Challenges Faced by UK Retail Sector Due to Pandemic: A Study on Tesco

This research proposal aims to identify and evaluate the challenges faced by the UK retail sector due to the pandemic and its impact on organizational performance within the sector, with a focus on Tesco. The proposal outlines the research aim, objectives, questions, rationale, literature review, research methodology, and timeline.

Research Project Proposal

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background of the study..............................................................................................................3
Research aim and objectives........................................................................................................3
Research Questions......................................................................................................................4
Research Rationale.......................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................7
Research approach ......................................................................................................................7
Research philosophies .................................................................................................................7
Data collection methods ..............................................................................................................7
Data analysis tools.......................................................................................................................8
Sampling techniques ...................................................................................................................8
Ethical consideration ...................................................................................................................8
TIMELINE.......................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

Topic : To identify and evaluate challenges faced by UK retail sector due to pandemic and its
impact on organizational performance within UK retail sector: A study on Tesco.
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
The current era of Covid-19 pandemic has been very unforgiving for the businesses. Due
to pandemic the organization during this era has been facing major issues and challenges. Hence,
it can be said that pandemic has impacted the organizational performance in the retail sector.
Major challenges faced by this industry was due to the Lock-down which were implemented
during the pandemic. More over there were are areas in which the business faced issues related
to their operations, human resources management and competition. For the current proposal
Tesco has been selected as the case study in the retail sector. Tesco is the UK based supermarket
chain which deals with all the different types of home products, food products and fashion. This
research proposal will shed the light on research tools and techniques which will be used for
analysation of this issue. This research will also highlight a time-frame within which the
investigation will be completed.
Research aim and objectives
Aim
The aim of the current investigation is to recognize and measure the problems faced
during the pandemic which affects the organizational performance of Tesco.
Objectives
 To identify the issues and challenges faced by organizations due to pandemic.

 To analyse the problems faced by organization in the retail sector during pandemic.
 To assess the impact of pandemic on the organizational performance of Tesco.
 To recommend strategies which can mitigate the impacts of pandemic on organizational
performance.
Research Questions
Q1. What challenges were faced by organizations during the pandemic?
Q2. Why is the organizational performance affected by pandemic in retail sector?
Q3. How can Tesco overcome the organizational impacts of Covid-19 pandemic?
Research Rationale
The main reason for doing this research was to analyse how the pandemic has brought
new challenges and issues for the Tesco and affected its performance. This research was also
able to identify the major issues and challenges caused by the pandemic. These issues were faced
by all the sectors in the market but this research focused specifically on the retail sector. It is an
issue as impacts on organizational performance due to pandemic can have negative impacts on
the future of the business. Identification of these issues has the purpose of finding the ways in
which they can be mitigated. With the help of a thematic perception test techniques research has
been able to shed light on the level of impacts on the organizational performance.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme 1
According to the study of Hanson and et.al., (2020) during Covid-19 most businesses
supply chain was under severe stress and had the least issues from procurement of goods raw
materials to transportation facility for delivering their operations on the day to day basis. For the
business this period was very challenging for the preparation of any type of short term planning.
The companies had to manage the blood life of any business cash flow constraints that provided
timely recovery of debtors payments to suppliers and employees. Akpan, Soopramanien and
Kwak, (2021) added that there were also few businesses which went to the bankruptcy during the
pandemic due to lack of proper financial help provided by the government. For business which
operated in different countries for them the level of assistance was different significantly from
one country to another.

As per the view of Bai, Quayson and Sarkis, (2021) the organizations were either
ordered to close down or were forced to close due to the lockdown. Other organization which
were not in the scope of entertaining the lockdown regulations they faced multiple operational
challenges. These challenges were lack of staff availability, It infrastructure not ready and poor
or saturated internet connections. Due to the travel restrictions during the pandemic the
employees were not able to travel and some operations of the organizations were not suited to the
work from home activities. (Sneddon, 2022) explained that the additional challenges which the
business faces was the difficulties for obtaining information from management and non
management resources. This was helpful for the business in accessing the workplace offices,
factories and warehouses.
Theme 2
The study of Kim and Woo, (2021) explains that retailers also faced issues due to the
pandemic in the management of the demand fluctuations. This happened during the pandemic for
the Grocery products in which the retailers ran out of stock for Groceries. In addition to this the
customers also faced the issue of reserving cash which bundled up due to the prolonged period.
Huynh, Chung and Phung, (2021) elaborates that retailers needed to adapt to new strategies for
the safety of the consumers and employees. Protection of people from this spread of virus was a
great challenge for the retailers. This lead to the increase in the operational expenses of the
business. Other than this the companies faces issues related to the supply challenges which
impacted the management of the significance due o consumer panic for buying and resulting
stock-outs.
Sopha, Arvianto and Tjahjono, (2022) study explained that the retailers needs to think
about the impacts which are created in the massive changes which took place due to the
pandemic. This was the factors which affected the relationship which influenced the trust
between the customers and company which was helpful for recovering the customers
experiences. During the pandemic the companies were able to develop strong and better relations
with the customers. Crick and Crick, (2020) also explained that the modern marketing makes it
important for the retailers to engage directly with their customers across different channels. This
digital expansion is the key area for concern for the retailers. However, due to the pandemic the
marketing infrastructure was also affected and those channels required adoption to new and

