Introduction
Sainsbury’s plc is a UK multinational company that deals primarily in grocery retail and offers other services in financial and real estate sector. In the late 90s, the company decided to expand its operations to Egypt. This factor was prompted by several factors including the fact that Walmart, the leading retailer in the world, has opened its stores in the UK and the need to compete on a global scale by having a larger market share. Therefore, the company decided to venture in to Egypt, an emerging economy with a high growth rate percentage compared to many European countries at the time and one that less international competitors to compete with. This paper discusses whether Egypt was a good choice to invest in using various …show more content…
There were Anti-Semitic views that led to the wrongful targeting of individuals and organizations that were assumed to belong to Jews. This led to “media denunciation of Sainsbury’s competitive pricing policy” and accusations by some sections of the supermarket’s monopolistic tendencies (Sebora, et al. 2014, p. 9). In addition, a cartel of Egyptian retailers who were able to source for products prices similar to Sainsbury’s was created. Despite Sainsbury’s partnership with The Edge, it did not receive the political goodwill of the government during times of crisis. The socio-cultural aspects of the country also made Sainsbury’s growth problematic. Foremost, the country is an Islamic state and the supermarket had to adjust a lot of things such as store deign in order to fit in with the local culture. The country lacked the adequate infrastructure such as road and communication network to promote efficient operations. There was also a high-retail stratification that increased the cost of operation. Lastly, even though Egypt did not have foreign supermarkets during the time, local supermarkets such as Ragab Sons and Alfa posed as
Sainsbury’s plc is a UK multinational company that deals primarily in grocery retail and offers other services in financial and real estate sector. In the late 90s, the company decided to expand its operations to Egypt. This factor was prompted by several factors including the fact that Walmart, the leading retailer in the world, has opened its stores in the UK and the need to compete on a global scale by having a larger market share. Therefore, the company decided to venture in to Egypt, an emerging economy with a high growth rate percentage compared to many European countries at the time and one that less international competitors to compete with. This paper discusses whether Egypt was a good choice to invest in using various …show more content…
There were Anti-Semitic views that led to the wrongful targeting of individuals and organizations that were assumed to belong to Jews. This led to “media denunciation of Sainsbury’s competitive pricing policy” and accusations by some sections of the supermarket’s monopolistic tendencies (Sebora, et al. 2014, p. 9). In addition, a cartel of Egyptian retailers who were able to source for products prices similar to Sainsbury’s was created. Despite Sainsbury’s partnership with The Edge, it did not receive the political goodwill of the government during times of crisis. The socio-cultural aspects of the country also made Sainsbury’s growth problematic. Foremost, the country is an Islamic state and the supermarket had to adjust a lot of things such as store deign in order to fit in with the local culture. The country lacked the adequate infrastructure such as road and communication network to promote efficient operations. There was also a high-retail stratification that increased the cost of operation. Lastly, even though Egypt did not have foreign supermarkets during the time, local supermarkets such as Ragab Sons and Alfa posed as