Retail Management Report: Aeon Big, Malaysia Retail Strategy

This report examines the retail management practices of Aeon Big in Malaysia, focusing on its competitive position within the industry. It begins with an introduction to the company and its operations, followed by an industry and sector review, highlighting market growth and consumer behavior. The report then analyzes Aeon Big's competitive standing, considering external factors such as competition, market size, political, economic, social, and demographic influences. A PEST analysis is employed to assess the political, economic, social, and technological factors impacting the business. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications for Aeon Big's retail strategy, emphasizing the importance of adapting to consumer preferences, technological advancements, and competitive pressures. The report also provides insights into the company's vision and mission, along with an examination of the company's response to competition within the retail sector.

Running head: RETAIL MANAGEMENT
Retail management
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Industry or sector review............................................................................................................3
Competitive position of the organization...................................................................................5
External factors..........................................................................................................................6
Competition............................................................................................................................6
Market size.............................................................................................................................7
Political factors.......................................................................................................................8
Economic factors....................................................................................................................8
Social factors..........................................................................................................................9
Demographics........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References...............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The report is prepared to discuss about the retail management considering the
business organisation named Aeon Big in Malaysia, which operates all over Malaysia with
over 22 stores and more are soon to be established all over. The topic will highlight the
competitive position of the organisation considering the assessment of various external
factors that are associated with the influence of business’ success or failure within the
marketplace (Fernie and Sparks 2018). Moreover, it is also true to believe that the industry or
sector review is to be done to understanding the consumer spending behaviours along with
the profitability within the concerned sector and how the technological trends and changes in
the past five years have influenced the business functioning and allowed the company to
remain competitive, acquiring greater market share and facilitating change all throughout.
The report will also include the competition within the retail sector, market size along with
the demographics and economic factors that may affect the business functioning for Aeon
Big, Malaysia.
Industry or sector review
The industry or retail sector in Malaysia seems to have experienced a good rate of
growth, nearly by 7 percent, which has been much beyond the expectations in the market
only. The retail sector in Malaysia has also witnessed an increase in CAGR of 3.4 percent
during the period of forecasting as well. The marketplace has further been segmented into
various portions including the channels of distribution, category of products, market
dynamics, etc. The grocery retail supermarket has been quite large in Malaysia and it has
been growing since then, which has also been supported by supply of local as well as product
components that have been imported (Hamilton and Chernev 2013). With the shift in
consumers’ buying behaviours as well as their preferences towards convenient shopping and

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easier way to make purchase of goods and services. Due to this, the company, i.e., Aeon Big
has improved the grocery shopping experience for the clients and allowed them to purchase
goods and services with lesser time spent at the stores. The retail supermarket industry has
contributed largely to the growth in economy of the nation and the private investments,
export activities and consumption of public sector have been considered as major drivers to
the growth of economy as well as the development of the organisation itself (Varley 2014). It
has also been found that in terms of the market share, there are multiple players that have
dominated the market and with the technological advancements and innovation of products,
the mid-sized and smaller businesses have also been able to create a market presence through
securing of new contracts as well as by entering the targeted new markets. Thus, it would be
essential for manage differentiation of products and also bring something new so as to attain
a competitive position and generate higher revenue in business as well (Misra, Jain and Sood
2013).
The new and advanced technologies from the past few years have helped in
improving the customer experience through online shopping while the engagement of social
media platforms also contributed to the marketing of products and services, which could
attract new customers and retain the existing ones largely. The introduction of ecommerce
has been beneficial for the retail industry to allow the clients make purchases online,
furthermore, create convenience for them to influence their shopping behaviours and
purchase making decisions (Anitsal et al. 2015). Not only does the use of internet help in
savings a significant amount of cost, but also can be effective for identifying the behaviours
of customers and provide them solutions to the queries asked by them. The use of advanced
technologies has also changed the entire way the supply chains has been managed, which also
ensured better real time service delivery, third party logistics and supply chain management
and cross docking too (Ayers and Odegaard 2017).

