Introduction to Management: A Comprehensive Marketing Report on Lidl

This report provides a detailed marketing analysis of Lidl, a major player in the discount supermarket industry. It begins with an introduction to marketing and its importance in business, followed by an overview of Lidl's operations, history, and market position. The main body of the report includes a SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, and competitor matrix to assess Lidl's internal and external environments. Furthermore, it explores specific areas of product market growth, consumer segmentation, and the application of the 7 Ps of the marketing mix. The report utilizes tools like the Boston Consulting Matrix and Ansoff Matrix to analyze growth opportunities. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and provides recommendations for Lidl's future marketing strategies. The report also includes references to support the analysis and findings.

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT..........................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Specific areas of product market growth................................................................................3
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................10
Segments which provide Lidl Company with higher yield of consumers............................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................14
7 P's of Marketing Mix model to target the identified segment...........................................14
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................16
RECOMMENDATIONS..............................................................................................................16
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is the most important aspect of any business organisation, it helps in branding,
promoting and creating a certain image of the product among the customers and allows them to
maintain a sustainable position in the market. In other words, marketing is the management
study of exchange relationship among brands and their customers. It is the tool which is used to
create and establish various aspects of the products in order to gain the attention and attraction of
the customers. Marketing is one of the major aspects of the business organisation as it helps in
promoting and creating recognition of the products and services provided by them (Brar, Kumar,
Patil and Gade, 2018). It also helps in creating value for the customers and helps in identifying
their needs and expectations in order to provide them better services and facilities. Lidl operates
its business function in retail industry and was founded in 1973, the company owned 10,000
stores in approximately 28 European countries. It is Germany based supermarket chain who
provides discount products and services to their customers in order to increase their savings. The
main aim of this report is to identify the factors that influence the working of an organisation,
factors of customer’s segmentation and marketing mix model of the organisation.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Specific areas of product market growth
Over past few years, the supermarket industry has seen a rapid change and growth
because of the economic growth of the market. The most important aspect of the super market
industries are ability and capability to control on hand stocks, attractive presentation of the
products and car parking availability. Lidl is expanded into high end chain of supermarket like
Aldi and Waitrose. As per the data of February 2018, the sales of retail stores have been
increased by 0.8 % as compared to the previous months (Boonpradub, 2015).

Illustration 1: The value of the grocery retail market in the United Kingdom (UK) in
the year to April 2014 and a forecast for the year to April 2019.

Lidl is successful organisation and it provides discounted products and services to its
customers with the motive to increase their savings. The company opened its first store in 1973
with the same concept of Aldi. These both organisations are major rivals and competitors of one
another, because the services and the offerings of both the units are exactly same. The first UK
store of Lidl was established in 1994. However, the growth and the development of the
organisation were very rapid and consistent. The major rivals of the company are Aldi, Tesco,
Sainsbury and Morrisons. The retail industry is highly competitive sector because there are
number of major and dominant organisations are present who operates their business functions in
Illustration : Statistic shows the market share of grocers in Great Britain (GB)
monthly from January 2015 to March 2017.
Illustration : Statistic shows the market share of grocers in Great Britain (GB)
monthly from January 2015 to March 2017.
Illustration 2: Statistic shows the market share of grocers in Great Britain (GB)
monthly from January 2015 to March 2017.

it. There are various factors that help in identifying the external and internal environmental
approaches to the organisation and support in identifying the key features that affects the
working of the organisation.
Marketing is stated to be one of the most important consideration of almost all sort of
firms as an assistance to effectively promote the goods in the market. It together assists in
provisioning a valuable experience to the users by clearly identifying their factual needs and
demands (Balasescu, 2015). It is therefore in order to provide them better services and fulfil their
expectations, marketing is referred to play an essential role in the entities. Lidl being a popular
discount retailer is famous for serving its products at an affordable range with huge discounts to
the customers that in turn satisfies their anticipated requirements in an effective way (Byrd-
Bredbenner, 2017).
SWOT Analysis of Lidl
SWOT analysis is used to identify the internal and external factors of the environment. It
helps in evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the organisation. For
the companies like Lidl, this tool is very important as it helps in analysing the measure that
examines the working of the firm. Lidl is the German grocer and it was originated in 1973, the
firm is now one of the top leading food retailers of the Europe (Abril and Rodriguez-Cánovas,
2016). The company is operating its business in UK since 1994 and it is the seventh largest chain
of supermarket in UK with market share of approximately 5.2 %. Lidl is very famous discount
based supermarket and it also believes in providing high quality of goods and product to their
customers in order to gain their trust and loyalty. British suppliers are the major source of
distribution channel in UK.
STRENGTHS
 Lidl is a German grocer.
 The company was founded in 1973.
 Lidl is one of the top leading food retailers of Europe.
 The company is operating its business in UK since 1994.
 The company is one of the fastest growing organisation of the United Kingdom.
 The recognition of the company is very huge.
 The company believes in providing high quality of goods and products at the lowest
possible prices.

