Contemporary Society and the Supermarket Industry's Evolution

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary supermarket industry, focusing on the need for adaptation in a globalized world. It examines how supermarkets, particularly Lidl, must evolve to meet the diverse requirements of stakeholders, including government, customers...Read More

Contemporary society in
global world

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................3
Discuss how the supermarket industry must change to meet the requirements of all stakeholders in next
five years.................................................................................................................................................3
How the supermarkets have risen to challenge of “Feeding the nation”..................................................5
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Contemporary society characterizes the use of technology and innovation due to the
impact of globalization that has enhanced interconnectivity amongst diverse region of the global.
Today customer has wider variety of options available due to which they need not to
compromise their choices or requirements (Solik, Višňovský and Laluhova, 2013). The
organization needs to be competitive enough in terms to acknowledge the recent change in
fashion or working pattern to gain core competency over other rivalry. For the better
understanding of essay Lidl company has been selected which is the global supermarket
company of Germany that operate in different parts of the nation. All the daily necessary items
along with wide range of alternative options are well displayed in the retail outlet. This essay
cover topics like change that need to be bought up by supermarket industry in order to
accommodate the requirement of diverse stakeholders within upcoming five years. Further,
discuss the way supermarkets have raised to the challenge of ‘Feeding the Nation’.
MAIN BODY
Discuss how the supermarket industry must change to meet the requirements of all stakeholders
in next five years
Supermarket industry is one of the most evolving industries as it provides significant
platform where gets all the daily necessary and utility items under one roof. Stakeholders are the
main elements of any business so it is essential that supermarket industry must work in a way to
met stakeholders requirement. One of the main stakeholders of the business is government so the
company is planning to work in favor of them. Some new plans are laid down to help the
initiative of government mainly sustainable development (Teubner, 2019). By using the paper
bags and renewable resources instead of not renewable one which will be environment friendly
and economical at the same time. The company is also looking for the welfare of customers as
they are the main components which will help them to get revenues. The focus is to give
customer an everlasting experience, so experimental shopping will be implemented so that
customer can get new taste to their shopping technique. They will get to experience self checkout
which means they can go into the store and pick the product of their choice so what customer

need to do is to download an application and scan QR code to the product they want. Amount
will be deducted from their wallet and they don’t have to stand in queue for billing or checkout.
For instance, Lidl company is planning to deliver the products to the customers which will save
their time and they can order the products they want from anywhere. Stakeholders are generally
people who have stake or interest in the working of the company which can be both internal and
external (Piñeiro and Kramer, 2014). The internal stakeholder of company is their employees and
the sales person working in the supermarket of Lidl. Further, the company is planning to conduct
training and development programme for their employees and sales personnel which will go
them to increase their skill and efficiency. The increase in skills will directly impact their
confidence and that will result in increased productivity of company. As the employee will feel
more engaged and sense of belongingness will inculcate at the same time. One of the feature that
supermarket industry can plan to bring is real time data and personalization under this the
company will integrate smart devices. Along with that customer will be getting an option to
create a shopping list which will be reflected in grocery store system as soon as they arrive to the
store. Once customer entered to the store they will get instant update on promotion of items on
the list prepared by them.
The store is thinking to implement Artificial Intelligence into the operation as it will
comprise if robots wondering the stores so that they can assist the customers and track inventory
at the same time. Another use of Robots will be to fulfill the orders and make deliveries. The
focus is to change labour intensive technique into capital intensive. Most of the process will be
automated which includes keeping the stock into warehouse also. AI will help in increasing the
efficiency as wasting the time on unnecessary steps will be eliminated. Another method the
company is planning is adopt is cashierless retail, the method was started by Amazon Go store.
Moreover, the same will be adopted by other supermarkets to enhance the experience of
customer to next level as customer will get option of self checkout (Biehl and et. al., 2015). The
store is planning to take stores further by picking the items required and deliver them to their
doorsteps directly. It also help the store as it freezes up human staffs which are employed for
counter work and they can contribute in assist the customers in cleanliness of stores and
providing personal experience to them. Another stakeholder for the stores is distributors so focus
is made in eliminating the middlemen and saving the time so that efficiency can be enhanced and
which will result in less costlier goods. Modern technique will be used and whatever stock is

