STEEPLE Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

STEEPLE Analysis - Research Paper Example The UK supermarket sector has been controlled by â€Å"Big Four’’ grocery companies like Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s (Sanderson, 2007). These companies collectively control 75.4% of the market share as of the year 2012 (Butler, 2012). Tesco has occupied 30.5% in terms of grocery retail in the market, whereas Morrisons has 11.7% followed by Asda with 17.1% and Sainsbury’s with 16.1% (Butler, 2012). As UK supermarket sector is based on both grocery and retail outlets, the rate of sales for both the products base have made certain impacts on the growth of the market scenario. The rate of sales in retails had enlarged by 5.4% in September 2011 as compared to September 2010 (Office for National Statistics, 2011). Non-retailing counters and automotive fuels selling capacities have improved to 15.5 and 2.8 percent respectively from 2010 in the year 2011. The paper intends to discuss on STEEPLE Analysis of the UK supermarket sector and evaluate the fac tors in the market which would impact in the organizations operating in the market. Moreover, the discussion also focuses on the assessment of the HR practices of one of the leading companies in the UK retail market, Tesco. Description of STEEPLE Analysis STEEPLE analysis is an instrumental analysis through which changes in the environment can be determined in correlation to the operations in the business sector. The analysis is based on different factors such as social, technological, political, economic, ethical, legal and environmental which have an impact on the operations of business in the UK supermarket sector. Social Factors In relation to the social factors, it is observed that there is a change in the buying pattern of different materials by the customers which significantly relates to the dimensions of lifestyle changes, alteration in income distribution and changes in living conditions. With the influence of these factors customers in the UK are favouring one-stop shoppi ng of products (Randall & Seth, 2011). A crucial issue in context is that there is a noticeable certain change in terms of social wants with the change in time because increasing number of customers nowadays are desiring to keep themselves abreast with the latest fashion and style statements. Consequently, the retailers functioning in the UK supermarket are concentrating rapidly on products which provide them value for money. The option of finding a variety of products within one-roof in a supermarket has also been a major draw for the consumers which in turn facilitate them meet their needs and desires (Defra, 2006). Moreover, certain pertinent social factors such as birth rates, household income, gender and religion among others have affected the retail giants like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons in the UK supermarket. In relation to augmented birth rates, it can be ascertained that retailers like Tesco have started to increasingly focus on keeping an assortment of c hildren toys related products to open up a new target market for the company. Moreover, in the global operations companies such as Tesco need to operate keeping in consideration the religious contexts while offering products and preparing their advertisements so that the sentiments of the people in a foreign country do not get hurt. It can in turn affect their sales and profitability. Similarly, social factors such as gender and household income have also been taken into consideration by the retail companies while preparing their product assortment as products in varied price range have been a key consideration to attract consumers’ of different income range. (Tesco Plc, 2012). Sainsbury’