The Main Difference Between Printed and Electronic Search - Research Paper Example

Purpose of the Report ASDA supermarket has a website at http www.asda.co.uk . It also has a number of publications in printed press, such as newspaper, magazine and journal articles. The goal of the report is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of electronic and paper-based sources of information. Introduction of the Company According to Yellow pages, following introduction of the company is available: ASDA - http://www.asda.co.uk/ Features Britain's food and clothing superstore and subsidiary of Wal-Mart. Company news, employment opportunities, store finder, and customer service. (Yellow pages, 2005) Wedd names ASDA among the greatest British supermarkets that determine British way of life. He names this phenomenon 'Shocking Power of British Supermarkets'. (Wedd, 2004) ASDA is a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom offering food, clothing and general merchandise products. It is a subsidiary of one of the world's largest supermarket chains Wal-Mart and is currently the second largest chain in the UK, after Tesco. However Tesco has a lead of well over 10% in UK grocery market share, and as of 2005 the gap is widening. ASDA is by far Wal-Mart's largest overseas subsidiary, accounting for around half of the company's international sales. ASDA's precise turnover is not disclosed, but based on market share it is thought to be in excess of 15 billion. (Wikipedia) According to Wikipedia, in May 2005 ASDA had 265 stores and 19 distribution centres, employing 128,000 people. The company is also engaged in property development through its subsidiary company, Gazeley Properties Limited. The Type of Information that is Available The most appropriate source of information is company web site. It contains main categories consumer can visit with short description: Groceries (see login page for detail), Financial services (insurance, credit cards and service), CDs, DVDs & Games (up to 60% off, free delivery) , Ringtones, Contact Lenses (up to 30% off, free delivery), Photo Printing (your first 10 prints free), Customer Services, Your Local Store, Enjoy Jobs at ASDA, Press Centre, and up-to-date special offers. At the left side of the main web page three menus are situated: Online Stores, Product Info, Company Info, along with their submenus. (ASDA, 2005) The information about ASDA supermarket in Yellow pages is brief. It is not categorized and of course it does not provide information about up-to-date special offers. But it gives a short overview of the company, so the reader at once understands what the company does and where it is situated. (Yellow pages, 2005) There is no any structure in publications about ASDA in newspapers, magazines and journals, but that information is always corresponding to date of the article. All news and articles have brief mention about company ownership. For example, Private Label Magazine writes: "ASDA, the Wal-Mart owned UK retailer, has relaunched 'Meals Made Easy,' its gourmet ready meals private label range, according to a report by Planet Retail. The range of chilled oven-ready meals has over 70 SKUs. The range features redesigned packaging and has been relaunched with a multibuy pricing promotion." (2005) Company History History of ASDA can be found in Internet encyclopaedia Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free-content encyclopaedia. It is written collaboratively by volunteers, meaning articles can be added or changed by nearly anyone. The project began on January 15, 2001, and is now operated by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. The English-language version of Wikipedia currently has 786,750 articles. According to Wikipedia, the name ASDA is a contraction of Associated Dairies and was founded in 1965 by a group of farmers from Yorkshire. ASDA went through a troubled period in the early 1990s, but was then revived under the leadership of Archie Norman, who later became a front bench Conservative MP. He was chairman of the company during the period 1996-99. ASDA, which then owned 229 stores, was purchased by Wal-Mart on July 26, 1999. Following the take over by Wal-Mart of the United States, several "Asda-Wal*Mart Supercentres" have been developed, creating some of the largest hypermarkets in the United Kingdom. The first such store opened at Cribbs Causeway, near Bristol, in June 2000. At first, it was criticised for its scale and condemned as an eye-sore, but the format has now become extremely popular. In November 2004 a refurbishment of the hypermarket was completed, addressing some of the complaints. In 2005, amid reported concerns within Wal-Mart about a slight slippage in market share - partially due to a resurgent Sainsbury's - ASDA's chief executive, Tony de Nunzio, was replaced by Andy Bond. ASDA is known for two famous marketing campaigns. The trouser pocket tapping "ASDA price" campaign and the smiley face "rollback" campaign as used by Wal-Mart. The key focus of ASDA's marketing campaign is to portray itself as the cheapest supermarket in the country, a claim that is often refuted by competitors, especially Tesco. However, for the past eight years, independent surveys have found ASDA's claim to be justified. In August 2005 following a complaint from Tesco about ASDA's claim