Buyer Behaviour - Tesco - Case Study Example

Buyer behaviour Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Shopping and purchase environment 4 Perceptions 5 Motivation and values 6 Attitudes 8 Decision making 10 Conclusion 11 Recommendations 11 References 13 Introduction Tesco is one of the big company retail companies of the world. It is a British multinational company. This retail company was founded in 1919. From that time onwards the company has expanded its business to different parts of the world. Presently Tesco has large number of customers all around the world. It is a giant player in the supermarket industry of UK. Tesco is also the third largest retail companies. Rapid expansion of Tesco facilitated the company in acquiring large number of customers. The company deals with different types of products and services. Tesco sells the products of other companies as well as its own products and services. The company implemented different strategies for connecting with its customers. Tesco sells different types of retail products at a very low price. This pricing strategy of the company attracts large number of buyers. The company is able to analyze the behaviour of its target customers in a very efficient way. For this reason Tesco has built strong relationship with its customers. Good relationship with consumers was developed by understanding their behaviour and this helps the company to satisfy the needs and demands of its customers by providing good quality of products and services. Consumer behaviour influences a lot in their purchasing decisions. For making their business operations more efficient the company has developed the policies and practices which influence the buyers in purchasing different products and services from Tesco. In this essay Tesco’s different activities are highlighted which has facilitated the company in influencing the purchasing behaviour of the customers. The company has designed its stores in such a way it helps customers in buying various products. Shopping and purchase environment Tesco has designed its retail stores in a very effective way. The layouts of the stores are designed in such a way which facilitates the customers of Tesco in selecting various retail products very easily. The retail stores of Tesco are large in size. Various departments are present in the stores for making the product purchasing process simple for the customers. In different departments product of various companies are displayed properly which influence buyers in purchasing maximum numbers of products. Tesco provides various types of discounts and offers to its customers. This offers and discounts are highlighted in its retail stores. When the company gives offer to any particular products then the offer is mentioned beside the product. This is because the buying behaviour of Tesco’s customers is influenced by various kinds of offers. So when they see the offer on any particular product then they tend to purchase that product. For this reason the company highlights its various offers and discounts. Buying behaviour of the customers also depends on the way through which the company is facilitating them in buying products. Tesco is continuously improving its business operations and technology for making the business process quick and efficient. The company is developing many things for satisfying the changing needs of the customers. The company also considers customers request for designing and maintaining its retail stores. This helps Tesco to create a positive impression on the customers which influences their buying decisions. The organization believes that by building good relationship with its customers it will be able to influence their buying behaviour very easily. Culture of a person creates a strong impact on his behaviour. For this reason Tesco tries to understand the culture of its customers. Based on its customers’ culture Tesco advertises about its products and services in such a way which highlight the symbols and values of customer’s culture. By this way Tesco is able to influence the behaviour of its individual customers. Tesco tries to provide a good shopping experience to its customers. For this reason, in the retail stores of Tesco, many executives are present who assist or help the customers in purchasing various products. To some extent these executives influence the buying behaviour of the customers. Perceptions Tesco is famous for its low priced products. Consumers mainly do bulk purchase from Tesco for saving their money. To a large extent the company is able to meet the perception of its customers. For a long period of time the company is offering various products at a very low price. Tesco deals with a wide range of customers. As per the needs and requirements of target customers the company sells various kinds of products and services. The customers mainly focus on self perception, price perception and benefit perception for buying any product. According to the theory of self perception individuals establish motivational factor which influences their buying behaviour. Individual values also influence their perceptions. Tesco implements its marketing strategies in a very effective way which motivates the customers in buying goods and services from the company. The business activities of Tesco are operated in an ethical way which highlights its values. In this way Tesco is able to influence the self perception of its individual customers. While purchasing, customers also focus on the price of the products. Tesco emphasizes on selling products at a low price. So the customers of Tesco have a perception of getting good quality of products at a cheap price. The company considers the perception of its customers as very important thing for making