emerging technologies for automating manual tasks and leveraging data for improving retail
practices.
The study of Weber, (2021) analysed that the due to the pandemic most sectors utilized
the virtual solutions for their businesses. However, retailers have been relying on the
personalized shopping experience that is present at the retail store. Due to the social distancing
norms the customers were not able to visit the store and the retailers did not have an established
digital platform for keeping up with the operations. Kolhe and et.al., (2021) signified that the in
the absence of virtual retail solutions customers started to look for other options. This was a
challenge that the retailers faced along with the lack of structuring in the data management. Poor
data automation solution made it difficult for this sector to analyse them and was another
drawback related to the current market dynamics.
Theme 3
The analysation of Al-Hattami, (2021) explains that pandemic had some damaging
consequences of the organizational performance in retail sector. The impact of the pandemic on
the economy was the major factor which influenced fall of organizational performance. This was
the reason for a major revenue drop in the organization The businesses with the increase in the
costs for revealing a potential long term challenges. Otterbring and Bhatnagar, (2022) explains
that due to the decrease in the customers visits in the retail stores the revenue of the retail
organizations decreased. However, the burden of continued overheads such as rent, wages and
inventory was proving to be very fatal for the organization. This is the factor which influences
the difficulties that is faced by the retail enterprises for the detail for personalization for the
experiences for its prospects.
Discussion of Su, LIU and Park, (2021) was able to explain that the pandemic saw panic
in the buying and closing of retail stores which had a huge online demand that broke the free
movement of the vehicles that affected the entire supply chain across the retail industry
(Challenges faced by the Retailers in a Post-Covid Market Place (Part 1), 2021). This disruption
in the supply chain impacted the growth of the organization which was the factor that was
responsible for the component for suppliers that helped the business to achieve disruption at the
every stage of their product distribution. This impacted the operational efficiency of the

organization. Yin, Bai and Zhang, (2021) The customers are able to have multiple options due
to the number of online business options which are available. Retailers also face issues related to
the dead stock which influences the business for negatively impacting the visual branding
elements.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research approach
Research approach is being referred as the plan and the process for carrying out the
whole research work. There are mainly two approaches which are used in most of the studies that
is inductive as well as deductive approach. Inductive approach involves formulation of research
question and objectives and is mainly utilized in the qualitative or subjective analysis (Bajpai,
2016). Deductive approach involves formulation of hypothesis and is suitable for the studies
involving quantitative and numerical data. In the present work, the researcher will make use of
inductive research approach as the study is qualitative in nature and involve subjective
evaluation.
Research philosophies
Research philosophy is referred as the manner in which the data in regards with the
phenomenon should be collected, evaluated and utilized in the study. There are mainly two types
of philosophies generally used in the research work that is interpretivism and positivism
philosophies (Graziano and Raulin, 2016). In the current research report the researcher will make
use of interpretivism philosophy because the study will involve subjective interpretation as well
as intervention of the reality and this can be fully comprehended with this philosophy.
Data collection methods
Data collection is quite crucial in any research work. There are mainly two important
methods for collecting the data that is primary data which is collected for the first time in the
study. On the other hand, secondary data is the information which is already existing. In the
present research work, the researcher will make use of both primary as well as secondary data
collection method (Creswell, 2015). Primary data will be collected by conducting survey of
employees of the company through questionnaire and secondary data will be gathered by
exploring different journals, articles and books related to the topic of the study.

