Microsoft Word - Corporate Strategy1

Resource Audit of Waitrose Supermarkets

Matthew Stewart

Introduction

The John Lewis Partnership is a top ten UK retail business incorporating 26 John Lewis Department

Stores and 197 Waitrose Supermarkets; in addition, it has a significant online shopping presence

through Johnlewis.com, WaitroseDeliver, and Ocado, of which the partnership owns approximately

20%. Further divisions of the Partnership include a direct services company (Greenbee: selling

insurance, tickets and travel), a textiles manufacturer and a 4,000 acre farm. In the year to April

2008, total turnover was £6.8 billion.

In contrast to a typical PLC, where traditionally the key goal is to maximise shareholder value, the

Partnership is:

‘dedicated to the happiness of staff through their worthwhile secure and satisfying employment in a

successful business’ John Lewis Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 2008, p1.

In all, the Partnership employs approximately 70,000 “Partners” who collectively own the business

through shares held in trust for their benefit, where benefit is held to be “the sharing of gain,

knowledge and power” (John Spedan Lewis, cited by Street, 2005).

Gain: In 2008 each partner was awarded with a bonus of 20% of their annual salary: the highest in

recent years.

Knowledge: The Partnership has very transparent corporate communication and it is part of the

management’s responsibility to inform partners of the company’s activities and performance.

Power: Partnership executives are accountable to a network of elected councils, formed of partners

from all areas of the business. The councils have recently voted to reduce the qualifying period for

their non-contributory final salary pension scheme from five to three years (Finch, 2008). The council

ultimately has the power to remove the Partnership’s Chairman from office.

In providing partners with these benefits see Fig 1, the Partnership seeks to secure commitment

from its members and believes that: Figure 1. ( Source JLP CSR 2008)

“the commitment of partners to the business is a

unique source of competitive advantage which

has underpinned more than 75 years of

profitable growth and a reputation amongst

customers and suppliers unparalleled in the UK

Retail industry” John Lewis Partnership Annual

Report and Accounts 2008, p1

Regardless of the area of the business, value,

choice, service and honesty, are seen to be

crucial to the Partnership’s success. In 2007 and

2008 Waitrose and John Lewis were the top two

retail companies in Vedict’s Customer

Satisfaction Index. (Verdict, 2008)

John Lewis and Waitrose share ideology, corporate structure and a number of central departments,

but they retain their own identities by independently operating in what could generally be described

as the “department store” and “supermarket” sectors of the retail market. The definition of these

sectors is, however becoming increasingly blurred as supermarkets in particular, diversify in to many

non-food areas previously the preserve of the specialists and the department stores. This has been

driven by Tesco and Aldi in particular (Johnson et al 2006) and is demonstrated in the four Waitrose

“food and Home” branches, which in addition to their usual assortment also sell a wide range of

John Lewis’s bestselling homeware, electrical and electronics lines. To complicate things further, a

food hall has recently opened in John Lewis’s flagship Oxford Street branch, selling a wide range of

Waitrose’s premium lines.

According to Johnson et al (2006), Physical, financial, human and intellectual resources form the

Foundations of strategic capability. This paper will seek, through the use of the PESTEL, Porter’s Five

Forces and SWOT analysis to assess the resources of Waitrose and identify which, if any, give

Waitrose a strategic advantage in the Supermarket sector.

Waitrose and John Lewis are inextricably linked within the “John Lewis Partnership”, and so this

paper will refer to “Partnership” when statements pertain to both divisions and “Waitrose” where a

statement is unique to Waitrose only.

PESTEL

Within the Macro environment it is likely that today’s unprecedented economic climate will impact

on every influence within the PESTEL framework. In his most recent Treasury Committee statement

(25th

November 2008), Mervyn King, The Governor of the Bank of England stated:

“In the past two months, a remarkable set of events has transformed the outlook for the UK and

global economies”

The same grim statement summarises the events as:

“the most serious financial crisis since the outbreak of the Great War.... The flow of lending to

households and businesses has been severely disrupted. Confidence has been badly affected....

there was a significant fall off in demand coming into the fourth quarter.... the UK economy

probably entered a recession in the second half of 2008... unemployment has been rising at its

fastest rate for seventeen years.,,, Oil prices have collapsed by around two thirds since the

summer, and the price of metals on world markets has halved.” King, 2008

Political:

The fallout from the financial crisis has led to significant changes in government policy. In the six

months to December 2008 the UK government has effectively nationalised a number of large

banks, reduced stamp duty on house sales, reduced interest rates to their lowest point in 57

years and reduced VAT by 2% (bbc.co.uk). Each measure represents an attempt to prop up the

failing economy.

