The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Sainsbury's Sales Performance

This research project investigates the impact of social media marketing on the sales performance of Sainsbury's, a prominent UK retail company. The project begins with an introduction to marketing and the increasing use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to boost sales. Task 1 outlines the research, including the background, aims, objectives, and factors influencing the project's selection. A literature review examines the concept of social media, its impact on sales, and areas for improvement in Sainsbury's strategy. Task 2 details the research design, approach, and data collection methods, including questionnaires distributed to Sainsbury's managers. Data analysis and interpretation are presented in Task 3, exploring themes related to the impact of social media on sales and identifying areas for improvement in Sainsbury's social media marketing. The research utilizes qualitative methods to analyze the data collected, and the findings suggest that social media platforms have a positive impact on Sainsbury's sales performance, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty. The project concludes with recommendations for enhancing Sainsbury's social media marketing strategy.

Research Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Forming and recording possible research outline specification.......................................2
1.2 Factors contributing towards the process of selection of research project.......................3
1.3 Critical review of literature..............................................................................................3
1.4 Specification of research project......................................................................................5
1.5 Plan and procedure for the research.................................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Resources needed in the research.....................................................................................7
2.2 On the basis of determined specification and process investigation of the research........7
2.3 Record as well as data collate...........................................................................................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
3.1 Suitable evaluation methods for research.......................................................................11
3.2 Interpretation and data analysis......................................................................................12
3.3 Conclusion and Recommendations................................................................................18
TASK-4 PPT..................................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19
1

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is being used by most of the organizations today in order to satisfy customers.
The goals and targets in specific period can be achieved by the management by making use of
marketing in their business Bauer, (2014). By different organization, the number of ways is
being used in order to conduct marketing. More firms are making use of social media platforms
in order to conduct marketing of goods and services that are being offered by them. Social media
tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, etc. are being used by most of the companies to
increase their sales performance (DeMers, 2014).
Sainsbury is a well-known company in the UK that deals in retail sector and at a rapid
rate, it is growing in the UK. In this report, a research will be conducted to study the impact of
social media marketing on sales performance of the company, Sainsbury. Related to this research
topic, the literature review will also be conducted in this report. At the end of this report,
conclusion and recommendations will also be made.
TASK 1
1.1 Forming and recording possible research outline specification
Background of the study
It is a difficult task for most of the organizations in order to discover the ways in which
marketing needs to be done to turn the prospective customers into real customers. The main
reason behind it is that the behaviour of customers is not static and it keeps on changing as per
their needs and wants (Hays,Page and Buhalis, 2013). By the researchers, the research is being
done in order to find out how the organizations are making use of social media platforms to
increase the sales performance of their company. The current research that is conducted will be
useful in order to find out ways in which social media platforms will be useful in increasing sales
performance of the company, Sainsbury. In the past also, various researches have been done on
the social media tools and also, its role in the business to increase return on investment. With the
use of social media tools in the business, the companies will get to know about preferences of the
customers that will help them to give the services to the customers as per their likes and this in
return will increase their sales performance (Eagleman, 2013).
Aim
2

“To discover the impact of the social media platform on the sales performance of the company,
Sainsbury”
Objectives
 To study the concept of social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
 To examine the impact of social media tools on the sales performance of the company,
Sainsbury
 To investigate the areas where Sainsbury can improve its social media marketing strategy
1.2 Factors contributing towards the process of selection of research project
In order to choose this project, the number of factors are there that can help towards the
selection of this project. One such factor is that there have been increase in the organization that
is making use of social media tools in their business in order to increase their sales performance.
It is also being identified from literature that number of technologies are there in the market that
give information about the customer’s buying behaviour. In their business after making use of
social media platform that are many firms that have observed the elevation in the customers. Due
to which there have being increase in the sales performance of the company (Bauer, 2014.)..
1.3 Critical review of literature
3

