STRATEGIC ROADMAP FOR BHARAT RETAIL: LEVERAGING CORE COMPETENCIES AND NAVIGATING THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Executive summary
By examining the key strengths and external environment of Bharat Retail, this strategy analysis seeks to offer strategic recommendations. Bharat Retail is a well-known retailer with about 500 locations in India. Thanks in large part to its extensive network of suppliers and stores, as well as its skilled team, the company has established a strong brand presence throughout the nation. However, the popularity of e-commerce selling has presented the business with significant problems in recent years. Additionally, the report offers a number of options and recommendations for strategies, including “customer service,” “e-commerce platform,” and “omnichannel retailing,” all of which can help Bharat Retail improve its overall profitability, brand awareness, and company efficiency.
Introduction
This strategic report aims to provide strategic recommendations for a retail firm named Bharat Retail by analysing its core competencies and external environment. Bharat Retail is a renowned retail business in India with around 500 stores within the country. The enterprise has been able to gain a significant brand presence in the country due to its vast supplier and store network along with its competent workforce. However, in recent years, the enterprise is facing severe challenges due to the popularity of e-commerce retailing. This report has provided an evaluation of various strategic options and recommendations based on their feasibility and risks.
Identification of the strategic problem
One of the strategic problems faced by Bharat Retail is the intense competition in the retail industry especially due to the emergence of online retailers. Online retailers in India are offering lower prices and a wide variety of products, which has given them competitors over traditional retailers. Additionally, online retailers offer home delivery services, which have provided higher convenience to consumers as they can obtain their required product at their desired address. Due to these advantages, online retail sales in the country have reached USD 67 billion, which has seen significant growth in 2022 by obtaining USD 83.75 billion (Statista, 2023). It has accounted for the 10.5% of total retail sales in the country indicating an exponential growth of the e-commerce industry. The share of online retail sales is expected to increase by around 15% by the year 2025 (Statista, 2023).
Figure 1: Online retail sales in India
(Source: Statista, 2023)
Amazon has become one of the primary online retailers in India offering more than 170 million products. Compared to this, Bharat Retail is offering approximately 10 million products storing them in their physical inventory. Additionally, the number of online shoppers is expected to increase from 80 million in 2017 to 220 million in 2025 (Statista, 2023). This significant growth of the online retail industry has been facilitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the rapid growth of the online retail industry has posed a substantial threat to Bharat Retail leading to loss of market share in the country. The enterprise has observed a decrease in market share from 18% to 16% in 2022, which depicts the strategic challenge of the firm.
Assessment of the external environment
PESTLE analysis
Table 1: PESTLE analysis
(Source: Self-created)
India has a stable government with democracy, which provides stability in the policy-making process. In addition, the government has also relaxed “Foreign Direct Investment or FDI”, which is helping retain sector to grow. The disposable income of the middle class is growing, which can be helpful for Bharat Retail to attract these customers. The real GDP growth is increasing at a significant rate of 6.3%, which is making India a crucial place for growing retail business (IMF.org, 2023).
Figure 2: GDP of India
(Source: IMF.org, 2023)
The middle class of India is growing and people are more conscious about what they need to buy. Similarly, increasing urbanisation, and attracting towards Western lifestyle is also a crucial factor for Bharat Retail to increase its business. The utilisation of advanced technology in India is helping retail businesses to enhance “supply chain management”, better-controlling inventory, work for the betterment of relationships with customers, and “targeted marketing strategies” (Gawankar et al. 2020). Various Acts such as FEMA and CPA ensure a positive environment and fair practises within the industry, which not only helps retail businesses complaint with Acts but also achieve sustainable growth (Gupta, 2020). The increasing consciousness regarding the environment encourages Bharat Retail to adopt eco-friendly practices such as reducing wastage and plastic usage, and sustainable sourcing.
Porter’s Five Forces analysis
Table 2: Porter’s Five Forces analysis
(Source: Self-created)
The increasing number of online shopping retailer and their competitive pricing, give tough competition to Bharat Retail, which is allowing customers the option of bargaining. Similarly, the popularity of online shipping also allows customers multiple choices of shopping platforms, which leads to reducing the dependency of customers on Bharat Retail. Bharat Retail has a robust supply chain network, which allows the company to utilise the competitive pricing strategy. Having multiple options for suppliers reduces the dependency of the company on suppliers, however, Inflation and operational costs can affect the company’s negotiation capability. Bharat Retail is facing competition from online shopping platforms, which is declining its market share and profitability.
