Ocado Group: Evaluating Business Environment, Opportunities

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Ocado Group's business environment, focusing on identifying both opportunities and constraints that the company faces. It examines various economic factors such as interest rates, inflation, and unemployment, noting how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted consumer spending and labor availability. The report also delves into socio-cultural factors, highlighting the increasing consumer preference for healthy and vegan products and how Ocado can leverage this trend. Furthermore, it explores technological factors, emphasizing Ocado's adoption of automation, AI, and online platforms to gain a competitive advantage. The analysis concludes by underscoring the importance of understanding these environmental factors for Ocado to maintain sustainable growth and competitive positioning in the market.

Ocado group analysis

Contents
Evaluating general environment of company in order to identify opportunities and constraints
faced by company............................................................................................................................1
Economic factors.........................................................................................................................1
Socio-cultural factors ..................................................................................................................1
Technological factors...................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

Evaluating general environment of company in order to identify opportunities
and constraints faced by company
Economic factors
These factors encompasses interest rates, fluctuations in demand & Supply, rise in
inflation, unemployment rare and increase in GDP of a country (Adams,ed., 2021). In UK,
establishments has to close down their operations due to global pandemic that results in huge
loss of revenue. This has also led organisation to terminate their employees as they are unable to
pay them salaries. This has increases unemployment rate in UK which negatively impact on
purchasing power of citizens. This situation can be a constraint for Ocado as spending and
buying patterns has changes due to covid-19 pandemic. Economic consequences led consumers
to spend less and save for future as it is uncertain. People are buying their groceries as it is a
necessity but lessens their spending due to less income avenues. Managers of Ocado are
compelled to terminate their employees as they are unable to pay them timely wages which led to
decrease in efficiency of business operations. Global pandemic has also bring significant
fluctuations in exchange rates of currency which has impacted organisation negatively as price of
their shares and stocks goes down at London Stock Exchange. However, at the recovery phase of
global pandemic, managers of Ocado are facing shortage of skilled labour. Although they are
using automated systems and artificial intelligence at their warehouses, but manual labour is
needed in some business practices. They can hire workers at low wages as they are in need of
employment after global pandemic and are trying to seek jobs in order to earn their living.
Socio-cultural factors
These comprises of changes in customer preferences, perceptions and tastes accordingly
with dynamic market trends (Charter, ed., 2017). It also includes established culture and attitudes
of citizens towards products or services. In UK, people are growing aware about using healthy
products and maintain a balanced life. Their preferences have changed towards moving to
healthy and vegan products which helps them to keep fit. Managers of Ocado are aware about
changing perceptions of individuals and offer them products accordingly. This can become as an
opportunity for Ocado as it helps them to increase their brand awareness among people. This
helps company to gain competitive advantage as it is desirable for organisation to critically
evaluate customer demands and their supply chain. UK citizens are extensively multicultural
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such that they are ready to appreciate new products or services. This can help managers of Ocado
in bringing new products which helps them to cater more customer needs. It is an opportunity for
managers of Ocado to cater large population of UK. A large number of citizens residing in UK
are indulgent in their approach and wants to enjoy their leisure time. Ocado's mobile application
and online purchasing platform provide an easy access to procure their products. This has help
people for easy purchasing activities and enjoy their leisure time. Understanding shared beliefs
and attitudes of people of UK help marketers of Ocado in getting better insights about consumer
perception toward the brand. This helps marketers of Ocado to design personalised message
accordingly to targeted segment of consumers.
Technological factors
These factors essentially comprises of inauguration of new technology in production,
marketing and logistics facilities (Ganda, 2019). UK is considered as one of the leading country
that supports technological advancements in business practices. UK government provide
subsidies to small and medium enterprises in order to gain access to new technology
advancements. Ocado is a technological-driven organisation which develop its automated and
robotics warehouses, customer service system, machine leaning and many more. Managers of
Ocado has taken first mover advantage in launching its online application for purchasing
groceries. They have design their application as such it can be used through Iphone, Android
devices and Apple smart watch. Their warehouses are managed by fully automated control
system through the use of artificial intelligence. Apart from these, managers of Ocado have also
perform extensive market research and adopt efficient marketing activities.
Managers of Ocado have launched an application for Amazon Alexa which help users to
add products to their purchasing cart by voice recognition in a easy manner. These factors create
opportunity for them by gaining sustainable competitive advantage. Their technological aspects
helps them to build their brand a bigger name for people in market (Merhi, Hone and Tarhini,
2019). This practice helps them to cater massive number of customers through their efficient
customer support services which are operated by artificial intelligence. This helps consumers to
buy groceries products by sitting at heir home in a vary easy manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Adams, R. D. ed., 2021. Adhesive bonding: science, technology and applications. Woodhead
Publishing.
Charter, M. ed., 2017. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.
Ganda, F., 2019. The impact of innovation and technology investments on carbon emissions in
selected organisation for economic Co-operation and development countries. Journal of
cleaner production. 217. pp.469-483.
Merhi, M., Hone, K. and Tarhini, A., 2019. A cross-cultural study of the intention to use mobile
banking between Lebanese and British consumers: Extending UTAUT2 with security,
privacy and trust. Technology in Society. 59. p.101151.
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