required for estimated time will be analyzed and the order will be placed accordingly so that
there is no shortage of product and closing stock is at its minimum. It will help in reducing the
loss which can happen through obsolete, expiry and spoilage of goods. In addition to that, society
is the important stakeholder for supermarket industry within which they carry out their dealings.
As various companies know that they have social responsibilities against the societies in which
business is done. For any company corporate social responsibility has become an integral part
and it is the same for the stores (Roberts, 2012). As the stores is planning to conduct some social
events in which they will educate the customers about their products and why it is necessary to
use sustainable development approach along with their importance. The company has eliminated
the product which are not accepted or not in a good taste for the society under which business is
done. All cultural and social needs are analyzed so that they can exercise full confidence of the
society and can carry on business without any intervention. Health and hygiene is very important
for supermarket industry so companies like Lidl is planning that their need not to be any
comprised in the quality of product being swelled out to the customers. The proper inspection is
done in the store of quality and quantity control. Quality product will result in gaining more
customers in the future as the brand image will be build with time and customer will not hesitate
while purchasing from Lidl.
Therefore, in the upcoming years these steps can help supermarket industry to grow and
adopt as well as serve the requirements of stakeholders. As the mode of survival of any company
is to work along with stakeholder to understand their needs and to adopt accordingly (Scott,
2017). In relation to Lidl company is constantly planning to implement the above mentioned
points so that stakeholder requirement is truly met. Obviously there will be changes in between
but these are the main points in which company will work so that survival, profit , growth can be
exercised for long term so that sustainability can be achieved with the growth. The company has
identified both internal and external stakeholders and the steps implemented which help the
company to strengthen the both type of stakeholders. Hence, with more networking and bonding
the supermarket industry can perform well for the longer duration of time.
How the supermarkets have risen to challenge of “Feeding the nation”
United Kingdom supermarkets have pinched up “feeding the nation” this is really good initiative
which is taken by UK this help the country in cope up with this stressful buying due to epidemic

coronavirus. In this plan various supermarkets work with various suppliers to reduce the amount
of available foods and groceries and maintain their focus on supplies of staple goods such as
milk, wheat, sugar etc (Burlacu, Bodislav and Rădulescu, 2018). This strategy is plan to
distribute or supply essential food items to people without any interpretation. This initiative can
save many lives because not only coronavirus is losing their lives but hunger is also a reason so
“feed the nation “is good initiative by UK government. Lidl supermarket also take part in this
plan they reduce complexity to fed the country. This strategy is really challenging for every
supermarket this affect their productivity and profitability but lives are more important so every
UK supermarket support this and feed the nation. The main strategy is that both the supermarket
and suppliers come together and agree to reduce the price of food and grocers’ items in sequence
to run their plan successfully. Supermarkets make list of products which are essential for people
and then reduce the price of those products. Lidl supermarket cannot see their profit at the time
of crises they just want to save lives. United Kingdom government also decide if there is
shortage of food items then they take help from army to protect depots and food trucks so all-star
work together. Every big food retailer supports this strategy. Lidl ‘s manager told people that
they accumulate large stock of water bottle, packed food items and other essential products.
Various supermarkets also advice their customers to book their order in advance because of high
demand so it become challenging for supermarkets to handle the crowed so they suggest advance
booking option (Sakun and Mordous, 2019) With this initiative customers also stocking frozen
food as per supermarkets provide information. Supermarkets informed that there is increase in
the sales of frozen and packed food items and various other supermarkets told that there are
notable sales increased of hand sanitizers and cleaning products. All the supermarkets have plan
B for sourcing essential food or cleaning items. Rapidly increase in sales of hand sanitizers and
other hygiene goods so government take care of this and maintain stock of these products to fight
with this epidemic coronavirus. Supermarket and retailers work together with suppliers and
except changes in future demand and consumer behavior to support or protect the public from
hunger. Various supermarkets and organizations connected with government in sequence to get
that how food and drink industry should support the nation. Feed the nation this initiative is
taken to support the public because everybody facing hard time and nation need of support from
every sector but food is most essential thing so this initiative by United Kingdom is really
inspirable and effective. This initiative brings people, organizations, supermarkets and suppliers

