FY028 Inquiry Project: Digital Technology Role in Sainsbury's Success

This inquiry-based project investigates the role of digital technology in improving the performance of retail organizations, focusing on Sainsbury's, the second-largest supermarket chain in the UK. It examines the concept of digital technology within the UK retail industry, analyzes the impact of digital technology on Sainsbury's performance, and identifies the digital marketing strategies used by Sainsbury's to enhance its international business. The project employs a qualitative research approach using secondary data and interpretivism as a research philosophy. It discusses the importance of digital marketing tools and platforms in improving performance, increasing customer base, and enhancing brand image. The research methodology includes data collection, types of investigation, research philosophy, research design, and ethical considerations, providing a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of digital marketing in Sainsbury's.

Inquiry based project
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Contents
=.......................................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Research Aim:........................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives:..............................................................................................................3
Research Questions:...............................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
Concept of digital technology within UK retail industry.......................................................4
Impact of digital technology over performance company of Sainsbury’s.............................4
Digital marketing strategies used by Sainsbury for improving performance in international
business...................................................................................................................................5
Research Methodology....................................................................................................................5
Discussion........................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Digital technology is defined as an electronic tool, devices as well as systems which help
to store, generate and process information. In addition to this, it is an advanced technology which
is used by companies in order to reach large number of customer, promote their services,
increase sales, enhance brand image and so on (Hanlon, 2021). It also help an organisation to
develop good relationship with its customers that further leads towards customer retention and
satisfaction. For the present report, Sainsbury’s is taken into consideration. It is the second
largest supermarket in UK that was established in year 1869. The company has around 1500
shops globally which shows it has high market presence and share as well. The organisation
make use of digital marketing tools and strategies with the objective to enhance its performance
level and also to maintain effective relationship with customers. The main objective of the report
is to identify the role of digital technology for improving performance of retail organisation in
international business.
Research Aim:
“To identify the role of digital technology for improving performance of retail organisation
in international business”. A study on Sainsbury’s
Research Objectives:
 To Know about the concept of digital technology within UK retail industry.
 To identify the impact of digital technology over performance company of Sainsbury’s.
 To determine the digital marketing strategies used by Sainsbury for improving
performance in international business.
Research Questions:
 What is digital technology within UK retail industry?
 What is the impact of digital technology over performance company of Sainsbury’s?
 What are the digital marketing strategies used by Sainsbury for improving performance in
international business?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept of digital technology within UK retail industry
As per the view point pret (2020), Digital technology is a transformation that includes data
intelligence working in favour of customers centric, adding new value proposition and being
innovative. Digital technology is a combination of computer vision, sensor fusion, deep learning
and technology to automate the payment and easy checkout process. This means that now
customers can pick item from the shelf and the amount of product will be added into the online
cart of customers, which later they can pay the amount from there phone without waiting into big
line of checkout (What is digital business transformation?, 2022). There are various advantages
from using digital transformation in retail sector, as due to recent pandemic it is difficult for
retail sector to come back and compete with other competition as now people are afraid of going
out and shopping at crowed places and waiting and standing out in line to check out. With this
new technology in retail sector as allows them to grow and attract more customers into the store,
which led to increase in sale of organisation and future benefits. Now customers can enter into
the stores and pick up items without waiting in queue lines or checkout, while payment will be
automatically made through the apps of the company. There are more advantages for retail
industry with help digital transformation such as, retailers can provide multichannel shopping
and new delivery options for customers as they can access to stores from anywhere in world with
there phones and internet. To understand digital transformation by retail they need to understand
for the success of technology is that customer engagement, as customers satisfaction is important
for the organisation for that company need to understand demands, needs and convenience of
customers to make easy shopping experience for them. Digital transformation in retail sector is
revolution and it give benefits for long term success for organisation.
