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1Introduction

In this unit, I will be looking at a business in depth, looking at its stakeholders and seeing how its strategies help achieve the objectives of the business. The company I have chosen to investigate is J Sainsbury plc. Sainsburys is the 3rd largest retailer in the UK, selling a wide range of 30,000+ products. The company was founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury as a dairy shop. It later expanded to become the UKs largest grocer by 1922. The company now operates 872 stores, comprising of 537 supermarkets and 335 convenience stores. It jointly owns Sainsburys bank with Lloyds Banking Group, and has two property joint ventures with Land Securities Group plc. and The British Land Company plc. Now serving 21 million customers each week, Sainsburys has a market share of over 16.5%. Sainsburys offers an online shopping service with home-delivery; this service is available to over 90% of mainland UK. Expansion into online sales continues with Click and Collect allowing customers to purchase non-food goods online, and pick up from over 160 stores. Sainsburys employees 150,000 people in the UK.

1.1 StakeholdersStakeholders are people who are affected by the success or failure of the business. Like all businesses these stakeholders include employees, consumers and suppliers. Larger firms, including J Sainsbury plc, have additional stakeholders such as the local community and shareholders. Different stakeholders have different needs, and it is up to the company to try and balance these needs, as they will conflict. For example, shareholders for J Sainsbury plc expect reasonable returns on their investments, which would mean cutting costs to maximise potential profits, whereas the employees would like a fair wage, which increases costs. The needs of stakeholders cannot always be fulfilled, but must try to meet stakeholders needs as much as possible, to ensure maximum satisfaction for everyone involved. Sainsburys must also consider external factors that may hinder meeting the stakeholders needs.1.2 Aims and ObjectivesThe aims of a business are clear overall goals that the business is aiming to achieve. The objectives are more specific tasks which once completed contribute to the fulfilment of the business aims. Objectives should follow the SMART criteria. SMART stands for:

Specific: Precise about what the business should be aiming to achieve.

Measureable: They must be quantifiable.

Achievable: Challenging but not impossible to achieve.

Relevant: Should contribute to the fulfilment of a business aim.

Time-specific: A date that the objective should be completed by.

Sainsburyss has five areas of focus, which the company believes is crucial for business success. Sainsburys five areas of focus can be found in appendix 1 (source: www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/about-us/business-strategy-objectives/ ). These five areas are Sainsburys business aims: Great foodSainsburys offer fresh, safe, healthy and tasty food, and this is at the heart of what they do. Sainsburys have a leadership position in offering great food, which is sustainably and ethically sourced, remains key to the customers, and they will continue to invest in this, in order to exceed customer standards.

Compelling general merchandise and clothingSainsburys is continuing to make progress in development and accessibility of non-food goods, and this sector is grow at 3 times the rate of food. The company is continuing to expand their non-food range, whilst maximising the benefits of the nectar card scheme.

Complimentary channels and servicesSainsburys is reaching more customers through additional channels such as convenience stores and online grocery shopping. These channels are seeing an increase in sales like for like each year.

Developing new business

In order for Sainsburys to expand the company in the long-term, they are looking at extending the brand through complimentary channels and services such as finance, health and beauty and energy. Sainsburys aims to look at new business opportunities in digital services, food services and international services.

Growing space and creating property valueSainsburys will continue to grow supermarket space and focus actively on property management. In future years Sainsburys expects to be able to secure new development opportunities as fast as it is opening new stores. A key element in doing this is recycling capital to invest in profitable growth. Stores which are fully developed, are considered as for sale by the company. Growing supermarket space is vital in the expansion of Sainsburys property portfolio, and is key to increasing returns on investments.

Sainsburys has 5 values which underpin the business aims. These 5 values are the framework in which the company operates. These values contribute to the success of Sainsburys and in turn contribute to the fulfilment of Sainsburys aims. Sainsburys values can be found in appendix 2.1.3 Conflicts of Objectives

Conflict can arise between different stakeholders, due to conflicts of interest. A major conflict would be making profit. Shareholders aim to get as much return as possible from their investment, whereas Sainsburys employees would like to work for a fair, or even high wage. To give a maximum return, Sainsburys would have to pay minimum wages to its employees; however the work force would be unmotivated and maybe even unwilling to work for such a low wage. Sainsburys cannot fully meet both of these objectives, because they conflict, therefore there must be a balance between both, to keep both parties happy with maximum satisfaction possible.Dividends are payments made from the company, in this case Sainsburys, to its shareholders. In order for dividends payments to be high, profits must also be high. However this objective will conflict with employees who aim to have a high wage.

