Project Report: Investigating Consumer Behavior at Marks and Spencer

This project report delves into the consumer behavior of Marks and Spencer, a British multinational retailer, focusing on the impact of social media on customer purchasing habits and the challenges the company faces in maintaining sales and customer retention. The report includes an executive summary, background information on Marks and Spencer, and an overview of the project's aims and research questions. A comprehensive literature review examines the influence of social media on consumer behavior and the importance of providing quality products and customer satisfaction. The methodology section outlines the research approach, which includes secondary data analysis and market surveys. The report also identifies key problems, such as declining online shopping rates and the need for more affordable product options. Recommendations are provided to help Marks and Spencer adapt to changing consumer preferences, improve customer engagement, and increase sales. The report emphasizes the need for Marks and Spencer to use digital marketing tools, social media strategies, and innovative advertisements to attract and retain customers in a competitive retail environment. The project is divided into two assessments: a project plan and a research report, each with specific word count requirements and structural guidelines.

Project Research report

Table of Contents
Assessment 1 : Project plan.............................................................................................................3
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.........................................................................................................3
Problem statement.......................................................................................................................3
Literature review..........................................................................................................................3
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................4
Assessment 2 : Research report.......................................................................................................4
Executive summary.....................................................................................................................4
1.Background...............................................................................................................................4
2.Project aims..............................................................................................................................5
3.Literature review.......................................................................................................................5
4.Methodology.............................................................................................................................8
5.Problems identified...................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION and Recommendations........................................................................................10
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................11

Assessment 1 : Project plan
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
A British multinational retailer, Marks and Spencer, is headquartered in London, England. The
company is selling home products, food and clothing. The company was founded in 1884. The
company’s aim is to inspire and excite the customers, to understand and listen to the problems of
the customers actively and thoughtfully. They are trying to innovate things to improve the
customer’s experience. The company is currently selling the food and clothes to the customers.
The companies aim is to invest in the retail business and grow more options to the customers.
The company is trying to achieving the goal, by introducing different products to the customers.
The company is to finding ways to meet the long term objectives of maintaining the customer’s
retention in the company.
Problem statement
The company is dealing with a loss in the sales as the customers are not buying their products,
the customers are having issues with the price and are demanding for new options in the
business.
Literature review
Project plan is made so that managers can know goals and objectives they have to achieve
and make proper strategies after analysing market situation. For conducting research information
can be collected from primary or secondary source. Both are useful but in research report details
are gathered with the help of secondary source and survey is being conducted which will help
managers of Marks and Spenser in making plans for future growth. It is important to identify
impact of social media on consumer buying behaviour because it helps organisation in deciding
that which plans or digital marketing tools they should use or apply to gain competitive
advantage (Arekar and et.al., 2018). It is essential to use tools such as, Instagram , Facebook and
other to attract customers and this is helpful in earning more revenue and helps in building good
image in market. Managers of Marks and Spenser should make plans which will help them in
achieving goals and objectives and they should ensure that all employees are working according
to plans that are made. Consumers are attracted by new and innovative advertisement , it
influence them in buying a particular product. All the relevant information is being provided by
managers with the help of advertisement.

Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that, project plan is important to make
because it helps in identifying what are the mistakes or if any improvement is required so
that goals and objectives can be achieved. Impact of social media on consumer buying
behaviour has been described. Aims and objectives of Marks and Spenser has been
discussed.
Assessment 2 : Research report
Executive summary
Social media has impact on consumer buying behaviour because it helps in attracting people and
useful for organisation in generating more profit. It is important to give advertisement on social
networking sites so that sales can be increased. A research is being conducted on Marks and
Spenser to identify buying behaviour of consumers. Aims and objectives are determined and it is
determined that what is buying behaviour of consumers. Literature review is discussed in which
impact of social media on consumer buying behaviour. For research information is being
collected from secondary data and market survey is done. Further, conclusion and
recommendations are provided.
1.Background
The report is about the Marks and Spencer. It is a public limited company. It is multinational
retail company. it was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. The company is
headquartered in London, England, UK. The company serve worldwide. There are 78,000
employees by 2021. The company earn revenue around £10,181.9 million by 2020.
The rise in the online shopping is increasing and impacting the pattern of customers purchasing
habits. As the online shopping is more convenient and has shortened the distance the customers
have to make to buy the products the purchasing pattern is affected. Every social media platform
has different purpose and is being used by the companies for promoting their brands. The retail
company in UK had shown growth after the dynamic change. Major development and trends in
the social media is causing change (Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott, 2017). The UK
companies understand the importance of the customer’s relationship for engaging more
customers.