WEAKNESSES
 The number of employees in the organisation is very less as compared to its other rival
companies.
 It has been seen that there is mismanagement in the stores due to the lack of the staff
members.
 There has been number of controversies that are attached with the organisation.
OPPORTUNITIES
 Lidl currently operates its business function in approximately 27 countries and owned
10,000 numbers of stores.
 The growth of the company in Europe is very tremendous.
 The company has plan of opening approximately 600 stores in the country.
 The US market is very critical for the retail industries; Lidl should be very careful while
operating its business over there because TESCO has failed to meet the requirements of
the US market.
THREATS
 There are very large numbers of competitors are available for Lidl.
 One of the biggest challenge for Lidl is Aldi.
 Its UK based competitors are TESCO, Sainsbury and Morrison’s.
PESTLE Analysis of Lidl
It is the tool which is used to analyse the Political, Environmental, Social, Technological as well
as Legal and Economic aspects of the working of the organisation. This is the tool which is used
for strategic planning of the business organisation and helps in evaluating and analysing the
various aspects of the business.
Political
The majority of Lidl stores are situated in Europe and currently, all these countries are free from
conflict so, threat to Lidl operation from war is low. On the other hand, there are numbers of
firms which have so many joint ventures and/ or business model of import/export create several
kinds of difficulties for Lidl.
Economic
After the economic recession of the country, there are numbers of problems which are being
faced by the organisation. It creates several benefits for Lidl as they provide goods and services

at very low prices in comparison to their competitors. Lidl is discounted supermarket store so it
provides goods and services at relatively low prices and thus, it gains the attention of the
customers, because they have to spend likely less amount of money for buying goods and
commodities. Lidl provides better goods and services at low prices to their core and potential
customers.
Social
Lidl has provided so many jobs to the unemployed people in the United Kingdom. It provides
good wages and facilities to its staff members and employees. Good and reasonable wages help
in leading a better life and allows the individual to eat good food, live in a better place and lead a
motivated life (Curtis, Lundholm and McVay, 2014). On the other hand, motivated and satisfied
employees will provide their full potential in growth and development of the organisation and
give their full support in the optimum utilisation of the resources.
Technological
Technologies are emerging in each and every sector these days, it is very important for the firms
to understand the needs of the technologies into their working so that they can work in an
effective and efficient manner. Lidl, didn't include technological advancements into their
working and sometimes, it becomes very difficult for the members of the organisation to keep
and track records about the various aspect of the working of the organisation.
Legal
The working of Lidl totally revolves around the norms and regulation provided by the members
of the firm. This company follows all the legal and ethical aspects that are essential in order to
conduct the working effectively and efficiently. It is important for the organisation to avoid the
disputes and conflicts that can create negative impact upon the working of the firm and its brand
image.
Environmental
Lidl provides assurance that any of these working doesn't affect the environment in any way.
They claim that they support the eco-friendly environment and there working is based upon that.
Competitor Matrix
Competitive Matrix is the tool that is used to establish the competitive advantage for the
company (Niedt, 2017). It helps in identifying the competitive tools of the company and

evaluates the methods which are used as the approaches which are used to find the competitive
edges of the company.
There is very huge competition in the retail industry, as there are number of similar organisation
who works to provide goods and services to their core and potential customers. The matrix can
be defined as the chart or the graphical representation of the competitive aspect of the
organisation. This can also be shared with the customers as the sales tool and helps in analysing
the competition of the organisation. However, the growth and the development of the
organisation were very rapid and consistent.
The major rivals of the company are Aldi, Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison’s. The retail
industry is highly competitive sector because there are number of major and dominant
organisations are present who operates their business functions in it. There are various factors
that help in identifying the external and internal environmental approaches to the organisation
and support in identifying the key features that affects the working of the organisation.
Aldi is one of the major rival of Lidl, as both these firms offer common types of the
goods and services to their customers. The company owned more than 10,000 stores in
approximately 20 countries. And the overall turnover of the organisation is 50 billion
approximately, on the other hand, Morrison’s operates as the fourth largest chain of the
supermarket in the United Kingdom, the company was originated in 1899 by William Morrison,
as per the reports of the 2017, the overall revenue of the firm is 16,317 million. And Tesco is a
British multinational grocery retail whose headquarters are in England, the company was
founded in 1919 and its first store was opened in 1931. The overall revenues of the firm are
55,917 million, Whereas Lidl was founded in 1930 and the overall revenue of the firm was 4.7
billion, which is less than its all major competitors (Hult, 2017).
The Boston Consulting Matrix
The Boston Consulting Group product portfolio matrix is used in implementing long term
strategic planning for the products and the services to identify the growth opportunities of the
firm by analysing its portfolio of products to identify the areas where they need development.
Lidl can use this tool to analyse the factors where they need development; it helps in identifying
the weak areas and helps in addressing improvements for it.
Ansoff Matrix