1.4 PEST AnalysisA PEST analysis looks at possible external factors that may stop the business achieving its objectives. This analysis looks at political, economic, social and technological trends and factors, which must be considered when planning objectives and how to achieve them. Political Factors This includes law and government legislation which will influence the way the company can operate.

Economic Factors This includes inflation, consumer confidence and the overall economic climate.Social Factors This includes trends that people are following, such as eating food that is from sustainable sources.

Technological Factors This includes how technology effects the way a business trades, for example a rise in internet shopping may mean a decrease in guest count in supermarkets.1.4.1 Political EffectsThe UK government cut corporation tax from 28% in 2010 to 26% in 2011, and then a further 2% to 24% in 2012, and it will increase further in 2013. This means that Sainsburys will pay less tax on the profits it earns in the UK, meaning profit overall should increase. See appendix 3.An example of legislation includes those designed to protect consumers against potentially harmful activities of a large organisation, such as the Office of Fair Trading. Sainsburys must adhere to fair trading, and this was brought to the publics attention during the milk price fixing scandal. Sainsburys was dealt the largest fine of all the supermarkets of 11.04m for fixing the prices of milk and cheese. Incidents such as this will affect consumer confidence in the company. See appendix 4.

There has been a huge emphasis by the government to promote healthy eating due primarily to an increase in obesity in the UK. This pressure from the government will shift many consumers towards healthier options when choosing food and will therefore prevent various opportunities for Sainsburys to provide healthier foods at a reasonable price. See appendix 5Government watchdogs such as ASA ensure that advertising campaigns are not misleading. Sainsburys Feed your family for 50 has been removed due to false advertising concerns.

Planning laws in the UK limit how many supermarkets can be built, and where. When a supermarket such as Sainsburys wants to open a new store, they must apply for planning permission. Now the local planning authority will look at whether the proposed store will be anti-competitive to current business, which will make it harder for new supermarkets to open. This will limit the expansion of major retailers. See appendix 14 (source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk ).1.4.2 Economic EffectsThe UK is currently experiencing a recession, which will have a large impact on consumer spending of Sainsburys customers. This will mean that the customers will have less confidence in retailers when purchasing essential items and will be more likely to spend less on what they consider to be luxury items. These luxury items tend to cost more, and a decrease in the demand for such items will mean that Sainsburys could notice a fall in revenue.This affects the price that consumers are willing to pay for products, and Sainsburys may have to respond by lowering prices in order to maintain demand and beat competition, which will have adverse effects on the profits of the business. See appendix 7. Sainsburys have many offers in order to try and attract cash-strapped customers to Sainsburyss. Sainsburys offer half price deals, round pound buys and multibuy deals in order to undermine other big supermarkets offer initiatives. See appendix 8.VAT is now 20%, this is an increase of 2.5% from a previous 17.5%. Sainsburys will have had to increase prices for consumers in order to ensure they are paying the correct amount of value added tax. Keeping the prices the same for consumers would mean smaller profits for the business, as the larger tax would still need to be paid. See appendix 9.

1.4.3 Social EffectsNowadays there seems to be more emphasis on fresh, easy style cooking. This serves an opportunity for Sainsbury's to encourage new recipes and unfussy eating. There has been a huge emphasis by the government to promote healthy eating primarily due to the increasing level of obesity within the UK. This has lead to many consumers to shift towards healthier food. This presents an opportunity to Sainsbury's to stock up with more healthy food or create healthier foods at a cheaper price than other manufacturers so as to benefit from this new trend.There has recently been a growing concern for health in terms of food, resulting in a greater demand for healthier foods, due to promotion of healthy eating by the Government in response to an increase in obesity in the UK.This has provided Sainsburys with the opportunity to create healthier options at a cheaper price in order to meet the needs of its customers. Sainsburys have achieved this by introducing new food ranges in store, providing healthier options at an affordable price. As well as an increase in demand of healthy foods, there has also been a growing awareness into ethically sourced foods, such as Fair Trade, sustainable fishing and animal welfare. Due to this growing awareness, demand for these types of food has increased, and Sainsburys have therefore reacted to this by supplying a greater range of ethically sourced items. It now offers a large range of products that boast affordable prices and good quality. In addition to this increase in healthy and sustainably sourced foods, there has also been an increased awareness of the impacts we have on the environment, including carbon emissions. As large supermarkets such as Sainsburys rely heavily on logistics, they will have to prove to their current and potential customers that they are striving to reduce their impact on the environment. Sainsburys will therefore have to invest into greener methods.

