Tesco Marketing Activities

Tesco Monaghan regularly carries out surveys within the shopping centre and car parks, by encouraging customers to fill out a questionnaire. This helps Tesco Monaghan develop accurate, up to date, specific market information which they can use to help them make a decision.

Tesco usually employee a specialised company such as MINTEL to design the questionnaire at great expense, striving to get the best possible results and accuracy

For instance one survey which Tesco Monaghan carried out back in 2004, established that 56% of customers believed that supermarkets like Tesco were not doing enough to make their products more accessible to people with disabilities. Tesco were able to therefore target efforts to better and improve the accessibility of products to the disabled community. As a result of this Tesco Monaghan have now widened aisles for wheelchair use and made aisles shorter. Tesco Monaghan introduced training schemes to help staff deal better with the disabled customer.

Tesco Monaghan believes that as a result of that survey they are now the best, friendly provider of groceries to the disabled community and gained extra sales from their new genre of customers.

Tesco regard surveys as a useful tool but have also identified disadvantages associated with there use, mainly cost related.

Telephone Interview

Telephone interviews are very similar to face-to-face interviews but are usually much shorter and often require greater skill to get co-operation from the other party. Telephone interviews involve a member of staff from Tesco or an employed market research company contacting a customer whose views Tesco consider important and recording it.

Telephone interviews are very easy to administer although in order to get the co-operation from the other side skills are required, and an interviewer with such skills is usually expensive to employee. Telephone interviews are also very quick and an interviewer can conduct the interview from an office and input the quantitative results straight into a computer package. Telephone interviews are also noted for being more productive than face-to-face interviews with the majority of people, as people often tend to be more honest when in the comfort of their own home.

Telephone interviews are cost effective and are convenient for both parties. Another attribute of a telephone interview is the fact that a particular market can be directly contacted within a matter of minutes. Telephone interviews can also be recorded with the permission of the interviewee and can be thoroughly analysed at a later stage. This analysis can allow Tesco to examine the interview further and examine other factors rather then just the answers. This may include response time and reactions to certain questions. These results can give Tesco a competitive advantage over their competitors and help them maintain their market position.

Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a document designed by or on behalf of a firm to gain information. A questionnaire is usually a detailed document consisting of a number of questions. The answer fields are usually prewritten and the answer usually only needs to be circled. This helps reduce the time taken to complete a questionnaire and encourages people to partake.

An example of an actual questionnaire used by Tesco Monaghan is located in the Appendix C. This questionnaire was designed and carried out by 'Behaviour and Attitudes Limited'. They are an independently owned market research company, established in 1985 and currently the market leaders in Ireland. This questionnaire consists of 21 questions spread over 5 pages, there is also a clarification section located on page 6 asking the respondent for some personal details.

This questionnaire is very detailed and is specially designed for Tesco Monaghan. It lists appropriate questions and appropriate answers.

When all the questionnaires are completed 'Behaviour and Attitudes Limited' can analyse the results and provide Tesco with a response to information they asked to gain. Therefore as a result of carrying out this questionnaire analysis Tesco were able to establish unique, up-to-date, specialist information relevant to their firm shop. Having gained this unique information first hand Tesco could make changes to their firm in order to meet customer needs detailed and thus maximise sales, performing at a greater velocity then competitors. As a result of this questionnaire Tesco would have been also able to identify shopping dissatisfaction factors which may be hindering their main aim of gaining lifetime loyalty of customers. Therefore as a result may have sustained the loyalty of customers and established new loyalty from new customers.

Although questionnaires are specially designed to answer direct questions the firm has they are not cheap. In fact a research activity such as, carried out by 'Behaviour and Attitudes Limited' is charged at €15,000. Therefore for many firms it is not an option to use such a technique to gain information.

On the plus side for firms like Tesco which can afford to spend this money on research, they will gain specialist information, collaborated and analysed by the leading professionals. Therefore in theory they should have a great tool which they can use to compete better with competitors in the Monaghan area.

Focus Groups

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, advertisement or idea, Questions are asked in an interactive group where participants are free to talk with other group members.

Tesco Monaghan conducted a focus group study back in 2001 when they were re designing their store. I know this as my mother was actually part of the focus group as was asked to be whilst shopping in Tesco one day.

As part of the focus group she was asked to attend a meeting which was held in a local hotel in Monaghan. When she arrived she was directed into a conference room where about 15 other shoppers were seated. When all the shoppers that were invited had arrived the research commenced.

There were 3 members from Tesco Monaghan management present with one of them asking the majority of the questions to the group. All of the group were encouraged to give their honest opinions and thoughts on the questions. On this particular occasion my mother recalled questions such as the ones listed below being asked:

* What do you think of the current design, position and layout of the meat counter?

* Where do you usually start shopping in our store?

* What do you think of the layout of the fruit and vegetables section? Any ideas for improvements.

* What do you think of the service provided by our staff?

* Why do you shop in other stores?

All of the questions were asked in a very informal matter and there was a very comfortable atmosphere in the room, encouraging the group to be honest and frank.

