Tesco’s Strengths

1. Biggest grocery retailer in the UK – Tesco is the leading grocery retailer and No.1 supermarket in the UK. It has higher sales and revenue as compared to other supermarket chains in Great Britain. According to Tesco annual report, its revenue is £ 57.8 Billion in fiscal year 2021.
2. Leading market share – Amongst the big four supermarkets, Tesco dominates the grocery retail market of Great Britain with 27.9% of market share. It has been among the most popular supermarket in Ireland.
3. Geographically diversified – Tesco has a thriving global presence with more than 4673 stores in 14 countries. Apart from Europe and North America, it has a huge market share in Asian markets as well.
4. A growing number of stores – From 3,751 stores in 2008, Tesco now operates 4673 grocery retail stores worldwide. Its revenue is increasing every year because of the addition of new stores in its operational chain.
5. Diversified stores – Tesco has launched different forms of stores. Its diversified divisions of stores include Tesco Homeplus, Tesco Metro, Tesco Extra, Tesco Express, One stop, and Tesco Superstores.
6. Diversified market and product range – Tesco’s diversification strategy has proven to be quite successful for the company. It has clothing range, home-ware items, mobile phones business, music downloads and DVD rentals, school uniforms, financial and telecom services, and cotton fair-trading across the globe.
7. Europe’s largest private employer – With a workforce of 361,771 people in fiscal year 2021, Tesco provides job opportunities worldwide. It has been acclaimed as the largest opportunity builder in entire Europe.
8. Obtained several international awards – Due to its successful commercial performance, Tesco has achieved several awards. These include British’s Favourite Supermarket (among BIG FOUR), The Grocer’s Own Label Food and Drink Awards (25 awards), The Grocer of the Year, ‘Waste Not Want Not‘ Award, and Best Grocer Award.
9. Superior technology usage – Tesco uses technology in the best optimal way to enhance the shopping experience of its customers. It has introduced a new RFID-enabled barcode system to count the products automatically. It also has advanced M-commerce facility and mobile payment app.
10. Efficient supply chain network – With a simplified business model, reduced incurring costs, and efficient waste management policies, it has created a reliable and efficient supply chain network. Tesco bears profitable relationships with suppliers.
11. Online shopping – Tesco has seen over 60% growth in its online sales compared to pre-covid.
    Tesco is doubling down on a great online shopping experience and will hire over 16,000 employees to support the online boom.

Tesco’s Weaknesses

1. Failed operations in the US and Japan – Tesco had to exit from the American and Japanese markets in 2012. Its failed export operations forced the company to close stores in Japan after nine years and the US after 5 years.
2. Fraud Trial and Accounting Scandal – In 2017, Tesco was charged with fines due to the false accounting declaration and misrepresentation of profits.
3. Decrease in operating profits – In the fiscal year 2021, the company’s operating profit fell 21.3% (£1.7 billion); as a result, its share price has struggled. Its share price is down 8% in the first quarter of 2022.
4. Fined for selling expired food – Tesco was recently fined £7.5 million for selling 67 expired food items, such as pizza, flavored milk, soup, etc., in 3 stores between 2015-2017. The company was pleaded guilty for undermining consumer safety.
5. Low-cost strategy – Although Tesco is the price leader in the UK market, its low-cost strategy can lead to reduced profit margins.
6. Poor operational performance in specific markets – Few stores and grocery outlets of Tesco are not performing well in certain countries. Experts suggest that Tesco didn’t carry out sufficient market research before entering into these markets.
7. Clubcard controversy – In January 2018, Tesco switched up its Clubcard scheme (in which points could be doubled or quadrupled) without giving prior notice to customers. It faced a massive backlash from angry customers.
8. Unfair business practices – It recently emerged that Tesco has been preventing landlords from renting their properties to other supermarkets if it was located close to its stores. Restricting rivals is not only unlawful but also unethical since it goes against the spirit of fair competition.
9. Retreat from the global arena – Tesco’s global expansion was poorly planned and failed miserably. In 2020, Tesco exited the international marketplace and retreated to a European retailer. It sold its operations in China, Thailand, Malaysia. Tesco now operates only in the UK, Ireland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia.
10. Exploitative labor – A review of Tesco’s operations in Malaysia and Thailand revealed widespread exploitation and abuse against migrant workers at its distribution centers.
11. Negative publicity – Consumers hate companies with greedy executives, particularly in trying times. In June 2020, Tesco’s shareholders voted against a greedy decision to inflate the bonuses paid to a departing chief executive by $1.98 million to over $2.8 million.
12. Emergency Recall of its In-Demand Pastries and Snacks – The retail giant issued a country-wide recall of some of its popular snacks and pastry items with specific use-by dates. Tesco says that the items may contain salmonella. The products that are recalled include Tesco Pizza Dough 400G, (UK-only) Tesco Rolled Puff Pastry (320G), and Tesco Ready Rolled Puff Pastry 375G. The recall date of all the items was 11th January 2022. Tesco has urged its customers to return these items at any Tesco location and to completely refrain from using them. The customers will be fully refunded for the items.

