Investigating Customer Loyalty To Home Branding By Sainsbury

During the first few weeks of the module you will need to work with the Associate Academic to decide on a topic for your Independent study. You must to choose a topic that is related to your area of study.After the topic choice has been made and agreed with the Associate Academic you will then work towards creating a draft proposal for your independent study. You are required to submit this draft proposal by the stated deadline (on Blackboard) in order for your proposal to be assessed and a suitable supervisor assigned.

You should propose a research project that investigates a business issue in order to understand it better and develop recommendations for an appropriate audience. The proposal will be supported by theoretical models, to include Innovation, entrepreneurship, strategy, marketing,Assessment description:

HR etc. as appropriate, will be set within a suitable context and will outline a clear and feasible methodology to allow objectives to be realized. Formative feedback on the proposal will be given to help you to refine the research design before conducting the project.It is important to stress that the Research Proposal is an important statement of intention that will be considered by the examiners to assess your success in implementing it. It also represents an agreement between the supervisor and yourself as to the viability of the proposed project and the criteria by which it will be judged. It is suggested that you adopt the following format in presenting your dissertation. The quality of the Proposal will be considered in the assessment of your Independent Study and will comprise 20% of the overall grade.

Proposal Structure:
Title or topic area of proposed study:Your working title should reflect the content of your proposal. The title should be focused and

summative.
What is the aim and objectives of your study?
This section should contain your reasons for the particular focus of the study and the background literature to which the project relates. Note: key references should be highlighted.This is the important part of the proposal. It should tell the reader why you feel the research that you are planning is worth the effort. This may be expressed in the form of a problem that needs solving or something that you find exciting and has aroused your curiosity.

The reader will be looking for evidence here that there is sufficient interest from you to sustain you over the long months ahead. This is also the section where you will demonstrate your knowledge of the relevant literature. Moreover, it will clarify where your proposal fits into the debate in the literature. You will be expected to show a clear link between the previous work that has been done in your field of research interest and the content of your proposal ?

Aim and objective of the study

Consumer loyalty is the primary result that is being achieved through the continuous emotional and physical satisfaction of the customer in a positive way (Sirakaya-Turk, Ekinci, and Martin, 2015). It helps the organisation to maintain their market share their brand value within the market. The primary purpose of the paper is to provide the investigation on the customer loyalty to the home branding by Sainsbury. The paper will also provide an effective understanding of the concept of a research study with the help of effective primary and the secondary data for the examination of the study.

Aim and objective of the study

The aim and objective of the research study are;

• To learn the implication of the house branding to the retail industry
• To develop the understanding regarding branding
• To analyse the various strategies that Sainsbury utilise to enhance the competitive advantage for branding in the UK market
• To understand the various concept as well as the practice that is adopted by Sainsbury for branding in the UK
• To estimate various challenges that are being faced by the firm for delivering house brand in the UK retail market
• To understand the benefits of branding for the suppliers, retailers as well as customers
• Literature review

The supermarket own brand or the house branding generate more than the half of the UK grocery sales. According to Mazour, (2018), in the recent years, shoppers are generally choosing the home brand rather than the other popular brand name from the supermarket in the UK. It can be seen from Swaffield, Evans, and Welch, (2018) that due to selecting the home brand the sale of UK supermarket has raised more than 54% of the accounting. Consumer loyalty for the house branding is the essential feature to develop the market share and competitive advantage.

In the words of Gwynn, (2018), 71% of the UK customers have the loyalty towards their home brand and they think that it has also improved over time. It is the fact that with time the home brand is developing and they are changing to provide valuable service and product for the consumer. This became quite challenging for the name brands because consumers of UK have provided their loyalty towards the home brand due to their developm4ent process. From the view of Dunkley, (2009), it can be seen that home brands of UK supermarket are also providing the quality of the product which is the primary reason to attract consumers. It is the primary fact that total own-label sale of UK is three time as compared to global average.

