BMS501: Brexit's Impact on Consumer Buying Behaviour at Aldi Stores

This research project investigates the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour within Aldi. It begins by defining consumer buying behaviour and Brexit, then explores the specific effects on Aldi, focusing on spending capacity, consumption capacity, perception, attitude, and demand and supply. The research employs both primary (questionnaires with Aldi managers) and secondary research methods, using quantitative analysis and frequency distribution tables to interpret the data. Key findings highlight the challenges Aldi faces due to altered consumer behaviours post-Brexit. The project concludes with recommendations for Aldi to mitigate these challenges, such as decreasing prices, offering more discounts, adopting digital marketing strategies, and better understanding customer needs. This document is available on Desklib, where students can find a wide range of solved assignments and past papers.

RESEARCH PROJECT
(The impact of Brexit on consumer buying
behaviour on Aldi store)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Overview of the topic..................................................................................................................3
Research Aim..............................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives....................................................................................................................3
Research Questions.....................................................................................................................4
Research Rationale......................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
Explain the concept of consumer buying behaviour and Brexit?...............................................5
What is the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour within Aldi?................................6
MAIN FINDINGS...........................................................................................................................8
Research Methodology................................................................................................................8
Frequency Distribution Table.....................................................................................................8
Data Interpretation....................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION, EVALUATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................15
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................15
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................18
Questionnaire............................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Overview of the topic
Consumer buying behaviour is defined to the actions carried in both ways that are online
as well as offline by customers before purchasing a product or service. This procedure may
involve consulting different search engines, engaging with several social media posts and many
more (Andrews, 2022). It is quite valuable for companies to understand this procedure because
it assists companies better tailor their initiatives of marketing to the efforts of marketing that
have successfully influenced customers to purchase in the past (Pappas, 2019). Brexit refers
withdrawal of the United Kingdom from European Union. This withdrawal procedure of the
United Kingdom has impacted every sector of the economy. This situation was not considered
easy because it has created challenging time for the country as it has to leave the membership
after 47 years. It clearly determined that the United Kingdom is no longer member of European
Union which clearly highlights that they are now free from any type of regulations and rules
generally imposed by committee (Nardotto and Sequeira, 2021). With this certain decision of
leaving European Union, the United Kingdom has faced many challenges. Many large scale
business companies had faced many challenges and losses but this decision was taken because
this will bring more future opportunities for businesses in the United Kingdom. Brexit has
directly impacted every retail giant of the United Kingdom because buying behaviour of
customer has changed after the occurrence of Brexit. The current research is based upon detailed
information about the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour within an organisation.
The selected company for the research is Aldi, it is a supermarket company and known as
biggest supermarket and retail giant ruling over the industry. The existing report aims at
discussing impact of Brexit on Aldi and highlight clear understanding of the impact. This also
highlights that this report will also discuss how customer behaviour has changed after the
occurrence of Brexit and the way this has impacted business performance of Aldi and their taken
steps to overcome challenges.
Research Aim
To identify the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour. A study on Aldi
Research Objectives
 To understand the concept of consumer buying behaviour and Brexit