Data analysis tools
After collecting the data, the next crucial step is evaluating the information through
adopting different techniques such as qualitative and quantitative techniques. For the present
work, the researcher will make use of qualitative analysis because the present will involve
subjective analysis of the opinions and views of the participants and other secondary information
related to the subject matter (Brink, 2015). For the analysis, thematic analysis will be chosen in
which common themes from the responses and literatures explored will be developed and
presented.
Sampling techniques
A sample of 30 employees will be selected from the whole population and they will be
selected on the based of the simple random sampling method. This method will be selected as
under this method each and every employee will have an equal chance of getting selected in the
study.
Ethical consideration
There are some ethical considerations which will be taken into account while carrying out
this study and these are as follows:
 Prior permission of the respondents being involved in the study will be undertaken
 Confidentially of the personal information of the respondents will be maintained
 Furthermore, all the secondary data will be gathered and sourced from the reliable and
authentic publishers for maintaining the reliability and validity of the current research
work
TIMELINE
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Selecting
Research
Topic
Developin
g research
objectives
Drafting

research
proposal
Analysatio
n of
secondary
sources for
developing
thesis
Selecting
research
methods
Drafting
questionna
ire with
both open
and close
ended
question
Collecting
primary
data with
questionna
ire
Comparing
and
contrasting
gathered
data
Giving

conclusion
s
Recommen
dations for
n
necessary
solutions
Arrangeme
nts of file
structure
Consultati
on with
tutor
Modificati
on in
existing
study
Submissio
n

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akpan, I.J., Soopramanien, D. and Kwak, D.H., 2021. Cutting-edge technologies for small
business and innovation in the era of COVID-19 global health pandemic. Journal of
Small Business & Entrepreneurship. 33(6). pp.607-617.
Al-Hattami, H.M., 2021. Determinants of intention to continue usage of online shopping under a
pandemic: COVID-19. Cogent Business & Management. 8(1). p.1936368.
Bai, C., Quayson, M. and Sarkis, J., 2021. COVID-19 pandemic digitization lessons for
sustainable development of micro-and small-enterprises. Sustainable Production and
Consumption. 27. pp.1989-2001.
Bajpai, N., 2016. Business Research Methods. Pearson Education India.
Brink, H.I.L., 2015. Validity and Reliability in Qualitative Research, Curationis, 16(2), pp.35-
38.
Creswell, J.W., 2015. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches. London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications.
Crick, J.M. and Crick, D., 2020. Coopetition and COVID-19: Collaborative business-to-business
marketing strategies in a pandemic crisis. Industrial Marketing Management. 88.
pp.206-213.
Graziano, A.M. and Raulin, M.L., 2016. Research Methods: A Process of Inquiry. 6thed. Boston,
MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Hanson, S.G., and et.al., 2020. Business credit programs in the pandemic era. Brookings Papers
on Economic Activity. 2020(3). pp.3-60.
Huynh, G., Chung, N. and Phung, T., 2021. How to purchase an order from brick and mortar
retailers during COVID-19 pandemic? A rise of crowdshipping. International Journal of
Data and Network Science. 5(3). pp.439-450.
Kim, S. and Woo, H., 2021. Global fashion retailers’ responses to external and internal crises
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fashion and Textiles. 8(1). pp.1-26.
Kolhe, R., and et.al., 2021. A survey among Ayurveda wholesalers and retailers in Pune city for
understanding the demand for Ayurvedic medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Journal of Indian System of Medicine. 9(3). p.191.
Otterbring, T. and Bhatnagar, R., 2022. Touch, threats, and transactions: Pandemic influences on
consumer responses and the mediating role of touch likelihood when shopping for fruits
and vegetables. Food Quality and Preference. 97. p.104461.
Sneddon, J., 2022. Pandemic risk management; protecting people while ensuring business
continuity. Process Safety Progress. 41(1). pp.8-13.
Sopha, B.M., Arvianto, A. and Tjahjono, B., 2022. Survival strategies of traditional retailers
during the COVID-19 pandemic: Some insights from a developing country. Journal of
Industrial Engineering and Management. 15(2). pp.185-201.
Su, M., LIU, Y. and Park, K.S., 2021. Fresh Agricultural Products Online Retailer's Emergency
Logistics Capability Framework During the Pandemic. Journal of Distribution Science.
19(2). pp.65-75.
Weber, A.N., 2021. Responding to supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic:
A Black Swan event for omnichannel retailers. Journal of Transport and Supply Chain
Management. 15. p.16.

Yin, S., Bai, L. and Zhang, R., 2021. Prevention schemes for future fresh agricultural products
(FAPs) supply chain: mathematical model and experience of guaranteeing the supply of
FAPs during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
101(15). pp.6368-6383.
Online
Challenges faced by the Retailers in a Post-Covid Market Place (Part 1), 2021[Online].
Available through: <https://www.denave.com/resources/blogs/challenges-faced-by-the-
retailers-in-a-post-covid-market-place-part-1/>