Several established companies such as “Walmart India”, “Amazon India’, and “Reliance Retail” are posing a significant challenge for Bharat Retail. The threat of new companies is significantly low for Bharat Retail, as there are already various established companies. Furthermore, the strong brand image, expansive store network, and significant financial resources of the company pose a significant challenge for new entrants. The presence of several competitors and online shopping platforms has increased the threat level of substitute products for Bharat Retail. These factors have affected the foot traffic in Bharat Retail’s stores.
Competitor Analysis
Comparing the brand reputation reflects an image that shows the companies have successfully maintained a positive reputation within the Indian market. The primary factors that helped to maintain the brand image can be considered rules and regulations. The comparison of store count reflects Reliance Retail as the major player in India, however, Amazon India primarily operates an online platform. Bharat Retail has less store count of 500 compared with Reliance Retail with 18,040 (RelianceRetail, 2023). The huge number of stores has allowed Reliance Retail to expand its business in 25 states in India. Amazon and Walmart have expanded their business in 15 and 23 Indian states respectively, which indicates the higher availability of the brands and their services in the country (Saraswathy, 2019). On the other hand, Bharat Retail has expanded its business to 20 states in the country, which is comparatively lower than its rival firms. Despite various crucial factors such as business expansion in states with the number of store count, Bharat Retail can be identified as one of the significant players in the context of revenue generation. However, Reliance Retail has generated the highest number approximately 200,620 employment opportunities (RelianceRetail, 2023).
Table 3: Competitor Analysis
(Source: Self-created)
Evaluation of Core Competencies
Value chain analysis
The value chain analysis examines the primary and secondary activities of Bharat Retail. The enterprise has been able to establish an adequate infrastructure with around 500 retail stores across 20 cities in India. The revenue of the enterprise is estimated to be around $10 billion. Along with the physical stores, the firm also offers online and mobile shopping as well. Bharat Retail has over 100,000 employees and provides them with adequate training and development programmes. With a substantial yearly revenue, the enterprise has invested in technological upgradation and implementation of online shopping infrastructure. Its supply chain is one of its major advantages as it has been able to collect numerous products from the global market and deliver them to its physical stores.
Table 4: Value chain analysis of Bharat Retail
(Source: Self-created)
Offline and online operations are facilitated by the business to acquire a higher number of consumers. Bharat Retail also have a vast number of distributor centres, which has enabled the enterprise to offer super-fast delivery within 1 day to the big cities. The company has also invested in online and offline marketing to boost its product sales along with consumer support.
VRIO Analysis
The VRIO analysis examines the internal resources of Bharat Retail to analyse its competitive advantage in the Indian retail industry. The enterprise has been able to maintain a strong brand image in the country acquiring the trust of the consumers. A large store network has ensured significant reach to the consumers to serve a diverse customer base and solidify its presence in the Indian retail market. The employees of Bharat Retail are experienced and skilled, which assists the organisation in providing consumer-centric services in its store obtaining a competitive advantage. The supply chain and the vast product portfolio have aided the enterprise in acquiring a large base of consumers in the retail industry. Operational excellence is another factor, which has provided the firm with a competitive edge. It is offering consumers higher quality products by integrating stringent quality measures to ensure commitment toward the highest standard. Obtaining higher revenue on online and offline sales, Bharat Retail has developed a dedicated team for facilitating technological development through significant financial investment.
Table 5: VRIO analysis of Bharat Retail
(Source: Self-created)
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis investigates the internal environment of Bharat Retail analysing its core competencies.
Table 6: SWOT analysis
(Source: Self-created)
A large number of suppliers, physical stores and a diversified retailing strategy are major advantages of Bharat Retail. Additionally, a positive brand reputation and skilled employees have provided the enterprise with a significant edge over the rival firms. Maintaining a vast network of suppliers and stores has resulted in higher operational costs compromising the profitability of the enterprise. Limited e-commerce presence has restricted the ability of the firm to gain a large online consumer base. Moreover, the lower quality of consumer service is another weakness of the enterprise, which has negatively affected its consumer base. Raising competition in the retail industry due to the emergence of e-commerce firms and inflation has posed a threat to the enterprise. The rising inflation in the Indian economy is a threat to the operations of Bharat Retail as consumers can be interested in lower-cost products due to the rising cost of living. However, the growing income and affinity toward online shopping highlight a significant opportunity in the Indian retail market, which has been observing instantaneous growth.
