Waitrose Competitive Analysis Project

This project analyzes Waitrose's competitive position in the UK and Indian markets. It compares Waitrose's performance against competitors like Tesco, Aldi, Sainsbury's, Reliance Fresh, and Easyday, using Porter's Five Forces model to assess market dynamics. The analysis considers factors such as price sensitivity, supplier bargaining power, threat of new entrants and substitutes, and competitive rivalry. The project also examines Waitrose's social impact, exploring its CSR activities and the considerations taken to create a positive social influence. The social impact theory is discussed, along with a critical analysis of its strengths and limitations. The conclusion summarizes Waitrose's competitive standing in both markets, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in each. The report utilizes various academic sources to support its findings and analysis.

BUSINESS
PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS........................................................................................................4
Competitive position of Waitrose in various markets..................................................................4
SOCIAL IMPACT.........................................................................................................................10
Consideration taken by the company to create social impact....................................................10
Social Impact theory..................................................................................................................10
Critical analysis of social impact theory....................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
Competitive position refers to as the place which any firm wishes to achieve in the
industry. This position has to be maintained in the industry in order to become leader in the
market. Further, it can be said that commercial entity usually compares their position against the
competitors in order to assess the current position in the market. With maintaining business
position in a domestic market, business also takes care about the position to be occupied in the
international market (Hackney, Grant and Birtwistle, 2006). Advancement in globalization
imposes a challenge of maintaining the same position or even superior position in the globalized
market as well. Furthermore, the company attempts to maintain the similar position in the market
by comparing with other competitors.
Along with that, social impact is also equivalent which helps in enhancing the business
outside the domestic boundaries. Organization has to focus upon the cultural aspects which help
in building top position in the international markets. It has to focus upon various aspects such as
cultural norms, values, beliefs, religious difference, environmental context, etc. This way,
company can establish themselves in the market of other countries. However, it can also compare
its competitive position in the different markets (Inga, 2012). By creating social impact in the
markets, a firm can also build competitive position in the market.
This project is mainly emphasized on the Waitrose supermarket which is a subsidiary
company of John Lewis Partnership. This is headquartered at UK and it is one of the leading
retail chains across the world. This retail company generally deals in food products, household
products, beauty products and child care products. The competitive position have been compared
with other retail chains of UK and also the comparison of UK and Indian markets have been
done (Ellis-Chadwick, Doherty and Anastasakis, 2007). Moreover, discussion has been made on
the consideration while creating social impacts in global market. Furthermore, role of Waitrose
for protecting environment has been described. Along with that, CSR activities have also been
defined in order to create social impact and eventually, this will lead to the creation of
competitive advantage in global markets.
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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Competitive position of Waitrose in various markets
Waitrose is essentially dealing in food, household, beauty and child care products. It
provides these products and several services by analyzing their customer’s needs. This company
is operating its services in various parts of the world. In this way, management has to maintain
its position in different markets (Graham, 2008). Further, it has to do complete analysis of their
market and assess its position against the current market in which it is operating its services.
Furthermore, after that business can compare its competitive position with other competitors in
different markets. Comparative analysis of Waitrose in UK market can be done with TESCO,
ALDI, Sainsbury, etc. While in Indian market, the comparison can be done with Reliance Fresh,
Easyday, etc.
In order to carry out the comparative analysis, it Re: Fwd: Newis being advised that
market analysis should be done then only company will be able to assess its position. For this
purpose, it has been assessed that Waitrose provides all those products which satisfy the needs of
customers (Consuegra, 2006). In other words, it can be said that customers are highly satisfied
with the products and services provided by the firm. Products rendered by the company are of
optimum quality, hygienic and fresh. Further, the prices charged against the products are also
satisfactory. Due to this, customer satisfaction in case of Waitrose is higher. Further, there are
many loyal employees working in the company due to which staff turnover is low and all the
human resources work hard in order to satisfy their customers (Competitive Positioning, 2016).
Skilled and highly qualified employees appointed in this organization have created competitive
advantage for the company. Further, this supermarket is considered as luxurious because it
provides highest quality, fresh products and excellent services to their buyers. This makes
Waitrose to become more successful. There are many strong competitors of the company such as
TESCO, ASDA, Sainsbury and Morrisons. Further, the prices charged by this firm is relatively
higher than other because the products which it provides are of highest quality (Free, 2008).