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The major competitors of Aeon Supermarket in Malaysia are 99 Speedmart, Fresh
Direct, Instacart, Tesco, etc. The market share price, as recorded at last, has been 1.380 for
Aeon in Malaysia. To ensure implementation of change within the organisation, the company
has ensured consistent flow and exchange of information and messages I the management of
supply chains (Presthus and Andersen 2017). The management of communication platforms
and social networks have helped in strengthening the network between the logistics and
warehouses, suppliers as well as between the management team and ground staffs, This could
be effective for the maximisation of consumer spending behaviours, thereby, comply with the
communication system to facilitate advertising purposes, marketing activities and also share
or exchange information and data much more comprehensively (Valeeva et al. 2014). The
physical stores have been replaced by lifestyle centres and town centres, which could create a
different yet positive experience for the customers to make purchases from the organisation.
The niche centres introduced by the company are quite big and thus new range of products
have been made available for easily entering the new and targeted markets (Piotrowicz and
Cuthbertson 2014).
Considering the principle of Aeon, change has also been experienced with the help of
identifying the professional development needs of individuals, which also helped in
developing the employees’ skills and considered them as knowledgeable brand ambassadors,
who could align the culture with their skills and experience to strive for excellence and
deliver the highest level of services (Mitani 2014).
Competitive position of the organization
The vision of Aeon Co. (M) BHD is to develop a competitive position and gain
continuous growth while the mission is to operate as an international scale retailing group in
Malaysia as well as in other nations all over the world. The company aims to develop
synergies and strengthen the competitive position within the retail supermarket industry,

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furthermore, ensure attaining profitability and competitive edge over its competitors too. To
ensure that the competitive position of the organisation is represented, it is important to
assess the external factors contributing to the success or failure of the organisation within the
concerned sector or industry in Malaysia (Hoskisson et al. 2013).
External factors
The external factors include the competition in the market, size of market, economic
factors, economic factors and the demographics. The external factors could also be assessed
with the use of PEST analysis that determines the political, economic, social and
technological factors impacting the business.
Competition
The competition within the retail industry is quite high with the presence of multiple
competitors such as the 99 Speedmart, Fresh Direct, Instacart, Tesco and many others. Due to
this, there have been emergence of new entrants within the market as well as substitute
products and services, which also could give stiff competition to the organisation named
Aeon and affect its profit level and ability to attain competitive advantage (Banfield 2017).

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Market size
The size of market is huge and this has created enough scopes and opportunities for
the company to target the market segments quite easily and aim at generating higher revenue
in business as well. The present supply for Aeon is near about 16, 000, 000 and it has reached
quite higher, which ensures that the company has traded in the active markets, thereby,
increased the growth opportunities in the market too. The market size is huge, which also
could allow the company to target specific target market segments, thereby, ensure influence
of behaviours of consumers by providing them with unique products and services,
furthermore, generate more customers and create huge profit while sustaining in the
marketplace too (Autio and Fu 2015).

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Political factors
There is a diverse set of factors that can impact the business function of Aeon and
thus the various factors include influence of politicians and level of corruption that can
impact the business functioning. There are various legislations, laws and contractual
obligations that are responsible for setting limits and also hinder the production of certain
products and services within the concerned sector (Oatley 2015). The management of
intellectual property and whether it has been protected or not is also considered as a major
political factor whereas the trade barriers at Malaysia could also prevent the company to
manage export activities. Invasion by military and political activists might create barriers
while managing projects, though the management of minimum wage factor could be the
cause of creating higher scopes and opportunities for the company to survive in the
competitive business environment (Martins et al. 2017).
Economic factors
The monopolistic or oligopolistic structure are associated with the development and
management of an economic system while the economic factor is also related to the growth in
Gross Domestic product or GDP, which should shape the way Aeon would be able to grow
and develop in the near future. The rate of interest could also impact the borrowing and
investments done by the company’s shareholders while the increase in investments could also
raise the working capital and improve business functioning (Cairó and Cajner 2013). The
rates of exchange are also considered as economic factors that could impact the operations of
financial markets to meet the demand and supply and engage in international trade activities.
Malaysia do have a good level of employment scopes which could also benefit the company
to recruit skilled talent pool and offer them with good wages structure for keeping them
motivated and encouraged, thereby, mange enhanced production and acquire greater business
expansion capability too (Fernie and Sparks 2018).