In April 2008, The government reduced corporation tax from 30% to 28% (JLP Annual Report

2008) and although this will assist Waitrose in the short term, many observers have suggested

that taxation will have to increase again to fund the current levels of government borrowing

(The independent, Kirkup, J).

In 2007 John Lewis and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs agreed a scheme to allow partners

to receive their bonus tax free, provided it was invested in the scheme for five years. This

followed government policy changes in 2000 which meant that the bonus no longer received

preferential treatment. (Rowley, 2007)

Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for Town Centres, prioritises the retail development of

town centres above out of town development. This aligns closely with the Waitrose model (JLP

Annual Report, 2008) and could prove useful especially as “more towns see Waitrose as a prize”

according to Stuart Hampson, cited by Duff (2005).

The next election must happen before summer 2010, and many expect a change of government.

This adds further uncertainty to the mix.

Economic

The tumultuous change in the economic environment spells recession. The likely impact that the

government’s recent actions will have on the extent of the recession is still unknown, and it is

therefore difficult to predict the extent to which Waitrose will be affected.

Fig 2. Shows that in the 18 weeks to 29 November, sales at Waitrose were up slightly year on

year. It should be noted however, that Waitrose has opened a number of new branches in the

previous year, so once these are removed it is likely that sales/ft2 would be down on last year.

Indeed some commentators (The Times, The Independent) have suggested that Waitrose,

sometimes referred to as the upmarket “Grocer for the Middle Classes” (Walker 2006) may be

losing market share to Aldi and Asda, generally considered to be budget supermarkets. It is

possible; however that falling mortgage rates and lower fuel costs will eventually reverse this

trend as disposable income (among those not made redundant) rises.

Waitrose has responded to the recession by investing £30 million in price cuts, and the heavy

promotion of its “As good as going out” range, in the hope that customers will substitute eating

in with going out. Sales of the range are reported to be up 33% (JLP Interim Report)

In recent months, there has been a significant fall in the price of many commodities including basic

foodstuffs and fuel. This should aid Waitrose and Ocado’s ability to drop prices further, through

lower direct and distribution costs.

The “Credit Crunch” has effectively made it more difficult for individuals and businesses to raise

loans. This is likely affect the Partnership’s drive for growth through new branches, as many retail

developments have been put on hold by their developer (Hipwell, 2008) either because of lack of

funding, lower rental values or perceived increases in risk.

Fig 2. (Source: www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk)

Sociocultural

AB and C1 consumers account for 60% of spend in Waitrose compared with a market average of 47%

and Waitrose’s customer age profile is skewed towards the 45-64 group (Scottish food and Drink

2006). In the long term, therefore, Waitrose could be expected to benefit from the UK’s aging

population and tendency towards economic development.

With increasing awareness of sustainability issues, recent years have seen significant growth in the

organic and fair trade foods. Although Waitrose only has an overall market share of 3.9%, its share in

the organic market stands at 18% and fair trade 8.6%. In the wake of the financial crisis, however,

48% of organic shoppers claim they will reduce or even give up buying organic food (telegraph). This

may reduce the incentive to shop in Waitrose in favour of cheaper competitors with a less significant

organic range.

Technology

The key technological concern to supermarkets is the continued growth of internet shopping:

internet shopping growth is ten times higher than the traditional market according to Thompson,

2008. Including sales through Ocado, Waitrose currently holds 20% of the online grocery market

share. The recently extended five year contract between Waitrose and Ocado is geared to allow

Ocado to concentrate its efforts within the M25, where it is the market leader, and to allow

WaitroseDeliver to concentrate on other areas (Smith, 2008)

Environment

The Government has set clear targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions, and these will have a

significant impact on the supermarket industry. The Partnership has stated its commitment to

achieving its own targets in line with the government, and is seeking to accurately measure its

progress. (JLP Annual Report 2008).

The Partnership has a number of policies aimed at ensuring environmental sustainability, in

particular it is leading the industry in the implementation of “green IT” (Ilet, 2008) and has

developed a framework for the sustainable construction of its new stores in association with “Forum

for the Future” to ensure that its new stores meet the BREAAM “excellent” status (JLP CSR 2008) The

Partnership has won numerous awards for its approach to CSR (JLP CSR 2008).

Legal

The Competition Commission recently reported that some supermarkets were restricting entry

into some localised markets by holding land banks that could otherwise be utilised by a

competitor. The Competition Commission recommended the implementation of a new planning

policy which will favour new entrants to the local market. In addition they would insist on the

release of the supermarket’s land banks in areas identified as a problem. (Competition

Commission, 2008) As a smaller operator in the grocery market this legislation could provide

new opportunities for growth for Waitrose as new sites become available.