The businesses website states that one of Sainsburys values is Respect to the environment. The website states:

At Sainsbury's, respecting the environment is about doing the right thing. We aim to be the UK's greenest grocer, which is great for our business but even better for the environment.Sainsburys have a wide range of views into the issues of the environment, and provides information to customers through their website in the form of articles such as Food and Waste recycling, reducing their own carbon emissions and those of their suppliers, reduced packaging and water stewardship. By providing this information into how the business is striving to reduce the impact of its activities on the environment, Sainsburys has gained a positive reputation for being environmentally friendly, which will appeal to a great amount of customers and so, will provide customers with confidence when shopping. This attitude may persuade customer to become more concerned with the environment, and the articles upon the website may result in an increase of visitors to the site and therefore should result in further sales to generate higher profits.

Internet shopping has become increasingly popular due to the rapid development of technology. Sainsburys has used this to their advantage by creating an online shopping directory in which goods are delivered to the consumers door, and Click and Collect, enabling it to compete with other large supermarket who also offer this service, such as Tesco and ASDA. Clcik and Collect enables customers to purchase non-food items and get them delivered to one of 160 stores. Sainsburys online shopping service is easy to use, enabling the saving of favourite items for each shop. This makes the website appealing to older consumers who have access to the internet. Over the years, it can be seen that online sales have gradually increased, from a 25 increase in 2006, to a 3.7% increase in 2010.

1.4.4Technological EffectsThe newly introduced self-scan equipment has proving to be a highly popular innovation, with 40% of customers using it regularly, according to Mintel reports, see appendix 13. Sainsburys has introduced self-scanning services into many of its major stores. This affects how many staff Sainsburys need to employee as 4 to 6 self checkouts can be operated by one staff member.

1.5CompetitionThe retailing market is highly competitive, as the products that each supermarket offers feature little or no differentiation. The main competition that Sainsburys faces will be from other supermarkets such as Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons and The Co-Operative. Sainsburys is the third largest supermarket in the UK, which has around half the market share of Tesco.. Competition will have a large effect on Sainsburys, due to the lack of differentiation of products, which therefore lead to little or no customer loyalty to the company. In order to gain customer loyalty, Sainsburys has a number of intitatives including the Nectar card scheme, which is used in other retailers (but Sainsburys being the only supermarket). The market shares of the UKs leading food retailers is shown below, It can be seen that Tesco is the current leader, with 25%, followed by ASDA, with 14.1%. Sainsburys is currently third, with a market share of 13.1%, however, these market share figures do not take into account non-retail sales, such as petrol. Sainsburys notices higher sales in this area and may therefore notice a higher market share than ASDA if they were to be included.

1.6Does Sainsburys achieve these objectives?Businesses set themselves objectives which they hope with a lot of hard work and enthusiasm they can achieve in the future. In order to achieve these aims businesses have objectives, these are the little things businesses do which will help them achieve the aims.

The first aim is to be the best for food and health. They aim to help their customers make educated and balanced choices whilst buying food from the store.

Sainsburys progress so far has been a very good one and they have a fair few achievements:

They are the first retailer to launch the traffic light labelling on the front of food packaging. They offer this glance nutrition labelling on all there own products.

First major retailer to develop a free from category. This is food which is created for a special segment of people who cant eat wheat or gluten.

They have donated over 115 million worth of equipment and experiences to schools and clubs thought there active kids scheme.

They have made a deal with the government responsibility to help support the workforce to lead happier and healthier lives.

They have stated the know your limits alcohol unit measure on all there alcoholic products. This makes customers fully aware of how much alcohol they are consuming.

They are active partners in the community alcohol partnerships (CAP) since 2007.

Another aim Sainsburys are working towards is the sourcing with integrity. They have been achieving this by forming partnerships with there suppliers in order to raise environmental, social standards and to move towards real sustainability. They work with compassion in the world farming, ethical trading initiative, Marine stewardship council and NFU to help with the sourcing with integrity.

They are the only retailer to offer higher welfare woodland eggs and chickens.

Respect for our environment is another objective Sainsburys is working on, Sainsburys consider not only there own environmental performance, but also there supply chain. Sainsburys aim to help there customers make more sustainable choices. They work with numerous organisations to achieve there objective. Some of the organisations include Carbon trust, Defra, FSC and Greenpeace UK.None of Sainsburys food goes to landfill, once it leaves the store it goes to charities or for anaerobic digestion.

All the new Sainsburys supermarkets are fitted with rain water harvesting, water efficient taps, low flush toilets and urinals as standard.

Plastic bag recycling is offered around the stores and has been since 2004.

Another aim that is important to Sainsburys is making a positive difference to our community They provide jobs for the local people, buy from local suppliers and they help protect the local environment to make the communities are a happier and safer place to live. They work with organisations such as Business for the community, Comic relief, Fareshare and the Salvation Army.

