Fortune 500 is a list of companies from around the world irrespective of their business and customer base which are considered to be major corporations based on the variable i.e. their sales revenue. This list is published in Fortune Magazine annually year with companies taking a position on the list according to their financial performance in the previous year. The current analytical paper will look at J. Sainsbury and its non-store retailing business identifying techniques which the company implements and the outcome is discussed based on the product choice of the research and examining the process of how Sainsbury’s is offering this product through is non-store operations.
Company Profile
J.Sainsbury is based in the UK and its main business is in the retailing sector while it has also diversified into providing financial services. The company has 792 outlets along with online shopping website. The company recorded revenues of £18,911mn in 2009 and net profit of £289mn (J. Sainsbury, 2009).
Product Selected
The product selected for the current analysis is mobile phones. This product is chosen as it is the keen interest of the researcher to purchase newer versions of this technology.
Non-Store Retailing
Sainsbury’s stores offer customers an opportunity to do their daily grocery shopping or household items purchases via its online retailing website. The website address is which offers great offers relating to different products and services the company sells. It not only includes different offerings but is also an informative website that guides customers about what is available in-store. Two particular aspects regarding this website are that it offers products and services which are not available in Sainsbury’s stores and also it also offers Sainsbury’s Affinity Master Card which has lower APR for customers who do their shopping from Sainsbury’s outlets and its online retailing website.
Mobile Phones Section
Mobile Phones are available under the Technology section which is placed at the top of their web page. To direct the website to the page where mobile phones are offered the user has to click on Phones & Accessories sub-group of Technology section. Technology section includes other products categories too but as the researcher is interested in new package bundles which include mobile phones along with pay-as-you-go lines of different operator companies this is the reason why mobile phones are selected for this research (J. Sainsbury, 2009).
The website navigates users through click options to where mobile phones are available and displayed. In the left panel the customer has a choice to search through the available phones, mobile phones and accessories. There are two options available either shop by price or shop by brand. Under each option there are various choices for example shop by price option has two price bands whereas shop by brand has ten different brands offered. Amongst these brands the customer has a choice of selecting mobile phones from companies such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Binatone, Vodafone and Motorola. The right side web panel is a pictorial display of different models of mobile phones along with their prices. All mobile phones are offered with pay-as-you-go options from mobile phone operator company i.e. Vodafone. The prices range from £39.99 to £99.99. Upon clicking the hyperlink for each mobile phone the website takes the customer to a separate page that provides product overview and detailed product features. The customer also has a choice to make comparisons between selected mobile phones. In addition to mobile phones the website also offers different accessories to go with different mobile phones. The website also makes recommendations of accessories to go with selected mobile phones (J. Sainsbury, 2009).
Once the customer makes a choice of mobile phone the website takes the customer to check out where the customer is required to pay for the purchase via different payment options including Sainsbury’s Master Card. There are two options available to the customer for choosing delivery mode. The product could be delivered either through standard service or next-day service. The company charges £4.95 for the earlier service which takes 3-4 days and £6.95 for the later service (J. Sainsbury, 2009).
Other Services
In addition to the Phones & Accessories the company’s online retailing website also offers other services giving customers a feel of the authenticity of services the company offers backed by the company’s overall customer service and protection policy. These services include information page regarding delivery service which the company has for delivering its products to customers. This increases the researcher’s confidence in the company assuring that his purchases will be safely delivered to him. The company has clearly set out its return policy which covers guidelines and rules for return of products under various situations. With respect to mobile phones the researcher is interested in faulty products or repairing clauses of this page (J. Sainsbury, 2009).
Remarks
The company’s non-store retailing through its online shopping website is an attractive option available to the customers where focus is on providing complete details and comparisons to customers along with different delivery and payment options. However, the choice of the product models in this case that of mobile phones is somewhat limited to fewer options.
References
- J. Sainsbury. (2009). Home.
- J. Sainsbury. (2009). J. Sainsbury Annual Report 2009. London: J. Sainsbury.
- J. Sainsbury. (2009). Mobile phones.