High Street Retail case study. JD (John David Group) is a well renowned store, which sells top quality sportswear and many fashionable accessorises.

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JD (John David Group) is a well renowned store, which sells top quality sportswear and many fashionable accessorises. It was founded by John David in 1981 and the first store opened in Bury. The CEO of JD is Barry Colin and Peter Cowgill is the chairman. JD sells exclusive brands such as Mc Kenzie and K-Swiss. It now has more than 430 outlets, and operates in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The Pentland Group Plc owns 57% of the company since 2005. JD is mainly aimed at teenagers aged 13-19, but nevertheless attracts many other age groups also. Most JD stores are located in areas such as Surrey Quays, Lewisham, Brixton and Peckham and Oxford Street. JD closed down non profitable stores in order to increase profit.

 

Aims & Objectives

Every business has aims and objectives. JD aims to make profits, in order to make profits JD has to set smart targets, which are practical objectives which have to be achieved. It breaks down the objectives into achievable targets. The targets have to be specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant and time specific (SMART) in order to be accomplished.

In order to be successful JD should set out aims and objectives, looking back at last year’s success. For example looking back at JD’s success which made revenue of £300m and £12.4m in operating profit. The company can now set further targets that need to be achieved in a relevant amount of time. It is likely that they would like to increase their turnover and operating profit. For example there aim could be to reach £360m and £12.7m in operating profit by 2010.

Their objectives which lead up to their goals could be to:

  • open new stores
  • expand existing stores
  • introduce loyalty or store cards
  • introduce wider stock
  • open concessions
  • buy out a rival company
  • update website regularly- online shopping
  • set individual targets for employees

If JD sports were to introduce loyalty or store cards, they could attract potential customers by offering points each time when they spend in store. If they were to offer points and rewards for shopping at their stores then this could also encourage customers to shop again and therefore help increase sales.

If they were to close down non-profitable shops and open them in affluent areas. This could have an impact on JD’s sales as people would be more likely to spend if they are confident about their future prospects.

JD sports could benefit by expanding their existing stores as they would be able to display more items on shop floor which can grab, the customer’s attention and therefore increase sales.

By setting individual targets for employees to achieve, can help JD sports achieve their aims, as it will help them monitor their staff’s progress as well as improve there customer service as employees will make an extra effort to achieve their personal targets which could also encourage customers to come and shop again.

For example if they were to open concessions in department stores, they are easier to get around and could interest more customers, other than JD’s target audience as department stores have a larger target market.

External Environment-High street crisis

Retail businesses rely on consumer confidence, because they feel that if the customer is confident of their future prospects and income they are more likely to spend money.

There are four measures of economic activity:

  • Business start up
  • Average wages
  • Level of employment
  • Housing prices

If these factors are affected, the economy may not be stable. The finance crisis is said to be shaping up to be one of the most tumultuous times on record in the global financial markets-BBC news 10/10/2008. This could impact on JD’s previous success as shoppers are more inclined to go to outlets like TK Maxx. This is why retail stores are offering heavy discounts in order to keep customers interested.

House prices fell at a record rate during the year to the end of September, losing 13.3% of their value, Halifax said today. This is another example indicating that economy is not stable. The level of unemployment has risen as many people are being left redundant due to the credit crunch. This will have an impact on JD, because if customers are being left redundant then they are less likely to purchase goods from JD.

External Factors-Competition

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Competition is the measure of other leading companies selling similar products. It is seen as an advantage for customers as this is how prices drop as other retailers will fight to lower prices in order to engage customers, and as a result, this usually increases quality the of the product.

However for retailers it’s not seen as an advantage. JD sports have competitors to such as: JJB, Nike Town, Addidas, Footlocker and TK Maxx-these are only a few out of the very many.

Due to the credit crunch most shoppers are more likely to go to ...

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