Professional Practice and Research in the Retail Industry Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the UK retail industry. It begins with a background of the industry, highlighting its significance in the UK economy and defining its scope. The report then delves into a competitive environment analysis using Porter's Five Forces model, assessing the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, threats of new entrants and substitutes, and rivalry among existing players. It further explores the changes and trends in the retail industry, such as digital transformation, personalized customer experiences, and the use of machine learning and virtual fitting rooms. The report also identifies the required skillsets for success, including communication, customer service, and selling skills, as well as creative and ethical leadership skills. A reflection section uses the Gibbs reflective cycle to analyze a group presentation experience. Finally, the report concludes with personal analysis and goal setting, providing a comprehensive overview of the retail industry and career development within it.

CRAFTING YOUR
FUTURE: PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE AND
RESEARCH

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Research Essay................................................................................................................................3
Background of the retail industry................................................................................................3
Competitive environment analysis of retail industry...................................................................4
Changes and trends in retail industry...........................................................................................5
Required skillset against the opportunities in the retail industry.................................................6
Creative and ethical leadership skills required in retail industry.................................................6
Reflection.........................................................................................................................................7
Personal Analysis...........................................................................................................................10
Setting Goals..............................................................................................................................11
Personal objectives....................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

Research Essay
Background of the retail industry
For this essay, the chosen industry is the retail industry of UK which is considered to be one of
the most important industry indicating a robust growth from many years. In UK economy, this
industry is very much vital and vast in terms of generating employment in the economy by
creating jobs for around millions of workers. This industry has generated hundred billions of
sales in the economy which is what contributing majorly to the economic growth and GDP of the
UK’s economy. For understanding what this industry is concerned about, it can be defined as the
sale of goods and services to the public or final consumers without the purpose of reselling it.
Retail industry can take the form of retail outlets at distinct region of the country (Chkoniya and
Mateus, 2019). It can be seen through supermarkets, shops, departments, stores, stalls, internet
retailers and sales person conducting sales by visiting customers personally. This sector provides
for plenty of opportunities for those who are aiming to build their career in heading or
managerial position involving customer facing role in order to generate sales by dealing with
customers in day to day business operations. For an individual who is holding a heading or
managerial position in this industry has a role of identifying current trends and accordingly
framing strategies and making decisions for the business.
Retail industry offers employment opportunities in the retail areas such as online retail,
distribution and merchandising, provision of customer services, retail management, warehousing,
and logistics, managing supply chain, buying and preventing loss by ensuring security of retail
outlets and products & services.

Almost all different categories of products produced in the economy has a role of
retailing such as fashion, entertainment, food, health and beauty, general merchandise, sports and
leisure and technological products (Pantano and Gandini, 2018). One can choose to build their
career in retail sector concerning any of these specific industries.
Head office or managerial position concerning the retail sector include roles such as
finance manager, human resource management, marketing management and information
technology department in the retail companies.
In UK, retail segment has been categorized into different forms such clothing retail, online
shopping and supermarkets. The four major recruiter and player of the UK’s retail sector are
Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrison who are dominating the whole retail industry of the UK
economy in the form of supermarket chains.
Retail companies have their physical outlets in various forms such as head offices, retail
branches and distribution facilities in terms of warehouses (Balaji and Roy, 2017). There seems
to be good pay to the retail employees whose main role is to generate sales for the company in
order to ensure the attainment profit making objectives of the company.
Competitive environment analysis of retail industry
In this research essay critical evaluation of the retail industry of UK will be done through
Porter’s five forces model to study the competitive environment prevailing in the grocery retail
sector.
Bargaining power of buyers: (High) There are large number of buyers controlling the industry
and are much price sensitive and accordingly there is high power of the customers. They can
compare prices through online retail shops and make an informed decision. Also, there is low
switching cost which allows customers to switch from one brand to another. Accordingly, there
is high manpower requirement who are specialized in the field of marketing and thus creating an
opportunity for those looking their career in the field.
Bargaining power of suppliers: (Low)There is a high power of supplier existing in the market
through which they are able to dictate the prices of their supply and the retail firms must the
same without bargaining for reducing the price as if they will not pay what has been demanded
then they will not get their goods (Fitrianingrum, 2020). But in case of large retailers like Tesco,
these suppliers needs to consider their terms and must reduce the prices as per retailer’s desire