At the time of economic downturn when first hit the economic condition of the UK in 2012, the supermarket Sainsbury manage their position as the successful food retailer. According to Bold, (2014), the success of Sainsbury is not the exception because they have eventually utilised an effective strategy and their consumer loyalty to maintain the position. In the words of Zhang, Sogn-Grundvåg, Asche, and Young, (2018) the price of the commodity provided by the supermarket in most of the cases as expensive. It was quite challenging for Sainsbury to gain the loyalty of their customers at the time of economic downturn. From the view of Miller, (2016).

it is clear that Sainsbury maintains their customer loyalty by providing them with the value-for-money home brand products. It is the fact that they have utilised the strategy of comparing their home brand quality and price with the name brands. For gaining the loyalty the supermarket Sainsbury of UK has also utilised the use of mobile phone for scanning the items in the early stage. According to sainsburys.co.uk, (2018), the mobile scan and go is the best step considered by Sainsbury to maintain their position in the market. Providing the value and the effective working function for the customers is the valuable process to maintain their loyalty to the house brand.

The importance of customer loyalty in the home branding strategy

The consumer loyalty to the house branding by the supermarket is one of the best ways to gain the market share. According to Wallop, (2014), Sainsbury has effectively gained their customer loyalty through the process of service and the quality of products. It can be seen that people with the changing world are very much addicted towards the branding of the product. From the view of TheGrocer.co.uk, (2018), it can be seen that Sainsbury supermarket of UK has eventually grabbed the intention of their customer and provide them the best in the field as compared to the name brand.

Gaining the consumer loyalty in the case of house branding is one of the biggest achievement for the supermarket retail chain and this also enhances the suitability and the feasibility of the house branding technique. In the words of Ramanathan, Subramanian, Yu, and Vijaygopal, (2017), it can be seen that Sainsbury utilise the effective strategy for understanding the need of their customer and provide them the best home brand product that also at the suitable price. It is essential for the supermarket to maintain their customers need. It can be also seen from the view of Dawes, and Nenycz-Thiel, (2014), customer loyalty for the home brand help to enhance the suitability of the product within the market.

The loyalty of the consumers are changing from the offline to the online retail stores and in this phase, it is essential to maintain the brand loyalty. From the view of Melis, Campo, Breugelmans, and Lamey, (2015), the supermarket in the UK have utilised the various technology and also online process to maintain their brand position within the market. Maintaining the technology in the retail supermarket allow the customers to get their product in the easiest way. In this process, Sainsbury is the first who have utilised mobile scan and go process. In the words of Sturley, Newing, and Heppenstall, (2018), the entire working function and the development of customer loyalty to the house branding by Sainsbury is one of the biggest achievement of the firm.

This process effectively allows the business to develop their market and gain competitive advantage within the UK market. According to Harris, and Usuriaga, (2017), it can be seen that the organisation is utilising various customer loyalty process to maintain their own-label product active within the market. The organisation has eventually developed their new customer loyalty scheme to maintain the consumer for their home-based products. As per Trinh, Anesbury, and Driesener, (2017), the organisation have adopted the money-off coupon to the consumers for getting the own-label brand products from the retail store. This effectively helps to maintain the loyalty of the consumers.

The consumer loyalty within the supermarket retail sector allows the firm to maintain their value and the position within the field. It can be seen from the view of Thompson, and McLarney, (2017), the customers are facing the saving of around 20pc on the home brand products and this help to improve the customer loyalty for the firm. This is the primary fact of the firm where they have the ability to enhance the profit ration of the firm. Moreover, it can be seen from the view of Aluko, and Knight, (2017), the customer loyalty for the home brand has a high impact on the economic condition of the country. It is clear from the view of Newing, Clarke, and Clarke, (2015).

Sainsbury's success in maintaining customer loyalty

the highly effective and valuable working function within the field is being preferable for developing the customer loyalty within the market. This is the basic concept where the customers have the ability to achieve a home brand that also in the suitable price. According to Filimonau, and Gherbin, (2017), Sainsbury has less focus on the hypermarket and for that, they did not face the negative performance like the other retail supermarket. It is the fact that gaining customer loyalty is the most effective technique to upgrade the value and the working function of the organisation within the market.