Tesco’s Opportunities

1. Expanding Jacks’ business – Tesco has recently introduced Jacks, a new discount store which has shown significant growth. It has an opportunity to grow this business and can successfully compete as a low-cost rival with Aldi and Lidl.
2. Strategic alliances with other brands – Developing strategic partnerships with reputed companies can offer an excellent opportunity for Tesco. It will enable Tesco to offer more products and attract more customers.
3. Joint ventures – There is an opportunity for joint ventures in the regions where Tesco stores are underperforming. The local companies can provide profound market knowledge which can help in improving performance in such regions.
4. Emerging markets – Although Tesco has stores in many developing countries but expanding its business to emerging countries like South Koreas Turkey, and Indonesia can be a profitable opportunity for the company.
5. Cashless stores – Recent events have highlighted the health risks posed by touching things that are randomly circulated like coins and notes. Most consumers are seeking cashless transaction options. Tesco opened its first cashless store and seeks to open more soon.
6. Price matching – Tesco announced recently that it would start matching the prices offered by its rival Aldi on hundreds of items. This strategy offers Tesco an opportunity to stop and reverse the loss of market share to Aldi.
7. Tesco Offers Opportunity to Pay without a Card or any Cash: Millions of Tesco customers can now pay without credit card or cash. The retail giant has introduced an innovative and enticing way for its 20 million shoppers to pay for their items. Tesco has launched its Tesco Clubcard Pay+, which can only be used by Clubcard members. The Clubcard Pay+ is a type of a debit card that offers pre-payment features thanks to the Tesco Bank. Clubcard members will now be able to top-up the card using any UK bank account via the Tesco banking application. Customer will also be able to use their debit card to make online purchases. However, you will only be able to spend money that you’ve transferred to the card.
8. One Hour Delivery – Tesco has introduced a one-hour home delivery service (Whoosh) to over 100 stores. It plans to expand to at least 600 stores by the end of 2023.

Tesco’s Threats

1. Christmas ad controversy – Tesco faced social media backlash when it launched its Christmas ad in 2017. People boycotted the store claiming a disrespectful act from Tesco against Christian faith.
2. ‘Fake Farm’ legal threat – Tesco was accused of misleading customers with fake farm brand names and marketing its food products under fake name of “Woodside Farms.” It faced severe legal threat proceedings over the issue in 2017.
3. Brexit Referendum – With Britain no longer in the European Union, the trade deals and cost matters have posed a threat for Tesco.
4. Competition with supermarket giants – With rising growth and performance of WalMart (with ASDA acquisition), Carrefour, and Aldi, Tesco’s biggest competitors, Tesco’s market position can be threatened