Social media has greatly influenced the customers buying patterns. Around 71% of the
customer’s decision is influenced by the social media. The customers are spending four times
more due to the social media impact.
Marks and Spencer is facing problem in the consistent approaches along with managing the
existing work practice at the company for taking full advantage of the business. The online
shopping rates of the customer are decreasing. The company need to change the strategies as the
customers feedbacks are indicating for this. The customers need more affordable options for the
products they are buying. The company need to engage more in the social media conversation to
know more about the taste, behaviour and choices of the customers. The company need to
quantify the value of the insight that is received by them for their services, brand and products
through social media.
2.Project aims
The aim of the company is to increase the sales of the company by introducing new products to
the customers. It is also trying to improve the customer retention. This is impacting the
company because of the social media. The social media is impacting the customers and their
purchasing habits.
The company is dealing with a loss in the sales as the customers are not buying their products,
the customers are having issues with the price and are demanding for new options in the
business. The social media tends are decreasing the sales and the company is trying to adapt
accordingly (Bocciarelli, D’Ambrogio and Durak, 2020). The company need to meet the aim
of the company while dealing with the problems along with it.
Research questions:
What range of clothes customers are expecting?
Any problem with the online website of the company?
The requirements the customers like to see to be fulfilled by the company?
3.Literature review
Introduction
Marks and Spenser is one of the well known company and it provides good quality
products so that overall organisation performance can be improved. Company can use digital

marketing tools to attract customers and sales of firm can be increased. It is a way which is used
by most of the companies for customer retention and people are attracted by innovative
advertisements. Every company should make planning or strategies so that more customers are
attracted and it will help in achieving aims and objectives of organisation. Nowadays, it is
essential that organisation should use social networking sites for giving advertisements and they
can attract more customers (Arora, Kumar and Agarwal, 2020). Managers of Marks and Spenser
should make strategy planning for customer retention and more customers can be targeted. This
will help in generating more revenue and goals of organisation can be accomplished. The main
aim of company is to provide good quality products to customers and overall performance of
firm can be improved. Managers of company must conduct market analysis so that they can
identify buying pattern of consumers and also determine target audience. The objective of
company is to increase sales of company by attracting more customers and make good plans to
retain consumers.
Main body
Theme -1 : To provide good quality products
In this digital world, it is important to attract customers and satisfy their needs by
providing them good quality services and products. competition is increasing day by day so if an
organisation wants to increase its sales or want to generate more profit then they should make
good plans or strategies. Managers of company should conduct market survey or analysis to
identify that what type of products company want and which digital marketing tool must be used
so that more customers can be attracted.
According to (Gajashree and Anand, 2021), social media is best way to target audience
because most of the people are using social networking sites and they are attracted when new and
innovative advertisement should be given so that customers can get proper knowledge about
market. This helps in customer retention because in today’ s world people are attracted by
advertisements and it helps organisation in improving overall performance of employees as well
as of firm. The main aim of managers of Marks and Spenser is to provide good quality products
to consumers and influence them to buy goods. It is a strategy which is used by company so that
more customers can get relevant details about product and they can purchase it. Online services
is also provided to people because it is easy and convenient for consumers to buy goods from
online apps and home delivery facility is provided.

On the other hand (Grover and Mandan, 2017) there are other ways by which needs and
wants of consumers can be identified and managers can make products according to that. It is
essential to identify what type of goods consumers want and they should conduct market survey.
Before making any product managers should identify situation of market and then they should
make plans so that goals and objectives of company can be achieved. It helps in generating more
profit and also helps in building good image in market. Social media has positive impact on
buying pattern of consumers because sometimes people are influenced by advertisement. It is the
responsibility of marketing manager to make innovative plans for attracting consumers and this
help in influencing them to buy goods.
Theme -2 : To increase sales of company by customer satisfaction
According to (Gupta and et.al., 2018), it is important to satisfy needs of customer so that
organisation performance can be increased. Managers of company should make plans or
strategies to increase sales of company and this will help achieving goals of firm. Nowadays,
social media is best way to attract consumers and they can get all relevant details which is
necessary and help them in buying goods. Social media has positive impact on consumer buying
behaviour because people watch advertisements on social sites and it influence them to purchase
product. Sometimes, customers get attracted by packing of product as it is new and innovative. It
is essential that choices of people must be identified by managers of Marks and Spenser so that
new and innovative products can be made by company and it will help in gaining competitive
advantage. This is a strategy which is used by organisation to increase their sales and it will help
in expansion of business.
On the other hand (Hanaysha, 2017), sometimes social media has negative impact on
consumer buying behaviour because people is not getting proper information about product and
they create bad image in mind. They listen to thoughts of their friends, family and make a image
about product and they get half information which is not good. It is important that managers
should provide proper detail to customers and they must organise campaigns in which proper
information should be provided. Some people see advertisement but they did not like it because
they want new and creative ideas for presenting products and details must be provided in a
unique way. If managers of Marks and Spenser will identify competitor strategy and market
situation then they will able to make good plans which will be beneficial for growth of company