Concept of social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter etc.-
According to the view of Sheth, (2018) the online marketing activities plays the essential
role in order to gather the attraction of customers. Moreover, the modern market is largely
dependent on the social media activities like Facebook, Twitter etc. As per the view of
Deshpande, (2018) the online market is helpful in order to have increment in the sales of the
firm in large manner. The promotion activities can be done with the help of social media
techniques. Iankova and et.al., (2018) pointed out that the online media activities are helpful in
relation to have increment in business visibility. According to the view of Deshpande, (2018)
social media marketing is great tool in relation to increase brand recognition in market. In
addition to this the buying behaviour of customer are so influencing, by watching the attractive
things they prefer to buy the products. Moreover, it can be true to said that this is effective
platform to having advertisement of product and services. This is helpful to maintain the strong
customer base relationship. With the help of online marketing their cab be improvement in the
brand loyalty of the firm. As per the view of Misirlis and Vlachopoulou, (2018) the social
media is helpful to expose the firm product to the new eyes. With the help of this the company is
able to reach maximum customers. The social media is helpful to have instant feedback from the
customers about the quality of the products in the market.
Impact of social media tools on the sales performance of the company Sainsbury-
According to the view of Seo and Park, (2018) the tool under the social media will
helpful to approach maximum customers in the market. By providing the description about the
product on online factor the firm can able to have effective advertisement. This will help to
maximise the profitability of firm in large manner. In contrary to Sheth, (2018) Misirlis and
Vlachopoulou, (2018) states that social media is effective tool in relation to have eyes on the
competition available in market. He audience who are interested in the product and services of
Sainsbury will respond and customer retention will automatically enhance. The social media is
one of the effective communications and networking platform in present days. Customer
satisfaction and brand loyalty plays the major role in order to having expansion of business in the
market. As per the view of Seo and Park, (2018) the social media activity is one of the cost-
efficient parts of the adverting strategy.
Investigate the areas where the company Sainsbury can improve its social media marketing
strategy
4

According to the view of Sheth, (2018) firm need to improve the areas as they need to
hear the complaints of the customer's in market. By providing the time response they can able to
maintain the customer retention ion market for longer period. In contrary to Deshpande, (2018)
the firm need to expose each important detail about firm so that they are able to manage the
function of business enterprise effectively. According to the view of Sheth, (2018) the innovation
in the customer services will be helpful to cover large market.
1.4 Specification of research project
Research design- There are mainly three types of research design that can be used in any
research they are exploratory, descriptive and experimental etc. In this research the more insight
knowledge needs to gained on the impact of social media on the sales performance of the
company Sainsbury for this reason in this research the descriptive design will be used.
Research approach – By making use of research approach the different ways can be used to start
and end the research. The two types of research approach can be used they are inductive and
deductive. In this research the inductive research will be used as it will help to start the research
with the basic concept of social media and with the specific parts such operation of marketing on
the company it will end (Hunleth, 2011).
Research philosophy – For investigator to assess and choose the data collection method it is a
helpful tool. There are two types of research philosophies that interpretivism and positivism. In
order to conduct this research, the scientific techniques will be used and for this reason
interpretivism philosophy will be used (Kumar, 2014).
Data collection- Through this the data will be collected so that researcher will be able to analyse
the data and find solutions. The data can be collected by making use of both primary and
secondary data collection methods. In the primary data collection, the data is being gathered for
the first time in comparison with secondary data collection method is time-consuming and costly.
In this research both of these data collection methods will be used. To conduct primary data
collection the questionnaire will be made and it will be distributed among the managers of the
company Sainsbury. However, in order to conduct the secondary research, the sources such as
book, journals etc will be used (Kumar, 2014).
5

Sampling – In this research the simple sampling tool is being used in order to sample data
among the entire available participants. The 25 managers of the company Sainsbury have been
selected with the use of this method. The random method of sampling is being used in order to
select the 25 managers of the company.
1.5 Plan and procedure for the research
Basis
Week
1
Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8
Finding the
topic of
research
Framing of
aims
Deciding the
objectives.
On the basis
of themes
conducting
data analysis
Implementatio
n of research
methodology
6

Primary and
secondary
data collection
Evaluation of
data
Recommendat
ions
TASK 2
2.1 Resources needed in the research
In order to conduct this research, various types of resources are being used. Some
resources that are used in this research are human, financial and technology. The humans are ned
to collect the data from the respondents. And the money also needs to be invested in order to
conduct the research. In this research an essential part is being played by the financial resources
as researchers was appointed and the salary was also given to him. In order to record the
response of the participant the technology such scholar software was being used (Flick, 2015).
2.2 On the basis of determined specification and process investigation of the research
For the given research that is being conducted, research project specifications are as follows:
Aim
“To discover the impact of the social media platform on the sales performance of the company,
Sainsbury”
Objectives
 To study the concept of social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
 To examine the impact of social media tools on the sales performance of the company,
Sainsbury
 To discover buying behaviour of the customers
 To investigate the areas where Sainsbury can improve its social media marketing strategy
7

For whose evaluation, qualitative method has been used with support of thematic analysis for
the assessing the cogency of acquired findings.
Questionnaires
Name-
Age-
E-mail -
Do you agree with this statement that with the use of social media tools the sales performance
of the company Sainsbury has improved?
1. Highly agree
2. Agree
3. Neutral
4. Highly disagree
5. disagree
Do you agree that in order to do promote the product and services that are given by the
company the social media tools have played an essential role in it?
6. Highly agree
7. Agree
8. Neutral
9. Highly disagree
10. disagree
Do you think that with the use of these tools the customer purchasing behavior can be predicted
easily?
 Yes
 No
 Neither yes or nor
Do you agree that time and money both are invested by the company in order to make social
media marketing strategy?
11. Highly agree
12. Agree
13. Neutral
8

