Business Strategy Report: Waitrose's COVID-19 Challenges & Future

This report provides a detailed analysis of Waitrose, a supermarket company, and its business strategies, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It outlines the company's structure, mission, and the challenges it faced, including decreased customer numbers, supply chain disruptions, resource unavailability, low revenue, and reduced customer purchasing power. The report then discusses strategies for future success, such as identifying the target market, introducing new plans of action, employing new promotion techniques, optimizing financial management, and developing a skilled workforce. Recommendations for improvement include forming business policies, utilizing technological methods, developing facilities for handling complexities, embracing strategic ideas, ensuring fund availability, promoting a friendly work environment, improving employee communication, and implementing self-payment facilities and a software application. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing poor management resulting from the pandemic and highlights the need for sustainable activities to ensure environmental safety.

Report

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
About Company-..........................................................................................................................3
Challenges faced by Waitrose in COVID-...................................................................................3
Strategies for future success-.......................................................................................................4
Recommendation-........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

Introduction
Implementation of effective business strategy is very essential for the growth and proper
management of the company operating in any industry. To grab future success in the competitive
market, various organisations are trying to develop an effective department which is capable of
making such plan of action to make sure all the functions operating in the business institution is
towards the achievement of the set goal. In the presence of business strategy, management have
complete knowledge about the objectives and other various aspects that will support in overall
growth of the firm, along with the employees and stakeholders (Adivar, Hüseyinoğlu, and
Christopher, 2019). This given report is based in the same topic which will helps in analysing the
relevant business strategy that should be applied on the working of the company, i.e., Waitrose.
It will explain the complete working of the company in the retail industry, and in what way
global pandemic has affected its working.
Main Body
About Company-
Waitrose is a supermarket company which was established in the year 1904. In beginning
it was denoted with the name Waite, Rose & Taylor, but after it was abbreviated as Waitrose.
Company is operating overall 332 retail stores all around the United Kingdom. Organisation
structure of the company consist of executive director, trading, director, head of brand marketing
planning, retail director. These people are responsible for the decision making process of the
company that will help in building effective profitably of the company. The main mission of
Waitrose is to provide optimum support to their employees by issuing them good working
condition. It is because company believes that by keeping the workforce satisfy so that they will
offer better performance for the growth of the retail business. Company is focusing on
development of some good opportunities for their workers (in company as well as stores) that
will help in gaining the skills to present more quality work to assist the growth of the business.
Challenges faced by Waitrose in COVID-
In the last few years, COVID has tremendously affected the activities of retail industry.
Several companies could not handle the situation effectively which has resulted in losses and
poor management within the company (Buenafe, and Buluran, 2019). Waitrose has also

confronted some obstruction in their functioning of the stores at the time of global pandemic
which are mentioned below-
 Decrease in number of customers- Due to the fear of infection people were avoiding to
go outside. This has resulted in reduction of customers in the retail stores. This has made
it difficult to sell out their products in the corona period. Waitrose has suffered a lot from
this situation during pandemic as nobody is buying goods and services from physical
stores.
 Supply chain gap- Company is unable to continue their activities well due to the break
down of the supply in the stores. In pandemic it has been very hard for Waitrose to access
the better availability of product and services in the stores.
 Unavailability of resources- Company is not getting the raw material in the sufficient
quality which has affected the manufacturing unit of the company. Due to the low
resources in the management, Waitrose has stop to provide innovative products in the
store and also experience the high cost of operation.
 Low revenue- Waitrose has lost various sources of its earning because of the closure of
certain stores in United Kingdom. Although company is trying to perform efficiently in
that situation but some competitors who are offering well to the consumers by taking care
of their requirements
 Less purchasing capacity of customers- Many people has lost their jobs during COVID
period which has reduced their overall income which they can spent on acquiring goods
and services (Pantano, and Vannucci, 2019). This has result in low expenditure of these
consumers on such retail stores like Waitrose.
Strategies for future success-
For the achievement and proper recovery of the losses which Waitrose has faced in
pandemic, management has build some planning. A brief discussion on this is mentioned below.
 Identification of target market- To present a good set of product and services by the
business, Waitrose must have complete knowledge about the target market or to whom
they want to serve. This will bring some ease in the functions and other activities of the
management, as overall people who are related to the Waitrose will perform in the same
directions.

