Marketing Challenges, Issues and Strategies in the UK Retail Industry

This report examines the current state of the UK retail industry, highlighting key challenges and issues faced by businesses. The introduction emphasizes the increasing importance of technology, including AI, IoT, and robotics, and the rapid growth of the retail sector. The report analyzes specific challenges such as managing a multi-generational workforce, handling remote employee performance, and the impact of social media. It also addresses the effects of Brexit and government initiatives on the industry. The reflection section discusses the author's personal experiences and skill gaps in marketing, identifying issues like technical skill deficiencies and job market competition, and proposes a personal development plan to overcome these challenges. The conclusion summarizes the main problems discussed, including skill gaps, workforce management, and external factors, and their impact on the target market.

Emotional and Cultural
Intelligence Strand

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Specific number of challenges and issues related to the retail industry......................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
In technological era, there is continuous development and use if technology in different
types of industry. It has enabled in ease in doing complex business operations and increasing
efficiency of both organization and employees. Technology such as AI, IOT, robotics, etc are
used within every sector. (Springmann and Freund, 2018)
However, in recent times, there is rapid rise in retail industry. There are many new
business and companies expanding in this sector. It has resulted in its high growth and
development. As there is intense competition in retail industry it is essential for company to
sustain for long term. For that they need to attract more people. There is 324% increase in online
retail market in UK which is highest ever. The market value is 394 billion Euros. Also, with
change in trends and taste of consumers they are preferring to use retain products . So, more and
more business are focusing on it. This has resulted in rise in demand of retail products.
Alongside, it is evaluated in UK there will be vast number of opportunity for firms to operate in
this industry. Moreover, it is identified that digital marketing is been highly used by
organization. This has transformed way of promoting and advertising of products and services.
Here, various types of sources are used to advertise. Basically, social media, e mail, website, etc
are used for promotion. It allows companies to reach wide number of people from single
platform. There is great impact of social media on buying behavior of people. It has highly
influenced on sales and profits of business. Digital marketing has enabled in building strong
relations with customer and effective communication. The new product info is quickly displayed
on social sites.
Similarly, I would like to work in marketing field in retail industry. This is because there
is high scope of working in this field. Furthermore, it will be based in UK. It is found that there
are many employment opportunity in UK in but it is necessary to promote retail products so that
people are aware about it. For that it requires digital marketing. With help of it, products can be
marketed to wide number of people. Also, this profession is new and emerging so there are high
chances of building a successful career in it. I will learn new skills and knowledge of how to do
marketing and what tools and techniques are used in it (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2016).
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Specific number of challenges and issues related to the retail industry
In the context of retail industry it can be said that it is one of the main sources of revenue
in the UK as there are several retailers like Tesco, Aldi and others who allow them in attracting
customers but there is requirement to analyse factors in a detailed manner. There are several
issues occur while dealing with customers and performing all business activities and it has highly
impacted on retail industry growth and development. There are several issues which an
organization of this industry can face include:
Multi generational workforce:It is one of the main problems. When an organization of retail
industry such as Tesco , Sainsbury’s employs different age, gender and background of people or
promote diversity at their workplace then it becomes difficult them to manage in an effective
manner. When an organization has workforceof different age group and different generations
then it can become the reason of conflicts among them. One of the reasons of it is they have
different views and perception as well as ways of thinking and performing (Chawla, Dokadia and
Rai, 2017). For example: If an organization such as Tesco use democratic leadership style and
team working as well then different employees with different generation give different
suggestions and when employers take suggestions of new generation of employees then other
employees feel ignored and it de-motivates them. It affects on their relation and sometimes it can
become the reason of poor working environment and employees’ turnover. So, it can be said that
it is one of the main issues which need to be solved by providing training to all employees and
increasing trust.
Managing employees working remotely:Organizations of retail industries of the UK who
mainly focuses on digital marketing and who operate their business at a large scale and have
different stores in different countries they face difficulties in managing performance as well as
employees. Employees working in remote areas can sometimes create problems. It is not
possible for organization to keep eyes on employees who are working from remote areas and it
can direct affect productivity of an organization to the great extent. Managing performance of
employees is one of the main key of the success of an organization and when employees fail in
doing so then it can become reason of employees’ turnover (Xiong and et.al., 2019). It can
increase overall operational cost of the company and decrease profit margin as well as if does not
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have an effective tools and abilities to manage performance of employees working from remote
areas (Melalolin and et.al., 2019).
Impact of social media:Organizations of retail industry believe that employees are the main key
of the success because they are responsible for managing performance and completing all
projects as per the guidelines given to them. Employees are the one who bring creativity and
innovation at workplace and promote digital marketing to the great extent. It can be possible
when employees are motivated and have willingness to support their company. It is also
important for an organization to have skilled workforce who can adapt changing situations of the
business environment and support company in accomplishing their goals. But it is stated that
changing lifestyle and changing trends is affecting performance and ways of employing people.
Technology and social media is affecting the process of recruitment and selection process. When
an organization employ people via social media platforms or online than it may create problems
as there are high chances of employing ineffective people. HR cannot identify the intention of
employees via selecting and taking interview online. So, it can be said that technology is having
several positive effects but sometimes it can create problems (Sriram and et.al., 2018).