and if would not happen then they will be going to lose their market share. So, in UK supplier’s
bargaining power is low.
Threats of new entrants: (Low) It seems to be not easy for new entrants to make their survival
possible in this industry as the already established players of the industry has gain enough market
share without leaving any scope for new comers to gain any abnormal gain in this industry.
Therefore, the threat of new entrant is very low as it requires huge investment and strong
financial support in order to survive even at a loss in the initial period.
Threats of substitutes: (medium) With a very diverse range of products offered by different
players in the industry does not allow for stopping customers from switching brand but if brand
resorts to a very unique offerings in terms of excellent quality which can lead to customers
keeping their purchase restricted to one single brand. So, innovations in the industry acts as an
opportunity for new entrants to capture considerable market share.
Rivalry among existing players: (high) The competition among retail companies in UK is very
high due to the strong of existing players and the long duration from which they are operating in
this industry (Moorhouse, tom Dieck and Jung, 2018). So, in order to survive in such a
competitive environment, there is a need of fresh talent having skills and expertise in dealing
with the issues of highly competitive environment and accordingly opens door for those
interested in building their career in the field of marketing.
The retail industry is quite attractive in terms of building career due to the requirement of skills
and experts having enough knowledge of marketing and promotional tools to create competitive
edge for the companies in the field.
Changes and trends in retail industry
There are many changes and emerging trends that can be noticed with reference to retail industry
of UK, some of which are as follows:
- A great deal of digital transformation can be seen in the industry where firms are highly
dependent on online platforms for marketing, promotion and selling their products and
services.
- Firms are striving hard for providing personalized experience to the customers in order to
retain them for long time by fulfilling their needs and expectations.
- Use of machine learning is much impressive and thus allowing for better forecasting of
future demand trends (Xu, 2018).
- Virtual fitting rooms provide for augmented reality which allows customers to make
better choices among available products by virtually trying it before purchasing it. This
concept is widely used by retail companies dealing in clothing and shoes.

- The retail stores are now cashier less where the payment for the purchase are made
through online payment options which helps in providing discounts and attractive offers
to facilitate more sales.
Required skillset against the opportunities in the retail industry
To build career in retail industry and excel in the same by opting for marketing profession there
are many skills required by an individual to exploit the available opportunities in this field. Such
as:
Communication skills: The most important skill required to exploit the opportunities existing in
the retail industry is communication. Those having excellent communication skills are really on
the top of their career in retail industry.
Customer service skills: One must possess skills of how to provide services to the customers to
make sure their repetitive purchase with their retail outlets. A better skills of customers service
allows for ensuring that the company is providing personalized experience in their store which is
what an emerging trend of this industry (Tian and et.al., 2020).
Selling skills: Most of the companies invest major amount of funds in hiring sales people for
their company who can aid in generating sales. This skill involves ability to persuade customers
by detailing the particulars related to products in such a way that leads to generation of sales for
the company. Therefore one must have command over this skill to confront the customers and
succeed.
Commercial awareness and attention to details: Skillset also involves knowledge of what
competitors are doing and using the same to influence customers towards their brand. This
requires enough attention to the details that came in the way of marketing manager and exploit
the same for attracting customers towards their brand.
Creative and ethical leadership skills required in retail industry
Ethical leadership ensures how to deal with customers in creative manner to attract them towards
the brand without violating moral values and principles of the society. Such skills are as follows:
Encourage initiatives: This skills must be present in the marketing manager to establish their
brand in the market in a unique manner. They must allow their followers to share their ideas
opinions meant for building brand image.
Respect others: It is necessary for the marketing and sales personnel to respect the expectations
of customers and deal with them accordingly (Pantano and Gandini, 2018). This leads to
retaining customers for long time.