ASDA, Morrisons and Lidl sell the products at lower prices and their goods may not be of high
quality as compared to the goods of Waitrose. However, market share of this company in the
industry is little low as compared with all these competitors. Further, political environment of the
country is not favorable and this impacts the working of firm. However, government is not stable
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and new government introduces new policies and due to this, company has to bring changes in
their policies. This distracts the smooth working of organization. Thus, the company lacks in
adopting the sudden changes brought by the external environment. On the other hand, companies
such as TESCO, ASDA, etc. adopt changes in a very quick manner. This way, company's
position is quite behind than their competitors (Hackney, Grant and Birtwistle, 2006).
Moreover, economic environment of the country is dynamic and presently, it is not
favorable. High recession and inflation rate has lead company to deploy their staff members who
are loyal in their working. This way, performance of the company has come down which has
reduced the profitability of firm. Furthermore, society has imposed several ethical consideration
on the company (Hausman and Parker, 2010). Waitrose has fulfilled all the obligations of society
that are related to provide healthy products at appropriate prices, render employment
opportunities to the localities, keep the environment clean and safe etc. Dumping should not be
done in water bodies or near areas due to which diseases get spread. All these are already taken
care by the firm and this is the major reason why customers are loyal towards it. Business entity
has adopted the sustainability in which they take care about economical as well as ecological
environment of the country.
Furthermore, the strategies made by the company is that they realize the market potential
in advance so that policies can be built accordingly (Grundy, 2006). This way management
prepares their employees for the change in advance so that resistance can be avoided. Further,
the company introduces new products and services as per the changing demand of the customers.
Through this, customers of Waitrose gets satisfied because the company has already introduced
the goods which can satisfy their needs. The need search of the buyers get stopped here. Thus, it
can be said that company is performing in a better manner in order to acquire highest market
share in the industry of UK. There are many technological aspects which are changing every now
and then. This has made the company to adopt new technology in order to reach their target
market in an efficient manner. This will assist the firm to grow efficiently in the markets of UK
and reach up to the the level of their competitors. Similarly, company is also providing the
services like online shopping from its websites and also home delivery services, increasing range
of products as per the demand of customers. Through this services company is trying to achieve
higher market share (Karagiannopoulos, Georgopoulos and Nikolopoulos, 2005.). Further, the
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company has introduced its new range that is “essential Waitrose” in which products are sold at
lower prices in order to attract the middle class people also. When compared to the strategies of
other firms, it can be assessed that strategy of TECO is more effective that is why the market
share of that company is higher than Waitrose. Their strategy is to become a creator of highly
valued brands. Also they are highly keen towards the fulfillment of corporate social
responsibilities. They also aimed at meeting out the expectations of all types of income group. In
comparison with that, Waitrose is less responsible towards the fulfillment of CSR and they also
do not aim to meet out the expectations of all income group people in UK. Due to this reason
market share is lesser acquired by Waitrose (Narayanan and Fahey, 2005).
Further, the companies competitive position can be compared in different market by
assessing its position in Indian market. Moreover, it can be an analyzed that in India Waitrose
has been recognized as that supermarket which sells 200 plus product range under their own
brand name. This firm has beaten other FDI retail sectors such as TESCO and also local
supermarkets chain that is Reliance Fresh and EasyDay. Thus, it can be inferred that the position
of Waitrose is at top in Indian market. While the company is facing great difficulties in Indian
markets in terms of political because the government is completely bound and they are always
opposed by other parties (Macias, 2008). Further, this country is less technologically developed
nation which impacts the firm in an adverse manner because to fulfill the expectations of the
customers, they have to import the equipments which adds to the cost of the company. Moreover,
this country has culturally diversed people which is major threat for the company. It is because
the firm has to sell the products and services and make its strategy by keeping in mind the beliefs
and norms of customers. Moreover, there are more of middle class and lower class buyers, due to
which the firm has to bring changes in their strategy and has to lower down their prices. Industry
trends are changing in both UK and Indian market and to know the latest trends industry analysis
has to be carried out (Esteves, Franks and Vanclay, 2012).
For this purpose, Porter's 5 Forces model have been applied on UK markets and Indian
markets.
Porter's 5 Forces Model of UK
Forces Impact Degree of
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Impact
Buyer's Bargaining
Power
 High price sensitivity in this sector.
 Number of competitors are high in retail sector.
 Switching cost is little or zero in some cases.
 Customer loyalty is received mostly on price
(Westley and Antadze, 2010).
High
Supplier's
Bargaining Power
 Labors available are mainly young, casual and
are ready to work for part-time.
