Cooperative Group Limited: In-depth Analysis of Retail Sector Trends

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the retail sector, with a specific focus on Cooperative Group Limited. The report begins with an introduction to the retail sector and its importance in the UK economy. It then explores current trends in the industry, including visual search, same-day delivery, artificial intelligence, emerging payment options, mobile messaging, and investment in omni-channel retail strategies. A detailed SWOT and VRIO analysis of Cooperative Group Limited is presented, evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as its resources' value, rareness, imitability, and organization. Based on the analysis, the report offers recommendations for Cooperative Group Limited to adapt to industry trends, such as focusing on same-day delivery, leveraging artificial intelligence, and adopting new payment options to maintain and enhance its success in the competitive retail market. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of staying current with market trends.

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Trends in retail sector...................................................................................................................1
Analysis of the organisation.........................................................................................................2
Recommendations........................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Retail sector is a big part of country's economy which is delivering different goods and
services to the customers. It is contributing a large amount in the national income of United
Kingdom because higher revenues are generated by it. This report is based upon analysis of it
and for this purpose the selected organisation is Cooperative Group Limited. It was founded in
year 1844 and its headquarter is in Manchester, United Kingdom. Currently the organisation is
employing around 63000 employees who are contributing in the development of business. All
the businesses such as Cooperative which are selling products through physical or online stores
are considered as the part of retail industry (Pantano, 2014). This project covers various topics
such as current trends in retail sector and analysis of Cooperative Group Limited. Along with
this, recommendations are also provided to Cooperative to focus on continuing the success under
this report.
MAIN BODY
Trends in retail sector
Retail sector is mainly concerned with activities such as selling goods and services to
customers through physical or online stores. There are various large as well as medium sized
retailers in UK which are generating higher revenues and contributing high amount in the
national income of the country (Wrigley and Lowe, 2014). According to a study the online sales
of retail sector has generated 586 billion pounds in year 2017. This is a large amount which helps
to develop the economy faster. There are various new trends in retail sector which are required to
be focused by business entities so that they can reach to the long term business goals. Some
specific trends in the industry are discussed below:
Visual search: Currently shoppers are becoming technology friendly and they like to get
the products easily which is required by them. For this purpose they upload a picture of the same
item on the website and get it quickly. It is one of the major trends in retail industry which is
increasing competition in the sector. It facilitates consumers to get the product easily without
searching it on different places or online stores.
Same day delivery: Most of the online retailers are offering quick delivery to the
customers which helps to increase their brand loyalty. Currently most of the organisations are
offering same day delivery services to the clients in some specific areas. It is the latest trend in
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the industry which is helping companies to attract more and more customers and generate higher
revenues more than competitors (Ravindran and Jaiswal, 2016).
Artificial intelligence: Currently a new trend regarding use of artificial intelligence is
taking place in retail sector. Most of the online and offline retailers provide delivery services to
customers and they can use this trend in such services by using drones or robot delivery agents to
deliver products to customers. It helps to reduce cost to company and satisfy clients with good
services. It helps retailers to stay competitive in the market.
Emerging payment options: In retail sector different modes of payment are emerging
which is facilitating customers to pay their amount in various ways. It also helps the seller to
meet expectation level of clients and increase sales. One of the newest option for making
payment is buy now pay later. With the help of this options retailers can grow faster and generate
higher revenues as compare to those companies which are not using such types of options. It is
one of the main trend which is leading the retail sector forward and helping it to be developed.
Mobile messaging: It is a trend which is adopted by most of the retailers as with the help
of it they can provide detailed information to customers regarding sales, new collection etc. In
order to take benefit of this trend it is very important for retailers to keep contact number of
clients who have visited their stores. Most of the online as well as offline sellers are focusing on
this trend and providing information to their patronages so that they could be updated regarding
new stock and sale (Pousttchi and Hufenbach, 2014).
Investment in omni channel retail strategies: It is a multi channel approach which is
used by retailers to provide customers seamless shopping experience whether they are buying
products online or offline. Currently businesses are investing in omni channel retail strategies
which helps them to strengthen their customer base. It is the main trend in this industry because
with the help of it all the businesses in this sector can enhance their sales, profits and market
share by retaining existing clients and attracting potentials.
From all the above described points it has been analysed that there are various current
trends in retail sector which are required to be focused by all the companies which are operating
business under it. By focusing on all the latest trends, organisations can reach to all their long
term goals and objectives.
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Illustration 1: Retail Market Research Reports: Latest Retail
Industry Trends & Statistics. 2019
Source : Retail Market Research Reports: Latest Retail Industry Trends & Statistics, 2019
Illustration 2: Percentage growth of total grocery market
in Great Britain. 2017
Source : Percentage growth of total grocery market in Great Britain, 2017
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Illustration 3: UK Fashion Industry. 2019
Source : UK Fashion Industry, 2019
Analysis of the organisation
Cooperative Group Limited is one of the main companies in retail sector of UK which are
operating their business activities successfully. It is mainly established in Manchester, United
Kingdom and founded in year 1844. All the operations are executed by it in more than 7000
locations. Employee strength of the company is over 70000 (Overview of Cooperative, 2019). An
analysis of the company is as follows which is conducted with the help of two different models
which are SWOT and VRIO:
SWOT analysis: It is a strategic management tool which is used by most of the business
entities for the purpose of analysing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of
organisation (Kamath, 2016). All of them are discussed below in context of Cooperative:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Employee strength of the company is
very high which helps it to execute all
the operations in appropriate manner.
 The organisation take initiative in CSR
activities which helps it to establish
 There is lack of technological aspects in
Cooperative which is leaving impact
upon its profitability.
 Time which is involved in delivering
activities is very high which affect its
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good market image. sales.
