Marks And Spencer

Social

Retail Crime

The regular surveys conducted on behalf of the British Retail Consortium

provide information on the cost of crime to the retail sector. In 2002, the

sector's losses from crime, mainly from stolen or damaged goods or from

damage to property, totalled Ј1.7bn. On top of this figure, an estimated

Ј540m was spent by the retail industry on crime-prevention measures.

* the British retail consortium suggests that retail crime costs every household in the UK and extra Ј90 each year on their shopping bills

* 75% of retailers and 50% of manufacturers experienced at least one crime in the previous year, according to the Commercial Victimisation Survey (2002).

* Overall, the risk of crime to retailers and manufacturers was lower comparing the results of the 2002 survey with those of the previous survey in 1994.

* 75% were seriously worried about crime and the effect on their businesses

a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce estimated that crime costs businesses Ј19 billion annually!

The sociocultural environment encapsulates demand and tastes, which vary with fashion and disposable income, and general changes can again provide both opportunities and threats for particular companies (Thompson, 2002; Pearce and Robinson, 2005). Over-time most products change from being a novelty to a situation of market saturation, and as this happens pricing and promotion strategies have to change. Similarly, some products and services will sell around the world with little variation, but these are relatively unusual. Organizations should be aware of demographics changes as the structure of the population by ages, affluence, regions, numbers working and so on can have an important bearing on demand as a whole and on demand for particular products and services. Threats to existing products might be increasing: opportunities for differentiation and market segmentation might be emerging.

Technology is widely recognised by various literature on strategic management (Capron and Glazer, 1987; Johnson and Scholes, 1993; Jan, 2002), as part of the organization and the industry part of the model as it is used for the creation of competitive advantage. However, technology external to the industry can also be captures and used, and this again can be influenced by government support and encouragement. Technological breakthroughs can create new industries which might prove a threat to existing organizations whose products or services might be rendered redundant, and those firms which might be affected in this way should be alert to the possibility. Equally, new technology could provide a useful input, in both manufacturing and service industries, but in turn its purchase will require funding and possibly employee training before it can be used.

Economic conditions affect how easy or how difficult it is to be successful and profitable at any time because they affect both capital availability and cost, and demand (Thompson, 2002). If demand is buyout, for example, and the cost of capital is low, it will be attractive for firms to invest and grow with expectations of being profitable. In opposite circumstances firms might find that profitability throughout the industry is low. The timing and relative