Higher Business Management
Assignment 2016
Commentary - Candidate 5
Candidate 5
The evidence for this candidate has achieved the following marks for this section
of this course assessment component.
Analysis and interpretation
The candidate was awarded the maximum 12/12 marks for the analysis and
interpretation section. They have made 14 correct points, however the maximum
number of marks available for this section is 12.
Findings have been identified throughout the script. The candidate is required to
indicate a finding in order to analyse it, but no marks are awarded for findings.
This section was marked as follows:
Paragraph 1
Asda’s ‘price back guarantee’ is a key promotion which the
business uses in order to keep customers returning, the
promotion promises that customers groceries will be 10%
cheaper than Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose,
and if this isn’t the case the business will give you the
difference back in cash (Appendix 1, Asda Price Back
Guarantee).
This means that customers are paying the lowest possible
price in comparison to the other big supermarket rivals and
this increases customer satisfaction,
which means that there will be repeat customers and
increased store loyalty.
This also means that Asda can use the ‘price back
guarantee’ promotion when they are advertising, which will
mean that their advertising may appeal to new customers
who are unaware of Asda’s offers, therefore Asda may have
new customers shopping at the supermarket which
increases overall sales and profits.
Paragraph 2
From my visit to Asda I found out that Asda placed their
reduced priced goods at the front of the supermarket
(Appendix 5).
Finding
AI – 1 mark
Not developed
Recommendation
Finding
This tells me that Asda are trying to increase their sales as
the reduced goods are the first thing customers see and
customers also feel as if they are getting good value for
their money.
AI – 1 mark
This means that Asda will be able to shift stock more
quickly as customers will be interested to buy the reduced
goods which means there will be less wastage of perishable
goods.
AI – 1 mark
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Higher Business Management
Assignment 2016
Paragraph 3
A recent Sky news article stated that Asda were making
£500m in price cuts in order to compete with discount
supermarket rivals Lidl and Aldi (Appendix 1, Sky News).
Commentary - Candidate 5
Finding
This shows that Asda are willing to stick to their ‘low price’
slogan as they are willing to make cuts in order to remain
competitive with their rivals.
AI – 1 mark
Also this suggests that Asda are making cuts in order to
keep their customer satisfaction high, therefore making
Asda a more reputable supermarket and increasing its
market share.
AI – 1 mark
Paragraph 4
A survey which I conducted showed that 25% of people
were not happy with the quality of the products they were
receiving in Asda’s ‘smart price’ range (Appendix 4).
Finding
This shows that Asda are failing to satisfy around a quarter
of their customers with their low price strategy, which will
decrease the sales of Asda’s products as dissatisfied
customers will just go elsewhere.
AI – 1 mark
This also suggests that a low price is not the only thing
customers are looking for, they expect a good quality
product for what they are paying.
AI – 1 mark
Paragraph 5
From my field visit, I found that Asda’s promotions were
very clearly displayed on billboards which were displayed
on roads close to the supermarket (Appendix 5).
Finding
This means that the customers are always aware of the
current promotions which are available throughout the
store,
AI – 1 mark
this increases customer satisfaction as customers can base
their shopping around the offers.
AI – 1 mark
This also suggests that Asda can entice new customers into
their supermarket if they are displaying billboards on busy
roads, and this will create increased awareness about
Asda.
AI – 1 mark
Paragraph 6
A recent news article contained a survey which was
conducted by ‘which?’ and the survey showed Asda was
scored 4/5 for its value for money (Appendix 1, BT News).
Finding
This shows that customers are satisfied by the products that
they are receiving and that Asda’s generally low price
AI – 1 mark
strategy is successful.
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Higher Business Management
Assignment 2016
This also shows that in comparison to its rivals Morrisons,
Tesco and Sainsbury, Asda has a higher score at 4/5,
compared to its rivals which all have a score of 3/5, which
shows that Asda is ahead of its rivals in terms of ‘value for
money’.
Paragraph 7
Shoppers are also able to shop online at ‘www.Asda.com’
and Asda claims on its online website that it has 1000 lower
prices than Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s (Appendix 1,
Asda Online Shopping).
This shows a strength of Asda (Appendix 2, SWOT) as they
offer their discounts through online shopping as well as in
store, and this will increase Asda’s number of shoppers as
Asda are able to appeal to a new market e.g. people living
in rural areas, people with disabilities etc.
This also means that Asda can become more competitive
with its rivals, as Asda’s rivals (Tesco, Morrisons, and
Sainsbury) also offer online shopping as an option.
Paragraph 8
From an interview with an Asda shopper I found that some
customers were switching to shop at Aldi and Lidl, as Aldi
and Lidl were beginning to slash their prices to attract more
customers away from the other big supermarkets (Appendix
3).
This shows that Asda needs to use competitive pricing
methods to keep their customers returning to Asda and to
prevent customers switching to cheaper alternatives, such
as Aldi and Lidl.
Commentary - Candidate 5
AI – 1 mark
Finding
AI – 1 mark
At the time of
writing this is not
necessarily true
Finding
Recommendation
This also suggests that although Asda has economy
pricing, there is a flaw in their ‘price back guarantee
promotion’ as Aldi and Lidl are not included in the promotion AI – 1 mark
therefore customers are not necessarily getting the
cheapest price at Asda.
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