Business Strategy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Strategy - Coursework Example This is also because of the growing demand of UK retail products all around the world and advent of ecommerce facilities (Ethical Consumer, n. d.). When it comes to calculating the maximum retail spending, London is the most popular shopping centre of the country. Though during recession, UK's retail industry faced a heavy blow, but this did not affect their international rankings among the largest retail sectors of the world (Gordon, 2011). UK has been always the hub for clothing and high quality fabrics. The high street fashion industry in London is estimated to be about ?450 billion. This clearly signifies the contribution of the retail apparel stores in UK's economy. The citizens of the country spend about ?1,054 million on clothing and also on footwear in 2009. Overseas also the retail industry of UK earn about ?7.3 billion revenue, which includes countries like USA, China, Russia, Japan, Italy, etc. Internet retailing is also quite prevalent in the country. The top retailers in UK are Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Alliance Boots, Home retail group and many more (Oxford Said business school, 2011, p. 9-10). Strategic Group Analysis of Marks & Spencer Company Overview The study is all about the strategic group analysis of Marks & Spencer. Marks & Spencer is one of the leading retailers of UK. The retail shops of Marks & Spencer receive about 21 million visitors every week. The retailer provides an attractive range of clothing, food, wine, and home products to its customers. There are around 78,000 employees in the company round the world, including UK. The retailer have about 700 retail store in UK and further plans for expansion is on progress. Marks & Spencer is number one retailer of lingerie and women wear in the country. It is also striving to become number one in menswear, kids wear and home products. The clothing and the home product department of Marks & Spencer generates 49 percent revenue, while other 51 percent revenue is gen erated from the food and wine department. The company has also declared itself carbon neutral and has created a five-year eco plan for the company. The company was started by Michael Marks as a penny stall in the year 1880. He was soon joined by Tom Spencer, who was a cashier of the supplier. The company aims to focus mainly in their core business area that is the clothing section and improve the range of their products. The company also want to work upon their sub-brands. Their motto for the food and wine segment is to present the British flavour to the world. Michael Marks had certain principle, based on which he wanted to develop his retail store. The principles formulated for the day to day business operation were: They wanted to offer their customers high-quality products at an affordable price. They wanted to encourage their suppliers to use the most advance technologies for production. The company wanted to work with the suppliers to ensure highest quality of products offered to the customers. They wanted to provide a friendly atmosphere in the store, helpful services and an excellent shopping experience to the customers. The retailer wanted to improve their efficiency by simplifying their operations. Lastly, the company wanted to maintain a good relationship with the customers, employees and suppliers. Strategic Group This term is mainly used in strategic management. It simply signifies the companies in the same industry have