Marketing Report: Waitrose SWOT Analysis and Functional Impact

This report presents a comprehensive SWOT analysis of Waitrose, a prominent UK-based supermarket chain. The analysis evaluates Waitrose's strengths, such as premium quality products, technological advancements, and a strong brand image, while also identifying weaknesses like limited international expansion and a lack of diversified sales channels. Opportunities for growth include product diversification, global market expansion, and attracting middle-class consumers. The report also addresses threats such as competition from low-priced alternatives and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the report critically analyzes the impact of these factors on Waitrose's functional areas, specifically focusing on the operational effects of technological advancements like the scanning app and the influence of market presence and brand image on marketing strategies, including the company's association with the British royal family and cricket team.

Portfolio

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ................................................................................................................................3
1)SWOT analysis of Waitrose ..................................................................................................3
2)Critical analysis of impact on functional areas of Waitrose....................................................5
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
SWOT analysis is a technique conducted by the company to efficiently asses the position
of their enterprise by critically evaluating various factors which influence the company. This
analysis provides the company an insight which helps them formulate efficient business
strategies (Li, 2017). Waitrose & Partners is supermarket chain based in UK with their
headquarters situated at Bracknell and Victoria in England. The company is eight largest grocery
retailer in UK and was established in west London in 1908. This report includes SWOT analysis
of the Waitrose along with the impact of the results on the functional activities of the
organisation.
MAIN BODY
1)SWOT analysis of Waitrose
Strengths Premium quality products: The organisation is regarded as an enterprise which offers
premium quality products. The company receives grocery freshly from their farms and
overlooks these farms to guarantee delivery of quality products which are environment
friendly and cruelty free. This practice attracts consumers who are looking for fresh and
ethical alternatives for their grocery shopping. Technological advancements: The scanning app developed by the corporation for their
digital website members has made has ensured a swift and hassle free shopping
experience for their customers. The simple and original loyalty card service offered by
the organisation has increased their customer engagement as well as improved customer
satisfaction.
 Brand image: The company has successfully constructed brand image by associating
with British royal family and British cricket team (Foltête and Vuidel, 2017). This has
helped the company in construct loyal customer base.
Weaknesses Minimum expansion: The company in contrast of their rivals has not been able to
expand successfully outside of united kingdoms. Apart from the exporting channels
which don't provide the company much profit, international sales of the company are nil.

 Lack of diversified channels: The main sales of the company is provided by their own
brand perfectly balanced, this dependency of the organisation on their brand has limited
their sources of income and weakened their market grip.
Opportunities
 Diversification of products: The company can increase sales by diversifying their
products outside of food market. Providing their customers alternatives for other products
or selling various products from manufacturers by associating them with their brand
image will help the company reach more customers. Global presence: The company can exploit markets in other parts of the world by
expanding their stores in various continents (Li, 2017). The established brand equity of
the company will help the company attract customers in unknown markets.
 Attracting middle class consumers: The organisation can implement cost minimising
strategies to attain customers from middle income consumers and give a tough
competition to rival supermarket chains.
Threats Competition from low priced alternatives: The company faces tough competition from
other supermarkets like TESCO and discounter stores like Aldi and Lidl. This has
reduced the market share of the company as these brands are penetrating in the upper
class portion of the market.
 COVID-19: The pandemic has resulted in decrease in progress across all sectors of
business. This economic disruption has encouraged consumers to shift towards cheaper
alternatives.
2)Critical analysis of impact on functional areas of Waitrose
Impact of technology on operations of the organisation
The scanning application offered by the to their digitally registered users organisation has
impacted basic operations at their stores. This service gives the customers ability to scan their
grocery items on their own and allowed the customers to check out without scanning their
products at the check out counter. The introduction of this service has introduced various new
activities that need to be conducted for efficient working of this app (Huang, 2020). Activities
such as proper installation of barcodes across all stores and maintenance of data collected
through this system , This service also requires checking of employees scans to confirm adequate

charging of their products, this process is conducted by employees and requires training staff
available at stores to understand the usage and particulars of this app in case of any malfunction.
The loyalty card service that is being used by more than 6.5 million customers and is
implemented by forming a partnership with John Lewis requires efficient communication
between management and employees so they can effectively understand and solve customer
queries.
Impact of market presence and brand image on Marketing of the organisations
The supermarket chain has constructed an image of premium and upper class
organisation in many consumers psych. This is due to the fact that the organisation is the only
grocery chain which has received permission to sell their food items to the British royalty. This
idea is reinforced when the product prices offered by the company are compared with other less
costly alternatives such as TESCO or Sainsbury's (Rendon and Snider, 2019). This upper class
image of the company has impacted the marketing strategies used by the company. Chiefly the
company puts efforts in highlighting fresh and cruelty free products through their promotion
campaigns, as this attracts a consumer base which is willing to pay higher sums of money in
return of environment friendly products . The company also emphasises the value of heritage and
their presence in the British society since 1904. The company targets high end consumers and
markets their products by investing and associating with groups which are associated with
British culture such as the English cricket team (Solé, 2018). The enterprise has signed a
sponsorship deal with the cricket team, so they can continue to build the prestigious identity of
their brand internationally. The company uses digital platforms to efficiently market their
products to possible buyers and constantly works at improving brand equity by investing in
cultural trends such as providing sustainable packaging for all their products.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion the market situation of the retail company Waitrose has been
analysed . The SWOT analysis provided in the above report clearly mentions various factors
affecting the organisation. The investigation of this analysis provides information regarding
technological impact on various activities at stores of the company. It is determined that threats
of respective organisation impact on the various functional areas such as operations, marketing
and so on.

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