Focus on teambuilding: When there is a well-focused team of sales person then the company can
be able to establish themselves in the market in a best manner. This requires team building skills
in marketing and sales managers to fulfil the needs of the retail companies.
Value driven decision making: Whatever decision that has been made by marketing and sales
manager must not violate any moral value of the society. If there is any kind of immoral
behaviour persists in the marketing and sales personnel, then it will take not time to ruin the
brand image of the company in the market.
Reflection
I will be narrating an experience of what I experienced in group presentation at my college term.
Gibbs reflective cycle shall be used by me in the process.
What happened?
We were a group of four class mates and were assigned task of giving presentation on topic
factoring practised in different parts of the world as a financing tool. Factoring is a type of credit
given to organisations of which around 80% of the financing of loan is done by the bank or
institution and rest the company has to manage through different resources or own. All of us had
to distribute our parts of the presentation and I got North America as my part to talk of factoring
present there (Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin, S., 2020).
What assumptions were made?
I had assumed that I would be getting enough material to make my presentation on factoring
being practised in North America. I had thought that being a large continent there would be
factoring being present on a large scale and statistics from those will make my presentation
impressive and informative.
Who was present?
We had to give this presentation in class so the audience were our professor and our classmates.
What did we do as a team?
All of us had got our parts and thus we researched on our parts through secondary sources such
as internet and books. I then came to know of the fact that factoring was not an eminent option

present in North America but it was asset-based lending. It meant that people there could get a
loan on fixed assets such as land or real estate taken as a collateral. This method was mostly
practised in that part of the world. I searched more and got assured of the fact. I discussed this
with my colleagues in the group and they agreed to my point. We included asset-based lending
as my part of financing practised in North America.
What was the situation’s outcome?
I was confident about my search and I gave the part of my presentation confidently. I did not
have any doubts about the presentation. My whole team presented their parts well too and we
were applauded by the class. However, our professor did put me a question of how come
factoring was not presented in North America. I was confident in answering that factoring as per
my research done, was not eminent in North America like the rest parts of the world were. Thus,
the option of financing which was largely practised was taken up by me. The professor agreed
with my statement and I was happy for the outcome (Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin,
S., 2020).
Analysis:
What does this reflect about yourself and your skills?
I think that I got to discover that if you are fully versed with domain knowledge, confidence shall
come within you to deliver the presentation. It is something which you feel develop on own. I
was sure that I had to research again and again to assure myself. This reflected upon me that I
like to go in a detailed search and only then confirm about the facts. This can help me as a skill
when I have to use a theory application in marketing of a product and have to find about the
culture present in different parts of the world. This shall help in framing the right strategy which
shall make the product a success. Secondly, it reflected on me that I was determined in my belief
and thus could put on hard work in it. On day of the presentation, I did not have doubt regarding
my topic and thus everything went smoothly. This skill of determination shall help me in facing
the odds when the strategy is not working and I can put across my point to the board members
about my belief that it with some required changes can be successful in a comprehensive manner
or maybe in a longer term of perspective (Othman and et.al., 2020).

What are the alternative ways of looking at this problem?
The ways in which this problem can be looked alternatively is that on knowing the fact about
financing medium being used differently, this could be taken to some guidance expert who can
guide on the matter more aptly rather than just depending on the secondary sources. For best
reasons, it can be the professor who can provide apt guidance. This can be done in a sort of
discussion as professor might be having own views. Secondly, it can remove the doubts of
apprehension about whether this thing would be taken rightly in class. This can help increase the
performance more. Thus, taking this perspective to professional life, it can be said that
confirming on facts from experts can lead to the right strategy.
Action:
What action would you take to improve?
As I mentioned, taking guidance from a senior expert can help provide the right decision-
making. Apart from this, working on rehearsals is the next thing I would like to do with my team
whenever we have to give the next presentation. This can make a smooth flow and members
relating to each other well with their topics.
How can you learn from what has happened?
I learnt that one has to believe in one’s ability to stick to a decision and has to present the idea
with confidence in a convincing manner. One must learn to take the audience along with the
decision one has taken and that can be generated by creation of interest (Othman and et.al.,
2020).
How would you respond if it were to happen again?
I would be more focusing on discussion with my colleagues, do a little more reading from well-
renowned authors and then include their researched facts as well as quote them while giving my
presentation. This will provide an authentication on my part and if there are queries that shall be
taken care of by the citations of these authors. I will be doing the presentation in a more
elaborate manner.

