Marketing Strategies of Tesco and Sainsbury: A Comparative Analysis

This report analyzes the marketing strategies of Tesco and Sainsbury, two leading supermarkets in the UK. The report examines the success stories of both companies, their marketing approaches, and evidence of marketing-related success. The report also discusses the ways in which Tesco and Sainsbury achieved success in the industry.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Marketing Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The report has helped in analyzing the marketing strategies of Tesco and Sainsbury
companies in which the different success stories of the companies has been analyzed in an
effective manner. Furthermore, the different description of the business of both the
supermarkets has been done in an effective manner in which the different marketing
strategies has been adopted which has helped them in managing the different activities
effectively. Furthermore, the evidences from different kinds of articles has been done in
which this will help in managing the various issues and approaches which has assisted in
managing the different kinds of customer relationships.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Description of Tesco and Success Achieved by the Company..................................................4
Description of Sainsbury and Success Achieved by the Company............................................4
Evidence of Marketing Related Success for Tesco....................................................................5
Evidence of Marketing Related Success for Sainsbury.............................................................6
Ways through which Tesco Achieved Success in Industry.......................................................7
Ways through which Sainsbury Achieved Success in Industry.................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The report helps in the analysis of the marketing strategies along with the marketing
processes of the two different organizations namely Sainsbury and Tesco which are being
able to compete in the entire market. The marketing is essential for the business as this helps
in increasing the overall sales and productivity of the organization and this helps in creating
and building trust between the different individuals and reputation for the business is
increased in an effective manner.
There are different marketing concepts which can be analysed from the diagram such
as the following:
Production Concept- The consumers will favour the products which are available and
this is highly affordable in nature. In the production concept, the management of the company
mainly focuses on improving the overall production and distribution efficiency.
Product Concept- This helps in analysis of the products which helps in favouring the
ones which offers proper and efficient quality along with different innovative features as well
(Bailey and Alexander 2017).
Selling and Marketing Concept- The main aim is to create different sales transactions
and build more profitable relationships with one another. Furthermore, the marketing concept
includes achieving the organizational approach effectively.
Figure 1: Marketing Concepts

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(Source: Bettis et al. 2015)
Description of Tesco and Success Achieved by the Company
Tesco is British Multinational Company of groceries which is headquartered in
London, United Kingdom (Tesco plc, 2018). The founder of the company is Jack Cohen and
the number of locations include more than 6553 locations and the areas served by the
company are India, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Thailand and Hungary. The number of
employees who are working in the organization are 476000 till the year 2017 and the
revenues earned by the company is £55,917 million.
It has been seen that the advertising strategy which has been used by Tesco has helped
the company with the implementation of relationship marketing with the customers. Tesco
has applied the everyday low prices which is being adopted by the company in providing the
customers with the same kind of products at a lower price and this has improved their brand
image in the organization as well with implementation of the Ansoff Matrix in which the
product development strategy has been adopted by them (Bettis et al. 2015).
Description of Sainsbury and Success Achieved by the Company
Sainsbury is the second largest chain of the supermarkets in the United Kingdom with
more than 16.9% share of the supermarket sector in the United Kingdom. The company was
founded in the year 1869 by John James Sainsbury and the industry in which the Sainsbury is
operating is in the retail sector (Sainsburys.co.uk, 2018). The number of locations in which
Sainsbury is operating is 1415 shops and the key people who is involved in the Sainsbury
activities is David Tyler and Mike Coupe. The number of employees who are working in the
organization are 181900 till the year 2017.
On the other hand, Sainsbury has gained huge popularity and gained success in the
competitive market wherein this has been seen that the company is following the customer

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centric approach which has helped the company in becoming more popular in providing the
customers with sophisticated kind of experience effectively. The quality management
approach is being followed by Sainsbury wherein there was a time crisis in which all the
other supermarkets suffered from the horse meat issue and Sainsbury was the first
supermarket which did not compromise on quality and they provided the customers with
meat itself (Baker and Saren 2015).
Evidence of Marketing Related Success for Tesco
The marketing activities which are related to success of the marketing for Tesco helps
in including that the company mainly focuses on providing the customers with the different
kinds of strategies which are being adopted by Tesco in the entire market to become more
competitive in nature (Peeroo, Samy and Jones 2015). The main motive of the company is to
provide the customers with premium quality products however at a lower price which will be
effective for them to become more successful in nature. Tesco tried to adopt the relationship
marketing with the different customers and this helped the company in managing the
differences in an effective manner.
Furthermore, the approach which is being applied by the company is relationship
marketing which helps Tesco in managing the different customers with outstanding kind of
service in an effective manner. In the respective article, this has been seen and analysed that
the company is focusing mainly on the providing the customers at cheap prices products
which are of high quality and this is beneficial for the company as well to gain competitive
advantage. The personalised marketing has helped Tesco in becoming successful in
maintaining proper and effective relationships with the different customers and this helps the
company in becoming popular in comparison to the other competitors in the entire market
(Jaworski 2018).

