Business Strategy: Case Study: Waitrose

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Register to read the introduction… The company Waitrose faced two political environments, one in the United Kingdom and the other in South Africa. The government was stable in the UK and in South Africa but there was still different in many ways, which in turn create drivers of change. South Africa was chosen by the company to outsource its citrus fruits. In order to maintain the quality of products Waitrose created a Foundation in South Africa for the welfare of the farmers. The trade policies, foreign trade regulations were favourable for the growth of Waitrose as the company believed in quality and honest pricing; they also hold a Royal Warrant with Queen. The political factors are very important for Waitrose because maximum of its seasonal products are imported, thus they have to abide by the laws of the home country as well as the exporting …show more content…
With the help of John Lewis, Waitrose strengthened its supply chains and economies of scale. With the introduction of self scanning in some stores it reduced its cost and provided better services to the consumer. Waitrose reduced costs in many ways, for example the internal transport system of Waitrose with the help of high end technology reduced their gas cost and saved a lot of money. This internal factor was used by Waitrose for maximum benefit.
The consumers of Waitrose were loyal to the company. All credit should be given to the working culture and brand image of the company. "I must personally get 50 letters a week from people saying 'when are you going to open in our town?'" says Waitrose managing director Mark Price. "We don't so much have customers, as fans." (www.guardian.co.uk).

This shows us the loyalty and love for Waitrose from their customers who are ready to buy their products at a higher price. It difficult for new competitors to enter the market and challenge Waitrose because of the image it holds in the eyes of the consumer. There are companies entering the UK market, and there is a potential threat to Waitrose. For example Wal-Mart took over Azda a few years back. But Waitrose is to an extent on the safer side due to the goodwill they hold in the
…show more content…
The backbone of Waitrose is to maintain the quality and brand equity of the company. The company has loyal employees as well as customers. As they were a part of the John Lewis Partenership the profits of the company were shared by the employees of the firm. This was a added incentive for the employees which would help in deriving a better performance from them. Waitrose is not established all over UK and has market share of almost 4%. Waitrose had a limited range of products, but they mastered the selling and sourcing of those products.It does not compete with the companies like Tesco and Sainsbury, it targets a select market and maintains it hold over its consumers. Waitrose abides by all the laws of the country and holds a environment friendly image in the eyes of the consumer. The targeted customers are the upper socio-economical class. They used SEDEX to help them in perfecting their knowledge about their suppliers so that they do not have any problem in the future. Whatever strategies, policies, structures they followed and implemented were for the long term benefit of the

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