 Producers of food are highly dependent on
retailers (Soule, 2012).
 Many company has taken backward integration
and has started producing their own products.
Low
New Entrants Threat
 High capital requirements and also labor
requirements.
 Already established firms have economies of
scale which closes the opportunities for the new
entrants.
 However, government allows more
supermarkets to get establish in order to
increase competition in the country.
Moderate
Substitute Threat
 High number of substitute available for this
sector.
 People buys food products form online website.
 Fresh food markets are also one of the biggest
substitute of this industry (Lee and Shin, 2010).
High
Competitor's Rivalry
 There are high interdependence of every firms
who are competing in the market.
 There is a cut throat competition of prices
High
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among the supermarkets of the country UK.
Porter's 5 Forces Model of India
Forces Impact Degree of
Impact
Buyer's Bargaining
Power
 Price sensitivity is less in India.
 Highly fragmented market so buyer
concentration on the industry is less.
 End consumer do not possess that much power
to bargain with the industry (Soule, 2012).
Low
Supplier's
Bargaining Power
 Backward integration by many companies of
the industry.
 Suppliers are relatively lower in number but the
supermarkets are high in number.
 Switching cost is high for the supplier.
 Other than food producers, farmers are also
present and company can directly take the
supplies form them (Porter's Five Forces:
Analyzing the Competition, 2015).
Low-Medium
New Entrants Threat  Major industrial houses have opened up
supermarkets which creates barriers for the new
firms to enter the market.
 Heavy investment is required.
 FDI for retail sector have been banned by the
government of India (Smith, 2010).
Low
Substitute Threat  Technology is increasing and this has imposed
major threat on the industry.
 E-tailing have been started up which have lower
High
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down the turnover of established markets.
 Fresh food markets is also a major substitute.
Competitor's Rivalry  Industry is highly fragmented.
 Rapid growth of this industry depicts that large
market is available for every firm to survive and
grow (Grundy, 2006).
Low
From the above analysis it can be assessed that Waitrose is performing well in Indian
market because there it has acquired larger market share than in UK. Also, this firm faces less
difficulties in India than in UK. Moreover, the bargaining power in Indian retail industry is less
whereas in UK it is high because the buyer's of UK are more aware about the prices. Thus, it can
be revealed that competitive position occupied by Waitrose against their competitors in UK is
lower. While in India the competitive position occupied by firm is better. It is because this firm
provides best quality products to their customers and also it has more advanced technology in
India than its competitors.
As per the viewpoints of Singh and Del Bosque (2008) porter 5 forces model is a best
suitable model for assessing the competitive position of a company in the industry. It thus helps
in identifying the potential threat which a firm can face against the changing trends in industry.
Moreover, it has also been explained that, through this model firm can also analyze that they are
capable enough to face the competition happening or about to happen in the industry. For
example, companies like Waitrose and TESCO also uses this model so that industry trends can
be assessed and also through this their positions in the market also get recognized. However,
Blombäck and Wigren (2009) argued that this model does not provide exact information about
the competitive position of the company in the given industry. It is because non-market forces
are ignored by this model while estimating the changes. Further, it is not applicable on
complicated market structure in fact this model provide accurate results in only those market
whose structure is simple. On the other hand, Lee, Park and Lee (2013) explained that many of
the big corporate and experts researcher uses this model to identify the buyer's potential and also
through this they take strategic decision such as backward integration or forward integration.
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SOCIAL IMPACT
Consideration taken by the company to create social impact
Social impact basically refers to as the impact created on social being by the company
while keeping in mind the needs and preferences of the people. Further, Waitrose firm has to
create social impact on their buyer's in order to strengthen the customer base (Smith, 2010).
Moreover, this firm firm has been providing the goods and services per the needs and preference
of the customers whereby it creates social impact on their buyers. In order to create a strong
social impact, company can follow these consideration for creating stronger social impact on the
company. Further, enterprise provides the highest quality fresh products which are hygienic but
at higher prices. Thus, it has socially influenced the people by providing fresh food products.