This objective is very important for Sainsburys because this makes them different to other retailers and gives the business a good name in the local community so therefore customers will be more than happy to shop at there local Sainsburys stores. Here are a few of there achievements in this area:

They are the first ever standalone sponsor of the London 2012 Paralympics games. They are the largest sponsor of Comic relief, they have risen over 60 million to date for the charity.

With the support of the customers Sainsburys have donated over 3.3 million to the Royal British Legion.

They sponsor the UK School games.

They have about 46,000 schools, nurseries, sports clubs and scouts registered with the active kids scheme.

The last aim Sainsburys are working on is a great place to work. They try to find the best people for the job and treat them in the right way. This way they the employers will be happy and do the best they can for the customers. They offer everybody a chance to develop to there full potential and give them recognition when they do something worth while. The employers forum on age, Employers forum on disability and Mencap are some of the organisations that Sainsburys engages with.

Here are some of the achievements Sainsburys have gained:

Over the past 5 years Sainsburys have paid out 350 million in bonuses to colleagues in store, depots and offices.

They are one of the first employers to sign up the local employers partnership in 2007. This help ex offenders and long term unemployed get back into the workforce.

Everyone at Sainsburys gets flexible working hours, this makes the workplace more enjoyable and productive workplace.

They have made a new policy for the colleagues who are carers with an innovative partnership with Carers UK.

They created over 6,000 jobs over the last year.

All of these achievements are great for Sainsburys as they are motivating staff and making there experience of working in Sainsburys a happier and pleasant one. Sainsburys treat there staff with respect and give them responsibility which makes employers feel as a crucial part of the team. This in time will create a great name for Sainsburys and committed and dedicated staff.

After looking at Sainsburys aims I can say that they do achieve these. They do try and go that extra mile so that they can say they are doing all they can and working very hard as a team to achieve there future aims.

We have also made excellent progress against our strategic objectives as we aim to continue to improve profitability by appealing to an ever wider range of customers and increasing our reach across the UK.The Chairman, David Tyler, stated in the 2011 annual report of the business, that the board is pleased with the performance of Sainsburys over the past year. It had gained market share and had managed to attract new customers, which has been achieved through the continued focus on providing great products at fair prices. One of Sainsburys objectives includes offering great food that is ethically and sustainably sourced. Sainsburys has managed to meet this objective well, as it now offers a large range of products that it claims to be sourced in this way. Sainsburys have also formed partnerships with its suppliers, to help them raise environmental and social standards, working with them to consider all of the economic, environmental and social impacts of their activities. Sainsburys is also the biggest retailer of sustainable caught fish, the first major retailer to stop selling eggs from caged hens, and already 12% of the businesses own brand products are from independently certified sources such as the Marine Stewardship Council, Fair Trade and Freedom Foods. Another of Sainsburys objectives included growing supermarket space. During the year, Sainsburys has managed to exceed their two-year space growth target of 15%, as the business has currently grown gross space by 15.9% since March 2009. They have also opened 21 new stores, 24 extensions and 47 convenience stores during the year, adding a gross 1.5 million square foot of space, equivalent to 8.5% and expect to maintain this performance during future years. Total sales growth of the business has increased from a previous 4.9% to a greatly increased 33.4% this year. This increase in popularity may be sue to the various ranges that Sainsburys has began to offer in response to the declining economic state and social factors such as increased healthy eating and sustainable foods.

Although not directly stated within the corporate objectives of the business, within the annual report of 2011, Chairman David Tyler states that Sainsburys aim to improve profitability by appealing to a wider range of customers. As can be seen from the graph below, the underlying profit before tax has increased from a figure of 339m in 2006/7, to 665m in 2010/11. This increase in profits may also be due to the increased amount of sales that the business is receiving. This may also be due to the fact that Sainsburys has responded to various external factors to better meet the needs of its customers, and despite adverse economical conditions, has managed to maintain profits and sales.

Sainsburys have also made excellent progress in the development and accessibility of their non-food ranges as sales are growing more than three times as fast as those of food. The annual report states that the focus on high street style at supermarket prices is popular with customers and together with the convenience of buying merchandise at the same time as shopping for food, has increase the market share of the business. In clothing, the TU brand is now the seventh largest in the UK by volume, with childrenswear seventh in the market by volume, with a sales growth of over 20% year-on-year. This has therefore allowed the business to meet one of its strategic objectives, accelerating growth of complementary non-food ranges and services.This information taken from the annual financial review, made to compare figures with those of the past few years in order to determine patterns. It is clear that despite the global financial decline, Sainsburys have stayed strong to survive and continue to maintain its profits.2Achieving the business objectivesIt is important that Sainsburys takes into account the number of methods available to them when trying to achieve their set objectives. Sainsburys must specify the correct procedures in order to generate the maximum amount of sales possible during the current economic issues.

