International Marketing Of Morrisons

Introduction

Morrisons is a recognisable name in the supermarket chain of the United Kingdom (Jones and Comfort, 2020). Apart from the business marketplace of the United Kingdom, the company also operates in other markets across the globe. The report will discuss the significance of the globalisation of business to help Morrison expand its business network. Moreover, the report will use some of the theoretical frameworks to evaluate whether Brazil will be a preferable market for Morrison to globalise business on it. The report will further discuss consumer behaviour in the target market and recommend strategies for the globalisation of business in Brazil.

Discussion of the brief analysis of the company and its products

About the company

Morrisons is one of the largest supermarket chains, based in the United Kingdom, ranking as the fifth-largest supermarket chain (Sanches et al., 2020). The company has been reported to be established in the financial year of 1899, by William Morrison. The food and grocery business has about 500 stores across the globe, owning many other brands under it, which include Safeway, Morrisons Daily, and others. The primary focus of the company is to sell fresh and best-quality foods and serve customers better. In order to do so, the company prioritises selling its own manufacturing facilities and stores, which help the company, have close control over the provenance and quality. Moreover, the company also prioritises listening to the customer’s voice and improving its product quality and services. The technical integration within the business operation allows the brand to serve different products through both the physical stores and the online stores.

Brand positioning

Target audience: The target audience of the British supermarket chain is young families with preferences for more relevant and personal offers about diverse product range (Statista, 2024). Therefore, the business of Morrisons also has the chances to expand business in other international market, having similar consumer preferences and a majority of people having middle income.

Differentiation: The British supermarket chain emphasises sourcing and processing half of fresh foods in stores, owned by the company (Jones and Comfort, 2020). It helps the company maintain the quality of a variety of products, which eventually attracts customers. Moreover, the in-store concept of Morrison, popularly known as “Market Street”, has been a unique concept, popularized among the customer base of the company. The marketing concept helps customers find various specialty counters, including bakers, butchers, and others. This kind of business set-up helps in providing more personalised shopping experiences to the customers, which differentiates Morrisons from competitors.

Value proposition: The initiative of Morrisons to serve the best quality and fresh products, along with an in-store marketing concept, not only differentiates itself but also creates value for customers. Customers can easily find the preferable products from the huge supermarket store. In the similar manner, this kind of strategy can also help Morrisons in creating customer base in the international market.  

Proof point: The value creation and differentiation of Morrisons has helped the brand enjoy high brand awareness, which is 94%.

Figure: Morrisons brand awareness, usage, popularity, loyalty, and buzz among grocery store customers in the UK as of September 2023

(Source: Kunst, 2023)

Strategy to enter into a market

In today’s technology-driven era, the expansion of the business into the international market allows a company to improve market popularity and generate more profitability (Dabic et al., 2021). The British supermarket chain Morrisons has a market presence with nearly 500 stores across the globe, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and other countries. Expanding business to another international market, such as Brazil, will allow the brand to have more market exposure, and eventually generate more profitability.

In discussing the concept of market expansion of a brand in the international market, both internalisation and globalisation can show impactful results (Zhang et al., 2022). However, considering the globalisation of business in the consumer goods markets of Brazil can be more impactful compared to internationalisation. Internationalisation allows a brand to innovate new products, that can be suitable to the taste of the target new market (Hilmersson et al., 2021). On the other hand, globalisation allows the brand to enter a new market with the existing products (Sudirjo, 2023). Globalisation of Morrisons into Brazil will allow the brand to produce products, using lower-cost ways.

Morrisons has been selling Brazilian nuts and beans in its domestic market through the supermarket chain. However, the globalisation of the business into the Brazilian market, will not only allow the brand to expand its distribution chain and get wider customers but will not help in low-cost production. It will allow the brand to connect with the suppliers of Brazilian nuts, beans, and other nutritious products in the country.  It will eventually align with the brand value of the company, to serve the best quality and fresh products. Therefore, globalisation will help Morrisons in effective business expansion.