 To analyse the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour within Aldi
Research Questions
 Explain the concept of consumer buying behaviour and Brexit?
 What is the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour within Aldi?
Research Rationale
The main reason of conducting the current research is to have in-depth understanding
about the situation of Brexit. This also focuses on highlighting the impact of Brexit on consumer
buying behaviour within supermarket chains. It covers the positive impact as well as negative
impact of Brexit over retail industry. There are two other important objectives which are fulfilled
through this research which are personal and professional. In respect of personal perspective, I
will gain my knowledge and awareness about the current happening as well as research methods
to conduct investigation. In respect of professional perspective, I will learn about the strategies
that can be adopted by me in tough situations like Brexit.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Explain the concept of consumer buying behaviour and Brexit?
According to Morone, Falcone and Lopolito (2019), consumer buying behaviour plays
an important role in improving the performance and productivity of business. Consumer buying
behaviour is a process of taking decision before buying the products and services. Through
consumer buying behaviour, company can understand how they behave while purchasing the
product and services. Consumers generally buy the products that satisfy their needs and wants. It
is important for an organisation to focus on attracting and retaining customer by understanding
their taste and preference. A study of consumer behaviour is important as it helps in
understanding the expectation of customers. For company, understanding consumer buying
behaviour is necessary to gain success in market (Wu, Chen and Li, 2019). The behaviour of
customer generally changes due to technology, living style, changing fashion, disposal income,
trends and many other factors. It is essential for the marketer to understand factors that
influences the behaviour of buyers.
There are mainly six stages of consumer buying behaviour such as problem recognition,
information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, purchase, post purchase
evaluation. Through understanding consumer buying behaviour, company can satisfy the need of
customers. Buyers generally expect something different and unique due to which it is important
for the organisation to focus on offering different products and services from its competitors. It
helps in increasing the profitability and growth of business. By satisfying the customer,
organisation can also gain competitive advantage in market and also create strong customer base
(Murphy and et. al., 2022). Thus, it is essential for organisation to focus on building strong
relationship with customer due to which they can gain loyalty and also attract maximum number
of people towards the brand. Consumer buying behaviour is not just important for attracting new
customer but is also important for retaining the loyal consumers. The main role of organisation is
to make their customer feel happy with the products and services. When company understand the
consumer buying behaviour it allows them to create effective marketing campaigns. Through
organising campaigns, firm can speak specifically to separate group of customer according to
their behaviour. By analysing the behaviour of consumers, company can also predict market
trends in order to create strong customer base.

Brexit is a situation when United Kingdom gets withdrawal from European Union. UK is
the only country to left EU after 47 years. In 21st century, Brexit is one of the most challenging
political events for UK. There are various factors which lay emphasis on Brexit such as
sovereignty, economy, immigration and anti-establishment politics. On 24 December 2020, UK
and EU comes in a deal with three agreements such as the trade and co-operation agreement, the
information security agreement and the nuclear cooperation agreement (Hassan and et. al.,
2021). Due to Brexit most of the large scale companies faced various challenges which creates
an impact on the performance and growth of business. The withdrawal of UK from EU brings
betterment in future for businesses in UK.
What is the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour within Aldi?
As per the opinion of Douch and Edwards (2021), there is a huge impact of Brexit on
consumer buying behaviour within organisation. The performance of Aldi gets influenced due to
Brexit as their day to day operational activities were getting reducing due to which they face
difficulty in arranging raw material and hiring labour from European Union. Brexit has also
created an impact on the spending capacity of consumer and also bring rise in inflation rate.
Spending capacity:
It is one of the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour as the spending capacity
of customers gets influenced due to which the sales performance of business gets reduced. The
consumers of UK generally face difficulty to buy the products due to change in economic
condition. While conducting the voting, majority of customer generally voted not to leave EU as
their personal financial condition gets influenced if UK withdrawal from EU. The price of goods
and services was one of the concern for the customer as if Brexit occurs the price generally gets
high due to cost of manufacturing the goods (Hill, Korczak and Korczak, 2019). Aldi is one of
the recognised brand in UK market due to which it becomes easy for them to attract large
number of customer base but Brexit has changed the consumer buying behaviour. The brand face
difficulty to attract and retain customer as the buying behaviour of customer gets modified due to
Brexit.
Consumption capacity:
Consumption capacity is also an impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour. The
consumption capacity of customer generally depend on their income. If the income of customers
are high it allows them to fulfil their needs and wants. The consumption capacity of customer are

usually depended on the consumption capacity but due to Brexit it gets influenced. Income of
consumers are at high risk due to Brexit as it brings high inflation rate in economy. Aldi is also
facing a challenge due to high inflation rate in UK due to which the consumption capacity of
customer gets impacted (Thomas, Singh and Ambady, 2020). High inflation rate leads to change
in the habit of consumption which influence the sales of products and services of Aldi. Thus,
company is focusing on overcoming these issues by attracting customer through offering them
discount and coupons.
Perception and attitude:
Perception and attitude is another impact which has been created by Brexit on consumer
buying behaviour. The consumer buying behaviour generally gets influenced through the
perception and attitude of buyers. Due to Brexit the perception and attitude of consumers
generally gets changed. The customer base of Aldi gets reduced due to withdrawal of UK from
EU. The brand lose their European customers due to which the profitability and sales of
company gets decreased (De Girolamo, 2017). Thus, in order to mitigate these challenges it is
necessary for organisation to focus on perception and attitude of customers towards the product
and services.
Demand and Supply:
Demand and Supply is other impact which has influenced the consumer buying behaviour
due to Brexit. The demand and supply of customer generally gets changed due to trends and
other factors,. It is important for the company to analyse the demand and supply (Prescott, Pilato
and Bellia, 2020). Due to Brexit the supply chain of business gets badly influenced due to which
it becomes difficult for them to fulfil the demand of customer. The supply chain of Aldi gets
impacted which results in loss of potential and loyal consumers.