Porter’s Five Forces

Competitive rivalry

The UK supermarket sector is fiercely competitive, led by the “big four”: Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and

Morrisons, who in 2007 accounted for approximately 65% of the market (see fig.3). Tesco is the

market leader in the UK and also has a significant presence abroad. Tesco has come under attack for

its aggressive tactics for growth, including land banking as mentioned above.

Sainsbury’s has traditionally been Tesco’s main competitor, but major investment in Asda from its

US owner Wallmart has enabled Asda to overtake Sainsbury in recent years. The take-over of

Safeway by Morrisons, following an investigation by the Competition Commission enabled Morrisons

join the other big players in 2003 (Competition Commission, 2003, Cope, 2003).

Waitrose is seen as operating at the premium end of the supermarket with Marks and Spencer.

Waitrose has recently indicated that it will target the convenience store market, following successes

by Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer. (Thompson, 2008)

Fig 3. (Source: Competition Commission, 2008)

Barriers to entry

The UK Supermarket sector is well developed, and has a small number of successful companies who

account for the vast majority of the total market. Each of the major players has strong brand

recognition, with smaller well respected and well known British companies such as Waitrose, M&S,

and the foreign Aldi and Netto specialising in the premium and value ends of the market

respectively.

Coupled with the significant investment required to set up and market a supermarket, along with

the significant economies of scale and aggressive tactics employed by the existing companies, the

barriers to entry are very high.

Threat of Substitutes

The key substitution effect in the industry is the move from shopping in stores to shopping online.

With the exception of Ocado, all of the major online supermarkets are operated by bricks and

mortar supermarkets. It is questionable whether Ocado could have succeeded without the support

of Waitrose, but as Ocado grows it becomes more feasible that it could eventually become

independent. This may explain the continued growth of WaitroseDeliver in tandem with Ocado.

Buyer Power

Buyer power is particularly high in the supermarket industry, largely because the market is very

competitive and people are increasingly mobile. With the impending recession it is increasingly likely

that customers will follow the supermarket offering best value. Waitrose has a particular reputation

for strong customer loyalty, and it is possible that it’s niche for quality and service may improve

customer loyalty, but with it’s reputation for quality comes a reputation for being expensive, which

may cause problems in a recession.

Supplier Power

Supplier power is low, because of limited differentiation, particularly in dry goods, where products

can be almost generic. This has led to loss leader marketing of essential lines such as bread in order

to try and differentiate by price. Waitrose has typically tried to differentiate through quality and

ethics in order to appeal to its premium market segment.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: SWOT

Strengths

Reputation: Waitrose and the John Lewis Partnership as a whole have an excellent reputation both

with customers and suppliers. Waitrose has shared the top two positions in the Verdict Customer

Satisfaction Index with John Lewis for a number of years. Waitrose has avoided the controversy

surrounding price fixing that has afflicted the larger supermarkets (Competition Commission) and

with its “Supporting British Farmers” campaign has exploited its position. Indeed the National

Farmers Union has declared it “is delighted that the supermarket (Waitrose) has recognised the

importance of paying sustainable prices to farmers” (NFU). Its close alignment with John Lewis

Department stores strengthens its reputation further.

Its ability to do things differently, do them well and market them right is valuable in differentiating

its stores from the competition.

Structure: The corporate structure of the John Lewis Partnership is unique for a company of its size

in the UK, and its emphasis on its employees earns it much admiration in the press, Collins, 2007,

remarked:

“This business would seem to be a model for others, but there’s nothing like it on the high street. To

build a big retail business today needs extraordinary nerve, lots of capital and huge energy. It’s hard

to imagine Philip Green, say, deciding to give Topshop to the workforce rather than leaving the

empire to Tina. Even if he did, the temptation to cash it all in might prove impossible for his former

shopgirls to resist.” (http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/the-magazine/business/202996/the-new-senior-

partner-sets-out-his-stall.thtml)

The Partnerships reputation is often seen as a function of its unique structure, and this goes against

much economic literature, where shareholder gain is seen as the primary motivation for a company

and that extending worker participation with group rewards could reduce motivation and lead to a

loss of central control. (Bradley et al)

The ownership model, according to the JLP Chairman, enables ‘the superior product and service

which flows from partners’ involvement in their own business.’ JLP Annual Report, 2008, p15

The close alignment with the JLP corporate structure and John Lewis Department stores has meant

that intellectual resources at board level are particularly strong, given Waitrose’s size as an

individual entity.

Ethics: Ethical treatment of suppliers, customers, staff and the local environment have been at the

core of the JLP culture for many years. There has been an acknowledged growth in the importance

of the “Triple bottom Line” in business in recent years, and whilst many companies seek to present

their ethics well in their CSR, they do not always practice as well as they preach (Balch). As

customers are likely to become increasingly concerned about sustainability in the future JLP is well

placed to win the trust of new customers as well its existing loyal base.

