Methods of analysis include examining the following: the company's marketing strategy, the percentage of its market share in comparison to 6 competitors, its position in the market over 5 consecutive years, its marketing goals and predictions or the future, its survival during 2008-2009 recession, company's turnover over 4 consecutive years, the percentage of its turnover in terms of 6 competitors, expectations of the future of I-J economy, and the firm's predicted turnover for 2012 and 2013.
Results demonstrate that John Lewis PL is performing well in both, the marketing and the financial perspectives.The UK economy, however, does not look very optimistic, since inflation is predicted to decrease below Bank of England's target and VAT taxes were forecasted to rise. Due to these circumstances, some commendations for John Lewis are to take all or most of taxes on itself and be aware of new entrants. The analysis as a whole, however, has a number of limitations, including the fact that the company's financial factors for 2011 are not available.
Also, the forecast for the British economy does not always remain constant, leaving the future unknown. In 1864, John Lewis opened a store on Oxford Street, which sold ribbons.Lewis later decided to expand his business and opened new stores in Cavendish Buildings, Holes Street and Oxford Street, as well as supplied more products, such as glass. His expansion continued and in 1905, Lewis acquired Peter Jones, which today supplies a wide range of products including cloth and household appliances.
In 1925, Lewis consolidated his business by launching his "Never Knowingly Undersold" slogan, which meant that if customers could find a similar product with a cheaper price in another store, John Lewis would refund the difference.Continuing to focus on expansion, in 1937, John Lewis acquired Waitress chain, which, at that time, consisted of 10 stores, and launched its website www. Johnnies. Com where consumers could purchase online. Today, John Lewis is a public limited company (PL) with 35 John Lewis stores and 272 Waitress supermarkets. The company employs approximately 76,500 people, who all collaborate in order to achieve E.
2 billion in annual gross sales. Moreover, John Lewis is one of the leading companies in United Kingdom from the financial and the marketing perspective.Performance from the Marketing Perspective: In order to make their customers aware of the quality and prices of their products, John Lewis invests heavily in marketing. In 2010, the company began advertising their slogan on Twitter and Backbone (Baker, 2010). Moreover, in attempt to appeal to their consumers, John Lewis launched a free Wife in all their stores, as well as built in-store spa's where clients could get a wide range of services, including manicure and facials (Baker, 2011).
John Lewis also expanded on an international level, building its stores in 25 European countries.Its spending in the sphere of marketing can also be seen with its EYE million investment in this year's Christmas advertisement, which was 38% greater than last year Jacobs, 2011). The following graph illustrates John Lexis's market position in relation to the Meany's 6 major competitors in the sphere of retail: As the graph demonstrates, Marks & Spencer are leading among other companies, in 2008, consisting of 36. 1%.
John Lewis remains the second company with the highest market share during both, 2008 and 2009. During both years, the company held a steady market share of 21. 5%.Deadbeats is the third company, having 16.
9% of the market in 2009. Even though John Lexis's market share did not increase from 2008 to 2009 as M&S and Deadbeats, this graph illustrates that the company holds a good market position, remaining on the second place among its 6 competitors. Apart from holding a stable market position, data from Minute demonstrates that John Lexis's market share is constantly increasing. The following graph illustrates the company's market share over 5 consecutive years: As the diagram shows, John Lexis's share in the retail market was constantly increasing from 2005 to 2008.In 4 years, the industry share rose by 1. 4%.
And even though from 2008 to 2009 its share in the market remained the same, it can be predicted that its market share will continues to rise in 2010 and 2011. This forecast can be Justified by the firm's aims to build more stores, as well as launch foreign engage websites for its European customers. Performance from the Financial Perspective: John Lexis's financial situation can be demonstrated by its actions performed during the 2008-2009 recession. During the 2008-2009 recession, inflation decreased to 0.
1%, harming the sphere of retail.The graph below illustrates John Lexis's operating profits over this period of time: As the graph illustrates, due to inflation, the firm's profits decreased from IEEE,500 to IEEE,700. In order to improve financial performance, the company increases sales for their clothing lines and promoted their Never Knowingly Undersold slogan. Apart from a decrease of operating profits in John Lewis stores, Waitress also suffered from the recession, with a 8.
4% decrease in profit. In order to increase consumption in this area, John Lewis invested EYE million and E million to lower prices and improve service.In order to decrease unemployment, the firm also invested into creating new jobs, and was able to employ 7,500 new workers. Apart from these investments, the firm expanded by opening more stores, and lowered prices for customers by taking the VAT tax on itself. All these changes, as the diagram illustrates, allowed the many to fight recession, and its operating profits increased to IEEE,700 by 2010.
Based on the company's turnover, John Lewis illustrates good economic performance. The diagram below shows the firm's turnover over 4 consecutive years: John Lexis's turnover tends to continuously increase from 2007 to 2010.In 2010, firm's turnover was which is by IEEE,200 greater than it was in 2009. And even though there is no data available for the year 2011, it can be assumed that the profit will continue to rise.
Demonstrated in the following diagram extracted from FAME database: The diagram shows 7 major retail companies and their 2011 turnover in percentage form. It indicates that M has the greatest turnover, accounting for 45. 82%. John Lewis is, again, on the second place with 34. 63%.
Deadbeats occupies the third place with 10. 40%, while House of Fraser, Harrows, Selfridges and Fenwick each remain with less than 3%.Since M is the only company that has a higher turnover, this data confirms that John Lewis is performing well financially in comparison to its competitors. Performance in the Future: The future of the UK economy does not look very optimistic for two reasons. First of al, the Bank of England predicted that from 2012 to 2013 inflation would decrease at a fast rate (Oxalate, 2011).
Today, the Bank of England accounts 2% as the target level of inflation in the country. And even thought it was predicted that inflation would decrease to 2% by the end of 2012, it was said that it could decrease even more in 2013 (Archer, 2011).Second of all, it was predicted that VAT tax would increase by 2. 5% (College, 2011). This action would, in turn, increase the products prices, lowering consumption and decreasing economic activity within I-J. By relying on its past financial performance, the company's future within the rebelliously mentioned economic changes can be forecasted.
During the 2008-2009 recession, John Lewis took measures to expand its business and lower prices, surviving the recession and increasing its operating profits in 2010.The company's turnover continued to increase from 2007 to 2010, illustrating that John Lewis is an economically stable industry. Moreover, the company's turnover in terms of other 6 competitors occupies the second place, with 34. 63%.
All these factors illustrate that John Lewis is likely to remain economically stable in the future, and survive the predicted rapid decrease of inflation. They are also likely to do well in terms of the rise of VAT, since they would probably acts as they did during recession, taking taxes on themselves rather than passing them on to consumers.The following graph illustrates the firm's predicted turnover in the future: John Lexis's turnover slightly decreased in 2008 due to recession, however, after the firm took measures, it began to continuously increase until 2011. Analyzing the firm's past economic activity, it can be predicted that in 2012 and 2013, the company's profits will continue to rise. Analysis illustrates that John Lewis PL is performing well in marketing and financial aspects, and appears to be very competitive in the sphere of retail.
In 2008 and 2009 John Lewis had a stable market share.Moreover, the firm had a higher market share than most of its competitors, which illustrates that it is occupying a good position in the market. The firm's economic activity also illustrates good results, since it survived during the recession and was able to rapidly increase their profits. John Lexis's turnover continued to increase over 4 consecutive years, and appeared higher than that of the majority of its competitors. Due to its success in retail business, only a people of recommendations can be drawn for the firm. First of all, if VAT will rise, the firm can take it on themselves, rather than passing it on to consumers.
