Morrisons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Morrisons - Essay Example It also plans to train more than 12,000 people butchery and bakery skills as well as customer service are well behind that of Asda’s which intends to train 5,000 people (Berman, 2010). The company’s vision is to make its way to the â€Å"Big Three†, attain a higher market share than its three main rivals; 16.4pc at third-placed J Sainsbury, 16.9pc at Asda and 30.5pc at Tesco (Lancaster & Massingham, 2011). As far as the strengths are concerned, the retailer owns 89% of its store portfolio (Datamonitor, 2011). Hence, there is little threat of takeover and greater security to investors in terms of security. Secondly, the value of Morrison’s property, plant and equipment assets is around  £7.5bn, higher than its current market capitalization (Datamonitor, 2011) . Its debt to equity ratio is mere 19% which is lowest in the industry (Datamonitor, 2011). Its profits before taxes are up by 45 per cent to  £449 million indicating positive growth (Datamonitor, 2011). Morrisons enjoys an enhanced/ up-market image of a more sophisticated store frequented by celebrities such as Lulu and Alan Hansen. The company was bestowed with ‘Retailer of the year’ award in 2008 which earned the company high goodwill (Datamonitor, 2011). As far as the weaknesses are concerned, Morrison’s does not have an internet home shopping business unlike its three larger rivals Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys (Boddy, 2005). This could put the company on the backburner as e-commerce is an ever-growing business as it gives greater convenience to customers along with a potential to tap international markets. Secondly, it does not have a loyalty card scheme such as Club card which Tesco has uses to track consumer trends and offer lapsing customers discounts (Thompson & Martin, 2010). Third, unlike Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys, Morrison’s does not have a meaningful non-food offer (Thompson & Martin, 2010). The company is