In this assignment, I am going to investigate the effectiveness of Morrison’s use of ‘own brands’. Background information Morrison’s is a public limited company (PLC) which was founded in 1899, 120 years ago, by a man named William Morrison. Mr Morrison started selling eggs, butter along with other dairy products at a small, local market until eventually, 53 years later; William’s son took over and opened their first store. Morrison’s are continually growing and are currently the fourth largest British supermarket with approximately 550 stores across the UK. The store currently sells a wide range of items varying from houseware items to clothing, as well as daily appliances. Morrison’s target market is every day working people. They employ 132,000 members of staff (as of 2017) who contributed to Morrison’s revenue of £16,317 million.
Research methods and sources I used Morrison’s website (see appendix 1) to gather information about the range of items Morrison’s ‘savers range’ offer to its customers. This is a secondary source of desk research. This information is up-to-date because the website is controlled by the company themselves, and updated when new products are added. On the other hand, this information may contain bias because it was produced by Morrison’s themselves and they would only want to show the positives of their products. This information was easy to find because I had access to the internet, therefore, I could visit the website had all the information laid out so it was easy to access the information I required. I used a survey (see appendix 2) to gather what individual customers think of Morrison’s ‘savers range.’ This is a primary source of field research. This information is useful as the questions are related to my specific purpose so will be relevant to my research. However, this information is only targeting a small group of people (albeit a wide range of ages and backgrounds); therefore, it is not a true representation of what all Morrison’s customers think.
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This information was more time consuming to collect, as I had to wait for people to respond to my survey, which took a few days. Lastly, I used a website that showed a mystery shopper’s (see appendix 3 - “tiredmummyoftwo”) results to gather information about the quality of Morrison’s ‘savers range.’ This is a secondary source of desk research. This information is going to be accurate and truthful, as the mystery shopper would not benefit from lying. On the other hand, this information is only one person’s experience and for all we know, they might dislike Morrison’s or they may really like them, therefore, it will be opinionated. Findings, analysis and interpretation An ‘own brand’ is a retailers replica of a popular, well-known brand but sold at a much lower price. The price range is significantly different in most cases. An ‘own brand’ item does not need to be advertised as it takes advantage of the branded versions marketing. Morrison’s website (see appendix 1) showed that Morrison’s offers a wide range of ‘savers’ products meaning they effective at attracting many customers especially people who have a low disposable income. They offer 95 products in total. This means they are effective as they almost certainly meet everyone’s desires meaning they will not lose customers to competitors as they have a vast range of products on offer. Morrison’s website (see appendix 1) also showed that only 15 per cent of all items available is rated three stars or below. This further proves their effectiveness as 85 per cent of products are four stars or above meaning people are satisfied with the quality of the product they have purchased. Due to customers being satisfied with the quality of the product, they have purchased they are more likely to return and shop again which would increase the sales revenue.
My survey (see appendix 2) showed that everyone’s opinion on Morrison’s ‘savers range’ was different. My survey asked; “Compared to Morrison's competitor’s, is Morrison’s ‘own brand’ better than others?” The results are shown to the right. Out of all the people surveyed, 50 per cent think the quality is the same as other competitors such as Aldi, Asda, Lidl and Tesco. This means that Morrison’s current quality of their ‘saver’s range’ is not to a good standard; therefore, they may lose customers. Next, on my survey (see appendix 2) I asked, “How likely is it that you would recommend Morrison's ‘savers’ to a friend or colleague?” The results are shown to the left. These results conclude that 45 per cent of people would be (50 per cent or more) likely to recommend to a friend or colleague. This could be because the other 55 per cent of people do not shop at Morrison’s, or it might be due to people not liking the items they purchased. On my survey (see appendix 2) I asked: “Overall, how satisfied are you with Morrison's 'own brand'?” These results are shown below. On average people were 78 per cent satisfied with Morrison’s ‘savers range’ as a whole. This shows they are effective as the majority of people are satisfied with the range. However, Morrison’s should be trying to make this number higher, so it sits in the 90s or at 100 so they are gaining the satisfaction of the reaming 22 per cent. The mystery shopper, tired mummy of two, (see appendix 3) concluded that some savers items are extremely good and they would repeat the purchase again. However, some are not so good and they would rather buy the dearer branded alternative.
This means they are only partially effective due to only some items being better than the dearer, branded versions and some being worse. This could be because of a poor batch that was produced in this shopper’s store, or it might be due to the product just lacking in general. The mystery shopper (see appendix 3) reviewed 24 products; 75 per cent (18 items) she will re-purchase regularly. This means three-quarters of products, in her opinion, are better than the dearer alternative, suggesting Morrison’s are effective in their use of ‘savers.’ Conclusions and Recommendations I conclude that people are happy with the quality of products offered by Morrison’s ‘savers range’ because only 15 per cent of items rated were one, two or three stars. The other 85 per cent were rated four or five stars, which suggest the ‘savers range’ has high quality. Originally, on Morrison’s website, I thought that the 95 products was a good range however, I have now realised that they could increase this amount to attract a broader range of customers. I suggest Morrison’s increase this figure, as this would increase the sales revenue of Morrison’s. From my survey, I found that half the people thought Morrison’s quality was the same as competing supermarkets, therefore I recommend that Morrison’s increase their quality so they have a greater competitive edge. This may lead to more people buying the ‘savers range’ and enjoying the item they purchased. If this was the case then the customers who enjoyed the ‘savers range’ item to, most likely, tell friends and family, which would increase the reputation and attract new customers. From my survey, I found customers are 78 per cent satisfied with Morrison’s ‘savers range’ therefore I recommend that Morrison’s try to increase this number to the 90s or 100. From the mystery shopper, I found that some products that Morrison’s ‘savers range’ offer are poor in quality; therefore, I recommend that they increase the quality of products, which have been rated one, two or three stars. This means that customers would start viewing the ‘savers range’ as a higher quality meaning they could charge an equal price to competitors ‘own brand’ whilst having a more premium quality. ... [Message clipped] View entire message
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