the business successful. For this reason Tesco is very much conscious about the quality of products and services it is selling for making the customers satisfied. Tesco does not compromise with the quality of its products for selling the products at low price. The perceived and actual quality of Tesco’s products is almost same. This creates a positive impact on the buying behaviour of the customers. According to consumer perception theory, the buyers focus on benefit perception before purchasing any products or services. The customers develop the perception about the benefits they would get after purchasing any products from particular shops or company. Most of the customers purchase the products and services which offer them maximum benefits (Solomon, 2006). Tesco tries to offer maximum benefits to its customers. The healthy and fresh products which are sold by Tesco offer various advantages to the customers. Moreover the online store of Tesco benefits the customers in purchasing products any time from any place. The company also provides different types of discounts which provide financial benefits to the customers. All these benefits influence the buying behaviour of Tesco’s customers in a positive way. Motivation and values The brand image of Tesco depends on its sophistication, expertise of sales persons, convenience etc. These factors determine the image of Tesco’s retail stores on the mind of people. Tesco puts a huge effort in delivering positive experience to its customers which motivates them in purchasing products from its retail stores. The company has developed its online shopping very effectively which attracts large number of buyers. The retail stores and online shopping sites of Tesco provide detailed information about different products and service the company is selling which motivate and influence the buying decision of the buyers. Tesco conducts many in store promotional events which make its customers interested about the various products and services it is selling. Tesco understands the needs of its target customers and as per that the company sells wide range of products and services. Tesco identifies the things which motivate its customers and it develops various marketing approaches for influencing the behaviour of the employees. In the modern business environment the company focuses on various approaches which help to satisfy the desires and wants of customers. When a need is aroused then the customers try to satisfy or reduce the need. By understanding motivation Tesco tries to understand what the customers do and the reasons for their doing for reducing motivation (Picton and Broderick, 2009). Tesco focuses on satisfying the hedonic and utilitarian needs of customers. For fulfilling utilitarian needs Tesco keeps on improving the tangible attributes of the products. Tesco tries to increase excitement among its customers for satisfying hedonic needs. The company provides different products alternative to the customers for motivating them to purchase products. As per the theory of Maslow’s hierarchy a person is satisfied when his different needs are fulfilled. They tend to purchase the products and services which satisfy their maximum number of needs. Tesco is concerned about the involvement of customers with the products it sells. So it tries to sell such products which fulfil different needs of customers. The customers of Tesco belong from different cultural backgrounds. But most of the customers values product or service on the basis its efficiency, excellence, aesthetics, status etc. According to means-end chain model people focus on specific attributes of product for evaluating its value. The extent to which the product satisfies the consumer desires shows its value. By developing strong connecting with customers Tesco tries to influence their values (Percy, 2008). It is continuously expanding its product and service range for proving maximum satisfaction to its customers. Attitudes Marketing communication plays an important role in connecting with target customers. With the help of various communicational tools the attitude of customers can be changed. Tesco uses different types of communicational tools for influencing the attitude of the buyers positively. Social marketing is one of the important tools used by Tesco for connecting with its target customers. The company in involved in doing many social activities for benefiting the society and people. Tesco is focusing on reducing CO2 emission and managing its waste products effectively for protecting environment. This sustainable activity of Tesco is facilitating it in influencing the buying behaviour of its target customers. Attitude is composed of three components. They are beliefs, behavioural intentions and affect. Tesco tries to create positive impact on all of these three factors attracting and retaining its customers. The company develops its advertisements in such a way which communicates different messages to the people. These messages influence them to build positive attitude towards Tesco (Onkvisit and Shaw, 2009). For making marketing communication effective Tesco follows ABC model. Through various marketing channels the company communicates how the consumers feel about Tesco, what is the behaviours of the customers towards the company and the belief of the customers about the products and service of Tesco. By communicating all these things, the company tries to attract maximum number of customers. With the help of effective marketing communication the Tesco focuses on highlighting its attractiveness and credibility. Attracting marketing message helps the company in establishing an emotional connecting with its customers which influence their attitude. Through various social media sites like