Impact of digital technology over performance company of Sainsbury’s
As per the view point of Kurvoi, (2022) Sainsbury’s is a leading supermarket chain of UK
which is serving 22 million customers a week so to serve the huge amount of customers at a time
the company is using technology at their optimum capacity. Sainsbury's was the first company
which started giving loyalty points to their customers before any competitor after that the firm
was the firm one in Europe to install self-service checkouts in all their outlets which is giving
customer choice of how they checkout and it is also reducing time wastage of the consumers as
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the consumer with smaller baskets can utilise this service. The premise is also using brand match
as technique in which they show the compared price of their products with their competitors to
the customers. To cover the difference, the company issues the vouchers and confirm their
savings by issuing loyalty points which they can redeem on their next purchase, like this
Sainsbury's has framed a huge consumer base as they have issued 250 million coupons till now.
Sainsbury's has recently adopted a new technique which is Mobile scan and go plan where the
consumers can scan the available barcode with their iphone and android devices and pay without
unloading their trolley bags (Impact of digital technology on performance, 2022). This is a very
new and convenient technique which enhance the shopping experience of the customers. By this
technique they can also keep a track on their total spending, how much they are savings by
purchasing through Sainsbury's and the main thing is that the consumers can pay in a single click
without unloading their baskets. The employment of these techniques in the working of the
company improves the brand image, sales and consumer satisfaction as the consumer starts
visiting the outlets more often and buying at best deals.
Digital marketing strategies used by Sainsbury for improving performance in international
business
As per the viewpoint of Valentine, (2021), the company is using digital marketing strategy
for the purpose to improve the performance when it comes to international organisation. In
context to organisation, there are various strategies used by the company in order to improve its
current performance which comprises of affiliate marketing, email marketing, social media
marketing, Pay per click marketing, Search Engine optimization, influencer marketing, content
marketing, retargeting ads and much more. With the help of digital marketing strategy, it helps
in easily underestimating the demand for the digital services that comprises of the customer
profiles, customer behaviours and competitors. With the right marketing strategy, it helps in
offering various benefits that involves learning about the marketplace, growing your sales,
earning trust, managing and using reputation, knowing about what works the best and using good
marketing tactics. In addition to that, with the help of digital marketing strategy, it helps in
identifying the target audience, understanding perspective and taste of the consumers, focusing
on developing product according to the need and demand of the customers and improving
productivity and performance (Sainsbury’s grabs online share with digital marketing push,
2021).
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Research Methodology
It is referred as an effective procedure by which researcher implement a study on the specific
topic. Along with this, it is one of the vital part of that help in explaining the methods used along
with justification (Shankar and et. al., 2021). It includes research philosophy, research process,
research design, data collection, sampling and so on. The methods used for present investigation
is given below:
Data collection: It is basically the process by which researcher gather data by using
different methods that is primary and secondary method. Primary data is defined as the method
through which data is gathered from the original sources. In addition to this, secondary data is
the information which is gathered from the sources that is books, articles, Journal and so on. In
order to conduct present investigation, researcher adopted secondary data collection and the
reason to choose is it help in obtaining maximum data in less time period. Furthermore, it also
provide contribution in achievement of reliable and valid research outcome in an appropriate
way.
Types of investigation: It is analysed as the effective type of method by which overall
collected information is interpreted by the investigator. It is done in two methods which is
quantitative as well as qualitative. In order to conduct the present investigation, researcher has
make use of qualitative method as it will assist in analysing data within a detailed way and it also
includes human based perception as well (Diamond, 2019). This further leads towards
development of reliable and valid data in an appropriate manner.
Research philosophy: It is analysed as the way that is mainly followed by researcher in
order to analyse data in an effective and appropriate manner. Along with this, it is divided into
two parts such as interpretivism and positivism. With reference to present study, investigator
mainly uses interpretivism as a research philosophy as it provide support to researcher in
evaluating data along with justification which further help in development of meaningful
findings.