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Social factors
The social factors include the demographics, educational background, income, etc.
that are responsible for influencing the operations and processes managed at Aeon. The
demographics of the targeted market segment of Aeon are the people aged between 20 to 50
years of age and these are both men and women in equal numbers. As it is a supermarket, so
most of the people come here to make purchase, regardless of their gender, age or preferences
(Misra, Jain and Sood 2013). While the fashion products and clothing accessories are majorly
aimed at attracting the female segment of customers, the males are associated with the
purchase of grocery items, electronic goods, etc. The company is well aware of the health
standards and also knows about the importance of protecting the environment, which has also
enabled Aeon to manage corporate social responsibilities (Anitsal, Moon and Anitsal 2015).
The company adopted sustainable approaches to production for delivering good quality and
healthy food items while at the same time, protected the environment by reducing greenhouse
gases and carbon emissions too (Ayers and Odegaard 20170.
Demographics
The demographics represent the various age group, their different needs and
preferences along with the individuals from different income groups as well. There are other
individuals who are from different educational backgrounds too. There are different
individuals aged under 24, 25 to 34 years of age and also the others aged between 35 to 54
years. It has been found that the people aged between the 25 to 34 years have mostly
purchased products from the company (Valeeva, Sharafutdinova and Kulkova 2014). There
are many people, who have high educational skills and knowledge have also managed to
make purchases and this has also been suited with their ability to use online platforms to
make purchases. The individuals with higher income have been found to be more engaged in
making purchases from the retail supermarket while the lower income individuals preferred

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to make purchases from the market rather than from the retail stores (Piotrowicz and
Cuthbertson 2014).
Conclusion
The report was prepared to demonstrate about the management of a retail company
named Aeon Big in Malaysia, which had been associated with the selling of grocery items to
sustain competitiveness within the industry. The industry sector was assessed, which
presented that there had been immense competition within the market. To deal with these
issues and challenges within the competitive business environment, the company’s external
factors were analysed and how it could stay ahead of its competitors in business. The
demographics is a major important external factor, as it revolved around the different
customers from different market segments whereas the second important external facto could
be the competition, followed by economic factors and market size.

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References
Anitsal, I., Moon, M.A. and Anitsal, M.M., 2015. Technology-Based Self-Service: Issues For
Retail Management and Research. In Proceedings of the 2002 Academy of Marketing
Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 25-36). Springer, Cham.
Autio, E. and Fu, K., 2015. Economic and political institutions and entry into formal and
informal entrepreneurship. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32(1), pp.67-94.
Ayers, J.B. and Odegaard, M.A., 2017. Retail supply chain management. CRC Press.
Banfield, E., 2017. Political influence. Routledge.
Cairó, I. and Cajner, T., 2013. The fading dynamism of the us labor market: The role of
demographics. Unpublished paper, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.,
http://www. eea-esem. com/files/papers/EEA-ESEM/2013/2907/Cairo_Cajner-
Fading_Dynamism_Demographics. pdf (accessed August 13, 2013).
Fernie, J. and Sparks, L. eds., 2018. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and
new challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan page publishers.
Hamilton, R. and Chernev, A., 2013. Low prices are just the beginning: Price image in retail
management. Journal of Marketing, 77(6), pp.1-20.
Hoskisson, R.E., Wright, M., Filatotchev, I. and Peng, M.W., 2013. Emerging multinationals
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Management Studies, 50(7), pp.1295-1321.
Martins, J.M., Yusuf, F., Brooks, G. and Swanson, D.A., 2017. Demographics and market
segmentation: China and India. In The Frontiers of applied demography (pp. 3-19). Springer,
Cham.

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Misra, P., Jain, S. and Sood, A., 2013. Compensation: impact of rewards and organisational
justice on turnover intentions and the role of motivation and job satisfaction: a study of retail
store operations in NCR. International Journal of Human Resources Development and
Management, 13(2-3), pp.136-152.
Mitani, H., 2014. Capital structure and competitive position in product market. International
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Oatley, T., 2015. International political economy. Routledge.
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technology in retail: Toward omnichannel retailing. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce, 18(4), pp.5-16.
Presthus, W. and Andersen, L., 2017. Information privacy from a retail management
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Valeeva, J., Sharafutdinova, N. and Kulkova, V., 2014. Quality management system’s role in
operation of retail trade networks. Life Science Journal, 11(5), pp.555-558.
Varley, R., 2014. Retail product management: buying and merchandising. Routledge.