asda recruitment case study

We worked with ASDA to implement a modern web-based recruitment system, enabling continuous improvement and ensuring ASDA remained ahead of their competitors.

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With a recruitment philosophy of ‘hire for attitude, train for skill’, ASDA differentiates itself from the traditional retail approach where applicants are typically only invited to interviews if they have the right skills or previous relevant experience.

So how does a recruiter with such a philosophy go about implementing such a high volume recruitment strategy?

ASDA used to have ineffective recruitment process for both their graduate and management positions, with over 22,000 applications being manually sifted by their 5-strong resourcing team. The process was resource hungry, slow and undifferentiated from the competition.

For many years ‘hire for attitude’ meant conducting generic  psychometric tests  during assessment centres on an ad-hoc basis. The journey to a different approach started when ASDA suggested that attitude is such an important factor in selection, that they shouldn’t even give a candidate a second glance unless they shared the ASDA values.

ASDA therefore began to embrace the challenge of how it could meaningfully and consistently assess the values of every applicant for management/ graduate positions whilst keeping their costs down. The process would also have to meet the needs of all the stakeholders involved including:

The ASDA Resourcing team

Recruiters in the training stores

The Distribution team

Colleagues at George home office and ASDA House Senior managers

Clevry and the ASDA resourcing team therefore held a number of listening groups across all areas of the business to understand what their customers and candidates were looking for from a system, what was in use already in the UK, and where things were headed in the future.

In recruitment cost savings (over 5 years)

Reduction in recruiter workload

Reduction in entire recruitment process to just 5 days

To deliver value to the business the initiative had a number of objectives to meet:

Reduce the volume of candidates reaching the later stages

Speed up the recruitment process

Reduce the administrative burden

Deliver higher calibre candidates

Differentiate ASDA from the competition

Our Approach

Further to this research ASDA worked with us to implement a web-based recruitment system that was rolled out in 3 distinct phases, enabling continuous improvement and ensuring that ASDA remained ahead of the competition.

PHASE 1: THE MANAGEMENT APPLICATION PACK

The first system included an online pre-selection process capable of filtering out the less suitable candidates before the first sift of applications. This incorporated the following entirely bespoke features:

• Application form with scored elements and open-ended questions for discussion during interviews
• Personality questionnaire
• Cognitive ability test  simulating the demands of the role

Scored work experience and education section online sifting interface that used a traffic light system

This combination was web-enabled by ASDA’s IT team in America

PHASE 2: THE ‘WEBSIFTER’

As their competitors introduced virtual assessments, ASDA increased the gap with this next phase that added:

• The ability to tailor assessments and sifting to suit different roles
• A bespoke candidate management system (built and hosted externally by us) A more seamless candidate experience
• Greater integration with back office systems

For this phase ASDA moved away from their American developers and our developers took over the development using Microsoft.net technology.

PHASE 3: THE ‘SUPERSIFTER’

This most recent phase incorporates:

• A seamless candidate experience from browsing the job site to submitting an application SMS messaging
• User-generated Web 2.0 features
• Greater role-by-role flexibility

An online application process for George roles linked to a George careers site for the first time Job alerts to ensure that when an opportunity arises the candidate doesn’t miss it!

The Results

The new system succeeded in   reducing the cost-per-hire by 88%   delivering an   annual saving of £2.64 million   (averaged over 5 years).

Other key improvements included:

65% reduction in workload   associated with management and graduate recruitment, delivering an annual    saving around £30,000 .

£60,000 cost saving    in the need for press advertising.

70% reduction    in the number of candidates put through costly assessment centres.

New starters with    improved cultural fit    were more likely to be motivated, happy and productive.

The    faster recruitment    process reduced the likelihood of candidates accepting fewer competing offers.

From a starting point of 10 candidates reaching the interview stage per vacancy, the innovation reduced this figure by    70%    to 3 to 4 candidates.

Reduced the end-to- end recruitment process   by 84% to an average of just 5 days.

The recruitment resourcing required was    reduced by around 65%.

The    improvement in applicant calibre    was demonstrated by a 30% increase in the success of the recruitment process.

A survey of internal managers regularly used for interviewing highlighted that    candidate quality had significantly improved   since online sifting was implemented.