Research methodology

Research design

The research design is the blueprint of the research process which helps to maintain the research study (Lewis, 2015). The most common form of the research design is the descriptive, exploratory and the explanatory. The research design helps to understand the format of the entire research paper and provide the suitable outcome for the study (Abdulkadiro?lu, Angrist, Narita, and Pathak, 2017). In this paper, the descriptive design is being selected to analyse the detail of the research topic. The descriptive design is also helpful for providing the detailed understanding regarding the consumer loyalty to the house branding by Sainsbury.

Data collection

Data collection is the process which helps to gather valuable information for the further discussion on the research study. In this research study, the primary data along with secondary data is utilised. The primary data is being collected from the interview of the selected senior management of the firm. The analysis of primary data clearly describes the research study in the most effective way (Kenyon, Meixell, and Westfall, 2016). The secondary data for this research study is gathered from the various internet and other sources for understanding the concept of consumer loyalty to the house branding by Sainsbury supermarket in the UK. Data collection help to enhance the understanding regarding the concept of the research study.

Timetable (Gantt chart)

Main Activities/ Stages	1st Week	2nd Week	3rd Week	4th Week	5th Week	6th Week
Selection of topic and discussing the aim and objectives	Ø
Secondary data sources identification	Ø
Research proposal preparation	Ø
Preparation and discussion of literature review		Ø
Identification and the description of the research methodology			Ø
Preparation of the interview process for the research paper			Ø
Collection of the primary data			Ø
Data analysis				Ø
Finding and discussion				Ø
Conclusion					Ø
Finalising as well as submission						Ø

Data analysis

The data is gathered from 10 selected senior executive of the firm for understanding the various concept regarding the development of customer loyalty for the house brand. The primary data clearly show that the customers and the retail supermarket are interlinked for their economic development within the business.

Table 1: Consumer play the vital role in enhancing the supermarket own brand

Options	No of respondents	Total respondents	Response %
Strongly agree	4	10	40%
Agree	2	10	20%
Did not provide comment	2	10	20%
Disagree	2	10	20%
Strongly disagree	0	10	0

It clearly shows that customers the biggest part of the business development. A maximum number of senior management provides the view on the satisfaction level of customers to improve the business market share. Maintaining the customer loyalty within the field is highly effective for developing their view and their working function in the market.

Table 2: Consumer loyalty for enhancing the house branding process for the retail supermarket

Options	No of respondents	Total respondents	Response %
Strongly agree	3	10	30%
Agree	3	10	30%
Did not provide comment	1	10	10%
Disagree	2	10	20%
Strongly disagree	1	10	10%

It is clear from the facts that the senior management of Sainsbury maintains their activity to provide valuable customer loyalty within the market. It can be seen from the view of primary data that the consumer loyalty for the home branding effectively maintains the working function within the market. It clearly shows that the entire working function of the firm needs to be developed for enhancing the market share of the firm.

The role of technology in maintaining customer loyalty

Table 3: Use of technology for developing the customer loyalty to house branding

Options	No of respondents	Total respondents	Response %
Strongly agree	4	10	40%
Agree	3	10	30%
Did not provide comment	1	10	10%
Disagree	1	10	10%
Strongly disagree	1	10	10%

It can be seen from the view of primary data that the technology is vital in the recent years for developing the customer loyalty. It is one of the most effective and valuable processes where the organisation effectively use the technology to maintain their customer loyalty for the house branding process.

Conclusion

The paper eventually concludes the fact that consumer loyalty is one of the vital factors for the development of house branding by the Sainsbury in the retail industry of UK. The paper also concludes that the organisation with the technology of their mobile scan and go have maintained their customer loyalty in the early days. It can be seen that Sainsbury with their customer loyalty process has developed their business and the economic condition within the market.

References

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