Market Orientation of Tesco Essay

Market orientation is the cornerstone of marketing. It prescribes satisfying the market through an understanding and response to local needs, which include those of final and intermediate customers, competitors and the macro-environment and leads to superior performance. Due to the retail industry’s direct contact with the market and customers, it makes sense to look at market orientation as a concept to assess the success of Tesco. Market orientation is of even greater interest when entry into emerging markets is undertaken by a Western retailing firm, suggesting that a close understanding and response to customer needs is vital.
Tesco’s management places an emphasis on customer needs through the ‘Tesco Values’ philosophy, expressed as two values – “no one tries harder for customers; treat people how we like to be treated.” The values are disseminated through an internal marketing strategy, which includes distribution of company newspaper to employees. However, these values emanate from the UK and recognition of a need for country-specific practices and local can be secondary to corporate unity.
Tesco has a reputation for innovative information solutions, and its ‘Clubcard’ loyalty scheme and web sites are central to this. Tesco is the UK’s largest retailer and therefore has a significant customer base on which analysis can be performed. Because many of those customers return at weekly or similar intervals, Clubcard data and relationships are both deep and wide. Accordingly, Clubcard has significant potential to influence consumer behaviour in the UK. Staff are briefed on the importance of Clubcard, and the initial launch was preceded by fervent internal marketing. Clubcard is not only closely integrated with business processes, but aligns with the brand and brand strategy as the active expression of the brand’s personality and values.
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