and new ideas can be taken from employees as they are having more knowledge about taste and
preference of organisation (Varghese and Agrawal, 2021).
Conclusion
From the above literature review it can be concluded that, it is important to focus on how
to satisfy needs of customers and make plans for customer retention. Consumer are the king of
market if products are not made according to their taste or choice then it is difficult for a firm to
run their business. Before entering into new market they should conduct market research as it
will help them in identifying that what is strength and weakness of competitor and how they have
to make plans to gain competitive advantage. It is important to satisfy needs of consumers
because it will help in increasing profit and good image can be build in market.
Keywords: Digital marketing, customer retention, organisation performance, consumer
behaviour, target audience and strategy planning.
4.Methodology
For conducting any research there are some methods which is used by companies so that
proper information can be collected and it will help in making good plans or strategies which is
beneficial for growth of company. Managers of Marks and Spenser use secondary data to gather
information (Voramontri and Klieb, 2019). They do research on google and try to find out ways
by which customers are attracted. It is important to determine marketing tools which help in
promotion of product and more revenue can be generated. Research team of Marks and Spenser
collect secondary data and they gather information from different sources. This will help them in
making plans to attract customers and they will conduct market survey to know taste and
preference of company. Data is being collected in quantitative way as from many people it is
being asked that whether they are attracted by advertisements given on social networking sites or
not (Jashari and Rrustemi, 2017). What type of products they want, their choice. It is important
to ask consumers that what type of goods they want because in this fast moving world, choices of
customers is changing rapidly and it is difficult to decide what type of goods they prefer.
Market survey is primary data because it is actually done to determine target audience and
make plans accordingly so that large number of customers can be attracted. There are some
limitations of this project such as, time limit, insufficient sample size, issues with sample and
selection, lack of previous study. These are some limitations which is faced by managers while
doing this research project. Sometimes, proper sample is not collected or data is not sufficient to

measure or take any decision (Jayasuriya, Azam and Ferdous, 2017). It is important to collect
data by conducting market survey so that taste and preference of consumers can be identified.
5.Problems identified
It is essential to identify problem so that proper solution can be find out and it will help in
achieving goals and objectives of company. Managers of Marks and Spencer conduct market
survey and they try to find out need and choice of consumers. The aim of company is to provide
good quality products to consumers as it will help in building reputation in market and more
customers will be attracted. It is essential to make plans or strategies to identify target audience
and managers will make plans to attract target audience (Phusalux and et.al., 2020). For every
company it is important to run their business and to generate more revenue. If organisation has
good image in minds of customers then it will help in expansion of business and they can run
their firm in other countries. Suggestions can be taken from employees because sometimes, they
are having more knowledge and experience about choice of consumers.
Social media is nowadays very popular among consumers because all people are active on
social networking sites and they are attracted by advertisements. Managers of Marks and Spenser
has gathered information by doing secondary research about impact of social networking sites on
consumer buying behaviour. Research project has some limitations like, there was time limit and
proper sample size is not collected so, managers will face difficulty in making plans according to
need of consumers. It is important to provide good quality products and services to consumers so
that more profit can be generated and it will help in gaining competitive advantage (Pütter,
2017). Plans or strategies should be made better than competitors so that good image can be
created in market. It is crucial for managers to identify market situation because there are many
competitors having knowledge and experience to do business. It is not easy to enter into new
market as there are many problems or challenges that an organisation has to face to run their
business smoothly.
In today’s world, people are more active on social networking sites so it has positive as
well as negative impact on buying behaviour of consumer. It is important for every organisation
to make some new products which is essential for growth of company and it will help in
increasing sales of company and more revenue can be generated. After conducting market
research it has been found that taste and preference of consumers is changing rapidly so, before
making any product managers should conduct market survey to determine strategies which can

be applied (Rambe and Jafeta, 2017). When advertisement is given on social sites then customers
are more attracted because people like to buy everything. If advertisement is attractive then it
will influence consumers to buy products. Marketing manager of Marks and Spenser are trying
to make new and innovative plans so that more customers can be attracted and this will in
improving organisational performance. When customers like products then sales of company
increases and ultimately more revenue is generated which is beneficial in growth of organisation.
It will also help in building good image in market and managers can make plans to expand their
business.
CONCLUSION and Recommendations
From the above discussion it can be summarised that, social media has positive as well as
negative impact on buying behaviour of consumers. It plays a crucial role in satisfying needs and
wants of customers. If products are being made according to choice of consumers but marketing
is not good then it will not be beneficial for company. People want new and innovative products
with good marketing, this helps organisation in increasing its sales and more profit can be
earned. Aims and objectives, problem statement, research questions of research project has been
described. Literature review has been discussed which includes positive and negative arguments
on impact of social media. Further, methods had been described which are being used for data
collection like, survey has been conducted. Information has been taken from secondary data and
data is collected in quantitative form.
Recommendations for managers of Marks and Spenser is, they can use other methods of
data collection like, time series analysis, smoothing techniques, Delphi technique, focus group so
that they can make good plans for doing research. There are many methods to collect information
and plans can be made properly so that company can increase its sales and more profit can be
earned. They should make some strategies so that they can gain competitive advantage such as,
short videos can be made and it should be uploaded on social networking sites so that more
people are attracted and it covers a wide area. Social media is best way to promote product but
they can give advertisement in newspaper or they can make their own page or website which
includes all details so that customers can get relevant information about product.

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