together to face down coronavirus. When taking Lidl into consideration it can be seen that
company have recently invested a lot in international market. Around 500 million investment
took place within five years in order to set up new offices in United Kingdom in Southwest
London (Tuzikov and et. al., 2016). Company also came forward to create employment in the
economy. They provided 1500 new jobs and also brought up on a boost in traditional retail sector
resulting in closure of a number of high profile stores. Company opened its first store in United
Kingdom in 1994 and now it gives employment to more than 22,500 people in around 760 stores.
It contributes to 5.8% of groceries pending in United Kingdom. Whereas rival already has 8%
share. Recently there have been a lot of competition in retail stores and supermarkets. A number
of big retail store chains such as Sainsburys, Morrisons, Tesco, and so on are facing drop in their
market share although they contribute to 2/3 of total spending on grocery shopping by customers
throughout the world. Order to cope up with this losing in market share many companies also
came forward for merger in order to rise their market share by coming together. Sainsburys and
Asda came together in order to merge so that they can face the rising competition. However they
could not carry on this merger as it was blocked by competition and markets authority( Waldeck
and et. al., 2012). Tesco being the largest of all is still fighting bad with its own brand. Although
Jack’s have opened only nine stores till date, still it is affecting working for Tesco. Supermarkets
are suffering from penetration strategies followed by new entrants in this sector. Companies
come in the sector providing customers with products at affordable prices. The quality of
products is ignored by a number of customers in order to attain the products at a cheaper price. Is
also seen that all these supermarkets are coming together in order to face the problems in today’s
world. The supermarkets are working with retailers in order to supply all the essentials to general
public. They also need to take care of employees who work for them. Inflation may majorly hit
companies and economies due to more demand and less supply. It is important that companies
come together to face this tough time and do not take advantage of consumers miserable
condition. The initiative of the nation is supported by government as Willis society which is
helping company such as these big supermarkets to provide consumers with all the required
essentials.

CONCLUSION
From the above essay it has been determined that contemporary or the existence of
modern society have changed the pattern on the basis of companies operate and carry out their
operation. Due to high dependency on retail industry companies like Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury and
so on carry out face to face competition on the basis of price cuts. To gain global dominance it
has become prominent to bring desirable changes like improve the service of customer service
support and focus on digitalization. This significantly helps to accommodate the requirement of
both internal and external stakeholder in order to retain them and share profitable relationship.
Further, in the recent environment due to immense hike in the demand of groceries leading to
wide pressure amongst supermarket stores. Hence, to cope up with pandemic situation British
supermarket have effectively drawn up “feed the nation” plan under which with the help of
vendors efforts are taken to systematically maintain the supply of staple products.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Solik, M., Višňovský, J. and Laluhova, J., 2013. Media as a tool for fostering values in the
contemporary society. European Journal of Science and Theology. 9(6). pp.71-77.
Teubner, G., 2019. Global Bukowina: legal pluralism in the world society. In Critical theory and
legal autopoiesis. Manchester University Press.
Piñeiro, L. C. and Kramer, X., 2014. The role of private international law in contemporary
society: global governance as a challenge. Erasmus L. Rev.. 7. p.109.
Biehl, P. F. and et. al., 2015. Identity and heritage: Contemporary challenges in a globalized
world. New York: Springer.
Roberts, K., 2012. The leisure of young people in contemporary society. Arbor. Ciencia,
Pensamiento y Cultura. 188(754). pp.327-337.
Scott, A. J., 2017. Urbanization, work and community: The logic of city life in the contemporary
world. Quality Innovation Prosperity. 21(1). pp.9-30.
Burlacu, S., Bodislav, D. A. and Rădulescu, C. V., 2018. E-Commerce and Global Food
Resources. Managerial Challenges of the Contemporary Society. Proceedings. 11(2).
p.48.
Sakun, A. and Mordous, I., 2019. Digital Re-Evolution: Learning to be Human at Contemporary
Society. Philosophy & cosmology. (22). pp.129-136.
Waldeck, J. and et. al., 2012. Communication in a changing world: Contemporary perspectives
on business communication competence. Journal of Education for Business. 87(4).
pp.230-240.
Tuzikov, A. R. and et. al., 2016. Identities management as a solidarities constructing tool in
contemporary society. International Review of Management and Marketing, 6(2S).