Research design: It is seen as an effective procedure and a plan which is adopted by
researcher to conduct present study within a proper manner. It is divided into three forms that is
exploratory, experimental and descriptive as well (Negoiţă and et. al., 2018). In order to conduct
the present study, the research design method that is used is explanatory method as it gives
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support to researcher in collecting in-depth knowledge about topic. The significant reason to
select is it help to obtain valid results effectively and also assist to develop authentic results.
Ethical consideration: Ethics are basically the moral principles that is followed by research
worker in order to gather information. The various ethical principles that is followed by
investigator so that positive results can be attained and these are anonymity, informed consent
and so on (Dahiya and Gayatri, 2018). All this assist researcher to implement research activities
in an ethical and timely manner that leads to attainment of research objectives as well.
Discussion
From the above discussion, it helps in deep understanding about the concept of digital
marketing and why the digital marketing tools and various platforms plays a very important role
and helps in offering various benefits such as improved performance, increasing customer base
level, increasing sales, improving brand image and offering various other benefits. In addition to
that, these tools plays a very important role in the company and helps in deep understanding
regarding the target audience (What Is a Digital Marketing Strategy, 2021). In addition to that, it
helps in having brief knowledge and discussion about the concept of digital marketing, the
importance of digital marketing strategy and importance of digital marketing strategy and
technology in Sainsbury's. Moreover, there has been a brief discussion on the various digital
marketing strategies such as Search Engine Optimization, Affiliate marketing, email marketing,
influencer marketing and much more. With the help of these marketing strategies, it helps the
organisation in boosting up its productivity and performance and also focusing on understanding
its target audience in a effective and efficient manner with the right type of digital tools and
techniques. With employing the right type of digital marketing initiatives, the company can
create a more customer oriented and cohesive program that results in increasing the benefits for
the clients. In context to Sainsbury's, the organisation uses digital marketing platforms for the
purpose to easy adjust and measure the goals of the company and also bringing better return on
investments. Moreover, there has been a brief discussion on the Research Methodology, which
comprises of data collection, types of investigation, Research Philosophy, Research design and
ethical consideration. In addition to that, it helps in understanding the impact of digital
technology when it comes to UK industry. Moreover, the report helps in finding out the
effectiveness of the digital marketing tools in the organisation and how it contributes in the
company.
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Conclusion
From the above discussion, it has been concluded that digital marketing is one of the
important and significant tool that is used by an organisation to increase its customer base level,
increase sales, increase profitability, improve performance, enhance brand image and many
more. All this also allow an organisation to perform its activities at international level in an
effective and appropriate manner. Moreover, it is determined that using of digital technology has
positive impact on the performance and profitability of an organisation. It is significant for
researcher to make use of an appropriate method of data collection so that positive results can be
attained in a proper and timely manner.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Hanlon, A., 2021. Digital marketing: strategic planning & integration. Sage.
Shankar and et. al., 2021. Digital marketing communication in global marketplaces: A review of
extant research, future directions, and potential approaches. International Journal of
Research in Marketing.
Diamond, S., 2019. Digital marketing all-in-one for dummies. John Wiley & Sons.
Dahiya, R. and Gayatri, 2018. A research paper on digital marketing communication and
consumer buying decision process: An empirical study in the Indian passenger car
market. Journal of Global Marketing, 31(2), pp.73-95.
Ramesh, M. and Vidhya, B., 2019. Digital marketing and its effect on online consumer buying
behavior. Journal of Services Research, 19(2), pp.61-77.
Negoiţă and et. al., 2018. Digital marketing tools used by companies. FAIMA Business &
Management Journal, 6(4), pp.66-76.
Online
What is digital business transformation?, 2022 [Online] Available through; < https://www.i-
scoop.eu/digital-transformation/>
Sainsbury’s grabs online share with digital marketing push, 2021 [Online] Available through; <
https://www.marketingweek.com/sainsburys-digital-marketing-push/>
What Is a Digital Marketing Strategy?, 2021 [Online] Available through;
<https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/what-is-a-digital-marketing-strategy/>
Impact of digital technology on performance, 2022 [Online] Available through;
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/986/1/012022/meta
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