5. Economic crisis and credit crunches – Government regulations, legal and tax matters, credit crunches, and economic upheavals can affect the operational efficiency and performance of Tesco stores in critical regions.
6. Rising costs – Recent events have increased the cost of doing business and affected the bottom line of many companies. Tesco estimated that the extra costs attributed to the recent health crisis to be between $830 million and $1.18 billion.
7. Supply chain issues – Tesco’s operations and profitability are threatened by shortages due to supply chain issues. The retailer was forced to limit essential items a customer could buy after its supply chain was disrupted by a recent health crisis.
8. Faces Hygiene Investigation – Tesco was the subject of a hygiene investigation after someone found a gnawed bag of popcorn sparking all sorts of food security and handling questions. That particular store location was ordered to immediately carry out an investigation into the matter. Moreover, there was also a secondary complaint that warranted another investigation into Tesco’s East London outlet. The environmental health and hygiene investigators from the WFC (Waltham Forest Council) claimed that Tesco had a very bad cleaning standard across the store where the gnawed popcorn bag was found.

https://bstrategyhub.com/tesco-swot-analysis-2019swot-analysis-of-tesco/

ALDI SWOT ANALYSIS

Aldi Strengths

1. The company has automated various stages of production which results in more efficient use of resources and cost-cutting of products due to which chains of discount stores like Aldi can provide high-quality products at cheap and efficient prices to the customers when compared to the mainstream retailers which engage more customers and this gives them a pricing edge over other retailers.
2. Over all these years in the industry, Aldi has managed to build good relations with stakeholders. These relations, not Aldi, only ensure that there is no congestion in the supply chain and that its products are available easily to a large number of customers on time but also focus on promoting the company’s products and training. Its market presence in over 20 countries which includes 1600 stores in 11,234 areas helps for the same.
3. Aldi provides a high level of consumer satisfaction to its buyers by providing huge deals on general household items which cover over 25% of its portfolio advertised through a strong social media presence. The company has several unique product offerings that are not provided by its competitors. Apart from food and drinks, the firm also sells other discounted products, ensuring that customers have a wide range of products to choose from, while the company enjoys a consistent stream of revenues.

Weaknesses of Aldi

1. Companies like Aldi are always dependent on its sales volume for profit, so sometimes the organization engages in unethical practices. Employees have to work extra hours with more shifts and are generally paid less.
2. Despite its huge growth in 2020, Aldi is still lagging behind big fishes in the game when market share is compared. 2020’s stats show that Tesco’s market share is 26.9%, subsequently, Sainsbury’s market share is 14.9%, Asda’s 14.4%, and Morrison’s 10.1%
3. The company is often associated as a brand for inexpensive and low-grade items and is mostly preferred by low-wage families. It fails to cater to the middle class and high-class families, due to which its target audience becomes limited

Opportunities for Aldi

1. Aldi has the ability to grow its market shares in Australia and surpass the massive two supermarkets behemoths of Australia Woolworths and Coles. Also, a new brand name in the Australian market has the opportunity to create strong ties among states and cities.
2. Aldi’s earnings are likely to flourish continuously as the demand for food has increased drastically in this pandemic due to market uncertainties. A large number of customers are expected to get attracted to stores offering economical and budget pricing in this pandemic.
3. To attract a larger audience Aldi should also start providing high-quality products with increased prices as the demand of the consumer is growing day by day. It should also finance more advertising to keep up with the competition.

Threats to Aldi

1. Aldi faces a lot of competition from market leaders like Walmart, Tesco, Best Buy, Lidl, and the Australian market also faces huge competition from Old Players, Woolworths and Coles.
2. The growing industry of e-commerce jeopardizes the current market share of the retailing industry. For example, a large number of people nowadays prefer online shopping and deliveries rather than going to physical stores. It can lead to major shifts in market revenue.
3. Aside from the emerging global crisis due to the pandemic, Europe is flustered by the repercussions of Brexit. Overnight changes like these not only pose a threat to Aldi but other retailers too.

https://iide.co/case-studies/swot-analysis-of-aldi/

WAITROSE SWOT ANALYSIS

Waitrose Strengths

1. Waitrose has a royal warrant to supply groceries to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles
2. It has a substantial share of the market with over 300+ stores in UK
3. Waitrose’s advertising efforts are popular among the people in the country
4. Recent marketing has attempted to portray it as more ethical than its competitors
5. Waitrose is building up a brand identity worldwide by sponsoring English Cricket Team
6. Success of myWaitrose loyalty card, as a disruptive innovation
7. Close to 50,000 people employed with Waitrose company