What They Said

““Having worked with Clevry for a number of years, we felt that they really understood our business and our culture. They had shown that they could produce flexible and adaptable solutions, which was ideal for our purpose.””

– Claire Fuller, Resourcing Manager

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Valuing your talent: ASDA

Case study on using the diversity of the workforce to connect with customers

The changing landscape of retail

People as the drivers, analytics as the enabler, the people analytics function, customer data and employee data to create insight, data as the weapon in the war for talent.

Innovation and change are driving forces for organisations like ASDA. Changing consumer behaviour means that for the business to operate in the highly competitive retail market, employees must be equipped to operate within complex and challenging environments. For example, over half of in store transactions at ASDA now go through a self-scan checkout; employees are now hosting customers, helping with queries and managing multiple checkout sites at one time. This shift in customer service and customer management within the business model is challenging the traditional supermarket retail skills that ASDA has built ever since its founding in 1965. Where once repeatable and predictable tasks could be trained and operationalised through training of customer service staff, now more complex and individual-based skills are required. Decision-making and autonomy are a pair that are thought to be of particular importance to ASDA in the future, as Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores at ASDA explains:

"The challenges are about helping our colleagues to understand that delivering great service and meeting future business needs requires an acceptance that the business must change and adapt quickly. Therefore, being able to manage with autonomy and agility is an essential skill and is something to be relished and prized, not something to resist and be afraid of." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

Rapid growth in online and mobile shopping is also acting as a catalytic force for the business, pushing for innovation throughout operations and people development. Workforce planning is one particular aspect of ASDA whereby innovation, and in particular automation, will radically alter the makeup of the retail business. New skills and capabilities are therefore being planned into the future workforce, and mapped against current capabilities – the gaps being addressed through new HR interventions, training and deployment of workforce skills. With this disruption only on the increase, the business is tracking its performance through two key HR measures: customer satisfaction and engagement:

"From an HR point of view some of the key questions at the moment are around how many colleagues we need, and what skills they will need to develop. For example, what is the optimum level of service for our customers, and how many customers should one colleague be serving at any one time? This is not just an operational question – this also affects who our people are and their suitability with their role... our colleagues are dealing with different technology, different customer reactions: their own capability is suddenly being challenged. We have to support them to continue to be happy and productive in the future." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

ASDA’s people are at the heart of the organisation’s growth and success, and reflecting the diversity of the communities in which the business operates is important for the business to continue to meet the high expectations of its customers. Utilising this diversity in the workforce is a powerful way then for the business to connect with customers and deliver the type of service they desire – as a result HR strategy and operations are tailored to reflect the individual needs of employees. This is particularly apparent when considering workforce demographics and the very personal needs of staff which if met correctly can drive long-term performance. Working at this individual level is just one of the ways by which HR analytics is bringing HR teams closer to the needs of individual employees and is enabling them to tailor the function accordingly:

"In ASDA we’ve got more than five generations under one roof. We were celebrating a gentleman’s 90th birthday the other day; he works for us 12 hours a week. The best part of the whole story is he has 10 years’ service, so he was 80 when he joined us. What he might need and his needs as a colleague versus someone on our graduate scheme might be quite different, so it is very important to me that I'm engaging with the colleague on an individual basis and not broad brushing. On some things we might all be the same, but on others we might not be." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

As a result the organisation’s HR strategy is built around the three key pillars of culture, talent and ways of working (Figure 1). Engagement in particular is an area which the business focuses on within the culture and engagement pillars, with considerable attention paid to appreciating the relationship between engagement and performance. The organisation has a dedicated role within the function: the Engagement Analytics Manager, who leads the organisation’s push to better appreciate this relationship, and is responsible for managing and reporting on engagement data:

"My role is within the engagement space at ASDA and concerns the measurement and quantification of engagement, the planning and development of engagement proposals and how we as a business drive engagement. I am interested in exploring the return that we get from our employees and which measures we can put in place to track mood, aspirations and motivations. This is of real importance to ASDA as a business." Engagement Analytics Manager