Personal Analysis
Strengths
I have dedication towards my work, which
provides me a satisfaction when I have
completed my work to the best of
measurement. This shall assist when I have to
face the tasks of meeting deadlines in my
marketing role.
I have patience as one of my biggest asset
through which I am able to accept faliures and
move on in life. I believe life is a roller coaster
ride in which one has to learn to deal with its
ups and downs of which patience is the key.
I have the curiosity to learn more and
implement it in new ideas which will help me
in creation of new ideas for strategies.
Opportunities
I have the opportunity to take new projects for
internship in marketing which shall increase
my domain knowledge in dealing with
practical situations.
I have the opportunity to take guidance of the
seniors of me in my professional course and
also brush up on the skills of reading journals
on marketing (PLANNING, 2018).
Aspirations
I have aspiration to become a successful
marketing manager in the retail industry which
operates on a MNC level. I am trying to take
on qualifications in marketing honours as well
as brushing my skills through part time work in
FMCG industries which are providing the
insight of how everything operates in the
industry.
I aspire to be the chief strategist for the
organisation relating to matters of marketing
and make decisions which are to be
implemented for product promotion in other
Results
The results so far which I got from my part
time job experience and college experience
have been inspiring and motivating. They have
been informative of the pursuit to follow my
path with dedication and these results from my
teacher’s feedback and manager’s feedback in
my part time job shall be the lighting pathways
for shaping my future.

countries.
Weaknesses
I think I trust people easily because of which sometimes I have to face disappointment. This can
be improved by not taking people on their face value and monitoring them for their words. This
shall help me when I am tasking people to complete their jobs in a deadline.
I also have a tendency to procrastinate sometimes on matters which seem less important to me.
This has to be improved by recognising value of small things and getting them done beforehand.
I have believed that if worked on weaknesses, they can be converted in strengths and provide
personal development all over.
Setting Goals
What do I want
to learn?
What do I have
to do?
What support an
resources will I
need?
How will I
measure my
success?
Target date for
review of results
Improving my
presentation
skills
I have to take
feedback from
my seniors,
colleagues and
incorporate
valuable
suggestions.
I will be needing
more
opportunities for
participation and
more platforms
at a bigger level.
I will be
measuring
through my
increase in self-
confidence and
also from the
feedback from
the audience
(PLANNING,
2018).
15 June 2022
Digital
marketing
I have to enrol in
programs which
provide me a
I would be
requiring
additional money
I will be able to
measure my
success when I
15 June 2022

platform for
learning digital
marketing
techniques.
as a support
which I can get
from my parents
and through my
part time
earnings and a
quality institute
for this skill
learning.
do a project on
digital marketing
and aptly apply
the skills learnt
for the project
success and
response
generated.
Marketing
honours as a
qualification
Enroll in a
reputed institute
for marketing
honours
I would be
requiring
guidance from
friends and
seniors to choose
on the best
college. Also
resources like net
surfing and
magazine referral
for best college
need to be
undertaken.
I would be able
to gauge my
success through
my domain
knowledge
increase and
learning
application of
marketing
techniques
practically.
20 June 2023
Personal objectives
Short term goals
I want to sharpen my presentation skills as they will be coming of use for me in my career when
I have to present before board members about the strategy for the organisation. I will increase
them through taking part in group presentations of my college.