Analysis of Strategic Options
Bharat Retail needs to avail strategic options to address the challenges it has been facing in the Indian Retail industry.
Improvement of consumer service
One of the major vulnerabilities of Bharat Retail is its subpar consumer service. Due to inadequate consumer support, the consumers have been driven toward the rival companies. Therefore, it has affected the brand loyalty of the company negatively affecting product sales and market share. The Indian retail industry is experiencing rapid growth, which depicts the necessity of providing a high-quality consumer service to obtain and maintain a large consumer base (Kumar and Ayodeji, 2021). As a result, Bharat Retail need to improve its consumer service to provide consumers with an excellent buying experience. On the other hand, consumer service is an integral part of online shopping, which requires retailers to provide online support to consumers to deliver higher convenience (Lee and Lee, 2020). Bharat Result needs to provide online and offline consumer services to provide swift solutions to their consumers and resolve their concerns. It can require the establishment of a dedicated consumer support team to provide easy access for buyers and gain an edge over the competitors.
Partnership with online retailers
As Bharat Retail has a limited online presence, it restricts access to the larger consumer base. Bharat Retail has already established its online platform and mobile app for providing consumers with buying access from websites and smartphones. It has established one of the biggest online stores in the country. However, e-commerce companies like Amazon, Walmart, and Reliance have been providing the enterprise with intense competition (Kalyani, 2019). The rival firms have been able to capture the majority of the consumer segment due to their wide reach and diversity of products. It has reduced in decreasing market share of Bharat Retail in India. In order to acquire a competitive advantage in the Indian retail market, Bharat Retail can form partnerships with popular online and e-commerce platforms to sell their products. Partnerships with online retailers can help the firm reach a large segment of consumers in a swift way (Kumar et al. 2022). Partnering with an established e-commerce platform can provide Bharat Retail with higher visibility to their targeted consumers and provide access to a large consumer base where they have been able to expand their online shopping services.
Investing in e-commerce
E-commerce businesses have been highly popular in India, which has reduced the profitability of traditional retailers (Wadhawan and Arya, 2020). Bharat Retail can invest significant financial resources to create its own e-commerce platform to reduce the disadvantage of limited presence in the online market. It can assist the enterprise in providing consumers with affordable products as it can save resources on selling their products online. Moreover, it can increase the scope of obtaining a wide range of buyers as consumers from various regions can easily order the products of Bharat Retail from their e-commerce platform.
Concentrating on a niche market
Bharat Retail can also focus on a niche market by selecting products, which have been popular among consumers. It can concentrate on selling products manufactured in India, which are often difficult to find in online stores. It can help them gain a competitive advantage over rival companies by differentiating their services. By offering products manufactured in India, the enterprise can provide unique value to consumers and reduce its price by saving on transportation and import tariffs (Belton et al. 2021). It can enable the firm to reduce its operational costs significantly and provide consumers with affordable products.
Omnichannel retailing
Omnichannel retailing is a process of engaging with consumers across multiple digital and traditional selling platforms. In this business model, the company offers their products and services across various platforms to offer an integrated experience (Mishra et al. 2021). It can consumers with the option to interact with the brand on their preferred channel. Facilitating omnichannel retailing can assist Bharat Retail in providing consumers with a seamless shopping experience across all platforms. It can allow buyers to select their products online and pick up their orders from physical stores or select home delivery options (Akturk and Ketzenberg, 2022). Therefore, it can offer buyers a wide range of options to select from, which can increase satisfaction in their shopping experience along with higher convenience.
Evaluation of Strategic Option
Improvement of Consumer Service
Feasibility: Establishing a customer support team is feasible as it only requires hiring and training “customer service executives”. The consumer support team is expected to play a crucial role in solving customers’ queries, and concerns, and provide assistance regarding products and their features. Similarly, providing both online and offline services can be considered practical.