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Microanalysis of the chosen market

PESTLE analysis

Political	Despite being a democratic country, Brazil has consistently been experiencing political downturns. It can also have a significant impact on the globalised business of Morrisons.Afro-Brazilians and the Brazilian indigenous community, named Samba have reported to corner the government of the country, creating risk for business uncertainties from political perspectives. The Brazilian government has reported implementing new technologies for licensing. It can help Morrisons get a business license without facing many risks of corruption.
Economical	Brazil is among the top 50 economies around the globe. It makes the UK-based supermarket chain Morrisons leverage the attractive opportunity and expand in the market. The fluctuating inflation rate in the Brazilian economy further increases the risks of business uncertainties relating to profitability (Statista, 2023). In the context of the globalisation of business, exchange rates play a key role in a company’s business. The fluctuations in the interest rates can further impact the exchange rates.
Social	The fast-changing social structure of Brazil towards adopting hi-tech infrastructure is increasingly attracting e-commerce companies in its market.  It can help the company in growing its supermarket chain fast. Brazil is among the country, having high diversity. Therefore, social issues among different communities can be a threat to the globalised business of Morrisons.
Technological	Brazil has been reported to be among the top countries around the globe, to adopt technology faster (Bretas et al., 2020). The tech-savvy culture of Brazil can help the company in getting more customer base in its online grocery business. The use breakthroughs in technological factors, such as AI, ML, and IoT can help the company to keep up with the changing market trends. Since a large number of the Brazilian population uses mobiles and smart devices, using chatbot assistance can help the company serve consumers better.
Legal	In recent years, the Brazilian government has reported to impose laws, which make it mandatory for companies to have a board of directors in the market. It might increase the operational costs of Morrisons. According to a law for the corporate sector, companies are forbidden to make investments in political parties. In order to save the company from any legal claims in the Brazilian market, Morrisons is required to adhere to all of them, such as labour laws.
Environmental	In order to create a sustainable brand image in the international market, Morrisons is required to take measures to reduce its carbon footprint. Moreover, adopting a sustainable approach to packaging can further help the company manage business ethically and create sustainable brand recognition.

Perceptual mapping

Price	High	Low
Quality
High	Carrefour	Walmart
Low	Verdemar	Atacadão

In order to enter the supermarket business market of Brazil, Morrisons is required to consider the key players in its market. In the fastest-growing e-commerce business sector of Brazil, there exist both local and international competitors. Atacadão and Verdemar are some significant names in the goods market of Brazil, known for selling consumer goods in its domestic market. Being a domestic company, and having a sense of the market preferences, these companies can easily offer goods at lower costs. Therefore, Morrisons is first required to consider the business threat, the company can face from its local competitors. It will allow the company to implement strategies, which will help the brand compete with these as well as other local brands in the supermarket business marketplace of Brazil. Apart from these local brands, Morrisons may also face business threats from other global brands, that exist in the market. Walmart and Carrefour are two significant names in the supermarket chain of Brazil, and major competitors of Morrisons in Brazil.

Customer persona

Demographics and the story of the person Charlotte is a 30-year-old corporate sector employee, working in a MNC five days a week.	Profile The high work pressure in Charlotte is making it difficult to adopt a healthier lifestyle, by consuming a healthy diet. Therefore, Charlotte has been looking for a supermarket chain that is capable of offering good quality food products with diverse choices.	Motivation for buying from Morrisons Morrison has been known to deliver the best quality and healthy products. Therefore, the products of Morrison can help Charlotte in adopting healthy dietary practices. Moreover, the in-store business concept of Morrison can further  Charlotte easily find preferable consumer goods from a wide range of choices.
Goals The goal of Charlotte’s is to continue his high-paying corporate job, and at the same time build a healthy diet habit.	Pain Points Despite the significance of Morrisons, in offering a wide range of best quality food products, most of the goods are suitable for the taste buds of people in its domestic country. Therefore, it might be quite difficult for Charlotte to find products that might suit his taste preferences and at the same time come under his budget.

Discussion of Consumer Behaviour in the New Market

Tech-savvy culture of Brazil: The tech ecosystem of Brazil is rich with enthusiasm, which has helped start-up scenes thrive in areas of e-commerce and fintech (Odilla and Mattoni, 2023). It has made the company the world’s largest stock exchange. This has made many other companies enter into the Brazilian market, leverage the opportunity at the early stage and create brand recognition. In the consumer goods business marketplace of Brazil, there are both domestic companies and international supermarkets, which have immensely been preferred by consumers. From the consumer persona, it can clearly be seen that people prefer to make purchases from supermarkets, along with continuing jobs in high-tech sectors. 

Growing economy: The real GDP of Brazil has been recorded to experience a 2.9% growth in the financial year of 2023 (World Bank, 2024). In the context of economic growth of the real GDP, both private consumption and the labour market have been favourable. Therefore, the economic progress of the country can be an immense opportunity for the company to business expansion.