Waitrose Weaknesses

1. Intense competition means price wars, hence lesser margins for Waitrose
2. Social media backlash regarding an article published in the magazine Waitrose Kitchen

Waitrose Opportunities

1. Success of its white based packaging of essential goods
2. Waitrose can take forward there “community matters” campaign to generate good word of mouth publicity
3. To gain more market share in coming times across various geographies
4. Building upon rich image heritage and expanding in more favorable markets

Waitrose Threats

1. Lagging behind the competition locally and globally
2. Increasing competition from ecommerce websites can affect the business
3. Poor economic situation in UK can hurt Waitrose’s business

https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/lifestyle-and-retail/13211-waitrose.html

ASDA SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength of Asda

1. Huge Range of Products – Asda has a wide range of products and services to the customers. They even provide financial services. Their various services include Asda Smart Price, Chosen By You, George Clothing, Asda Mobile, and Asda Money.
2. Extensive Distribution – Asda has about 25 distribution centers across the UK that distribute across the network of stores. These are used basically to store chilled foods, clothing, and ambient products like cereals and carbonated drinks.
3. ToYou Parcel Services – Apart from the extensive distribution network it has, Asda also provides the ToYou parcel service.
4. Excellent Marketing Campaigns – Asda is popular for its marketing campaigns that project its services and customer delight.
5. Good Connect – Asda maintains constant touch with their customers through social networking sites. It requests the customers to share their feedback; it conducts various competitions for the customers to relate to them and many more.
6. Acquisitions – Asda has strengthened its brand by means of various acquisitions.
7. Various Store Formats – Asda has various store formats like Asda Supercenters, Asda Superstores, Asda Supermarket, Asda Living, George Stores, Asda Essentials, and Asda Petrol.

Weaknesses of Asda

1. Limited Global Presence – Asda has few global presences as compared to its competitors. This is a major weakness for its business.
2. Restricted business entry – Asda’s ability to sell prices have basically restricted their entrance in few countries as they fear a strong competition from local vendors.
3. Dairy Price-Fixing – During the year 2007, Asda, along with few other retailers have admitted pricing fix on the dairy products. Due to the price-fixing operation, there was a huge loss to the consumers.
4. False Advertising – During the year 2010, a popular press ad for Asda was headed as “Lower price on everything you buy,” and a column headed saying “Lower prices than other supermarkets.” This has got the wrong image for the company.
5. Critics – There are some critics about the quality of the product given by Asda. This impacts the company’s reputation.
6. Horse Meat Scandal – During the year 2013, Asda has entered into a controversy where the DNA tests have relieved that the Asda’s Chosen By You fresh beef contains horsemeat. This is the first instance where meat adulteration scandal where horsemeat is being found in fresh meat.

Opportunities of Asda

1. Expansion into New Domains – The company can expand its business operations into many new areas like pharmacy, jewelry, photo department, and many more.
2. Expanding into Other Countries – The company can expand its business operations into other countries like India, China, and many more. This can help the brand to gain more visibility.
3. Acquiring Smaller Company – Acquisition of smaller-company can help Asda to expand its business operations.
4. Presence in Online Market – These days, more and more customers are expanding its business operations online. More and more customers tend to shop online in the UK. Hence, starting its online market sees a lot of opportunity for Asda’s business.
5. Long Term Goals – Asda has a strong long-term goal that mainly targets 100% recyclable package, 100% sustainably sourced fish, operational waste recycled for anaerobic digestion, and reduction in food wastage. This sees a lot of opportunity for business growth.