 Introduction of new plan of action- After pandemic it has become very significant for
the company to construct some effective strategy that should be new and will consider all
the post pandemic effect on both retail business and behaviour of consumer.
 New techniques of promotion- Digitalisation and AI is some new technologies in the
retail industries which are widely used by the various companies. In this way company is
able to gather the mass number of audience with the functioning of Waitrose.
 Optimum management of finance- Money is the base of the all the activities which an
administration planning to conduct. Waitrose must hire an efficient manager who can
handle all the finance and cash flows of the company in a better way (Purvis, 2018). This
must create a good possibility to handle the situation like pandemic in coming future
without any disturbance.
 Skilled employees- If the workforce of the company have that capability in which they
can handle any adverse situation which is happening within the administration, then it is
the most positive point for Waitrose. A good set of employees supports the company to
overcome any kind of circumstances which cannot be predicted by the management.
Recommendation-
By looking at overall position of the company in the retail industry, there are few
alteration which company has to implement. These changes will make sure the complete growth
of the firm and enhance the efficiency in the operation of task which being assigned to the
employees. Like formation of business policies under which it becomes necessary for the
employees which are hired by the company should embrace with all the skills and some special
quality. It will increase innovation in the company, as higher authority of company will take
advice of these employees (Yamoah, 2019). Company can utilise different technological
methods that will enhance different scope by which company get new opportunities to promote
their services in the market. Development of such facilities in the company that will give
company an enough capability to survive their overall working during time of complexities. By
embracing different kind of strategical ideas in the management Waitrose can reduce the chances
of low productivity in the stores. Company must take care about the availability of funds in
operational activities as it will support in declining the situation of low productivity in the
absence of raw material or other inputs which could be necessary for performing the various
activities in the firm. Waitrose can look out on its working environment, like promotion of

friendliness culture of working where each and every individual helps each other for solving
problems. Furthermore, emphasis the concentrate on improving the communication of the
employees to increase the conversation regarding the various issues and structure of the company
that has been evolving in the business from the longer period of time (Sharma, and Jhamb,
2020). Administration should promote the work ethic, to increase the working skills of the
workforce in different ways. In stores, Waitrose can take help of self payment facilities through
consumers get less frustrated in paying off the bills. In addition to this company can also launch
their own personal software application that will support in providing relevant information to the
people about the several offerings and schemes which Waitrose is planning for them. In this way
by using such techniques and application of innovative methods of production in the working of
the administration, Waitrose can fulfil their requirements of their employees. It will also support
the company in getting the competitive advantage in this enormously competitive market of
retail industry by ensuring the successful amount of profit ratio and loyal customer base against
the competitors. Keeping in mind the post impact of COVID 19, involvement of company in the
sustainable activities through which management can assure their awareness in respect to the
safety of environment could be great idea.
Conclusion
The above given report has been went into a detailed discussion about the working
strategies of a retail company. The main of the company's plan and idea is to resolve the
condition of poor management which had occurred due to the global pandemic. It has described
the framework of the company which is accountable for preparation of any plan and its execution
in the management. This report has also stated the negative impact of COVID on the functioning
of the Waitrose. Along with this, a detailed analysis of the strategies which could be applied by
the administration for the success in future. It has discussed about the uses of various trends
which are keep on generating in the retail industry.

References
Books and journals-
Adivar, B., Hüseyinoğlu, I.Ö.Y. and Christopher, M., 2019. A quantitative performance
management framework for assessing omnichannel retail supply chains. Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, 48, pp.257-269.
Buenafe, J. and Buluran, R., 2019, July. Improving the Project Completion Rates of the Business
Process Department of a Leading Retail Industry. In Ascendens Asia Journal of
Multidisciplinary Research Conference Proceedings (Vol. 3, No. 2).
Pantano, E. and Vannucci, V., 2019. Who is innovating? An exploratory research of digital
technologies diffusion in retail industry. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, 49, pp.297-304.
Purvis, M., 2018. Retail management. In The Routledge Companion to the History of
Retailing (pp. 260-278). Routledge.
Sharma, A. and Jhamb, D., 2020. Changing consumer behaviours towards online shopping-an
impact of Covid 19. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 24(3), pp.1-10.
Yamoah, F.A., 2019. Fairtrade UK in Retrospect: From the Niche Genesis to the Revelatory
Mainstreaming Marketing Strategy Era (Late 1950s-Late 2000s). International Review
of Management and Marketing, 9(4), p.110.