2.1 Marketing Activities2.1.1 Target Markets

Sainsburys mainly target the upper half of the mass market, and so it is therefore appropriate that they base their products and schemes towards them in order to attract sales. Sainsburys provide products of high quality at fairly high prices (when compared to other supermarkets such as Tesco) to people who live on a high household income and perhaps those who enjoy treating themselves with good quality food on occasion. However, Sainsburys aim to meet the needs of a wider range of consumers by supplying products within different ranges, under various brand names and adjusting the prices to meet the needs of certain groups. Examples of these include the newly released by Sainsburys brand, which offers good quality food at reasonable prices, the Basics brand which again, offers good quality food at lower prices, and the Taste the difference brand, which offers premium quality foods at premium prices. A report from the market research group Mintel, states that Sainsburys appeals to people of all ages, however, there is a greater demand for those of the AB socioeconomic grouping, and also a reasonable amount towards those within the C1 group.2.1.2 Market Research

It is important for businesses to complete market research often in order to keep up to date with the latest trends within the public. Accurate results can provide Sainsburys with the opportunity to advance in the market by adjusting certain factors that suits the current market to ensure that it continues to maintain customer satisfaction and potentially attract more custom to the business in order to compete with the competition, such as Tesco or ASDA.

There are a number of ways in which Sainsburys collect consumer data in order to interpret this information. The main method would be through their Nectar cards. These are Sainsburys own loyalty card that is made available to customers who are awarded Nectar points when purchasing any item in store. When these Nectar points are collected, several special deals and promotions are made available to these customers. As these cards are used whenever a customer makes a transaction, it also provides Sainsburys with various useful data about its customers. This data can then be used to analyse trends in consumer shopping habits, which stores customers are buying them from and also provides an effective measure of which promotions are popular in the eyes of the consumers. Sainsburys will then be able to use this data in order to develop offers and products that meet the needs of its customers.

2.1.3 Product

Sainsburys currently sells around 30,000 food-related products and in addition, various complementary non-food related products and services, such as appliances, entertainment and finance etc. Sainsburys would want to develop a large range of products in order to compete with its competition, to gain as many customers as possible to increase sales. Sainsburys currently offer a large range of products under their own-label brand. They also offer various other product ranges, in order to meet the large range of needs that their customers may possess, in order to generate sales. These product ranges are based upon cheap, lower quality products up to the highest quality product that show reflective pricing. These brands are based upon various segmentations such as the demographics of its customers, such as age group and lifestyle, in order to appeal to a large range of consumers. Includes a newly released range of products under the Live more for less scheme. It offers good quality products at affordable prices and aims to have 65% of the 6,000 products in the line improved. This range was released in response to the recession and targets people of higher income than those of the basic brand, yet retains more of the Sainsburys standard quality.Basics

Sainsburys aim to keep expertise of these products as low as possible, using packaging of very basic design in order to reduce costs to enable them to price the product as low as possible to meet the needs of the target group, those with low income. Be good to yourself This range consists of foods that have reduced fat and/or calories, and are typically aimed towards those that have a higher concern for health. This product range is of good quality and is also reasonably priced.SO organics

In addition to the Be good to yourself range, this brand is aimed towards people who are more concerned with living a healthy lifestyle. This range consists of products that are not derived from food stuffs treated with artificial fertilisers or pesticides.Taste the Difference

This range of products offers food related items of increased quality at an increased price. This range will most likely target those who are more concerned with quality as opposed to price and these customers will more than likely be of a higher socioeconomic class due to higher incomes.Freefrom

The product range is of smaller volume in comparison with other product ranges offered by Sainsburys; it creates and provides products that are specific to the needs of customers that have allergies towards certain types of food.TU

TU is Sainsburys own clothing range, which is aimed towards both males and females of all age groups, at an affordable price and at reasonable quality.Under these various product ranges, the products themselves also come under large variety. The non-food product sales are responsible for the accelerated growth of Sainsburys, in accordance to one of the businesses objectives, to accelerate the growth of complementary non-food ranges and services, as the corporate website states that non-food range have achieved a growth rate three times more than that of food products.Under the Toys and Games section of Sainsburys website, there are many products that meet the needs and requirements of children of all ages, from birth to young children. Entertainment for other people over this age group can also be found under Entertainment where it displays CDs, DVDs and games. Sainsburys also offers finance services in addition to its households products, where customers are able to organise insurance and loans, as well as being able to arrange a holiday online and track savings. By doing this, Sainsburys attract more customers from a new market, which also gives the business opportunity to generate more sales and allow growth of the non-food products of the business, yet again meeting this objective of the business. In addition to offering these products, Sainsburys also differentiate by providing household appliances, clothing, and garden related products.2.1.4 PlaceSainsburys currently operated in only two types of store format, the main stores and Sainsburys Local. The main stores are primary shopping destinations and will offer a range of products and services large enough to satisfy the needs of the majority of the population.