MAIN FINDINGS
Research Methodology
The current investigation has taken assistance of primary as well as secondary methods
for the accumulation of information. Primary method is used to collect data about the impact of
Brexit and its impact over consumer buying behaviour. Questionnaire is developed with certain
number of close-ended questions. On the other hand, secondary method is also used for the
collection of second-hand and published data about the impact of Brexit on consumer buying
behaviour. The secondary sources uses in the investigation are: books, articles, journals,
newspapers, publications etc. It has used quantitative research methods so that numerical
information can be accumulated in the raw form. Frequency distribution analysis is also used so
that numerical information can be assembled and analysed. Positivism philosophy is considered
so that numerical data can be evaluated and examined. Probability sampling is used in the
existing investigation and for this 10 managers from Aldi are chosen to gather data about the
impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour.
Frequency Distribution Table
Q1) Do you have appropriate knowledge about the situation of
Brexit?
Frequency
a) Yes 8
b) No 2
Q2) As per your opinion, did Brexit impact operations and
functionality of Aldi?
Frequency
a) Yes 6
b) No 4
Q3) What is the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour
within Aldi?
Frequency
a) Perception and attitude 2
b) Consumption capacity 3

c) Spending capacity 2
d) Demand and supply 3
Q4) Do you think Brexit has negatively impacted consumer buying
behaviour of Aldi?
Frequency
a) Yes 6
b) No 2
c) Prefer not to say 2
Q5) If you get chance then what would you suggest to Aldi for
improving consumer buying behaviour after Brexit?
Frequency
a) Decrease in prices 3
b) More discounts and offers 2
c) Adoption of digital marketing 3
d) Understanding needs and requirements of customers 2

Data Interpretation
Question 1: Appropriate knowledge about the situation of Brexit
Q1) Do you have appropriate knowledge about the situation of
Brexit?
Frequency
a) Yes 8
b) No 2
a) Yes b) No
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
2
Interpretation: From the above collected data, it is observed that 8 respondents have said yes
that they do have apt knowledge about the Brexit situation because they had faced many
problems as well as worked to decrease its negative impact. The rest 2 respondents have
answered no that they do not have apt knowledge about this situation.
Question 2: Brexit impact operations and functionality of Aldi
Q2) As per your opinion, did Brexit impact operations and
functionality of Aldi?
Frequency
a) Yes 6
b) No 4

a) Yes b) No
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
6
4
Interpretation: With the assembled data, it is understood that 6 respondents have said yes that
Brexit has impacted functionality and operations of the company because it has changed the
consumer buying behaviour towards the company. The rest 4 respondents have said no that
Brexit has not impacted functionality and operations of the company because they somehow
managed to continue their work.
Question 3: Impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour within Aldi
Q3) What is the impact of Brexit on consumer buying behaviour
within Aldi?
Frequency
a) Perception and attitude 2
b) Consumption capacity 3
c) Spending capacity 2
d) Demand and supply 3

a) Perception and attitude
b) Consumption capacity
c) Spending capacity
d) Demand and supply
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
2
3
2
3
Interpretation: From the above accumulated piece of information, it is analysed that 2
respondents have said that perception and attitude is the first impact because it has changed as
customers have become more focus on saving their income rather than spending. The other 3
respondents have said that consumption capacity is the other impact because due to Brexit
income level of customer was impacted and directly reduced the consumption level of
consumers. Another 2 respondents have answered spending capacity was impacted by Brexit
because after Brexit customers were less likely to buy more of retail products. The rest 3
respondents have said that demand and supply is the other impact of Brexit on consumer buying
behaviour because supply chain of the company had affected and this has affected the supply
level of the organisation.
Question 4: Brexit has negatively impacted consumer buying behaviour of Aldi
Q4) Do you think Brexit has negatively impacted consumer buying
behaviour of Aldi?
Frequency
a) Yes 6
b) No 2
c) Prefer not to say 2