The importance of marketing management for a company can be compared only to the general executive management and human resources management spheres. Among the main targets of the marketing department at any organization the following ones can be singled out: searching for new markets, preparation of the new markets for the company’s launching, identifying the main factors that will bring success to the company in this or that market, etc (Attwood, 2007).
As we can see, marketing plays a rather significant role in the development of every organization, and the current work is dedicated to the marketing research of the new policy by one of the largest retail traders in the world – the British company Tesco. Recently, Tesco has launched an initiative of retail grocery supermarkets under the brand name “Fresh & Easy” to the US markets. In this paper, we are going to examine the policies of Tesco in respect of its new supermarkets and to predict the rate of success that can be reached by Fresh & Easy supermarkets, if any.
To begin with, let us say that Tesco is one of the most highly-developed companies in the world in the sphere of retail trade. Subsidiaries and branches of Tesco can be found all over the world and have a lot of customers in many countries. Tesco strives for further development and its US expansion is another step towards the achievement of this goal. The grocery market in the United States is one of the most developed and one of the largest in the world; that is why it was decided by Tesco officials to continue the development of their company in this very direction.
Furthermore, Tesco purchased large areas where the new supermarkets were to b built and planned that the size of each of the stores will be about 1, 400 m² which is not the largest size in the USA but still a considerable area for retail trade. The assortment of goods that are now sold in the Fresh & Easy supermarkets owned by Tesco is not limited to the grocery but includes such things of everyday demand as bakery, liquor, pharmacy, and others.
Drawing from this, we can state that supermarkets that operate under the brand name Fresh & Easy are supplying the people in the areas of their location with all the necessary products for a living. But will they be successful? This is the question that we are to answer in the following paragraphs (Freshandeasy.com, 2008).
To answer this question, we should at first define which basic factors provide for the success of the new channel launched in the new and unfamiliar market. Among the most important factors, there are such ones as properly organized marketing of the company’s activities and their possible effect upon the newly introduced market, analysis of the supply and demand in the areas where then new supermarkets were to be erected, examination of overall market conditions, state of competition in this market and the close attention paid to the needs and wishes of customers in the areas, as well as access to the company’s information together with the company’s ability to gather and analyze the necessary information about all the above-enumerated factors (Chow.com, 2008).
In the Fresh & Easy supermarkets owned by Tesco, the situation with almost all these aspects seems to be well developed. As for the basic aspects, such as marketing organization, it is a quite high level of development as far as Tesco opened its supermarkets in the underserved area of the West Coast of the United States such as Oakland, Compton in California, Phoenix in Arizona, and some others. This allows us to state, that Fresh & Easy supermarkets will be another successful trading channel of Tesco. Besides, the analysis of the potential of the US underserved markets carried out by Tesco proved that Fresh & Easy will have a great field for work on and a considerable customer base (Los Angeles Times, 2007).
The study of market conditions, such as competition development as well as supply and demand showed that Tesco’s supermarkets will face little competition in the areas of their interest. Supply was also reported to be poor while demand for grocery and other consumer goods was constantly growing. All the above-considered factors allow us to predict the success of the new channels launched by Tesco to the United States markets, especially if we pay attention to the fact that work with customers and recruitment policies provide for the positive image of the supermarkets, create customer bases and new working places for the local population.
Nevertheless, there are factors that do not let us be sure of the absolute success of new channels introduced by Tesco. These factors are drawbacks to the company’s environmental policies and competition standards. Fresh & Easy supermarkets are criticized for lack of recycling programs, improper utilization of packages of their goods, and overall harmful effect of the stores upon the environment in the US states where the new supermarkets were opened.
This, in its turn, leads to the breaking of relationships with business partners of Tesco that do not want to spoil their image by cooperating with the company whose activities are severely criticized by society (Attwood, 2007). These factors demonstrate that the success of Fresh & Easy supermarkets in the USA depends greatly upon the improvements that are to be made by the managerial staff and executive officials of the company (The Economist, 2007).
To conclude, the new channels of trade introduced by Tesco to the US markets under the brand name of Fresh & Easy have all chances to become successful and develop into dominant retail traders in the country but to do this they have to make certain improvements to their environment and customer policies.
References
Attwood, K. (2007). Tesco’s partner in online home sales site pulls out. The Independent. Viewed at findarticles. Web.
Chow. (2008). Chow search results: “fresh and easy”. Web.
Freshandeasy. (2008), Home Page. Freshandeasy.com. Viewed at freshandeasy. Web.
Los Angeles Times, (2007). Where is South L.A.’s Fresh & Easy? Tesco has opened its first markets, but not in South L.A. Is the grocer’s commitment to ‘food deserts’ firm? Web.
The Economist, (2007). Briefing: Tesco. Fresh, but far from easy. Viewed at economist. Web.