In response to external factors, particularly planning regulations, Sainsburys also operates under Sainsburys Local, its convenience stores. This allows Sainsburys to compete with smaller outlets and overall helps them to meet their objective of growing supermarket space.

Customers during the recession may be more willing to sacrifice a little quality in order to obtain products of a reasonable price, and these two supermarkets therefore have the advantage over others such as Sainsburys. Sainsburys must therefore react to this by adapting their prices, or, as they have recent done, create new products ranges that offer the same Sainsburys quality products at an affordable price, despite target customers of high income in order to survive through recession.

2.1.5 PricingSainsburys claim to offer great products at fair prices, providing reasonable prices on products of good quality. Competitive pricing of Sainsburys started during the beginning of its transformation plan, where it lowered prices in stores to attract its previously existing customers back to the store to increase sales. At present, Sainsburys are still creating further prices cuts, regardless of the fact that they target consumers in the higher end of the mass market. Furthermore, Sainsburys have also recently stated that they will follow their rival in price promotion. Sainsburys have announced that they will match the prices of certain products of supermarkets Tesco and ASDA, in an effort to look for ways to attract new customers to the business. This will come in the form of Sainsburys new Brand Match scheme, which will instantly issue customers with coupons to the value of the difference between its branded goods and those of its rivals. This new method of attracting customers is in response to increased competition from these two supermarkets due to pricing, Sainsburys have stated on their corporate website, that their four main competitors consist of Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons and Waitrose. The former supermarkets such as Tesco and ASDA, constantly claim their prices are of better value than those of their competitors, and directly refer to competition through their advertising. These activities will attract customers away from Sainsburys as more consumers will realise that they can find cheaper items elsewhere and so, in response to this, Sainsburys has to maintain a large marketing campaign in order to keep their customers loyal to the business.

2.1.6 PromotionSainsburys have undertaken many promotional activities over the past few years, to aid plans such as the Make Sainsburys great again recovery plan and various sponsorships.Advertising

The beginning of the recovery campaign started with a new scheme to persuade customers to return their custom to Sainsburys, after a disappointing downfall due to the activities of Tesco. Market research revealed that a majority of customers want a wide range of different products that are cheap and healthy and Sainsburys responded to this by introducing the Try something new today scheme. This scheme was fronted by Jamie Oliver, a well known celebrity chef, who was signed to lead advertisements and appeared on television and radio advertisements and in store promotional material. The aim of the scheme intended to spread awareness of the launch of new products ranges, and resulted in success, as Sainsburys gradually began to make its recovery during the three year plan. This scheme was discontinued however, as the slogan Try something new today was replaced by Live well for less after the end of the Sainsburys-Oliver partnership.The Live well for less campaign aims to deliver products that meet the needs of its customers in both quality and price. This includes an investment into the new by Sainsburys brand, with Sainsburys aiming to produce 6,000 products with 65% of these being new and improved. In response to increased competition of a price war, the Live well for less campaign also includes the new Brand Match, which aims to reassure customers that they do not need to shop around for branded goods. This is currently being trailed in Northern Ireland, a price incentive that gives the difference back to the shopper instantly as a coupon if comparable branded grocery items are cheaper than those at other supermarkets, primarily Tesco and ASDA.Below shows the expenditure for the advertisement of various food retailers.

Grand TotalDirect MailDoor DropsPressRadioTV

mmmmmm

ASDA57.10.61.725.41.925.1

Tesco55.13.92.521.61.219.1

Sainsbury's29.41.91.58.83.013.6

Morrisons27.50.01.811.90.712.0

Waitrose19.31.20.04.60.711.2

Public Relations

Sport Relief

Sainsburys are the proud sponsors of the Sport Relief campaign, and this therefore provides the business with a successful form of public relations. Sport relief aims to raise money as a subsidiary of Comic relief, through sport related activities to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the worlds poorest countries. This provides an appropriate method for Sainsburys to help advertise its newly released healthy and ethical products and ranges, in order to support an active lifestyle. Sport relief also provides merchandise for Sainsburys to sell inside its stores. A greater emphasis may be placed on Sport Relief as this year; the Olympics and Paralympics will be taking place in London, and will therefore promote a healthy active lifestyle.Active Kids

Active Kids is a voucher scheme in which schools can redeem vouchers when shopping at Sainsburys, for sports equipment for use in their schools.According to the website, 2012 is a big year for sport, which is due to the fact that both the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics will be taking place within London, and Sainsburys emphasises the fact that they are proud sponsors of the Paralympics, using this as an incentive to get people involved in the scheme. This encourages people to get their children involved in sport to lead a healthier, more active lifestyle. The Active Kids campaign is fronted by various celebrity ambassadors such as David Beckham, which also acts as incentive for people to get involved, meaning more people will be shopping at Sainsburys in order to obtain vouchers, and this therefore increases the amount of sales Sainsburys will receive, maximising profits.