This is the matrix which is used as a tool to provide a framework and a guideline which can help
the executives and senior managers to address the growth of the future. It is the business tool
which is used to evaluate and analyse the growth of the organisation. This is sub divided into
Market Penetration,
Market Development,
Product Development and
Diversification.
Lidl can use this tool to analyse and ensure their future growth and development. This technique
can help the executives and senior manager to analyse the future growth of Lidl.
TASK 2
Segments which provide Lidl Company with higher yield of consumers.
Marketing: It is the process of selling goods and services by creating its effective image
in the market through advertisements or various types of tools and strategies. This is an essential
process to provide growth and development of the organisation. Marketing strategies are the
tools and policies to implement efficient and successive business strategies. Good marketing
strategies help in generating growth and development of the organisation (Johnstone, 2014). In
helps the organisations to create their brand image and understand their significance in selling
goods and services. There is huge competition in retail industry so, it is very important for the
organisation like Lidl to maintain and establish their brand image among the customers.
Effective and efficient brand image is very important for the firm in order to create the
recognition and identification among the customers. Branding is the most important key and
aspect of working of the organisation, as it helps in creating a certain image of the product
among the core and potential customers. Brand Image is the tool which is used to sell the
products and services to the customers, an effective brand name helps in gaining the competitive
advantage and edge in the market and helps in maintaining the sustainable position of the firm
(Kiseleva, 2017).
Marketing is the concept which is used by each and every company in order to create
their image and recognition within the customer. Such techniques are used to identify the needs
and desires of the customers so as to provide them satisfaction. For initiating strategic business
management policies, marketing is one of the major concept.

Marketing essentials, is the strategy which focuses only on customers in order to provide
them goods and services of standard quality. It is the technique to identify the requirements of
the customers in order to create products and services that can lay emphasis on customer’s mind
and help in accomplishing their satisfaction level. Marketing is a philosophy of business, which
is used to make sure the consistency and stability of the products within the customers. It is the
basis of entire business organisation. Identifying and implementing needs and desires of the
customers is the core function of the market planning (Elenkov, 2014).
Principles of marketing are based on the basis on need, want and demands. It helps in
creating healthy relationship with the consumers in order to ensure growth and success of the
business
Needs: Needs can be termed as the general and basic requirements of the customer. Such
products that are meant to satisfy the needs of individuals are needed to be enhanced with some
effective strategies of inventions to easily convince the buyers.
Wants: Wants are not similar as a needs. Wants and desires of the human being keep on
changing but needs of the individual are constant. 'Wants' keeps on changing on regular basis
needs are permanent (Geppert, 2015).
Demand: It can term as desires and expectation of the customers. Demand is the desires
of the consumers regarding some specific goods or services. The demand and supply strategies
used by Lidl, in their business practices is very strategical, and that's the reason why the
company is holding top position since last so many years
Market Segmentation is the process of dividing the broad consumers market on the basis
of their needs and requirements. These sections are built on the basis of shared interests and
characteristics. There are various ways to segment the needs and the desires of the market and
their customers. The term market segment is used to define the approaches and the segment of
the market differently. This tool is used after fully analysing the needs, requirements, life styles,
expectations and desires of the targeted customers (Galmer, 2017).
Market Segmentation is the method of dividing the market on the basis of its potential
and core customers into different groups and segments on the basis of various kinds of the
characteristics. The members of such groups have some common characteristics and features
among them. There are various reasons which are responsible for conducting market
segmentation. It is the criteria which are used to divide the market into various sections.

BEHAVIOURAL SEGMENTATION
Benefits Sought
Different people seek different kinds of benefits from the product. Benefits that are available in
fruit drink are energy, good taste, vitamins, less prices and etc. Thus, benefit segmentation
provides an idea why the customer is going to purchase the particular product and commodity.
Benefit segmentation is fundamental because its objective is to provide reasonable benefits to the
customer. This is most crucial and important segment or section of the market, which is adopted
by almost every company.
Purchase Behaviour
Differences in purchase behaviour can be based upon the time the purchase has been made, of
reasonable time which is used in launching product or commodity. Whenever the new or key
product is being launched the main task is to identify the innovator segment of the market.
Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty can be created by providing goods and services of better quality to the customers,
it motivates them to buy the same product again and again and helps in analysing the various
aspects of the customers by identifying their needs and expectations. Brand loyalty can be
created by assuring the customers and earning their trust. As there are number of substitutes are
available these days it is very important for the brands to provide goods and services of better
quality to their customers in order to earn their trust and loyalty (Jaworski, 2017).
Usage
The segmentation of the consumers can be conducted on the basis of heavy users, light users and
non-users of a product category. The market is divided on the basis of the user needs and
requirements. There is difference between the heavy and loyal customers. It is not important if
one is loyal customer than he must be the heavy customer.
Perception and Beliefs
Perceptions and Beliefs are strongly linked and connected to the behaviour. There are many
product and commodities who earn the recognition of the customers can make successful
business in the market. Some customers create a strong and valuable perception regarding the
technology and its usage (Jiménez-Jiménez, 2015).
PSYCHO-GRAPHIC SEGMENTATION