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The company Tesco tried to implement customer profitability analysis, in which this
was seen that the company tried to sell the same quality products to their customers in the
market at a lower price than the competitors and this was a great competitive advantage
strategy which was adopted by Tesco in order to stay ahead of the other competitors in the
market effectively (Mollah 2014). This is the case of the relationship marketing of the
customers which has helped the company in becoming more customer focused and this was
helpful for the company in gaining competitive advantage in the entire market as well. With
the implementation of the EDLP strategy, this has been successful in nature for the company
to become more competitive with regards to providing quality products to the customers at an
affordable rate.
The respective article Tesco Success Story (2018) has been able to analyze the
customer focused strategy along with implementation of EDLP strategy, Tesco has been
successful in attracting the strong customer case and this strategy has allowed them to
develop the business to the full potential to become more successful in nature.
Evidence of Marketing Related Success for Sainsbury
The marketing activities which are being related to the Sainsbury is the quality
approach in which the company tried to provide the customers with the best quality products
and services in an efficient manner. This has been noticed that the company tried to include
the different kinds of strategies which has helped them in analysing the strengths and which
will be influential in nature to become more successful (Kumar 2015). Furthermore, the
Sainsbury tried to provide the customers with the best quality products such as providing the
authentic kind of quality of meat and this helps in managing the customer relationship
effectively as well.

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Furthermore, this was seen and analysed that with the implementation of the Ansoff’s
matrix, Sainsbury tried to implement various techniques such as diversification of the
different products in the market which will help in becoming more effective in nature in
comparison to the other companies in the market (Ibrahim et al. 2018). After the incident of
crisis related to horse meat, there was huge surge in the sales of Sainsbury as the products
which are being sold by them did not contain any horse meat and this benefitted their sales
and profitability in the entire competitive market as well.
In the respective article (Ruddick, 2018), this has been analysed that the sales of the
supermarket Sainsbury and this has helped them in benefitting while the other supermarkets
such as Asda was selling horse meat in place of beef meat and this reduced their brand image
and sales in a negative manner.
Ways through which Tesco Achieved Success in Industry
Tesco applied different techniques along with various approaches of the customer
centric which helps them in becoming successful in nature. Furthermore, the proper and
accurate kind of customization is essential in nature which has helped the company in gaining
strong customer base and this helped the company in gaining more competitive advantage by
selling the similar kind of products which are being sold by them at an affordable and cheap
rate (Dibb and Simkin 2016).
Tesco tried to adopt EDLP strategy in which this has been seen that there are various
kinds of transformation which has been undertaken by Tesco in order to become more
successful in comparison to the other competitors such as Asda. Tesco wanted to satisfy the
different needs of the customers in the market which this helped them in increasing the
overall sales of the company in a positive manner. The customers were treated as the assets of
the company wherein they tried to provide them with the various requirements effectively.

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Ways through which Sainsbury Achieved Success in Industry
Sainsbury tried to gain and achieve success in the entire market in which they tried to
implement different relationship marketing strategies which helped them in managing the
different demands of the customers in an effective manner. This has been seen that the actual
surge or the raise in the sales of the meat and the other products as they were genuine in
meeting the demands of the customers in an effective manner.
Furthermore, the respective article has helped in analysing the different kinds of
strategies which has helped the company in managing the different kinds of needs and
demands of the customers in an effective manner. it has been seen and analysed that in the
article it was published that the main focus is the important reason for Sainsbury was to
satisfy the customers and the customers shop with them in an effective manner (Bailey and
Alexander 2015). This has been seen that Sainsbury is better than the other competitors in
market such as Asda as their main aim was to satisfy the different customers in the market
with proper implementation of the strategies and fulfil their needs without making any kind
of compromise with the products which are being delivered by the company.
Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that the both Tesco and Sainsbury applied different
kinds of approaches in the market which has helped them in managing the different demands
of the clients in an effective manner. Furthermore, in Tesco it was seen that the relationship
marketing and customer-centric approach has helped the company in managing the different
demands of the clients and this helped the company in becoming popular in nature. On the
other hand, the Sainsbury tried to improve the sales of the company in which this has helped
the entire company in being successful in nature and this helped them in becoming successful
in the different ventures which has been undertaken by them effectively.

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References
Bailey, A.R. and Alexander, A., 2017. Cadbury and the rise of the supermarket: innovation in
marketing 1953–1975. Business History, pp.1-22.
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Bettis, R.A., Gambardella, A., Helfat, C. and Mitchell, W., 2015. Qualitative empirical
research in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 36(5), pp.637-639.
Dibb, S. and Simkin, L., 2016. Market segmentation and segment strategy. Markefing theory:
A student text, Sage, Los Angeles, pp.251-279.
Ibrahim, A.A., Alkhawlani, M.A.A. and Al-shaghdari, F.M., 2017. Customers Desires on
Marketing Mix and It’s Impacts on Tesco (Malaysia). International Sciences of Management
Journal, 1(1).
Jaworski, B.J., 2018. Commentary: advancing marketing strategy in the marketing discipline
and beyond. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(1-2), pp.63-70.
Kumar, V., 2015. Evolution of marketing as a discipline: What has happened and what to
look out for. Journal of Marketing, 79(1), pp.1-9.
Mollah, A.S., 2014. The impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty at Tesco Plc,
UK. European Journal of Business and Management, 6(3), pp.21-55.
Peeroo, S., Samy, M. and Jones, B., 2015, December. Customer engagement manifestations
on Facebook pages of Tesco and Walmart. In Computing, Communication and Security
(ICCCS), 2015 International Conference on (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Ruddick, G. 2018. Sainsbury's sales surge following horse meat crisis. [online]
Telegraph.co.uk. Available at:

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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9939340/Sainsburys-
sales-surge-following-horse-meat-crisis.html [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Sainsburys.co.uk. 2018. Sainsbury's. [online] Available at: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/
[Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Tesco plc. 2018. Tesco PLC. [online] Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/ [Accessed 3
Aug. 2018].
Tesco Success Story 2018. [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tesco-
supermarkets-success-story-example-customer-muhammed-shafeekh [Accessed 3 Aug.
2018].