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Retail Business Environment

Notes It means that individual units are not picked and lined up on shelves. In fact some products
are sold in store from a pallet. This is a platform for large loads that can be brought
mechanically into a store. This is an efficient way of getting a large volume of products
into the shop very quickly.
Benefits of Lean Production
Aldi’s ‘no-nonsense’ approach to retailing therefore leads to cost saving in numerous
areas. These cost savings are passed on to customers in the form of lower prices, allowing
the business to differentiate itself from its competitors in terms of price, as well as the
quality of the products it has on offer.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Also, as money is not wasted on unnecessary expenses, Aldi is able to allocate spending to
other important elements of its business. For example, Aldi is also focused on corporate
social responsibility (CSR). These are Aldi’s wider responsibilities to society, its employees
and the community. Aldi also works with many different charities. For example, in 2011
Barnardo’s was Aldi’s charity of the year.
Working with Suppliers
Through using a total quality management approach, Aldi is able to create strong business
relationships with its suppliers. These strong relationships help Aldi to continuously
improve its product offering whilst also ensuring suppliers meet international standards.
Aldi’s international standards go beyond consumer legislation and nutritional information.
Products are carefully labelled for consumers so they can make informed choices, this all
supports Aldi’s continuous improvement culture.
Conclusion
Aldi has a distinctive approach to retailing. Its operations focus on providing its customers
with quality products that are value for money.
Aldi achieves this by ensuring that its operations are as efficient as possible whilst also
adhering to its core values of simplicity, consistency and responsibility. Through adopting
a variety of lean approaches Aldi is able to offer its customers the highest quality products
at the lowest possible price.
Question:

How Aldi enjoyed competitive advantage through efficiency?
4.5 Summary

In order to correctly identify opportunities and monitor threats, the company must begin
with thorough understanding of the marketing environment in which the firm operates.

For most companies, the micro environmental components are: the company, suppliers,
marketing channel firms (intermediaries), customer markets, competitors, and publics
which combine to make up the company’s value delivery system.
The macro environmental components are thought to be: demographic, economic, natural,
technological, political, and cultural forces. The wise marketing manager knows that he
or she cannot always affect environmental forces.
A retail offering is a bundle of benefits that the customer purchases when entering the
store. The offering consists of products and services, the image and reputation of the store
and other intangible benefits.

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