1.1.Background

In the current globalised world, the importance of selling the products is of utmost importance. There exists cut through competition in the retail industry and there are are supplying the products to the customers need a detailed analysis of customer expectations and environmental factors. This is only through the effective marketing that the decision to supply the products to the customers is supported (Ziliani and Bellini, 2003). The function of marketing helps in designing the products which are easy to be sold. Even it is reasonable to state that the function of marketing is directly related with the sales of the organisation. Though, all of the marketing efforts are aimed to increase the sales, this is not explored empirically that how the marketing of any organisation influence the sales. In this present era of cut throat competition, all marketers are striving to improve their sales of their offerings. They have diverted their attention from creating a product or service to the search of customers for their product or service (Berman and Evans, 2013). Therefore, sales strategies involving the structure of sale activities and sales management has gained importance in the customer oriented businesses. Almost in every kind of business, ‘marketing’ and ‘sales’ are considered partners to each other.  Every business invests heavily in the marketing efforts, however, there is not advantage of all such efforts if sales are not generated in response to the marketing efforts. This indicates that performance and effectiveness of marketing efforts could be determined through the sales growth (Kotler, Rackham and Krishnaswamy, 2006). Considering these theoretical arguments about the role of marketing in the sales growth, the present research aims to analyse this research issue in the selected retail organisation i.e. John Lewis. John Lewis is the a chain of upmarket department stores which is functioning all over the United Kingdom. Its ownership is with the John Lewis Partnership. It is working from 1864 and its first chain was opened in the Oxford Street, London.  Its slogan is ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’. From its slogan, the importance of sales for this retail store could be observed. However, the competition in the retail industry of the United Kingdom has increased and it has become important for all retail stores to be vigilant and proactive for the marketing efforts (Burt and Sparks, 2013). Considering the current situation of retail sector of U.K., this research will target the retail industry for further exploration.

1.2.Aim and Objectives

This research will aim to examine the role of marketing on the sales growth in the retail sector. This research will be conducted on the John Lewis as the case study organisation. these aims will be achieved through these objectives.

• To critically review the previous studies about the role of marketing on the sales growth
• To conduct a survey on the case study organisation about the marketing and sales growth
• To empirically examine the impact of marketing on the sales growth of John Lewis
• To provide recommendations regarding the marketing and sales growth, in context of retail sector.

1.3.Significance

It has been found that sales of the retail sector in the United Kingdom are decreasing due to the competitive dynamics of the industry (Burt and Sparks, 2013). John Lewis, as the department store, heavily invests in its marketing activities. This is not known yet whether the investment of John Lewis useful for the sales growth or not. In current era, all of the retail organisations are searching ways to increase their sales. Therefore, this research will be of great importance as it will guide the retail organisations that how their marketing activities are useful for the sales growth. moreover, this research will also be based on the research gap identified by Goi (2015), where the authors recommended that the marketing and sales growth relationship should be studied in the context of retail sector. Therefore, this study will have both practical and academic importance.

1.4.Proposed Structure

There will be five chapters in the dissertation. The first chapter will be of introduction which will introduce the research issue and will design the research questions along with the research aim and objectives. The second chapter will be of literature review where theories related to marketing and sales will be critically studied to develop the theoretical framework and hypotheses. The third chapter will be research methods which will explain how research will be conducted. The forth chapter will present the research findings and analysis. The fifth chapter will be conclusion and recommendation chapter which will summarise the findings and provide recommendations to marketers and future researchers.

2.Literature Review

2.1.Marketing strategy

The basic aim of marketing strategy is to increase the sales and achieve a competitive advantage which is sustainable. Marketing strategy is a broader term which refers to all basic, short and long term activities of the marketers for formulation, implementation and monitoring of the strategy (Homburg and Jensen, 2007). The ultimate goal of marketing strategy is to contribute in the goals of the company. Though, there are various typologies which exists in the marketing strategies, this research will focus on the basic marketing model of 4P’s where product, price, promotion and place will be studied. 

2.2.Sales Growth

Sales refer to the number of units which are sold by an organisation during a certain period of time. The sales growth is about the level of change in the sales of an organisation. For every business, sales growth is the most important determinant of its performance. Therefore, in this environment of competition, every organisation is looking for ways to improve the sales level (Lechner, Soppe, and Dowling, 2016).

2.3.Role of marketing strategies in sales growth

When the effectively designed marketing mix is used by an organisation, it has potential to influence the sales. If the product is directly providing the promised value to customers and fulfilling their needs, there are higher chances that the organisation will experience the sales growth (Homburg, Jensen and Krohmer, 2008). Likewise, the higher quality of product also results in the improved sales level. It is of utmost importance to price the products in an effective manner such that customers could get the value from the offering of the organisation. There are various pricing strategies like price creaming, price skimming etc. and the effectively selected pricing has potential to increase the sales (Guenzi and Troilo, 2007). The promotional efforts are about the advertisement, promotions, direct marketing and personal selling. Such efforts can also improve the sales level. Likewise, the place which is about distribution channels, transportation and sites of distribution, market coverage and product inventory are also important for the sales of the business (Gunasekharan, Basha, and Lakshmanna, 2016). Therefore, it could be said that all 4P’s of the organisation can influence the sales growth level.

2.4.Theoretical Framework

On the basis of above literature, following research framework is constructed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.5.Hypotheses

Considering the above theoretical framework, the following hypotheses are developed.

H1: Effective product strategy has a positive impact on the sales growth.

H2: Effective pricing strategy has a positive impact on the sales growth.

H3: Effective promotion strategy has a positive impact on the sales growth.

H4: Effective placing strategy has a positive impact on the sales growth.