As a driver of performance ASDA is aware that engagement is one of the major levers that can be used to ensure that customer satisfaction remains high. Senior leadership teams are most interested in this because along with developing and providing quality goods, customer engagement is one of the most important activities the business can deliver on to create value. By exploring engagement data the leadership team is encouraged to sensecheck how HR processes and systems are driving the right behaviours in employees, and particular aspects of engagement which are believed to be directly correlated to crucial measures of business performance, including both sales and customer satisfaction:

"Segmentation analysis is really important to me. It saves me a lot of money if I can be precise and tailored about how I am talking to my teams. Equally, it helps me with engagement and I've got direct correlation between our engagement scores and things like shrink performance, waste performance, wages, sales and obviously customer satisfaction. This shows the importance of engagement as an HR measure when we are looking to create competitive advantage in our business."  Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

But while many organisations may view surveys as the be-all and end-all of engagement, ASDA is clear that it is the conversation and behaviours that result from surveys which are of value. The engagement team recognise the value of this ongoing dialogue and discussion with employees, and therefore communicate openly during and outside of the survey period. Instead of forcing responses and driving the wrong behaviours in the line management community, team leaders are encouraged to lead powerful conversations within their teams that are proactive and open, designed to create dialogue and create the right conditions for high quality customer interactions:

"If I just talk about response rates: it’s really important for us to get as many people through the surveys that we do, so they have a voice. That’s what we want to encourage in our colleagues, but actually we know that it doesn’t make a difference in terms of the output of numbers that we get, because of convergence of the data. We say to our senior stakeholders, “It’s not really that important if you don’t get 100%, but actually make sure you’re encouraging your colleagues, as many of them as possible, to participate. Don’t force them.” That can be quite conflicting, I think, for our leaders, so we help them to understand it as much as possible." Engagement Analytics Manager

Retail, with its significant workforce and vast geographic footprint, is naturally driven by operating costs, one of the biggest being its workforce. Payroll then is one of the most important data-rich activities within the wider HR function; and given the desire of the organisation to drive performance whilst efficiently using resources, productivity is a key performance indicator for both internal and external stakeholders:

"Analytics has been used in retailing for many years because it’s a people business and people are your biggest cost, other than your cost of goods. The largest bill is your payroll bill. So understanding how long each task takes, whether it is done well, and then being able to refine and value-engineer tasks to modify your wage costs accordingly is very important. Many retailers challenge themselves every year on how many millions they can take out of their cost base as a result to re-invest for the customer and shareholder." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

To drive these cost control activities the business draws on basic productivity and performance measures which help to illustrate how employees across the business are delivering in their roles. Based around time to delivery, these measures of productivity play an important role in maintaining service level standards, and help focus the training and development of staff:

"In terms of employee analytics we measure service, transaction times on a check out, time to restock, time to deliver etc. We centralise this data and use it to manage and maintain standards. We can see optimum pick rates, optimum scan rates, and transaction times and then we set targets and standards that we train towards, encouraging and coaching our colleagues to achieve certain levels of performance for the customer." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

The analytics team has worked hard to develop core measures that the business holds as standard measures. These standard measures are applied by HR, the custodians of people data, to all the information they manage, with the aim of drawing comparisons and moving the business towards potential benchmarking against peers and competitors. For ASDA the metrics order into a logical hierarchy of value to the business:

"I think if we were to order them in importance to the business at present, wages would be at the top, as this tells us www.valuingyourtalent.com 5 how much we’re spending on our employees. Then it would come down to how much they’re costing us when they leave, and also absence. Our sector is highly focused on cost management, and this is reflected in our HR measures. Those two quantitative sets of data are important for us in the financial sense. Then if we were to move through the spectrum, measures regarding engagement, performance tracking, and qualitative data such as how they feel etc." Engagement Analytics Manager

The size and scope of ASDA mean that within the organisation there is real talent and capability available and ready to be leveraged. Following ASDA’s acquisition by American retail giant Walmart in 1999, ASDA has been able to access people analytics capability which was previously unavailable. And whilst UK-based ASDA has only recently started to delve in to HR analytics and explore how people data may help drive performance, the Walmart team has long invested in attempting to answer the people performance question. So much so, that the Walmart function has a highly capable people analytics team, and is now driving insights in collaboration with their ASDA-based counterparts:

"I am very lucky because, obviously, ASDA is owned by Wal-Mart. There are dedicated people inside the analytics team, not only in ASDA, but they can work with and leverage, from a systems and a capability point of view, into Walmart. It also allows me to share information and learning with other markets. Obviously, ASDA being in the UK is one of 29 countries in which Wal-Mart trades. So I'm able to utilise global insight and understand if somebody else has already cracked a problem which perhaps I’m only just beginning to face. I’m able to get information and guidance from across our expert network." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

This global perspective on people data is now helping ASDA to build its own capability and deliver insights across its UK operations. Investment for the business is now in building individual capability by sourcing highly capable analysts with a basic understanding of people and the HR function. At present analytical skills at ASDA are based around an equal weighting of data understanding, plus the ability to communicate and influence using evidence. For ASDA, both skill sets are needed: one without the other can lead to misinformation to the business with potentially damaging results:

"The skills that I would say my own team have, they’re tech-savvy, and so they know how to get around quickly and present and get information. They’re disciplined in working through things like algorithms and finding patterns and trends in information. But they have a very personable style that they can then go and test. So they don’t only take the information at face value, they’re able to then go out and run focus groups and check it, and then present it, which is a very important skill to have. It gives me and our leadership team confidence that the right tests have been taken to provide robust and valid insights." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

While measuring standard metrics is important for HR operations, the value of data grows significantly once it is used in the form of insights across the business. A fundamental role of the HR analytics team is to build clear reports which deliver timely insights across functional teams and senior leaders. And because data availability is increasing, the number of potential reports that HR must develop and understand is also going up. It is for this reason that ASDA is now looking to rationalise their HR measures and present them as a simple dashboard which illustrates key performance indicators connected to the three HR strategic priorities. The business is working with external experts to use HR data within the dashboard report which will feature alongside other business metrics. Accompanying the dashboard will be narrative information which is intended to provide a holistic perspective of ASDA’s people, in the context of focusing on business and customer performance. This tool is now in development by the HR team, and is one which they believe will radically change the way the business uses HR data:

"We’re in the process of creating a dashboard. We’ve never really achieved it…on our retail side we’re looking at how our key performance indicators in HR link to the overall business performance indicators. We’ve worked with a consultancy that has been able to link output measures back to input drivers. Now we’re going to look at some of the HR angles in that data, for example, what makes the difference in terms of our home shopping picking accuracy, and how that impacts on sales. What we want to do now is join everything up. At the moment we don’t bring everything together, for example, by talking about data holistically and how it impacts wider business. We tend to be quite siloed in the way that we work. We need to develop greater integration between our different types of data. The dashboard that HR is building will help to change this as it will use HR data and engagement data to tell the story clearly. It will show absence and turnover, etc. We’re also working on how we would reduce some of the reporting of requirements, which are very manual, to feed into that so that it would then be a very holistic view." Engagement Analytics Manager

It is clear then that ASDA recognises the importance and value of high quality people data. Across the business data is used in multiple ways and is now being utilised alongside other types of business information. ASDA has put in place senior leaders with oversight and governance responsibilities within the data and analytics space, predominantly around customer data, where value is driven from insights through to increased sales. Market insight in particular is important in the highly competitive retail environment, where customer loyalty is shrinking and customer behaviour is increasingly fickle.

"We have a Chief Customer Officer whose role is to oversee customer insight and intelligence and how the business uses this information. This capability provides data frequently. For example, it provides an ongoing pulse of what our customers are saying and how they’re behaving. Because what customers say isn’t necessarily what they do, you have to continually measure and monitor their actual behaviour. You can then compare a lot of that information with competitive market information so you can see how we sit by comparison. We’ll do a whole variety of things, for example in our stores where we’ve got focus groups and listening groups with our own customers and with our competitors’ customers, just to understand different reactions and behaviours. Then we’ll analyse this data and choose what to do in our business that might affect competitive service." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

This direct action from market insight through to alterations in customer service or operational delivery models, is driving real value-creation in the business. Leaders too are now using this data in various ways, and it is during its combination with employee data when truly powerful people insights can occur. ASDA has recognised this and is focusing much of its analytical development on building this multidimensional analytics capability – and while there is some way to go until the business is able to benefit from these insights, there is definite belief that utilising data in this way will drive business performance in unique and innovative ways.

