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Marketing mix of Sainsbury’s (4Ps of Sainsbury’s)

Marketing mix of Sainsbury’s (4Ps of Sainsbury’s)

This detailed marketing mix of Sainsbury’s examines the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) of Sainsbury’s and explains the company’s business & marketing strategies. Sainsbury’s was founded in London in 1869. It is the second largest supermarket chain in the UK.

Products of Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s sells products and services from a wide variety of brands available in the market. It also has over 15,000 own brand products. Fresh & bakery, meat, frozen food, drinks, health & beauty products, baby products, cleaning products, clothing, electronics, entertainment and many more options (90,000+ products) are available for customers. The company’s takeover of Argos has further increased its portfolio.

Sainsbury’s heavily invests on own brand product development and has a great reputation for the quality of many of its products. In fact, many customers buy its products because of the quality.

Price and pricing strategies of Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s offers ‘great products and services at fair prices’ (Sainsbury’s, 2021). As widely known, companies develop their pricing strategies in line with their positioning strategies. Sainsbury’s has positioned itself in the medium to high-end market. Therefore, premium pricing is often seen in many of its products.

However, many of the basic products of Sainsbury’s are cheaper compared to the offers of big competitors in the market. In 2016, Sainsbury’s announced to ditch its Brand Match promotion to cut prices on everyday products such as bread, cheese and household cleaning products (Butler, 2016). Likewise, in October 2020, it reduced the price of 300 own-label products by up to 30% to wage a price war with its competitors (Calnan, 2020).

Place/Distribution strategies of Sainsbury’s

Customers can shop with Sainsbury’s by visiting one of its supermarkets/stores or online. Sainsbury’s has 600 supermarkets and 800 convenience stores (Sainsbury’s 2021). It receives over 250,000 online orders each week. In October 2017, Sainsbury’s announced to roll out 1 hour delivery to 1.7m customers in some parts of London (IGD, 2017). This is an extension of Chop Chop app scheme the company started in 2016. This shows that Sainsbury’s is making use of all the available channels to sell its products.

Promotion strategies of Sainsbury’s

The last element to address in the marketing mix of Sainsbury’s is promotion. Promotion is about how a company communicates with its target audience. Sainsbury’s uses a variety of media to take its messages out and persuade customers to purchase its products and services. Over the years, it has used TV, radio, newspapers, the Internet and others for advertising purposes.

Sainsbury’s used a number of celebrities (e.g. Jamie Oliver, David Beckham, and Daniel Sturridge) in the past as its brand ambassadors. It generated an extra £1.12 billion in sales with a £41 million advertising campaign starring Jamie Oliver. Sainsbury’s was also the first Paralympic-only sponsor of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Sainsbury’s also uses sales promotion regularly to persuade customers to buy its products and services. It often uses price cuts and other promotional offers. Its customer loyalty scheme ‘Nectar reward card’ is also popular among many customers.

We hope the article on the marketing mix of Sainsbury’s has been useful. You may also like reading SWOT analysis of Sainsbury’s.

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Last update: 10 January 2021

Further reading/references

Butler, S. (2016) Sainsbury’s drops price match promotion to focus on cheaper basics, available at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/07/sainsburys-drops-price-match-promotion-to-focus-on-cheaper-basics (Accessed 15 February 2018)

Calnan, M. (2020) Sainsbury’s wades into price war with round of 300 price cuts, available at: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/prices-and-promotions/sainsburys-wades-into-price-war-with-round-of-300-price-cuts/649130.article (accessed 10 January 2021)

IGD (2017) Sainsbury’s rolls out 1 hour delivery to 1.7m customers, available at: https://supplychainanalysis.igd.com/retailers/sainsburys/news-article/t/sainsburys-rolls-out-1-hour-delivery-to-17m-customers/i/17706 (Accessed 15 February 2018)

Sainsbury’s (2021) About, available at: http://sainsburys.jobs/home/about (accessed 10 January 2021)

Author: Joe David

Joe David has years of teaching experience both in the UK and abroad. He writes regularly online on a variety of topics. He has a keen interest in business, hospitality, and tourism management. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management.

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