Threats in the SWOT Analysis of Asda

1. Price with other Retailer – Price war with other existing retailers is a big threat to the company.
2. Government Changing Policies – The policies of the government keep changing, and this is, in fact, a huge threat to the business.
3. Consistent Price Cut from their Competitor – A consistent price cut by their competitors would impact the Asda’s business.
4. Other Online Retailers – The existence of many online independent retailers is also a threat to the business.

https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-of-asda/

SAINSBURY SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths of Sainsbury’s

1. A Listed Company: Sainsbury’s is listed under the constituents of the London Stock Exchange. Being a public company listed on the stock exchange, people can easily buy their shares and trade as and when they want.
2. Great Customer Feedbacks: The company has been able to attract a lot of customers and managed to hold them back because of its high-quality products and customer relationship management. These customers leave behind great feedback resulting in high customer satisfaction.
3. Unique Strategies for Promotion: The strategies adopted by the company are innovative and can directly be pitted against the competitors. One of the strategies is Brand Match that is to pit each product sold by the brand with other brands which are its competitors like Aldi and Tesco. This comparison proves that their products are cheaper and of better quality.
4. Social Media & Online Presence: Sainsbury’s maintains healthy contacts with their customers on social media sites as well they ask for frequent feedback from them. They have plenty of brand acquisitions.

Weaknesses of Sainsbury’s

1. Fewer Margins: Not only is there a lot of competition but also the risk of online retailers which led to most retailers losing their volumes. As there is so much competition, Sainsbury’s is reducing the margin by keeping the prices lower to attract customers.
2. Increase in Prices: The pandemic has caused economic uncertainty and also resulted in a shortage of supplies. The company had to increase the prices due to cost increments. As a result, the sale prices dropped to a great extent.
3. Switching Brands: Usually, retail brands face a lot of risks from brand switching. String loyalty programs and promotions are held but still, Sainsbury’s finds it difficult to retain customers.
4. Expensive for Some Customers: Likewise, it isn’t as inexpensive as discounters which include Aldi. This is now no longer convincing for lots of customers.
5. Financial Instability: Sainsbury’s is facing huge financial losses for the past 2 years which results in decreasing annual revenue and net profit as compared to the year 2020.

Opportunities for Sainsbury’s

1. 24*7 Service: Self-checkouts automated technology should be introduced as Sainsbury’s has to serve the customers 24*7. This process would increase sales by making the process easier and more efficient.
2. Latest Trends: Sainsbury’s has successfully established a very large network in the UK. It witnesses an amazing opportunity for the company to develop an extra profit and new income streams and also diversify into new product variants. Now, the company should also expand its business in other countries, being the world’s largest consumer market with full potential and opportunities.
3. Growth in Villages: Years back, rural areas did not use branded products. Today, even village areas have categorized branded products as must-haves. This gives the retailers an opportunity for expansion.
4. Global Expansion: Going beyond the UK for opportunities is worth the effort! Although Sainsbury’s attempt to merge with Asda was blocked by the CMA (The Competition and Markets Authority), it is ready for other experiences too.
5. Economical Shift: There’s an economic uplift and customer prevalence within the company. More and more audiences have shifted their preferences to Sainsbury’s servicing. Sainsbury’s also converted their 5 to 6 focus DIY stores into convenient supermarkets.

Threats to Sainsbury’s

1. Covid19 Pandemic: In the year 2020, the Covid19 pandemic and the worldwide lockdown took place and led to the closing of many of Sainsbury’s stores across the UK because of which the annual revenue and the net income of the company dropped by 3.2% and 32.78%. After the pandemic, the period of economic recession started and the purchasing power of common people declined.
2. Globalization: The world is moving forward due to technological development. Many companies are by expanding their market to become global multinational brands. As the laws and regulations of countries are different from one another, it’s a great threat to the company in legal and expansion terms.
3. Competitors: Companies giving neck-to-neck competition to Sainsbury’s and competitors developing new technologies are genuine threats to the company. Sainsbury’s offers a variety of products in various categories. However, the niche-focused competitors in the different categories give tough competition and they attract a major share of the market demand.
4. Controversies: Sainsbury’s has been caught in several controversies such as dairy price-fixing, VAT avoiding scheme, environmental and ethical issues etc. and many more. Continuation of such controversies will no longer take Sainsbury’s to dilute in the market.
5. Rules & Regulations: The legal standards and new set of rules have created a major setback for Sainsbury’s, change in regulatory frameworks and introducing regulations to the organizations may have been a drawback for the company. Liability laws in different states must have created a threat to the product services of Sainsbury’s as per some policies of the countries.

https://pestleanalysis.com/sainsburys-swot-analysis/

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