ASDA then is very much future-focused, and in preparation for the increasingly competitive retail environment the chain is building its capabilities in analytics and focusing on modifying its human capital through various HR activities and interventions. Through all of this, data is playing a vital enabling role, and the analytics that HR is applying to data is uncovering fascinating concepts the business is now building into its workforce, engagement and customer service plans. Management capability is one area of focus which the business now believes should be enhanced and made to be future proof. The new context and evolved business model mean that managerial roles are expected to decline in number, but the need for strong capability to innovate and drive customer service will continue to grow:

"In the future I believe we will have fewer managers and more engaged, contributing teams of colleagues who figure stuff out for themselves. I’m certain those closest to the customers will come up with brilliant and the best solutions.'" Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

For Hayley and her colleagues it is HR analytics which holds the key. By applying the same techniques of customer segmentation and analysis to their engagement and people data, the team believe that they will unlock the ability of employees to behave and engage with customers in such a way that they deliver high quality service every time, and deliver the competitive advantage the business needs to succeed today and well into the future:

"I’d like the data to tell me how to get the most engaged colleague that I possibly can to give the best level and noticeable, industry-leading service in the market. If I could find that, that would tell me, “What does that colleague do, say, and sound like?” From a behavioural point of view I believe that would give us as real competitive advantage." Hayley Tatum, Senior Vice President for People and Stores

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Selecting ASDA’s best graduates, ever

In 2013, Asda – the UK’s third largest retailer – recognized the need to upgrade its graduate assessment solution in order to showcase the Asda culture as robust, valid, fair and unbiased, while at the same time ‘getting under the skin’ of candidates to uncover the real person rather than just what they think they should be.

Asda wanted to identify candidates with the right strengths for the role and the right strengths for the Asda culture, who would go on to perform well in the role and be fast-tracked to a management position after the 3 year program. This was also seen an opportunity to align Asda’s people processes, improving the connection between recruitment and the onward graduate journey.

Our solution

Strengthscope® undertook a strengths job analysis to create a target role profile for graduates who, with the right support, could quickly step up into managerial positions, embody the Asda values and culture and who would love coming to work every day. To do this, we ran strengths interviews and focus groups across a range of stakeholders to identify core graduate strengths.

We then designed a strengths-based video interviewing sift stage, as well as designing strengths assessment centres which included exercises such as a strengths career presentation, a strengths interview, an analysis/role-play (which mirrored the realities of the role) as well as a group exercise.

All candidates were provided with feedback, including on their Strengthscope® profile, in order to differentiate the candidate experience and demonstrate the Asda values. Finally, the strengths approach was integrated into the graduate on-boarding and induction process to ensure that successful applicants could hit the ground running in their new roles.

• Quality of hires has significantly improved: all hires have been retained and promoted during the program – a first for the company
• Candidates leave the day having gained insight into their strengths and risks, and gain personal development – thus differentiating the graduate hiring experience
• Hiring managers have been happy to adopt the new approach due to the robust approach taken to identifying outstanding graduates during the strengths job analysis
• Hiring metrics have improved in all areas

The candidate has the opportunity to talk about things that are more business oriented during the assessment centre. It has been a real positive experience as an observer – we are able to make the most of people’s strengths and where they fit in the business.

Hiring Manager, ASDA

One graduate joined the business in 2014 and is now accountable for a £300M category of products, following back-to-back promotions. We also have another who is the General Store Manager (GSM) of a £Multimillion store, becoming the youngest Asda GSM ever.

Recruitment Team, ASDA

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Effective Recruitment and Selection an ASDA Case study

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Thorough SWOT Analysis of Asda – A Lifestyle And Retailer Supermarket Bases In The UK

By Aditya Shastri

In our previous blog, we studied the comprehensive business model of Tesco , one of the world’s largest retailers that currently operates in 11 different countries. Here we will be doing a detailed SWOT Analysis of Asda.

As the world right now struggles to go out and shop even their basic necessity products, we have our amazing online stores who without any hesitation drop out needful things at our doorstep. Well, that’s how Asda works, or in fact, is one step ahead. 