Uncertain employer expectations: In this context it can be said that sometimes employers or
employees demand uncertain things from the company like hike in salaries and others. Company
cannot terminate them if they are skilled and have abilities to support company in developing
and expanding their business. It can be said that sometimes employers or employees take undue
advantage of their position and abilities which can create several problems for the company.It
becomes difficult for companies to decide that whether they need to fulfil their uncertain
expectations or not. If they fulfil their uncertain expectations then it can de-motivate other
employers and if they do not satisfy then it can affect their engagement and retention.
Impacts of Brexit and government initiative:In the context of retail industry of the UK it can
be said that it is one of the main source of revenue generation and developing economic
condition has now made several changes in this industry due to BREXIT. But there are several
external environmental factors which are affecting performance of this industry to the great
extent. Some external factors include: Social changes and factors, economic factors,
environmental factors like managing corporate social responsibility and others. One of the main
factors which is affecting performance of this sector to the great extent is: economic or legal
factors in which Brexit is one of the best example (Springmann and Freund, 2018). It was one of
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the political and economic shocks for companies operating in the UK like Tesco, Sainsbury’s. As
per this, there are several factors which are affecting performance of companies to the great
extent and are uncertain to identify and control as well. It is stated that Brexit is affecting sales,
prices as well as employment. Several people have lost their job due to this which affected
sources of income and economy of the UK.Due to loss of employment, people do not spend
much on such kind of products which is the main reason of decreasing sales and productivity as
well.
So, from the above discussed, it can be said that all these factors not only can affect
company but it can affect target market by the company to the great extent.
Reflection
By analysing and working in the field of marketing, i found that there is great opportunity
in this field in future. However, as I was working as marketing executive in retail industry. I
evaluated that there are several issues and challenges which i faced. This highly impacted on my
growth and development. Also, the issues affected on me as well. Thus, the main issue which i
identified is skill gap. In marketing career it requires high and advance skills in order to work.
But there are many graduate student who does not possess effective and required skills and
knowledge. Moreover, main skill required in it is technical and analytical skills. Thus, i was also
not having relevant skills. It was affecting on my performance and career. I was not able to
analyse digital data and info gathered and find out trends in it. Hence, results obtained by me was
inaccurate. It is concern for me because for growth i must possess those skills if not then i will
not be able to build career in marketing field (Sultan, Jalali and Asim, 2019). Another challenge
which i found that there is competitiveness in job market. I analysed that there is stiff
competition among graduate to find out jobs. There are few vacancy available for particular job
roles. So, it was difficult for me to find out job availability in digital marketing. I have to apply at
various professional sites to get my job. In spite of relevant skills companies are preferring
experience students. So, From 20 candidate i was only one who got selected for this role.
Therefore, i think that tthese two issues will impact on my career. I will have to compete with
other graduate to hire for particular job role (Kannan, 2017).
Now, i need to improve or address these issues so that i am able to grow in my field.
Thus, for improving technical and analytical skills i will develop a personal development plan
PDP. With help of it i will be able to identify my weakness and improve it. This will enable me
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to strengthen my skills. Besides that, i will learn and develop new skills as well such as
communication, decision making, etc along with it, i must learn and use new software and
applications as well so that i will gain experience of working in digital field. This will also help
to compete with other graduate in job market. Furthermore, i will possess high and advance skills
as compared to those. Moreover, with help of continuous improvement plan i will keep
sharpening my skills. It will help me to become expert in my field. Thus, in this way i will be
able to face the issue which can occur in the future. It will also support me in finding out
opportunity for growth (De Pelsmacker, Van Tilburg and Holthof, 2018).
CONCLUSION
From the above assignment, it can be concluded that expanding a business or business
planning is not an easy task as companies have to face several problems in managing all
performance in an efficient manner. This study has discussed some problems which retail
industry face such as: skill gap, mutigenerational employees, managing performance of remote
employees and impacts of Brexit on the performance of organization. It has also shown impacts
of all these challenges or problems on target market of the company. It has several negative
effects on target market as it decrease image of the company by which customers do not prefer to
buy products from the company and it also affect their retention rate.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Chawla, D., Dokadia, A. and Rai, S., 2017. Multigenerational differences in career preferences,
reward preferences and work engagement among Indian employees. Global Business
Review. 18(1). pp.181-197.
De Pelsmacker, P., Van Tilburg, S. and Holthof, C., 2018. Digital marketing strategies, online
reviews and hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 72.
pp.47-55.
Kannan, P.K., 2017. Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda. International
Journal of Research in Marketing. 34(1). pp.22-45.
Melalolin, A. and et.al., 2019. Determinant factors in remote regional health services in the
Wondiboy health center in teluk Wondama district (case study in Sendrawoi district
health center). International Journal of Science & Healthcare Research. 4(1). pp.163-
170.
Patrutiu-Baltes, L., 2016. Inbound Marketing-the most important digital marketing
strategy. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series
V. 9(2). p.61.
Springmann, M. and Freund, F., 2018. The impacts of Brexit on agricultural trade, food
consumption, and diet-related mortality in the UK. Oxford Martin School Working
Paper. 22 October 2018. https://www. oxfordmartin. ox. ac. uk/publications/view/2754.
[Accessed 28 March 2019].
Sriram, V.P. and et.al., 2018. Changing Retail Trends: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges
of Indian Retail Industry. International Journal of Business and Management
Invention. 7(1). p.25.
Sultan, M.F., Jalali, U.A. and Asim, M., 2019. Issues and Challenges in Managing Catering and
Food Retail Business in Karachi: Study of Tikka Inn Caterers. International Journal of
Experiential Learning & Case Studies. 4(1). pp.28-44.
Xiong, F. and et.al., 2019. New Development of Online Retail in China and the Associated
(Accounting) Challenges. IEEE Access. 7. pp.39299-39304.
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