Associated British Foods: Opportunities and Challenges Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Associated British Foods (ABF) within the context of the global retail industry. It examines the company's adaptation to multichannel sales, social media marketing, and pop-up shop strategies, highlighting how ABF has capitalized on these trends to increase revenue and customer engagement. The analysis delves into ethical and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) challenges faced by ABF, particularly concerning globalization, supply chain management, and changing consumer preferences. Furthermore, the essay offers strategic recommendations for ABF to navigate future opportunities and challenges, emphasizing the importance of risk assessment, ethical practices, and adaptability to maintain its competitive edge in the dynamic global market. The essay references key academic sources to support its claims, demonstrating a strong understanding of business concepts and industry dynamics.

Running head: ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS
Associated British Foods
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In the last few years it has been seen that there is a huge completion among the global
retail industry of food. Owing to the dynamic nature of the government it has been seen that the
retailing industry is becoming competitive. The major changes which has been brought about in
the retailing industry is mainly due to the fact that the consumer preferences are changing with
each passing day. In the present scenario of business Associated British foods are doing well and
they are meeting the current trends of the retailing industry. At present the Associated British
foods are the second largest retailers of sugar and baker’s yeast and they are also known to
produce many other major ingredients of foods.
In the present scenario of the retailing industry it can be said that multichannel sales is
one of the major aspect which needs to be adapted by retailing companies all around the world.
Customers in the present era tend to search the products online and compare them with other
sites from where the product is being sold. After looking the products online they visit the stores
and review the product themselves before buying it (Verhoef, Kannan and Inman 2015). This is
the reason multichannel sales is one of the best option in the present scenario. By the presence of
the option of letting a customer review and product online as well as giving them the option to
buy it from the retail stores the retailing industry have the advantage over other business
industry. Multichannel helps the retailers to sale the products from more than one selling
channels and this increases their area of profit. Keeping in mind the size or the nature of the
retailers the multichannel always provides the retailers with an added advantage (Mena et al.,
2016).
Social media has formed a major part of the present century and it has slowly entered the
retailing industry. With the help of social media a lot of retailers around the world are able to
advertise their products to the customer (Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott 2017). Social

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media also help the retailers to gather a huge customer base and by the help of the social media a
lot of customers around the world are able to know about the products of different retailers. The
in-app purchase option of the social media has made life easier for a lot of customers and they
are able to purchase products easily by the help of social media. Platforms like Instagram and
Facebook has users from all around the world and they can be easily targeted by the food
retailing groups. A lot of influencers in the social media have the knack to review certain
products and they gather a lot of audiences. This is a huge plus point of the retailing companies
as they can easily advertise their products (Singh, Shukla and Mishra 2018).
For the generation of buzz as well as increasing brand awareness pop-ups partnership is
very useful for the retailing companies. With the help of the partnerships with the pop-ups a lot
of companies all around the world are increasing their brand level and are reaching a lot of
customers all around the world. This is a rising trend in the food retailing industry and a lot of
companies are being very beneficial from this process (Picot-Coupey 2014). The collaborations
is very much helpful for both new as well as established retailing companies and this is a very
important innovation which needs to be brought about by all the food retailing companies from
all around the world (Warnaby and Shi 2018). With the huge competition in the retailing industry
it is very important for established companies to keep in track with the new trends in business
and by the implementation of this process they will be ahead of its competitors.
The company has implemented multiple channels in its system which has helped the
company to increase their revenue and reach a lot of customers worldwide. The advertising
campaign of the company have been drastically improved by the help of the implementation of
multiple channels. This global practice has been implemented by the company in a very
improved way and it has reached the ethical standards of this advertising system. In the present

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scenario of food retailing business the usefulness of multichannel sales has been seen to be
helping a lot of food retailing companies and this company have been seen to readily implement
in its functions. The company is at par with the changes in the food retailing industry and the
implementation of this process shows that the company has readily implemented the policy very
well in its system.
In 2018 it has been seen that the social media account of the company have been taken
over by The7stars and they have opted towards promoting better promotion of the company retail
products. This initiative ensures that the company is in line with the current trends in the food
retailing industry. With the implementation of this process the company will be able to target a
lot of customers and they have met the ethical stands of the implementation of the social media
in its campaigning process.
The company have implemented pop-up shops in long island in which the customers
were given the option to be photographed by the help of the certain products from the Primark.
This has attracted a lot of customers and many customers have arrived at the location. Keeping in
mind the pop-up trend in the food and retailing industry it can be said that the company have
been keeping in touch with the current trends in the global marketing and they will be very much
helpful in the future with the implementation of this process more and more.
The company needs to be ready for any kind of opportunities which might arise in the
future by being focused and they need to be ready for future risks by the implementation of a
perfect risk assessment plan. With the help of a perfect risk assessment plan the company will
not only be able to ready for the future risks but also will be able to counter those risks by a huge
margin. The trends in globalization in the modern market might be hampering the smooth
functioning of the company and it might affect the company. The changes in the customer needs

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might be a huge disadvantage of the company and they must be prepared to face the changes in
the global market trends of consumerism. The supply chain network of the company might also
be effected by globalization and companies around the world must work towards the
implementation of the risk management in the working of the company so that they can meet the
various changes which will be brought about by globalization and changing customer trends
(Qaim 2017).
To conclude it can be said that the company is at a very good position and they are
continually growing in the modern market. In the present market scenario the company is readily
implementing the various innovation which is present at the market. The main aspect which can
be seen in innovation and customer awareness. The company have been readily accepting the
various trends which are being brought in the global market. The main process by the help of
which the company have been implementing the various changes in the company shows the
reason behind the success of the company and being in the second position of the food retailing
industry.

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Reference List
Mena, C., Bourlakis, M., Hübner, A., Wollenburg, J. and Holzapfel, A., 2016. Retail logistics in
the transition from multi-channel to omni-channel. International Journal of Physical
Distribution & Logistics Management.
Picot-Coupey, K., 2014. The pop-up store as a foreign operation mode (FOM) for retailers.
International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 42(7), pp.643-670.
Qaim, M., 2017. Globalisation of agrifood systems and sustainable nutrition. Proceedings of the
Nutrition Society, 76(1), pp.12-21.
Ramanathan, U., Subramanian, N. and Parrott, G., 2017. Role of social media in retail network
operations and marketing to enhance customer satisfaction. International Journal of Operations
& Production Management.
Singh, A., Shukla, N. and Mishra, N., 2018. Social media data analytics to improve supply chain
management in food industries. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation
Review, 114, pp.398-415.
Verhoef, P.C., Kannan, P.K. and Inman, J.J., 2015. From multi-channel retailing to omni-channel
retailing: introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of retailing, 91(2),
pp.174-181.
Warnaby, G. and Shi, C., 2018. Pop-up retailing: Managerial and strategic perspectives.
Springer International Publishing.