Attractiveness: Enhancing customer service is directly connected with brand image and brand loyalty. It can also increase the percentage of returns of satisfied customers (Quach et al. 2022). A better customer service experience produces “mouth of words” marketing, which can increase market share.
Risk: The low risk lies in the process of establishing an effective customer service team as it involves various other tasks such as hiring the right personnel and implementing processes. The risk of utilising resources for maintaining high-quality consumer executives is also low.
Partnership with Online Retailers
Feasibility: Bharat Retail has already established an online platform and mobile app, which indicates its foundational presence in the digital space. Therefore, it makes the process of partnering with other online retailers a feasible option. Similarly, technical integration is also feasible by partnering with technical teams.
Attractiveness: Partnering with online and e-commerce platforms can allow Bharat Retail to have a vast customer base. It can allow the brand to attract existing customers based on these partnering brands (Hu et al. 2021). In addition, partnering with popular online platforms can increase the visibility of Bharat Retail.
Risk: There is a moderate risk that exists in the favourable negotiating terms in partnership. It includes consideration of various factors such as revenue sharing, branding, and ensuring that the partnership aligns with Bharat Retail’s vision and mission.
Investing in E-commerce
Feasibility: Considering the estimated margin of revenue generation of Bharat Retail, which is nearly USD 10 billion and financial resources investing in in e-commerce is feasible. The existing online presence of mobile apps and digital platforms has already done the groundwork for establishing E-commerce.
Attractiveness: Investing in e-commerce is an attractive plan, which can allow the brand to respond to the increased popularity of online shopping, especially at a time of increased competition from its online retail competitors (Hua et al. 2019). It is also an attractive plan in terms of attracting a wider audience through cost-effective methods.
Risk: Considering the revenue generated and existing resources the company will barely face any risk in the initial investment stage. However, the risk of adopting online trends exists at a low level.
Concentrating on a Niche Market
Feasibility: Focusing on specific products that are being manufactured in India and aligning with consumer preferences and market demands is feasible as it involves a strategic selection of goods. Emphasising products manufactured in India is also feasible as it allows Bharat Retail to use the rich culture of the country.
Attractiveness: Concentrating on the niche market can allow Bharat Retail to differentiate itself from other similar companies by offering unique and locally sourced products. It will not only develop an emotion connected with the nation within Indian customers but also allow the company to reduce operation costs.
Risk: The risk lies in the process of focusing on niche markets is comparability high as it involves changing consumer preferences and the success of this approach also depends on a constant demand for the chosen niche.
Omnichannel Retailing
Feasibility: Omnichannel retailing involves engaging consumers from various digital and traditional selling platforms. Considering Bharat Retail’s existing online presence and extensive physical store network in India, implementing omnichannel seems feasible. Considering the revenue generation of the company the technical upgradation for omnichannel strategies is also feasible.
Attractiveness: The approach is expected to allow the customers of Bharat Retail to have a seamless shopping experience across various channels. The attractiveness lies in the flexibility of this approach, which allows customers to interact with the brand on their preferred channel (de Borba et al. 2020). Furthermore, the approach also allows customers to order online and pick up in-store, which provides them with flexibility and convenience.
Risk: The risk lies in the approach being low as successful “omnichannel retailing” needs effective coordination between online and offline operations. Any breakdown in communication or operational coordination can lead to a disjointed customer experience.
Recommendations
Consumer service
The issue lies in customer support can be addressed by providing a complete training and development program to employees. It will not only allow the executives to perform better but also enable them to address customer issues and inquiries effectively. Similarly, Bharat Retail can also recruit a “subject matter expert”, a person who has the experience to tackle difficult queries of customers to enhance customer services. For example, Walmart is using chatbots, which has not only reduced the customer contact flow by addressing minor issues by chatbots but also enhanced customer experience. Additionally, with the utilisation of “natural language understanding or NLU” Walmart has been able to solve customer queries and take action that is required (Zheng et al. 2021). Similarly, Bharat Retail can invest in technologies such as integrating AI for customer service through chat options.