Weaknesses

Scale: Waitrose is a relative minnow when compared to the big four supermarket groups. In the past

this has made it difficult to find sites suitable for expansion (as highlighted by the Competition

Commission). Waitrose’s size will also have limited the economies of scale available to it. Waitrose is

not yet a fully national supermarket chain, and its background is firmly seated in the Home Counties,

although it has begun to open new stores in the North and a new distribution centre has recently

opened in Bardon, Leicestershire.

Price: Waitrose is typically seen to be more expensive than all of its competitors (with the exception

of M&S) and this has been highlighted in many articles in the wake of the “credit crunch”(Hickman,

Hawkes) , despite the claims of Waitrose management:

“we cannot be complacent and have invested nearly £30m in ensuring prices on everyday lines are as

competitive as Sainsbury's and Tesco - and cheaper than the discounters in some areas - but without

compromising the quality of our products” Price, 2008 (www.guardian.co.uk)

The perception of being expensive is often supported by “Shopping Basket Surveys” carried out by

the ONS: In September they reported that Waitrose was 18 % more expensive than Asda and 15%

more expensive than Tesco (Hickman, 2008).

Not being able to compete with Tesco and Asda on price alone is not necessarily a weakness,

providing it is able to compete effectively on quality and service. The apparent contradiction of

Waitrose management and regular surveys on the matter of price could, however, harm the

reputation of Waitrose as an “honest trader”.

Opportunities

New branches: The opportunity to extend Waitrose’s reach beyond its traditional market in the

South East is a real one, particularly in light of the Competition Commissions report, and the

preferential treatment that smaller chains such as Waitrose may receive through the new planning

regime. In response to this, Waitrose have begun to roll out a new smaller format “market town”

branch, which aims to utilise more local produce on its shelves, (Barkham) In addition to city centre

“convenience stores”.

The Waitrose demographic also provides further opportunities for growth.

Internet: Internet shopping is the fastest growing area of retailing, and Waitrose is well placed to

take advantage of this with its partner, Ocado and its own Waitrose Deliver service.

Overseas: Waitrose has entered a licensing deal with Spinneys in Dubai, which will see the

established Spinneys supermarket brand rebranded as Waitrose. Many Middle Eastern cities now

have huge Ex-patriot populations, and this could prove a useful diversification, particularly when the

UK economy is suffering. (Singh)

Increased differentiation through quality and service: While many of its competitors become

increasingly price competitive, there may be opportunities for Waitrose to differentiate itself from

them further, by strengthening potential customers expectations of the Waitrose shopping

experience. With falling fuel prices and mortgages, disposable incomes may already have started to

rise again for many people.

Threats

Economic uncertainty: The John Lewis Partnership has an “upmarket” reputation, and given that the

trend in the economy for the past 50 years has been for increased wealth, “upmarket “could have

been considered a solid area for growth in the mid to long term during that entire period.

Recent events in the economy have been unprecedented, and there is now a level of uncertainty

that hasn’t been felt for generations. It is too early yet if the government’s actions will yield results,

but in the short term it looks as if Waitrose may suffer at the hands of cheaper competitors.

Such uncertainty is the chief threat because it is very difficult to plan for. Should Waitrose drop its

prices and threaten its valuable “premium” brand, or develop and market its reputation for quality

and service and hope that the economy doesn’t get too bad to sustain its higher prices?

Money Supply: The Partnership had its sights set on rapid expansion. Its plans may be thwarted to

some extent by the impact of the Credit Crunch and the availability of loans for development.

Conclusion – Unique Resources and Competitive Advantage

Waitrose is part of a corporation unlike any other in the UK. Its guiding principle, that it is there for

the benefit of the employees, sets it apart from the usual business models, and certainly from its

competitors.

Although Waitrose remains a fairly small entity within the supermarket sector, it has a reputation for

quality and service far exceeding that of its competitors, and it is not difficult to surmise that this is

at least in part the result of its unique corporate structure and the impact this has on the motivation

and attitude of its employees.

The reputation for quality and service clearly differentiates Waitrose from the big four supermarket

chains and appears to give Waitrose some upward flexibility in its pricing.

The Waitrose demographic, perhaps alongside that of M&S also sets it apart from the bigger players,

which are more typically associated with families. The ageing population is certain to shift more

people in to Waitrose’s favour.

Much of Waitrose’s success can be aligned with its reputation as a premium brand. The key concern

for Waitrose in the near future is likely to be maintaining a premium brand in very uncertain times.

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