customer. With the help of adopting the technologies and shifting to online world , the
companies are focusing towards inventory management technology which will help to increase
the efficiency and also improve the supply chain of the company in order to enhance its market
position.
Analysis of the organisation
Sainsbury is the second largest U.K. Grocery chain and have 15% of its market share.
The company has expanded its business in various countries and has over 600 supermarkets and
800 stores. The organisation was founded in 1869 and has diversified its business and expanded
its product line by dealing in clothing, telecom equipment and other non food items. In
September 2016, company further entered into non food retailing business of Home Retail group
and operating the Habitat and Argos chains. With the emergence of Covid-19, the company
suffered and incurred its costs in paying the workers in order to prevent the spread of the
infection. From the interview conducted, it has been analysed that various changes have took
place in the market which enable the company to make modification in its strategies according to
the current trends in the market.
It has been observed that during the pandemic the organisation also started its online
selling of the groceries and provide home delivery services for the enhancing the customer