Opportunities Threats
 Cooperative is planning to expand its
business in more locations which will
help it to develop its business.
 New emerging trends could be focused
by Cooperative in order to attain
growth.
 If new trends are not focused by
Cooperative then it can affect it market
share.
 Competition in retail sector is
continuously increasing which may
leave negative impact upon its
revenues.
VRIO analysis: It is an analytical technique which is used by organisations to evaluate
level of competitive advantage and competency (Cao, 2014). The factors which are assessed
under this model are related to value, rareness, inimitableness and organisations of different
resources which are used by organisations to execute all the operations. For Cooperative this
analysis is conducted below:
Resources Valuable Rare Inimitable Organised
Technological
development
✓ ✗ ✗ ✗
Delivery systems ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗
Market image ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗
Profitability ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Valuable: From the above table it has been analysed that all the resources which are used
by Cooperative are valuable for the organisation as with the help of if all of them all the long
term business goals could be achieved. Another reason behind their value is importance of them
for operational activities.
Rare: Technological development of Cooperative is not rare because the organisation do
not focus on using latest technologies for business. Delivery system, market image and
profitability of the company are rare because for all the companies it is very difficult to manage
them in a systematic manner (Balaji and Roy, 2017).
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Inimitable: Delivery system of Cooperative is not inimitable because other companies in
the industry can deliver the products in the same time in which goods are delivers by it. Market
image and profitability of the organisation are inimitable because for all the enterprises it is very
difficult to create the same level of these elements as Cooperative.
Organised: Market image is not organised by Cooperative appropriately because of high
time in delivery procedure, competition and other factors. Profitability is managed by the
company appropriately because with the help of it all the operational activities could be executed
in appropriate manner.
Recommendations
In order to overcome all the weaknesses, threats and other negative situations it is very
important for the companies such as Cooperative to focus on latest trends as with the help of
them changes could be made in business execution processes. Following recommendations are
made for Cooperative which will be beneficial for it to continue its success:
In order to overcome the weaknesses of high time involved in delivery process the
organisation may focus on trend of delivering products in same day. With the help of this trend
Cooperative will be able to deliver its products to customers on time and respond to the
weakness of high time involved in delivery processes (Wang, Sanchez Rodrigues and Evans,
2015).
As there is lack of technological development in Cooperative so the managers are
recommended to focus on use of artificial intelligence and emerging options for payments. With
the help of these trends the company will be able to attract new customers. If ample number of
modes of payment such as buy now pay later, mobile applications etc. will be provided to them
then it will be easy for them to pay the amount for the product which is bought by them. If
artificial intelligence will be used by Cooperative then organisation can continue its success
because the options of it such as robots at stores, drones for delivery etc. will help to complete
difficult tasks on time.
There are several other trends which could be focused by Cooperative for the purpose of
continuing success. These are investment in omni channel retail strategies, mobile messaging,
visual search etc. By taking all of them in to consideration while formulating strategies for
business the top level executives of the organisation will be able to meet long term business
goals. If latest trends are followed by enterprises such as Cooperative then it can help them to
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attract large number of customers and retain existing clients because all of them can guide to use
different strategies to meet expectations of them (Jonsson and Tolstoy, 2014).
It will be beneficial for Cooperative to follow latest market trends to continue the success
which is acquired by it currently. If these are not focused by the company then it can leave
negative impact upon functionality of business.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that retail sector is one of the major
contributors in the national income of UK. For all the companies such as Cooperative which are
executing business under this industry it is very important to focus on latest market trends so that
expectations of clients could be met. Currently the emerging trends in the industry are same day
delivery, visual search, artificial intelligence, omni channel investment, mobile messaging,
different payment options etc. By focusing on all of them Cooperative will be able to attain all
the long term business goals and attain growth for business.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Pantano, E., 2014. Innovation drivers in retail industry. International Journal of Information
Management. 34(3). pp.344-350.
Ravindran, R. and Jaiswal, A. K., 2016. Exploitation of food industry waste for high-value
products. Trends in Biotechnology. 34(1). pp.58-69.
Pousttchi, K. and Hufenbach, Y., 2014. Engineering the value network of the customer interface
and marketing in the data-rich retail environment. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce. 18(4). pp.17-42.
Kamath, N. ed., 2016. Handbook of Research on Strategic Supply Chain Management in the
Retail Industry. IGI Global.
Cao, L., 2014. Business model transformation in moving to a cross-channel retail strategy: a case
study. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 18(4). pp.69-96.
Balaji, M. S. and Roy, S. K., 2017. Value co-creation with Internet of things technology in the
retail industry. Journal of Marketing Management. 33(1-2). pp.7-31.
Wang, Y., Sanchez Rodrigues, V. and Evans, L., 2015. The use of ICT in road freight transport
for CO2 reduction–an exploratory study of UK’s grocery retail industry. The
International Journal of Logistics Management. 26(1). pp.2-29.
Jonsson, A. and Tolstoy, D., 2014. A thematic analysis of research on global sourcing and
international purchasing in retail firms. International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management.
Wrigley, N. and Lowe, M., 2014. Reading retail: A geographical perspective on retailing and
consumption spaces. Routledge.
Online
Overview of Cooperative. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.coop.co.uk/>
Retail Market Research Reports: Latest Retail Industry Trends & Statistics. 2019. [Online].
Available through: <https://www.reportlinker.com/ci02193/Retail.html>
Percentage growth of total grocery market in Great Britain. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.statista.com/statistics/375318/grocery-market-percentage-growth-great-
britain-uk/>
UK Fashion Industry. 2019. [Online]. Available through: <https://fashionunited.uk/uk-fashion-
industry-statistics/>
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