The trend for adopting healthier lifestyles: Despite the fact that Brazilian society has recently been experiencing rapid economic progress, the dietary habits of people in Brazil are different from those of the UK. Brazilian people have a higher tendency to consume healthy diets (Monteiro dos Santos et al., 2021). The brand value of Morrisons is to serve the best quality and fresh foods. Therefore, the company can easily find an adequate customer base by advertising the brand values and initiatives for delivering fresh foods. From the consumer persona analysis, the higher tendency of people to adopt healthier lifestyles can clearly be seen. 

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Critical evaluation of the potential opportunities and threats

Opportunities 

Tech-oriented facilities for licensing: The Brazilian government has reported launching new and modernised licensing systems for imports (JAWADEKAR, 2022). It can be a major opportunity for Morrisons to conduct exportation of products in Brazil with less political interference. Moreover, the implementation of the system is also likely to impact both the time and cost of processing business documentation. More political interferences and hassle from licensing often delays the time for export and import of products, which effects on the freshness of the products. However, technology-oriented licensing will reduce political interference and will help the company in serving fresh products, which aligns with the brand value of Morrisons.

Growth of the retail industry: The economic growth of Brazil has led to the growth of many business sectors of the country, and the retail industry is no exception. In the financial year of 2023, the retail e-commerce sector of the country was reported to generate revenue of more than 36 billion US dollars. The sector is also forecasted to grow even in future, with the advancement of technologies. The business value of Morrisons is to serve fresh and good quality products and use technology-oriented business model to offer better customer experience. Therefore, it can be a great opportunity for Morrisons to leverage fully and create a recognisable market base by selling fresh consumer goods and integrating technology with business operations. 

Figure: Retail e-commerce revenue in Brazil from 2017 to 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

(Source: Chevalier, 2024)

Threat 

Political uncertainties: Brazil at its developing stage has been facing many political uncertainties. Therefore, despite the supportive consumer behaviour for the company’s business, it can face political and legal threats. Conflicts among the diverse communities in Brazilian society and the changing government and its regulations might create supply chain pressure, disrupt the supply chain and might reduce their brand value. The uncertainties in the political environment might increase the costs of resources and labour, threatening the routines of business activities. 

Competitive threat: Brazil, being at the growing stage of economic development, has been a major attraction for international companies to create a market base (Kayani et al., 2021). In the consumer goods market, Atacadão and Verdemar are two domestic companies creating recognisable market base. On the other hand, Walmart and Carrefour are two international companies selling similar products to that of Morrisons. Therefore, the business of Morrions in the Brazilian Market may face adverse competitive threats and face reduction in profitability, unless necessary measures have been taken.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the concept of globalisation can help Morriosns in enjoying more market exposure and generate more profitability. The above report has highlighted Brazil as the preferable target for the globalisation of business. The above report has evaluated the factors for business threats, which Morrisons needs to consider before entering Brazil, with the use of PESTLE analysis. On the other hand, the economic development of Brazil can help in creating a recognisable market base for long-term business growth in future. Therefore, the report has highlighted some recommendations that can help in addressing the challenges and eventually achieve progress. 

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Recommendations

Business expansion of Morrisons in the Brazilian will undeniably help the company in getting wider market exposure, with the help of globalisation of business. However, due to different consumer behaviour, the political environment, and the business marketplace, the business of Morrisons might face diverse risks. Therefore, the implementation of effective globalisation strategies is required to deal with the challenges. The recommendations will outline possible solutions for the challenges. 

Risk analysis team: The political behaviour, which eventually creates business threats, can be predictable to a certain extent. Therefore, implementing a risk analysis team, who have good knowledge about the political landscape of the country, and at the same time capable of predicting business risks can be impactful. Moreover, having a strategic managment team, which is capable of showing different strategies available to the company, can help the company in dealing with business risks in the globalised market. 

Marketing: The competitive threat can be more adverse for Morrison if effective measures have not been taken since the initial stages of business expansion. In the Brazilian market, there are many large and small recognisable brands selling consumer goods. Therefore, creating a market base can be challenging. However, marketing can help the brand in creating a recognisable brand positioning. Moreover, adopting the strategic approach of globalisation marketing can help the company in making its products and services acceptable to society (Alon et al., 2020). 

Brand value and consumer behaviour: Consumer behaviour in the Brazilian market can be different from the consumer behaviour in its domestic market. However, introducing chatbot assistance facilities on its websites and online shopping platforms can help the brand understand consumer preferences and improve its brand positioning compared to its rivals, such as Walmart. 

Reference List

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