14. Highly disagree
15. disagree
Do you think your company is having enough knowledge of social media tools?
16. Highly agree
17. Agree
18. Neutral
19. Highly disagree
20. disagree
Are you happy with the use of social media tools in the business?
 Yes
 No
 Neither yes or nor
2.3 Record as well as data collate
Que. 1: Responses Respondents
Highly agree 13
Agree 8
Neutral 3
Disagree 1
Highly disagree 0
Total 25
Que. 2: Responses Respondents
Highly agree 10
Agree 9
9

Neutral 3
Disagree 2
Highly disagree 0
Total 25
Que. 3: Responses Respondents
Yes 19
No 1
Neither yes nor no 5
Total 25
Que. 4: Responses Respondents
Highly agree 9
Agree 6
Neutral 5
Disagree 5
Highly disagree 0
Total 25
10

Que. 5: Responses Respondents
Highly agree 10
Agree 6
Neutral 6
Disagree 3
Highly disagree 0
Total 25
Que. 6: Responses Respondents
Yes 10
No 4
Neither yes nor no 11
Total 25
TASK 3
3.1 Suitable evaluation methods for research
Qualitative method- The research is defined as qualitative when all the tools that are used
in the research are related to theory concepts such as thematic style. When the entire research is
being done by making use of theoretical concepts then the better solution is being derived. This
research has been conducted by making use of qualitative method (Beckman, 2014).
Quantitative method- This method is used when their research has to done with the help of SPSS
tool or by applying numeracy part. For quantitative evaluation the various tool such as standard
deviation, median etc are being used. This research done not make use of quantitative method as
no such mathematics concepts are required for this research topic (Panneerselvam, 2014).
11

3.2 Interpretation and data analysis
Theme 1: The managers think that with the use of social media platforms the sales performance
of the company has increased.
12

Interpretation - The 13 managers that are working in the company Sainsbury think that the sales
performance of their company has increased due to use of social media tools such as Facebook,
twitter etc. With these tools the company is giving its services to the customers as per their
likes and dislikes. This have led to an increase in their sales performance and also among the
customers the satisfaction is also more regarding the service given to them.
Theme 2: The managers think that better promotion is being done by their company with the use
of social media tools in the business
13
Highly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Highly disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Respondents
Series2
Highly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Highly disagree
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Respondents
Series2

Interpretation - About 10 managers said that with the use social media tools the better
promotions are being done by the company as it is the easiest way where the company can
promote its products and services and also the feedback will be given to the company that will
help to improve their performance.
Theme 3: The managers think that the behaviors of the customers can be predicted with the use
of these tools and based on that the services is given to them
Interpretation - The managers said that by the likes that is given by the customers on the
Facebook page the company will be able predict the purchasing behavior of the customers. And
keeping that in mind the services will be given to them.
Theme 4: The managers think that both time and money is invested by their company to develop
social media marketing strategy
14
Yes No Neither yes nor no
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Respondents
Series2

Interpretation - About 9 managers think that both time and money is being invested by the
company as the strategies need to be made in order to conduct promotion of the product. The
strategies such as color, background, product information etc., need to be discussed by the
company before putting the concept on the Facebook page.
Theme 5: The managers think the company is having a strong knowledge about the social media
tools
15
Highly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Highly disagree
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Respondents
Series2
Highly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Highly disagree

Interpretation - About 10 managers said that their company is having a good knowledge of social
media tools such as Facebook, twitter etc. While the other said that company can also improve its
knowledge by researching and by investing more time in making strategies of social media
marketing.
Theme 6: The managers are happy with the use of social media tools in their company
16
Yes No Neither yes nor no
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Respondents
Series2

Interpretation - About 10 managers are happy with the of social media tools in the business.
However, the other mangers said that the company can make use of more digital technologies in
the business in order to provide better services to the customers and also it will provide some
flexibility to the employees as well.
3.3 Conclusion and Recommendations
Thus, summing up the above report it can be concluded that with the help of social media
toll such as Facebook, twitter, you tube etc the company Sainsbury will be able to increase its
sales performance as they will be able to gain insight knowledge about the likes and preferences
of the customers.
It is being recommended that the company Sainsbury need to invest more time in order to
develop social media strategies. They need to make their Facebook page more attractive,
colourful and the content also should be appealing. Also, this company can also make use of
other digital technology in the business such as artificial intelligence. This will help the company
to provide better experiences to the customers at time of their shopping.
TASK-4 PPT
17

REFERENCES
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