Executive Summary
This report is based on the evaluation of the strategic analysis of the current performance of FreshCo Ltd, a chain store based in Canada with operations across the entirety of Canada, with a registered office and store in the United Kingdom.
Information from the assessment of the performance of the business is used in the creation of a future business strategic plan for three years. The use of machine learning and Artificial intelligence played center stage in the development of the new strategic plan.
In the assessment report, it is clear that FreshCo is a large, well-established firm with a wide market base that is looking to expand, improve its operation and come up with new products as well as technological innovation.
The need for technological advancement is a result of rising competition and the better ways of doing things by those competing companies, and the need to remain a trusted brand in the market.
FreshCo draws an advantage from its presence in many locations as well as its high-quality products that cost less. However, the urgency to invest in its technology shows how much its wide customer base misses on quality services and convenience.
The use of Artificial intelligence is being adopted by pretty every sector of the economy worldwide and is doing a great job in the management of large volumes of files and data. Adoption of this technology in FreshCo Ltd is important in ensuring that it remains relevant and even expanded.
Strategic Analysis of current performance
Market position
Freshco. Ltd has a wide market base with 143 stores across Canada and a registered office and stores in the UK. It offers a wide range of high-end food including groceries, fish, and fresh meat as well as health and medical supplies.
Its many stores build its brand reputation thus attracting a wide market base. The main brand competitors in the food sector are NoFrills and Food Essentials.
Every week, people of all ages look at the top 1000 selling items at competitors to ensure the prices are fair for people from all walks of life. Customers can save money on their weekly shopping by taking advantage of the hundreds of low prices in the store.
Business strategy evaluation
Value, Inimitability, rarity, and organization analysis
Value – The business’s high inventory turnover ratio as well as low-priced commodities contributed to overall net cost reduction.
Inimitability – Competing in the same market as FreshCo is too expensive for rivals because of its location advantage
Technological innovation review
Webmaster (2021) suggests that No matter the size of your enterprise, technology has both tangible and intangible benefits that will help you make money and produce the results your customers demand. Technological infrastructure affects the culture, efficiency, and relationships of a business. It also affects the security of confidential information and trade advantages.
FreshCo. mainly does its sales online though it does not have an online grocery or pick-up store. This is the main area where it has to improve to catch up quickly with the market and to increase its customer service over its large customer base.
Stakeholders’ analysis
Freshco. Ltd’s strategy values its stakeholders and it takes the various stakeholder groups very seriously.
Investors, customers, employees, and suppliers are important groups to the success of the firm.
Investors – Freshco. Puts investors first in their priority since their interest is to keep the business running and keep the operational cost as low as possible as the firm intends to make enough profits for dividends.
Customers – Customers are considered by Freshco. As the business wants its customers to get high-quality goods at low prices.
Employees – Employees’ main concern is to keep their job and make money. Fresh Co does an excellent job in taking care of its employees including their job security.
Suppliers – The Company puts the suppliers at the bottom of its priority list. Freshco has the business power to convince suppliers since it is a large store apart from the fact that suppliers have a stake in the prices of products in the firm.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
The use of frequently updated social media platforms like Facebook for interaction with customers gives them new offers in real time.
Digital platforms images also highlight the use of high-quality products provided by Freshco.
The business regularly interacts with customers through emails as well for discounts and offers.
Weakness
No blogs or videos are allowed on the company’s website. This limits customers from expressing their views and giving feedback to the company concerning their products.
Customers need to buy using online services, therefore, limiting the number of users to those using the internet.
Opportunities
FreshCo. can change its website to make it more likely that certain products or services will appear higher on the search engine results pages.
Social media platforms can be added to the firm because customers see the brands as real ones in social media.
Threats
Competitors do better because they use more platforms and features.
Cybersecurity concerns due to data leakage.
Strategic recommendations
As a large company with international recognition, Freshco needs to invest more in technology and Artificial intelligence.
Automation – FreshCo websites and applications need to offer an option of online orders and purchasing therefore increasing customer experience and convenience.
Personalization – Machine learning can be able to gather information like how frequently the products are purchased which can assist in adding to the shopping cart for the customer therefore saving time.
Interaction based on context – When a customer buys something that can be discounted with a flyer-based coupon, the app will show the offer and encourage her to use it. Because of this, the customer will feel like they are saving much money every time they make a purchase, and the company is happy to try to help by giving them this choice.
Invention via adventure: A program to scan things, find stores, and meet other customer needs will come out. These more minor but still cutting-edge features will save time and make clients happy in the long run.
Artificial Intelligence Integration in the business strategy
In the present day where people around the world are interconnected through social media where they can share information as well as market their products and services, there has been a rise in competition in every sector of the economy globally. This competition has prompted innovation in many companies and the adoption of these technologies to better their services.
The introduction of machine learning and artificial intelligence provided the cutting edge in the management of large data and quickened decision-making brought about by an ever-expanding customer base for companies and organizations that look to expand internationally.
Eliaçık (2022) outlines some of the roles played by AI in businesses including; Automation of repetitive and tedious tasks, data analysis of patterns to enable organization, and natural language processing to help persons living with a disability.
New adoption, utilization, integration, and implementation challenges have arisen in emerging markets as businesses embrace AI solutions (Morris, 2019)
Business strategic plan development for the next three years
Information from Robinette (2019) suggests that the following stages are considered when developing a business plan; vision and mission statement, SWOT Analysis, outlining the business objectives, resources availability evaluation, development of strategies, creation of an action plan, and plan execution and monitoring.
