EWA(1-PG)
LCA BUSINESS SCHOOL
PRE-SESSIONAL ENGLISH
EWA
Analysis of J. Sainsbury’s: Sales, Growth, Profitability And Market Position

Introduction:

A supermarket means a large retail market that sells food and other household goods and that is usually operated on a self-service basis (Dictionary.com). J Sainsbury’s is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom with 17.7% share of the UK grocery supermarket sector. J Sainsbury’s was established in 1869 by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann Sainsbury at Drury Lane in London (j.sainsbury.co.uk). In 1922, Sainsbury became the first self-service retailing in the UK (Wikipedia). Tesco and Asda are the biggest competitors of Sainsbury’s. Despite of the competition, Sainsbury overtook Asda and become second largest supermarket chain in January 2014 (The Telegraph). A wide range of quality food and grocery products are sold by the supermarkets. Sainsbury is recognized not only in the grocery supermarket sector but also for the banking sector, property market, energy industry, petrol stations, pharmacies, entertainment and telecommunication sector. Sainsbury’s is wellknown for its quality food at reasonable prices. Sainsbury’s slogan is “Live Well For Less” (j.sainsbury.co.uk). In large factory outlets, Sainsbury’s also have sections for homeware products, electrical equipments and clothing sections. Sainsbury’s vision is to be the most trusted retailer where people love to work and shop (j.sainsbury.co.uk). Sainsbury deals 23 million customers a week. Each week Sainsbury gets 1,65,000 online grocery orders from click and collect service and earn around £800 million annual turnover. Sainsbury put the customers at the heart of everything they do aiming to make the lives easier (CEO-Justin King). Fresh food remains central to Sainsbury’s business and its success. Sainsbury’s employs over 1,57,000 people from different parts of the UK. Till 2013, Sainsbury established 1106 stores throughout the UK (j.sainsbury.co.uk). Sainsbury is the first choice for food because of excellent service and value for money. Sainsbury’s is a proud sponsors of the London Paralympic Summer Games 2012.
This essay is carried out with the aim of analyzing Sainsbury’s Sales, Growth, Profitability and Market Share. It also consider the Future Aspects of Sainsbury’s to achieve first market position.

Analysis
SALES:
According to the Cambridge Business Dictionary Sales can be defined as, “ Earnings of a company which receives from selling its product and services” (Cambridge Dictionary). Sainsbury’s sales increased significantly as market share rose during 2013 (www.bbc.co.uk). Sainsbury’s non-food sales rapidly increased at twice rate of food sales, rised by 34% since last year (www.bbc.co.uk). Sainsbury says that its luxury Taste The Difference brand now accounts for £1bn of its sales (www.bbc.co.uk). In 2013, the company’s performance was good as it earned 33 consecutive quarters of sales growth (CEO Justin King- in a letter to shareholders). Online grocery sales increased by almost 20% over the year 2013 (bbc.co.uk).

Source : Sainsbury’s Annual Report 2013

The line graph shows the year-on-year sales of Sainsbury’s. In the above graph, there is a comparision of sales between the years 2009 and 2013. The sales of Sainsbury’s was increased gradually in 2009 and 2013. In 2009, the sales was £18518m which slightly rised in 2010 to £19287m. Furthermore, in 2011 the sales went up to £20383m. In 2012, the sales grew marginally to £21421m. The sales of Sainsbury’s was soared in 2013 to £25632m. There was considerable increase in the sales of 2013. Thus, the graph shows that Sainsbury has constant growth in sales from the year 2009 to 2013.

The bar graph presents the month-wise percentage of sales growth of Sainsbury’s from