Sales Promotion

Sainsbury offer a wide number of deals and price promotions throughout their stores, such as Buy one get one free. This promotion provides customers with the feeling that they are receiving more value for their money, and will persuade potential customers to shop at their stores. Sainsburys stress the importance of their promotions in order to appear affordable to the public and by doing so, will help to retain their current customers and possibly attract custom away from other supermarkets that are in competition with Sainsburys in order to increase sales and therefore profits. See appendix 11.According to Mintel reports, the Buy One Get One Free offer is by far the most popular type of supermarket promotion, though extra product and money off are also popular. BOGOFs are twice as popular as Every Day Low Pricing (EDLP), as consumers rate it twice as highly. Sainsburys can be seen applying the BOGOF offer throughout its stores and website, such as the 2 for the price of 1 as seen above.

Sainsburys have also secured a new contract recently, with the UKs most popular loyalty scheme, Nectar. In addition to rewarding customers for shopping at Sainsburys, it also allows them to offer its customers specific and relevant rewards and promotion, which will help Sainsburys to gain loyalty in its customers and to help drive sales. This method will help Sainsburys greatly, as competition is fierce and customer loyalty is always an ongoing issue. The use of this loyalty scheme resulted in a record number of people using Nectar cards to shop at Sainsburys, with 100million points redeemed and this may have been the contributing factor that allowed Sainsburys to benefit from moderate sales growth and continued profits through the Christmas of 2011, despite the adverse economic situation. 2.2 Enterprise Skills

In order for the business to be competitive in its market, it is important that the senior managers within Sainsburys show the various entrepreneurial skills required to do so. A successful entrepreneur must possess certain characteristics and skills in order to ensure that the business is making progress. Below are examples of the qualities and skills that Sainsburys have demonstrated in order to remain successful in their market.Self-confidence and motivation

Managers at Sainsburys must exercise various motivational methods in order to improve the esteem needs of the staff. When this is achieved, it will result in the staff being able to work more productively and will contribute greatly to customer satisfaction, therefore helping the department to meet the target set by managers. Motivation of the staff at Sainsburys can also result in lower staff turnover which will lead to lower recruitment and training costs for the business and will therefore result in reduced waste of time and money. Motivated employees are also likely to improve customer service associated with a product and will therefore give the business a good reputation in the eyes of its customers.Sainsburys currently offer a wide range of rewards for its employees in order to help motivate them in their work. Some of these include a colleague discount card, which, after completing six months of service, is issued to the businesses staff. The reward package also offers a Shining Stars Recognition Programme, which is used to recognise and record the work of colleagues when working both individually and as a team. Colleagues are then awarded with various vouchers. This method of motivation will encourage staff to not only work well on their own, but to also work well when working in a team. It will also ensure that staff will strive to work to the best of their ability in order to keep the standards high.

The motivation of staff can also be achieved by setting targets, as employees are then encouraged to work towards these set goals in order to receive rewards from the businesses reward scheme.A report online states that Sainsburys is still paying bonuses to staff at 90 percent of its stores that managed to hit availability and customer service targets. Some 135,000 staff will each receive an average of 200. In addition, it is also important that the entrepreneurs of the business show their self-confidence towards their colleagues, be it subordinates or senior managers, and even the customers. This would help Sainsburys to show confidence in the workplace where staff can push themselves into achieving their targets and will be more willing to take risks that would contribute to the improvement of the business. On lower levels of the hierarchy, employees must also demonstrate a friendly attitude and good communication skills to customers in order for Sainsburys to retain customer loyalty and a develop a positive reputation of the business. The managers at Sainsburys must ensure that they are clear about the goals and targets that they have set in order to reflect the confidence that they show into their employees to encourage them to meet these targets, which is also a motivation factor. Risk Taking

Risk taking can play a huge role in moving a business forward, however many enterprising people may not be successful at managing this skill.

If an entrepreneur is willing to take risks within the business, it demonstrates the willpower to move the business forward, and if successful, the entrepreneur will be rewarded with new business opportunities and will generate more income into the business.At the beginning of the year, Sainsburys also introduced Speedo into 12 stores. It is expected to roll it out further. Jensen said Traditionally brands dont sell in supermarkets but we expect at some point the likes of Nike and Adidas will be knocking on our door, realising this is the future of retail.