 

 

3.Research Methods

3.1.Research Philosophy

In this research, positivism research philosophy will be followed by the researcher. The research will assume that there exists the objective reality for every phenomenon. The rationale for selecting this research philosophy is that it will allow the researcher to complete the research using the quantitative data which has higher reliability (Ramamurthy, 2011). Moreover, research studies based on positivistic research philosophies has better chances for higher generalizability. Using the structured approach and rigorous process, the research findings will become more accurate and trustworthy (Bryman and Bell, 2007).

3.2.Research Approach

There are two commonly used research approaches i.e. quantitative and qualitative. The present research will be based on the quantitative research approach where numeric will be used for analysis. The research will collect the quantifiable data.  The rationale for selecting this method is its feasibility with the positivism research philosophy. Moreover, the quantitative data could be analysed statistically, hence, more rigorous and trustworthy findings could be obtained (Zikmund et al., 2013).  

3.3.Data Collection

There are two alternatives for data collection i.e. primary and secondary. The present research will be based on the primary data collection which is the first hand data. The rationale for selecting this strategy is its feasibility with the research aim and objectives. Moreover, it will allow to get the most recent data. Another reason for selecting primary data is that it will be directly relevant to the research issue which is often difficult to ensure in the secondary data (Bryman, and Bell, 2015).

3.4.Research Strategy

For collecting the primary data, the survey research strategy is selected. The survey will be conducted to collect the first hand and quantitative data for this research. The rationale for selecting the survey method is that it allows to collect data in a quick manner and using the minimum cost (Fowler Jr, 2013). The survey will be based on the questionnaire which will be developed using the literature review. The questionnaire will also have a demographic section. The questionnaire will be designed about the marketing strategy and sales growth of John Lewis. It will have the five point likert scale. The rationale for using the questionnaire is that it provides opportunity to collect the standardised data which could be analysed in an easy and effective manner.

3.5.Population and Sample

The population of this research will be all of the customers of John Lewis. All of the marketing strategies are meant for the customers, therefore, they can judge its effectiveness in a better manner. The sample of this research will be 150 customers of John Lewis who will be selected using the probability sampling technique. The sample size of 150 is selected as Cooper and Schindler (2007) told that sample size of more than 100 is sufficient. The researcher will select the every 10^th person entering into the John Lewis Store to fill the questionnaire.  The rationale for selecting the systematic random sampling technique is that it enhances the generalizability of the findings (Collins, 2010).

3.6.Data Analysis

For data analysis, statistical techniques will be used. The collected data will be punched into SPSS 13.0. Various statistical tests like reliability, normality, correlation, regression tests will be performed to analyse the role of marketing strategies in the sales growth. this research will also analyse the findings descriptively using the charts and frequency tables.

3.7.Ethical Considerations

As it is recommended by Bryman (2015), in this research, all ethical considerations will be taken care. The customers of John Lewis will not be forced to participate. Their participation will be on the basis of their consent. There will be no coercion on the customers of John Lewis in any way. Before their participation, information about this research project will be communicated to the participants. There will be no deception and nothing will be hidden from the participants regarding the research aim and objectives. The confidentiality of participants will also be ensured. They will also be given the right to withdraw from the research.

3.8.Limitations

This research will also encounter the limitations. This research will has to be completed in a limited time period, therefore, the level of depth of analysis could not be increased. Now days, mixed research approach is more common where questionnaires are supplemented with the interviews. However, due to limited time, it is not possible to conduct interviews for this research. Moreover, this is not a funded project, hence, it will have to be completed in a limited budget.

 

 

References

Berman, B.R. and Evans, J.R., 2013. Retail management: a strategic approach. Pearson Higher Ed.

Bryman, A., 2015. Social research methods. Oxford university press.

Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.

Bryman A., and Bell E., 2007. Business Research methods, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Burt, S.L. and Sparks, L., 2013. Power and competition in the UK retail grocery market. British Journal of Management, 14, pp.237-254.

Collins, H., 2010. Creative Research: The Theory and Practice of Research for the Creative Industries, London: AVA Publications.

Cooper, D.R. & Schindler, P.S., 2007.Business Research Methods. 9th edition, New York: McGraw Hill.

Fowler Jr, F. J. (2013). Survey research methods. NewYork: Sage publications.

Kotler, P., Rackham, N. and Krishnaswamy, S., 2006. Ending the war between sales and marketing. Harvard Business Review, 84(7/8), p.68.

Goi, C.L., 2015. Marketing Mix: A review of'P'. The Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, 2005.

Guenzi, P. and Troilo, G., 2007. The joint contribution of marketing and sales to the creation of superior customer value. Journal of Business Research, 60(2), pp.98-107.

Gunasekharan, T., Basha, S.S. and Lakshmanna, B.C., 2016. A Study on impact of Promotion Mix elements-Sales promotion & Direct Marketing of DTH manufactures on Customer Behaviour. ITIHAS-The Journal of Indian Management, 6(1).

Homburg, C. and Jensen, O., 2007. The thought worlds of marketing and sales: which differences make a difference?. Journal of Marketing, 71(3), pp.124-142.

Homburg, C., Jensen, O. and Krohmer, H., 2008. Configurations of marketing and sales: a taxonomy. Journal of Marketing, 72(2), pp.133-154.

Lechner, C., Soppe, B. and Dowling, M., 2016. Vertical coopetition and the sales growth of young and small firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 54(1), pp.67-84.

Ramamurthy, G.C., 2011.Research Methodology. New Delhi: DreamTech Press.

Zikmund, W.G., Babin, B.J., Carr, J.C. and Griffin, M., 2013. Business research methods. Cengage Learning.

Ziliani, C. and Bellini, S., 2003. From loyalty cards to micro-marketing strategies: Where is Europe's retail industry heading?. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 12(3), pp.281-289.