E-commerce platform
Conducting an in-depth market analysis can help Bharat Retail to understand the market trends, customer preferences, and behaviours. It is expected to help the brand to make an e-commerce platform that meets the specific needs of the target audience. For example, Amazon India has utilised various tools such as compliance tools and “business analytics tools”, which allow Amazon to track customer purchasing patterns that contribute to enhancing its online shopping (Al-Debei, 2023). Similarly, Bharat Retail can also invest in an e-commerce platform and tools for analysing and identifying online trends, which not only allows the company to understand market preferences but also helps to compete with online retailers. Bharat Retail can also focus on customer feedback to enhance its e-commerce platform, which will allow it to increase customer satisfaction. It involves iterative development, which allows for adjustments based on user feedback.
Omnichannel Retailing
Bharat Retail can focus on an omnichannel strategy, which will not only increase its market presence but also increase sales. For example, “Amazon Listing Service” has utilised an “omnichannel strategy”, which played a crucial role in the success of the brand (AmazonListingService.com, 2023). Amazon’s omnichannel retail is a process of doing business that allows customers different ways of having a unique experience. It involves different parts such as online shopping, managing orders, and handling warehouses. Furthermore, Bharat Retail can also use “point-of-sale or POS” systems, which is an inventory management system that can be helpful in the omnichannel strategy (Forbes, 2023). The retail store uses POS systems, which allow them to keep track of their sales, handle purchases, and manage their products in stock. The proper utilisation of POS not only allows retail businesses to make more profit but also ensures customer loyalty.
Conclusion
The study shed light on the business approach of Bharat Retail, and the problem it faces within its surrounding environment. The utilisation of theories such as “PESTLE”, “Porter’s Five Forces” “SWOT” has highlighted various internal, external, and competitive factors that influenced the business through their abilities. The study has also provided various strategies options and recommendations such as “customer service”, “e-commerce platform”, and “Omnichannel retailing”, which can allow Bharat Retail to enhance its overall business efficiency, brand awareness and profitability. Evaluating strategy options has highlighted the feasibility, and attractiveness and measured the risk level through the recommendations the issue has been addressed.
Report for the CEO
Analysis of Challenges
Bharat Retail has been facing significant challenges due to the popularity of online retailers and e-commerce businesses. The retail industry has been observing substantial growth in online sales due to the wide range of products and convenient services available to consumers. Additionally, online retailers have been able to reduce their cost of operations and have provided products at lower rates, which has attracted a major segment of consumers toward online buying. It has negatively affected the business operations of Bharat Retail due to its limited online presence. The market share of the company has been reduced by 2%, which indicates the requirement of implementing appropriate strategic options. Additionally, inadequate consumer service and the presence of prominent brands like Reliance, Walmart, and Amazon have intensified the issues for Bharat Retail. Furthermore, maintaining a vast network of suppliers and stores requires significant financial resources, which has induced its operational costs.
Recommendations
The analysis highlights the necessity of integrating various strategic options such as establishing an e-commerce platform, facilitating omnichannel retailing, partnering with online retailers, and concentrating on a niche market. Improving consumer service is a highly feasible and attractive strategic option for Bharat Retail as it can help retain existing consumers as well as attract new ones, which can induce brand loyalty. It can present a slight risk as it requires creating and maintaining a consumer service team by hiring skilled professionals due to the necessity of resource investment. On the other hand, partnering with online retailers provides a significant opportunity with low investment. However, it has moderate risk as the negotiated terms need to be aligned with the objectives of Bharat Retails. Establishing an e-commerce platform has low risk as e-commerce is one of the major trends in the retail industry in India.
Concentrating on a niche market has moderate risk as it attracts certain types of consumers limiting product sales despite providing differentiation from rival firms. Omnichannel retail can help Bharat Retail maintain an online and offline presence in the Indian retail market, which can provide them with a broader scope to increase brand loyalty among consumers. Analysing the available strategic options, it can be asserted that establishing e-commerce, omnichannel retailing, and improving consumer service are the most feasible options for Bharat Retail. For example, the clothing brand Zara has an e-commerce platform and physical stores, which assist the enterprise in providing omnichannel retailing services to consumers (Mosquera et al. 2019). It has assisted Zara in gaining significant popularity among global consumers, which can also be advantageous for Bharat Retail. Bharat Retail can integrate e-commerce into their provided services and allow the consumers to order their products online and collect their orders at the stores. The large number of store networks can help Bharat Retail introduce an omnichannel strategy swiftly. Zara also provides online and offline consumer service, which can be also beneficial for Bharat Retail.
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