Asda is a lifestyle and retailer supermarket chain with over 630 stores and a 14.4% market share! It was declared Retailer of the year in 2019 , isn’t that amazing? The company has partnered with worldwide businesses to provide the customer with what they are looking for. Asda is also working on their impact on environmental operations i.e. the products they sell and the suppliers who produce them.

Supermarkets, superstores, supercentres and over 19 million customers. So what does Asda exactly do to engage their customers into merchandising their products to them and requisition their products? Well, the answer is, Asda has been putting money into effective marketing methods. The current global situation is pushing towards digitalization, and if you’re interested in learning more, check out our Free MasterClass on Digital Marketing 101 by Karan Shah, CEO, and Founder of IIDE.

Do you know how a firm evaluates its environment? SWOT Analysis is one of the most often used approaches. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at the SWOT Analysis of Asda. 

Before we get started with the SWOT Analysis of Asda, let’s learn a little bit about the firm, its products and services, and its competitors.

Asda is a UK based Supermarket chain and brand which sells a massive number of its own branded products and other famous products, food and non-food items. Formed during the year 1949, established their headquarters in Leeds, West Yorkshire. By the time it expanded throughout England and acquired 61 Gateway Supermarkets, Allied Carpets and other businesses like MFI and later sold it to expand their business.

In the year 1999, Asda was listed on London Stock Exchange, later it was procured by Walmart. Nonetheless, it was crowned the Chilled Retailer of the Year, Bakery Retailer of the Year, and Drinks Retailer of the Year 2019. 

From Economic Scale to Superior Technology, Asda is famous for its cheap but quality products covering over 98 per cent of the UK! Its online platforms Asda Living, George stores, and Petrol Filling Stations as well as its marketing campaigns are excellent.

Products & Servies by Asda

• General Merchandise
• Financial Services
• Home Delivery

Competitors of Asda

• Waitrose & Partners

Now that we understand the company’s key business, let’s look after the SWOT Analysis of Asda.

SWOT Analysis of Asda

SWOT Analysis of Asda is a basic method that can help a company examine what it does best right now and develop a successful future strategy. It exposes the areas where people are holding back or how competitors may profit.

With the growing neck-and-neck rivalry in membership warehouses, it is critical for organizations like Asda to examine the business environment.

To better understand the SWOT analysis of Asda, refer to the infographic below:

Now first let’s begin with the strengths of the company from the SWOT analysis of Asda.

Strengths of Asda

Strengths are defined as what each business does best in its gamut of operations which can give it an upper hand over its competitors. The following are the strengths of Asda:

• Wide Range of Products: Asda has a wide range of product offerings and has expanded very well around the UK. It also includes financial service offerings. It is known for amazing marketing strategies showing customer delight and services. 
• Strong Presence in the Market: Asda’s presence in various regions makes its organisation’s marketing strategy beneficial, with regards to its target audience as well. They are a very strong dealer company, not only to promote their products, as well as their training and team managing system. 
• Broad Distribution Network: Asda has about 25 distribution centres across the UK. These are stored chilled products like food, clothing and ambient products like soft drinks and cereals. Asda also has a ToYou Parcel Service. 

• Social Media & Online Presence: Asda maintains healthy contacts with their customers on social media sites as well they ask for frequent feedback from them. They have plenty of brand acquisitions.

Bonus Tip: Developing engagement marketing using social media & online reputation management is one of the biggest reasons Asda is climbing the stairs to success. Without maintaining healthy relations with customers a business can never become a brand. So, it is important to learn these powerful digital marketing skills if you want your business to achieve global success in your industry.    

• Awards & Recognitions: Asda has received various awards for its excellent services. One of the noted achievements is the Innovative Employer of the Year during the year 2009 at the Oracle Retail Week Awards.

