BM2202 RETAILING MANAGEMENT 2011-2011 Semester 2 module
Individual Retake Course Assignment
Submission date:
Hard and soft copies no later than 12 noon on Friday, 24 August 2012
Marks:
This assignment attracts up to 40 marks. 10 marks from this 40 will be
awarded based on team performance and team attendance at tutorials.
Module Outcomes:
On completion of this assignment you should have demonstrated that you have achieved the
following outcomes:
LEARNING OUTCOME
ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
Apply marketing concepts in retail markets
Individual report on comparing two
directly competing retailers (40%),
Ditto
Analyse the contribution that management systems can
make to effective retailing
Diagnose retail problems, propose possible solutions and
be able to effectively communicate these
Ditto
Appreciate the key aspects of retail operations, especially Ditto
across the functional areas retail organisation
Introduction – the broad picture
The coursework requires you to role play the work of a retail consultant and this assignment
qualifies as a comparative evaluation of two directly competing firms in the same retail
sector.
Evaluation of your major competing retailers:
The last major section will be based on how well you have analysed the competing retails as
you completed each task. You are to compare two retailers and show how one might be more
successful than the other. Read the following section to glimpse a subtler picture:
When you compare each retailer from the point of the topics below, it is possible to see if
they have an overall competitive advantage over their rival. A leading competitor may not
always have a competitive advantage in each and every area represented by the tasks areas set
out below. It is likely that you may find the “weaker overall competitor” compared to an
overall stronger one but first do this against each of the tasks because one retailer may not
uniformly stronger across every task. You will establish the problems the weaker retail firm
has and finally make recommendations to improve strategic decisions so that their
performance will improve into the future.
Your study involves one of the sets of directly competing retailers: Food retailing: Tesco
and Sainsbury.
1
Section A tasks
Ensure that you write up your references where secondary research has taken place, using the
Harvard method.
The key tasks your team must address are shown below:
1.
i.
ii.
iii.
The retail environment and its key trends
Analyse which key issues are impacting on your selected retailers by use of a PEST
analysis.
Produce a SWOT analysis that is relevant to the micro and the macro levels of your
competing firms.
How well is each retailer responding to the SWOT analysis you give in ii above.
2.
Retail location:
a.
Analyse the key formats the two competing retailers offer.
b. Focus on a large outlet for each of your competing retailers (give actual location)
and show the key factors that determined their location.
c.
Use the checklist approach to help your team do this.
3.
Store layout and Design:
a. State the key objectives that determined the layout of the store you examined in
task 3, above.
b. For each of the large stores chosen and using observation research, show the
contribution made by:
i. Layout
ii. Signage and graphics
iii. Featured areas
iv. Space allocated to merchandise categories
v. Provide a planogram for each store chosen for Task 2.
4.
Product Assortment & Own Branding:
a. Product Assortment: Use observation research and/or internet access to:
i. Identify the main product/service categories as indicated in your pangrams
in a number of ways, via internet sites of your chosen retailers and through
observation research.
ii. What theory explains their current product assortment and state the type of
retailer they are from it for each of your retailers?
iii. Compare the product assortment of each retailer.
b. Own brands:
i. Consider why your chosen retailers took the route of “own
Branding” and how they applied it.
ii. Are there differing levels within their “Own brand portfolio”, e.g.
premium through to economy? Give the rationale for having different
brand levels.
iii. What contribution does “own brand sales” make to their financial and
marketing performance?
5.
Aspects of Multichannel Effort:
Through online observation, compare the online shopping sites of each retail
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competitor. State your criteria for comparing them before applying them as a tool of
comparative evaluation. Give each key variable a weighting, justifying it for each
one.
i. Produce a checklist grid showing the score for each element and the total
score for each retailer and arrive at a total score for each company.
ii. In terms of strategic performance which retailer is the more successful and
gives your team’s reasons for your judgement.
iii. Explain and evaluate the distribution model adopted by each retailer to get
shopping order to customers’ homes.
iv. What aspects of the retail mix needed to be considered prior to going from
“brick” to the “click environment? Explain, with strong reasoning.
Comparing: Tasks 7, 8, and 9
As you completed tasks 1-6 your team ought to have evaluated both retailers in terms of any
critical success factors. Based on this process of thinking undertake the following tasks.
7. Compare each retailer in terms of the 6 tasks above, with insightful comments. The same
retailer may not necessarily have a competitive advantage in relation to every task
completed above.
8. Identify specific or general problems you have uncovered when researching each
competing retailer, e.g. one retailer may be rapidly losing market share due to weaknesses
in any of the areas you studied.
9. What detailed recommendations, either strategic or tactical would you advise to overcome
the problems you identified above.
GENERAL FEATURES:
Further areas will earn marks for aspects that permeate your business report/assignment and
influence the quality of your assignment:
10. Research-Related: Every task ought to be supported by appropriate research and
reflected in your bibliographical references.
11. Format and submission of Report
 Your assignment must comply with standard business report format and be
professionally presented.
 Remember: “Quality not quantity is the aim”.
 Word limit: minimum of 5000 but no more than 6000.
 Provide a carefully laid out set of bibliographical references in accordance with
the Harvard system.
 Where possible, provide tables, graphs and charts but make sure they “tell a story”
or make a valuable point.
 Your survey questionnaire, data sets must be into the Appendices section although
the latter’s items must be linked into key sections within the main body of your
report and vice versa.
Finally, this table below shows how assignments will be assessed and it will be used to give
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you feedback after your group assignment is returned to you.
Evaluation Criteria and mark allocation
GROUP:
TASKS
1. The retail environment
and its key trends
i. PEST analysis
ii. SWOT Analysis
iii. Responding to SWOT
2. Retail location:
d. Analyse the key
formats.
e.
Key factors
determining location
f.
Use checklist.
3. Store layout and Design:
a. Key objectives of store
layout
b. Show the contribution
made by:
b. Layout
c. Signage and
graphics
d. Featured areas
e. Space allocated to
merchandise
categories
f. Planogram
4. Product Assortment &
Own Branding:
 Product Assortment:
i. Main categories
ii. Explanation of
product assortment
strategy.
iii. Compare the
product assortment
of each retailer.
MARK
MARK
Max.
Actual
C0MMENTS
15
15
10
15
 Own brands:
iv. Reasons for going
the “Own brand”
v. Differing brand
levels offered, with
rationales.
vi. Contribution “own
brand sales” make
to retailers’
financial and
marketing
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performance.
5. Aspects of Multichannel
Effort:
i. Compare the online
shopping sites.
ii. Criteria for comparing
them, with weighting
and their rationale
iii. Outcome checklist grid
iv. Strategic performance
and success
v. Online distribution
models Retail mix:
adapting from “brick to
click”.
EVALUATION
7.
Compare each
retailer’s competitive
advantages or otherwise
in relation to tasks 1-6
8.
Problems identified
9.
Recommendations
related to the problems
identified
GENERAL ASPECTS
10.
Research-Related
11.
Report-related:
 Ex. Summary
 Contents page
 Appendices
 Bibliography
 Presentation
 Introduction &
Conclusion
 Graphs & tables
 Clarity of expression
10
5
5
5
10
10
5