AI integration Strategic Plan development
Following the review of the current performance of Freshco. Ltd from its analysis and strategic recommendations, a strategic plan based on Artificial intelligence for the next three years was developed
Vision and Mission Statement
The mission statement serves as a reminder of the main ability, while the vision statement serves as a guide for setting targets.
Freshco. Ltd aims at selling high-quality goods at low prices, as well as ensuring that there are the freshest goods at the store in the right amounts while reducing waste and cost.
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis examines a corporation on a large scale while simultaneously evaluating smaller-scale aspects of the organization. It identifies strengths and weaknesses and can aid in the exploration of market possibilities and challenges. (BDC.Ca, 2023).
From the SWOT analysis conducted on the business, it is clear that the strengths and opportunities of FreshCo are mainly based on technological and locational advantages.
The strategic plan should be customer-based since they are the essential and target stakeholder on whose success of a business lies. It is higher sales that make investors and shareholders invest more in the business.
Objectives
Before they moved into Western Canada in 2019, FreshCo had stores only in Ontario, where there were about 92 stores across the provinces. Today, a total of 143 stores are present across Canada.
Its goal to give people affordable access to fresh, high-quality food like a wide range of ethnic foods, fruits and vegetables, groceries, and snacks has seen success since it remains a respected brand globally.
In the next three years, the Company intends to invest more in technology especially Artificial Intelligence as well as spread out to other parts of the world, especially Europe and Asia.
Resources determination
According to an article by Morris (2019), there are two categories of resources: physical and immaterial. Tangible resources include monetary, organizational, physical, and technical resources, whereas intangible resources include people, creativity and innovation, and reputation. Take this time to determine which resources would be affected by chasing your goals and outline your needs here
The entrepreneurship ability of FreshCo to create new jobs as well as make new goods and services clearly show its big ambitions. Furthermore, the shareholders and stakeholders at large will be able to invest more of their finances and human resources in a bid to risk new opportunities and innovation. This willingness is brought about by the success of FreshCo which has been enjoying since its inception.
In the spirit of innovation and coping with competition globally, FreshCo will be able to invest in machine learning and Artificial intelligence in its operation and decision-making processes.
Strategies development
According to Indeed Editorial Team (2022), a business strategy is a description of the activities and decisions that a firm wants to take to achieve its goals and objectives. A business plan describes what the organization must do to achieve its objectives, which can assist influence recruiting and resource allocation decisions.
The business strategy helps in planning, improving efficiency, and gives more control to the management over what to do and how to achieve business goals.
Brainstorming multiple strategies is needed to come up with the best that will help in achieving the business’ objectives.
Integration of multiple strategies like technological innovation advantage, customer retention strategy, and sales improvement gives the business an upper hand in survival and thriving.
Creation of an action plan
Action plan development is an all-inclusive task that involves stakeholders, especially the management and employees.
A guide and roadmap for implementing the goals and strategy are developed at this stage to ensure smooth implementation.
Team leaders and accountability officers are identified, and a timeline and source of resources are outlined and specified.
Implementation and monitoring
Execution of an action plan and regularly monitoring your progress against the business objectives and goals is an important step in strategy development.
AI technology helps businesses to better comprehend and exploit data, obtain fresh perspectives, and enhance the execution of plans. It results in improved choices and allocation of resources, as well as better commercial final results (Nantham, 2023).
According to Nantham (2023), the incorporation of AI may play an important part in the successful execution of a corporate plan in the following areas: automation of repetitive jobs, data analytics and insight, predictive modeling, customization, automated decision-making, and managing risks.
Conclusion
FreshCo is a well-established business with a track of success since its inception in 2010. It has since grown into an international brand and has seen its stores expand exponentially. However, there is a lot to improve for the firm to cement its reputation as a world giant in the high-end food sector
To conclude, technological advancement especially integrating the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in operation and decision making as seen in the strategic plan in FreshCo will make it a more competitive business upon execution and proper implementation.
Reference
Nantham, S. (2023) “A Guide to Deploy AI for Strategy Implementation,” Best OKR Software by Profit.co [Preprint]. Available at: https://www.profit.co/blog/okr-university/a-guide-to-deploy-ai-for-strategy-implementation.
Robinette, K. (2019) “How To Build A Strategic Business Plan – 8 Steps To Success,” GQR [Preprint]. Available at: https://www.gqrgm.com/how-to-build-a-strategic-business-plan-8-steps-to-success/.
Eliaçık, E. (2022) “Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Business: Examples, Benefits, And Disadvantages (2022) – Dataconomy,” Dataconomy, 10 August. Available at: https://dataconomy.com/2022/08/artificial-intelligence-in-business/#:~:text=One%20of%20AI’s%20most%20valuable,maintaining%20the%20company’s%20competitive%20position.
Webmaster, O. (2021) Why is Technology Important in Business? – Oklahoma Small Business Development Centers. Available at: https://www.oksbdc.org/why-is-technology-important-in-business/.
BDC.Ca (2023) “SWOT analysis: Do you know your business’s strengths and weaknesses?,” 7 February. Available at: https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/business-strategy-planning/define-strategy/swot-analysis-easy-tool-strategic-planning.
Morris, J. (2019) Internal Analysis. Available at: https://open.oregonstate.education/strategicmanagement/chapter/4-internal-analysis/#:~:text=The%20four%20types%20of%20tangible,firm’s%20tangible%20and%20intangible%20resources.
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