In this case, the entrepreneur has realised that selling branded products, such as Speedo, in supermarkets has never been achieved before and has therefore took the risk of introducing the products into selected stores even though brands dont sell in supermarkets. If this risk is successful, the business will be the first supermarket to generate large profits as a result, giving them a competitive advantage over their competitors and generating more sales.Identifying and exploiting marketing opportunities

An entrepreneur must have the ability to identify opportunities vital to the business and must act upon them to drive the business forward. They must know when to take advantage of a potential gap in the market and respond by, perhaps, introducing a new product in order to advance as a business. The entrepreneur must therefore be aware of the trends and patterns of the market in order to inspire a new range of ideas.

Ability to innovate

Entrepreneurs of the business must also seek to develop or improve existing products, by either improving the existing item or suggesting new ways of using it, which will allow the entrepreneur to find new ways of appealing to a wider range of customer needs. Ability to build teams and inspire

In order to achieve the set objectives of the business, it is important that the entrepreneurs are able to construct and manage teams of people effectively. This will require good communication and people skills in order to be able to communicate successfully with their team and to ensure that the team is motivated so that they perform to the best of their ability. For example, when planning a new Sainsburys store to be opened within the UK, a specially selected team of people are chosen to plan, operate and maintain the project. The team consisted of various businesses, as this will provide the team with various skills and expertise needed to carry out the project. The businesses that were included in the project team to develop a new store are as below:

Sainsburys Supermarket Limited (Client)

Chetwood Associates (Architect)

Town Planning Consultancy (Planning Consultant)

Derek Lovejoy Partnership (Landscape Architect) Max Fordham and Partners (Environmental Design)

Oscar Faber plc (M&E Consultants)

WSP Group plc (Structural Engineer)Each business will have their own area of expertise, such as Chetwood Associates who will have the expert skills in architecture, as Sainsburys does not possess these skills and it will be more effective for them to hire other businesses to assist in the development of a new store. This is therefore an example of Sainsburys ability to build a team and successfully manage it as they will have to show good communication in order to convey the ideas and plans for the new store to those involved in order for the job to be carried out correctly. By utilising this team, Sainsburys will have effectively met one of its business objectives of growing supermarket space, as the team will allow them to develop new stores time effectively.2.3 Teams

The team members of Sainsburys possess the skills that are required in order to solve any day-to-day issues and problems time and cost effectively, which reduces the chances of a decrease in reputation or financial performance. For example, during the price fixing scandal of milk, a Public Relations team were required to ensure that the business lost a small amount of customers possible due to the degradation of Sainsburys reputation in the eyes of the customers. This public relations team would have had to possess the qualities for effective team working, shown in the diagram above in order to work together effectively and quickly to ensure that the business did not suffer a huge decrease in reputation and therefore financial performance. Teams can also work together in order to find new ways of developing the business, such as in Appendix 2 which shows a case study outlining how a set team of Sainsburys is continuously searching for new ways to improve the business.3 Evaluation

3.1 Marketing ActivitiesSainsburys show strong marketing ability, by using celebrity endorsements, partnerships with charities and through advertising and sales promotion. Sainsburys thrive from their successful marketing campaigns, which guarantee them to maintain or even obtain a growth in sales and in addition, provide Sainsburys with an increase in Public Relations, giving them a positive reputation. See appendix 12.3.2 Enterprise Skills

Sainsburys successfully make use of the various enterprise skills of the senior staff, which gives them the ability to foresee gaps or niches within the market, and allows them to exploit potential demand in which they can take immediate action in order to become market leaders. For example, the increase in awareness of healthier lifestyles meant that an increasing demand in healthier foods was noticed, giving way to the idea to focus on publicising their healthy food ranges with the help of their celebrity endorser, Jamie Oliver. Jamie Oliver fronting try something new campaign led to 9 tonnes of nutmeg being sold, this was previously 2 years worth of sales. This was due to Jamies recommendation of grating it over spaghetti bolognaise. See appendix 12.3.3 Teamwork

Team work is very important within a business; there are many components that create a successful team. Sainsburys teams have been created to work on developing new stores, launching new products and to manage upcoming promotional activities and events. The ability to work as part of a team is including in job descriptions to work at Sainsburys.3.4 Conclusion

To conclude my evaluation of Sainsburys I would say Sainsburys has performed well financially and has succeeded in meeting its stakeholders need in the economic climate. Sainsburys revenue and profit have increased year on year, and this trend does not look like its about to change.21