facebook, twitter etc Tesco communicates frequently with its customers. This marketing activity of communication helps the company in positively influencing the attitude of people towards the brand. As per the Likehood model of perception Tesco communicates its message through various communication channels for reaching maximum number of customers. With the help of these messages the customers come to know various things about the company. Thus Tesco attracts the attention of many people through advertisement, events etc. This process helps the company in creating cognitive response among the people. The effective messages, social activities and the involvement of Tesco with people influence them to change their attitude and believe in a positive way (IBISWorld, 2014). As a result of this behavioural change Tesco is able to increase its customer base. Decision making Various factors influences the decision making process of the consumers. Quality of product and services is one of the important factors which affect consumers’ decisions. In the antecedent states buying decision of a consumer is affected by his mood, interest towards shopping, time pressure etc. To a large extent the mood of a consumer depends on the store environment. Time determines how much research a consumer will do for buying a product. For influencing these factors Tesco has designed its stores in a very attractive way where customers can easily find different products. The store environment of Tesco influences the customers for buying many products. For saving customers time the company has opened its online store which facilitates the customers in save the time for coming to retail stores. Buying decision of people depend on their shopping experience, sales interaction and point of purchase stimuli. Tesco tries to provide a memorable shopping experience to its customers by giving excellent service. With the help of efficient sales person the company tries to influence the customers by interacting with them. Tesco also focuses on various post purchase factors (Coriolis Research Limited, 2004). It takes feedback from the customers to know their shopping experience in Tesco. The company gives importance to customers’ suggestion and tries to develop the business activities as per their preferences. If the customers of Tesco are not satisfied with any products then company tries to improve its product range by introducing some other product. Conclusion Behaviour of a consumer strongly influences his buying decisions. For this reason the companies emphasize on this issue for influencing the customers to purchase products and services. In this essay the retail company Tesco has been discussed. The company puts huge effort in attracting, retaining and influencing its customers. The company has designed all its stores in a very attractive way which facilitates the firm in establishing good shopping environment. Tesco offers various offers to its customers which influence them in buying products from this company. The company has analyzed the behaviour of its customers in a very detailed way which benefits it in developing effective strategies and policies. Based on the consumer perception Tesco tries to provide different benefits to its customers. This helps the company to motivate customers for buying its products and services. This essay also highlighted various factors which affects the decision making process of the customers. Some recommendations are also provided to Tesco for improving its policies and practices for influencing buyer behaviours. Recommendations Many big companies have established their business in retail industry. There exists a strong competition among all of these companies in retail industry. Most of the companies are implementing effective strategies and practices for influencing people to buy products and services from their brands. Tesco is also facing strong competition from some companies like Walmart, Pound land etc. Therefore Tesco needs to improve its business operations and activities for attracting and retaining more customers. Tesco can use sales promotional tools for influencing the buying behaviour of the customers. Discounts influence the customers in buying more products. Therefore Tesco can offer huge discount on a particular day of a week for attract maximum number of customers. By this process the company will be able to fulfil different needs of the customers. Tesco should also focus on increasing its own products. This will help the company in establishing itself as a brand. As a result the visibility of Tesco will get increased and this will make the customers aware of the brand. Having strong brand name will facilitate the company for holding its position in the competitive market. This will influence the buying behaviour of the customers in a positive way. Most of the people want to purchase product from famous brand. Therefore this strategy will help Tesco in attracting maximum number of customers. References Coriolis Research Limited., 2004. Tesco: A case study in supermarket excellence. [online]. Available at http://www.coriolisresearch.com/pdfs/coriolis_tesco_study_in_excellence.pdf [Accessed on 21th May 2015]. IBISWorld., 2014. Supermarkets Market Research Report. [online]. Available at http://www.ibisworld.co.uk/market-research/supermarkets.html [Accessed on 21th May 2015]. Onkvisit, S. and Shaw, J., 2009. International marketing: strategy and theory. New York: Routledge. Percy, L., 2008. Strategic integrated marketing communication. Oxford: Elsevier. Picton, D. and Broderick, A., 2009. Integrated marketing communications, 3rd edition. Harlow: FT- Prentice Hall. Solomon, M., 2006. Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective. New York: Financial Times. Read More