Further, this company also focused towards the baby products which creates an impact on the
minds of consumers that company is providing best quality products. It can also be described
that, company firstly assess the buyer's behaviour by doing the market research. After that
company make the strategies accordingly so that buyer's expectations can be meet out. Further,
firm also make those strategies which are for the benefits of environment and society. This way,
company can create social impact on their buyers (Du, Bhattacharya and Sen, 2010). If the
company is socially responsible than they can create high social impact than those who are less
socially responsible. However, there are many aspects which are lacked by the company to create
strong social impact. Thus, Waitrose can create more major impact on social factors. Based on
the social impact theory, the company can create social impact on their buyers. Social impact
theory can be described as follows:
Social Impact theory
Social impact theory was propounded by Latane and Wolfe in 1981 and this theory
describes that there are basically 2 types of people involved for social influence. The one is
sources (those people who provide the influence) and the other is targets (those people who get
influenced socially). The impact of this social influence basically depends on three factors that
are Importance, Immediacy and the number of sources of influence. Thus it can be described that
person who are going to influence is having major power than they can impact the target more
likely (Levy and Park, 2011). Thus, if Waitrose has the power to influence the people or buyer's
by producing or delivering more effective products than the social impact can be created more.
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Further, the company respecting the ethics and cultural of their buyers than they get more power
to influence their targets. Moreover, next factor is the Immediacy which means the closeness to
the individual (Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2008). If the source is personally, socially or
physically close to the target than social influence can be more in this case. For instance,
Waitrose is closer to their employees and society than it can impact more likely to them which
will help in creating the social impact. Along with that, the last factor which affect the impact of
a social influence of source is the number of source. If the there are many people who are
influencer than the impact will be more easily on the targets. This can be explained by the
examples that if there are many social activities carried out by the company Waitrose than targets
that is buyers will get more socially impacted (Soule, 2012).
The above theory can be helpful in creating the social impact on the customers and other
stakeholders which will help the company to enhance their business. The company can also gain
competitive position in the international markets if they follow social concerns in order to reach
their target market (Smith, 2010). Thus, the company can take care about following
consideration so as to create the social impact on their customers. Some of the consideration are
described as follows:
 Ethical Consideration: Company should carry out its services in ethical manner so that
it can build their business in a more effective manner. The influence can be placed on the
minds of consumer if it bis carrying out its working in an ethical manner. Further, this
supermarket should provide those products which are of premium quality and remain
stick on their promises of providing fresh food products and hygienic baby products.
Also, it should pay proper taxes to the government to remain ethical. Moreover, company
do not discriminate while recruiting the employees. It should appoint those people who
are fulfilling the criteria of job description (Inga, 2012). Further, in UK company should
follow the regulatory mechanism so that unethical practices does not get carried out in the
firm. Further, in India, company should not adopt any unethical practices such as
corruption, hoarding of goods and cheating on customers on the name of quality.
Moreover, firm has to take care about the laws and regulations of any country so that any
legal actions cannot be done against the firm.
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 Cultural Aspects: In present scenario, every nation has become culturally diversed so
Waitrose has to take care about the cultural aspects. It is because, while delivering the
products and services in the world any cultural cannot get undermine by any activity of
the firm. Culture basically include beliefs, norms, values, ethics, religion, race, gender,
etc. Therefore, company has to put extra emphasize on this factor while carrying out any
services (Ellis-Chadwick, Doherty and Anastasakis, 2007). To create the social impact on
the minds of consumer it is very important for the enterprise to analyze the cultural
aspects of every nation. For instance, in UK there are many people who are culturally
diversed and thus company has to take due care that any process, products, color is not
undermining the beliefs of people living in UK. Further, in India there are many cultures
prevailing. Thus to establish their market in India, company has to take care that every
religion is equally treated. Moreover, the race and sex determination should not be done
while recruiting the people in the organization because this may be against the law and
also this is socially not acceptable (Graham, 2008). Further, this should be taken care.
Along with that any food product should not be sold which have beef in it because in
India beef is considered as god and this may undermine the religious beliefs of any
community. Thus, by keeping in mind these factors company can create the social impact
on the targets.
 Demand and Preference: As per the demand and preference of consumers, company
should provide the products. Prior demand forecasting should be done by the company so
that new strategies can be created for the fulfillment of demands of consumer. This can
help a lot to create social impact on the minds of consumers. Further, firm can make the
products as per the needs and preference of the buyers (Jones, Comfort and Hillier,
2008). The demand can be met out if the company assess it beforehand by doing market
research and it is already known that demands of the buyers are changing and this may
change any time by them. Thus, it is more advisable that company should itself create the
demand in the market by introducing new products in the market. Further, in UK market
company can provide the products as per the taste and preference of the customers and
this way they can enlarge their market share because company can provide their existing
and potential buyers as per their requirements. Further, in Indian market Waitrose can
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