All of the responses and comments were recorded by the Tesco staff and the whole thing was conducted in less than 40 minutes. When the group were leaving they were giving a thank you pack which contained €40 in cash among other thank you gifts.

Since this study took place my mother said she has noticed a great change in the fruit and vegetables section in the store. One of the main arguments which arose during the conference was the fact that many people found there was a lack of selection in the fruit and vegetables section late in the evening. Now however when my mother does her shopping late in the evening there is a good supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. This is one example of how Tesco Monaghan has listened to the customers and made changes to meet their needs.

Focus groups are considered a very useful research tool, but however are usually quite costly. Also in order to conduct such as study it is vital that a comfortable atmosphere is created otherwise people present may not feel comfortable contributing.

Observation

Tesco Monaghan use observation as a primary research method in the form of observational research. This usually involves a member of the Tesco staff of a third party research company observing the actions of the customers. This may take the form of this person reviewing CCTV for the store. A key advantage of this form of research is the fact that the customer is usually unaware that they are being observed and so act naturally.

It is debatable that all the other forms of primary research can be slightly flawed due to the possibility that the customer is giving the interviewer the answer they want to hear. However this is not a possibility with observational research and the results/trends recorded tend to be very factual.

Observational research was used in Tesco Monaghan to examine the direction which the majority of shoppers took. A member of a market research company examined a number of CCTV footage for the store spread over a year. They traced the movements of particular customers throughout the store and recorded them on a structured checklist. The results did display favourable routes and Tesco were able to concentrate promotions and advertisements on these routes.

Therefore as a result of completing such Tesco Monaghan were able to establish where in store an advertisement in the form of a poster would be best placed. As a result of the positioning of this poster it was able to have the maximum possible impact on customers.

Other factors are also examined by Tesco Monaghan in the form of observational research, for example browsing behaviour.

Test Marketing

Test Market is a very expensive form of market research which usually takes the form of Tesco introducing a new product and recording sales in order to establish the feasibility of taking on a new line of stock. In theory taking small financial risks (conducting test) to determine effectiveness before making a bigger financial commitment.

An example of how Test Marketing is used in Tesco Monaghan is through the creation of small temporary stalls in-store selling particular products. They are usually very colourful, well placed and attract the customers attention. For example just a couple of months ago when I was shopping in Tesco Monaghan I noticed that there was a small stall dedicated to selling locally produced chocolate products. It was very colourful and the chocolates looked very appealing. The stall was placed at the front doors of Tesco and all customers were walking past it. The prices were clearly visible and there was a poster say 'try new locally produced chocolates, only 99c'. The stall was attracting lots of attention from customers and I would estimate one in every four customers were putting some of the chocolate into their basket.

Clearly Tesco Monaghan had made a small financial commitment with this firm and purchased some of their stock. Tesco then tried their best to establish the market for this product in their store by creating this stall and attracting attention.

Since then all of these chocolates are now available on the shelves all over the store at most of the tills. Clearly as a result of conducting this test, Tesco were able to identify a market for this product and so must have made a commitment with the firm, thus purchasing more stock.

This is one example of Test Market study which was successful for Tesco however you can imagine the implications for the store had the product not sold. They would have been left with boxes of chocolates which they could not sell which would probably pass there sell by date and be dumped. Therefore Tesco would have been out lots of money and wasted time on a product which would not sell.

Secondary Research

Secondary research also known as desk research involves the use of existing research rather that primary research. It involves analysing data which has been collected by another party for instance the National Statistics Office. The main advantage of secondary research is the fact that it is virtually free unless purchasing reports from research companies. However this data is not specialist, is usually out dated and normally does not focus on a specific market. Competitors also have access to this same information so it may be of little advantage in the fight for the customer's purse. The information may not also be accurate and should be first checked to ensure it is valid information.

Secondary research can take many forms including:

* Mintel published reports

* Government statics

* Chamber of commerce reports

* Information published on the internet

Mintel Published Reports

Mintel is a privately owned London based market research company. They have offices all over the world and have been in business since 1972. They employ over 500 employees and are regarded as one of the best market research companies.

They work both from themselves by identifying a market with little related information and work directly for clients. All their reports are available on their website and are only accessible by purchasing them at a cost of £500+.

Their reports are regarded as very high standard and are written by professionals who conduct research. Their reports contain information related to a specific market and include information such as:

* Issues in the market • Strengths and Weaknesses in market

* Industry Insights • Retail competitor analysis

* The consumer • Market forecasts

The analysis of the market is well structured with most areas covered it the report with in-depth factual information.

Tesco Monaghan could for instance purchase a report for instance on the 'sale of electrical goods in Ireland' pre expanding their electrical stock range. From this report they could examine trends in the market, competition in general, consumer habits and other relevant information which may impact their decision to expand their range. In the long run this report could help Tesco Monaghan make the right decision and could save them time and money which could be spent on other ventures.

Government Statistics

Government statistics refers to official data published by the government of a country. Such information could include the level of unemployment, average income etc.

In Ireland Government statistics are published by the Central Statistics Office.