Weaknesses of Asda

Weaknesses are used to refer to areas where the business or the brand needs improvement.   Some of the key weaknesses of Asda are:

• Weak Merchandise: As far as Asda has their strengths, they have their weaknesses too. Some critics argue that Asda merchandise isn’t as desirable as the ones of Waitrose and different comparable manufacturers e.g. Sainsbury’s. 
• Expensive for Some Customers: Likewise, it isn’t as inexpensive as discounters which include Aldi and Lidl . This is now no longer convincing for lots of customers. 
• Increasing Debt: It is likewise stated that Asda has approximately £3.5 billion well worth of debt. This is a vast quantity that influences the economic balance of the company.
• R&D on Innovation & Technology: Even though Asda is working on their Research and Development, they still have not been able to compete with the leading players in the industry. Asda also needs to invest in new technologies in terms of innovation. The decision making in Asda takes too much time and money, also in introducing new products to the audiences.
• Controversies & Critics: During the 12 months of 2007, Asda, at the side of some different retailers, admitted pricing fixes at the dairy merchandise. They have fallen into many controversies and critics. For instance for his or her faux advertising in addition to their reputation.

Opportunities for Asda

Opportunities refer to those avenues in the environment that surrounds the business on which it can capitalize to increase its returns. Some of the opportunities include:

• Increase Online Presence: More and more customers are shopping online and as the focus is pinned towards it, hence a great opportunity for expansion of domain. Therefore, the online presence is spreading wide into other countries like India, China, and many more. This will help the brand get sufficient views.
• Working on Employees Satisfaction: The business organisations have also worked on their potential segments creating a better and safer place for their employees, staff members and also their long-term customers.
• Economical Shift: There’s an economic uplift and customer prevalence within the company. More and more audiences have shifted their preferences to Asda’s servicing. Asda also converted their 5 to 6 focus DIY stores into convenient supermarkets.
• E-commerce: Utilizing the benefit of online presence is a great opportunity for Asda. their official site and other social media have benefited them and they are a step ahead of being popular!
• Global Expansion: Going beyond the UK for opportunities is worth the effort! Although Asda’s attempt to merge with Sainsbury was blocked by the CMA (The Competition and Markets Authority), it is ready for other experiences too. 

Threats to Asda

Threats are those factors in the environment that can be detrimental to the growth of the business. Some of the threats include:

• Race With Competitors: Asda faces a lot of competitors around the UK. Tesco is the market leader, whereas Sainsbury is Asda’s closest rival. Other competitors in the race are Morrisons, Waitrose, Aldi, Asda, and Co-op.
• Rules & Regulations: The legal standards and new set of rules have created a major setback for Asda, change in regulatory frameworks and introducing regulations to the organisations may have been a drawback for the company. Liability laws in different states must have created a threat to the product services of Asda as per some policies of the countries. 
• Currency Fluctuations: Asda also has access to other countries which also gives rise to currency fluctuations, following markets across the world. Cultural diversity because of globalization contributes to the company’s lack of cultural intelligence.
• Breaking Laws: It is also worth noting that the growth of independent online retailers is a threat. Similarly, lawsuits can be problematic for Asda. It was known many times in the past by various authorities for breaking certain rules.

This ends our thorough SWOT analysis of Asda. Let us conclude our learning below.

To Conclude

Among other retailer brands, the one that tops with its unique tactics and customer satisfaction is Asda. Why? Because it is digital-friendly and easily accessible. Emphasizing Asda’s digital marketing campaign, they are making a divergent display to their customers as well as online clients. They are taking a step forwards to the world of digital marketing objectives.

With a huge increase in the service industry. There is a very high competition where marketing plays a crucial role-taking advantage of technology, not merely in this industry in which every other company is focusing on digital marketing to rise ahead of each other.  If you too are interested in learning advanced digital marketing strategies, check out  IIDE’s 3 Month Advanced Online Digital Marketing Course to know more.

We hope this blog on the SWOT analysis of Asda has given you a good insight into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

If you enjoy in-depth company research just like the SWOT analysis of Asda, check out our IIDE Knowledge portal for more fascinating case studies.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and do share your thoughts on this case study of the SWOT analysis of Asda in the comments section below.

Author's Note: My name is Aditya Shastri and I have written this case study with the help of my students from IIDE's online digital marketing courses in India . Practical assignments, case studies & simulations helped the students from this course present this analysis. Building on this practical approach, we are now introducing a new dimension for our online digital marketing course learners - the Campus Immersion Experience. If you found this case study helpful, please feel free to leave a comment below.

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Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs...... [Read full bio]

This is a brilliant swot analysis and I think you should publish more like this as it would help some students towards their assignments!

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