to be "officially Britain's lowest priced supermarket", the Advertising Standards Agency upheld this complaint as the Grocer Magazine survey that these claims were based on were limited and unrepresentative, and the survey did not study low-cost supermarkets such as Aldi. ASDA lauched its online retailer service in 1998 but was somewhat more cautious about expanding it than Tesco or Sainsbury's. It uses the store based model rather than servicing internet customers direct from its depots. In May 2005 it announced a major expansion of the service which will increase coverage from 30% of the UK population to 60%. Company Accounts Google search engine was used for finding information about company accounts. Google is a public and profitable company focused on Internet search services. Google operates web sites at many international domains, with the most trafficked being www.google.com. Google is widely recognized as the world's best search engine because it is fast, accurate and easy to use. It turned out that up-to-date figures about ASDA could be found in online press. NWAnews.com writes, "Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Asda, the second-largest grocery chain in the United Kingdom, said it will cut 200 jobs at the company's head office and 1,200 in stores as it seeks to reduce costs and close the gap on market leader Tesco Plc." (NWAnews.com, 2005) Totally ASDA has 2,000 workers at its headquarters in Leeds, England, and about 130,000 workers total in the United Kingdom. ASDA had sales of $25.29 billion in 2003, the most recent annual figure available. Wal-Mart's first quarter sales total was $70.9 billion. ASDA's share of the UK market fall to 16.4 percent in the 12 weeks to June 19, from 16.5 percent a year ago, according to e-mailed figures published by London-based market-research company Taylor Nelson Sofres Plc. cited in NWAnews.com. (2005) Another online source, DSN Retailing Today , writes that "Asda accounts for nearly half of Wal-Mart International's sales of $56.3 and it failed to achieve its sales and profit objectives earlier this year." (Troy, 2005) Contact Details Contact details of ASDA were found in the Yellow pages and at company web site. Address: 47 Hillcrest Drive South Anston South Yorkshire United Kingdom S25 5FQ Tel: 01909 567026 Therefore contact information about company is easy to retrieve from both sources, printed and electronic. But web site also provides facility to find the nearest store: visitor is asked to enter his or her ZIP code or city, and address of the nearest store is displayed. Ability to Purchase Goods There is ability to browse and purchase goods online at the company web site. Delivery costs about 2. But search is not relevant: when I entered "tea" in Product Search, I received following result: Your search for tea returned more than 50 products. Please look in the shelves below for a product you'd like. Biscuits, Confectionery & Snacks / Biscuits / Chocolate Biscuit Bars Biscuits, Confectionery & Snacks / Biscuits / Biscuit Barrel Fillers Biscuits, Confectionery & Snacks / Biscuits / Healthier Sweet Biscuits Organic & Free From / Organic / Packets, Tins and Jars Soft Drinks, Tea & Coffee / Cola / Big Bottles Soft Drinks, Tea & Coffee / Cola / Multipacks Soft Drinks, Tea & Coffee / Adult Soft Drinks / Big Bottles Soft Drinks, Tea & Coffee / Fruit Juice / Single Serve Cartons Soft Drinks, Tea & Coffee / Water / Still - Flavoured Soft Drinks, Tea & Coffee / Tea / Tea Bags So it is possible to get everything but not that was needed in answer to the request at the web site. Nevertheless it is very easy to purchase tea, once it is found. The most relevant information about goods is in free mail advertisement and catalogues from ASDA. Prices are the same in printed ads and at the web site. Comparing the Similarities and Differences The main difference between printed and electronic search is facility of access to electronic information. It is not easy to look through dozens of newspapers and magazines looking for articles about ASDA, excluding Yellow pages. While I could use a keyword 'ASDA' for Internet search in search engines and in electronic encyclopaedia and it gave good results. Internet search is becoming an integral part of the daily life of many students. Internet usage is not limited to a few specific purposes and its functionalities are spreading across different aspects of life. Among all web-based applications, Internet search is one of the most common and important ones. However, satisfying the information needs on the Internet is not always an easy and straightforward process. Internet search might be very time-consuming and may culminate in unsatisfactory results as well. Works cited ASDA website. 2005. 24 October, 2005 "Asda Gourmet Ready Meals Relaunched." (2005) Private Label Magazine from 18-May-05. EW Williams Publications Company: NJ Troy, Mike. 2005. "ASDA revamps leadership personnel." DSN Retailing Today, July 25, 2005. 24 October, 2005 "Wal-Mart's Asda to cut jobs of 200 in office, 1,200 in stores." 2005. Posted on: Wednesday, July 6, 2005. 24 October, 2005 Wedd, George. 2004. The Rule of the Supermarket in British Life. Magazine article by Contemporary Review, Vol. 285, p.305 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2005. 24 October, 2005 Yellow pages 2005 Read More