A Dissertation produced by Lalazar Academy Gujranwala Please call 0092 3364962593

to order your presentation, report, dissertation or Essay

Module: Current Business Themes

Name: University Students
Theme: Business of Social Media

DISSERTATION

“Can twitter increase Tesco’s sales revenues”?

Acknowledgements

1
Special thanks to all stakeholders involved in the dissertation.

Abstract

We are living in the age of modernism where social media sites e.g. Twitter and Facebook
have become more popular for the interaction between companies and their customers. Over
110,000 tweets are sent daily, over 47 hours of video is uploaded daily, 35000 photos are

2
shared on Instagram, 472 websites are developed on daily bases, 6,53,367 contents are
shared on Facebook (Babbie, 2005).

The main purpose of this research is to find out the link between Twitter and Tesco sales. In
last few years, consumer behaviour has changed towards shopping because of easy Internet
access and free social media accounts. Almost 70% of retail customers visit stores through
social channels (Mady, 2011). That’s what makes this research interesting and worth doing.

This study is qualitative, descriptive and of exploratory character. The scope is last 8 to 10
years in the UK. Deductive approach is used because its based on existing theory and the
aim is to extend the knowledge in this area. Data is collected using interviews to Tesco staff
and some secondary research is also used including data from ONS.

The research found that Twitter has pushed Tesco sales up to some extent but is not the only
reason of surging sales. Main challenges were to get the respondents to give as realistic
information as possible. Limitations included time and word limit. The research was
accomplished in given time and within word limit.

Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction 4
Chapter 2. Literature Review 5

Chapter 3. Secondary Data 8

Chapter 4. Primary Data 9
Methodology 7
Chapter 5. Analysis 10
Chapter 6. Findings 17

3
Chapter 7. Conclusions / Recommendations 18

References 19

Appendix A Primary data 22

1. Introduction

This dissertation is prepared to explore the link between Tesco and Social Media in
particular Twitter. Tesco is understood to be largest supermarket in UK and has many Twitter
followers. Literature review found that retail industry has been underestimating powers of
social media marketing in past but now suddenly started to turn towards the online
communications actively which makes it important topic for research.

4
 Main questions considered will be the advantages and disadvantages of Twitter for
Tesco, what is the importance of digital marketing and has it impacted Tesco sales in last few
years. Comparison of previous few years is made to find out when Social media became
popular and then its link with Tesco sales (over the last few years) will be explored.

1.1 Objective

The overall objective is to establish whether Twitter can create sales or help to increase sales
for Tesco in the UK.

1.2 Planning

To start with, literature review will examine the role of social media in sales followed by
secondary data to find out what has been researched by others. The research will then move
onto primary data which will seek to fill the gaps in existing knowledge and then data analysis
is presented followed by any conclusions and recommendations.

Sales figures from past years will be collected and compared with social media
development within those years. Primary data will be collected using interviews to financial
and marketing managers of Tesco as well as FT Company analyst because these personnel
are correct data holders for the required information.

Limitations

Word limit and time limit were main limitations. Other limitations included the number of
respondents interviewed. Cross border primary data collection would have been more
effective to come to better conclusion. The whole document is divided into Chapters and sub
chapters where necessary.

Chapter2 - Literature Review

Intro

This chapter compares and contrasts the articles written by different authors. It covers digital
marketing, Tesco and sales revenues topics.

5
 Founded in 1920, Tesco has expanded in many EU countries and Asia (Tesco, 2011).
According to Kaplan (2010), Retailers gain success in sales by understanding customer
needs and correct digital marketing techniques including the usage of Twitter. Social media is
the bunch of technological and ideological Internet based applications which are used by
retailers to enhance sales and fulfil their marketing objectives effectively (Mady, 2011).
However, Weber (2009) uses the name social web instead of internet applications and
defines it as the online place where people from several backgrounds gather their thoughts
and exchange opinions.

2.1. Social media as a marketing tool

Social media is becoming important place to learn about companies and their
products. That is the reason retailers are using it as a tool to enhance their sales by
introducing diversified products and services. Technological advancements like applets,
mobile devices and search engines as well as peer-to-peer communications have extended
retailer’s access to their markets (Shanker et al 2011, 30).

Tools and approaches used for customer interaction have changed in recent years when
social media emerged. Which is why companies must learn how to use social media
contents in line with their business plan (Faulds and Mangold, 2009). This is more truthful
when companies are trying to gain competitive advantage.

Gonzalez (2010) contradicts with Faulds and says that food retailers have used
feedback from customers which has been important tool for sales rather than online social
media marketing tools. There is not much research to explain that whether social media was
the only factor to enhance sales or what is the correlation between past years sales figures
and Twitter’s popularity.

Chu (2011) found that those users who are part of one group have more favorable
behavior towards the advertising and social media as compared to other group. Users who
have more favorable beliefs towards advertising on social media are more inclined to joining
the retailer’s brand. And those who are more likely to join retailers brand are highly likely to
purchase from that brand.

Chu (2011) also suggests that there are links between social media, internet, brands
and purchase. Customer’s attitude towards engaging with group will decide how effective
and efficient social media advertising will be. Chu (2011) found that Twitter’s college students

6
have most inclination towards internet and social advertising and can be considered as
largest developing demographic group which may mean that Twitter site is rich platform for
marketing campaigns for retailers who want to target young population. However, Bellman et
al (1999) stated that demographic groups are not so important in determining the sales
potential, it is the quality of goods and low prices which determine sales.

Cox (2012) also researched the link between age groups and Internet advertising
beliefs to conclude that some users have different attitude towards Internet channels (i.e.
blogs, videos and pages or pop ups) as compared to other users or user groups. That was
because some users found Internet channels more interesting than others. As a whole,
social media advertising contents are welcomed by most users but disturbing materials e.g.
pop ups are not very famous among audience can disturb or deter the target audience.

2.2 Online channels and consumer behaviors

Aaker (1996) found that social media contents are becoming more and more
challenging to create and keeping in touch with target audience. Furthermore, winners in the
war of improving revenues will be those who coordinate their efforts appropriately to
introduce their products and services. Weber (2009) however takes the situation from a
different angle saying that it is not interesting to look at how well customer remembers a
brand but one should consider that bogging sites like Twitter change the mindset of public
about products.

Sumanjit (2006) researched that determinants of purchase intentions include product

quality, brand quality, shopping experience and enjoyment, risk of transaction and low prices.
These factors have plus and negative impacts on sales. Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA),
Theory of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) are
the most common theories for social media shopping experiences. Gaytri (2005) compared
them all to conclude that TAM is the best theory to determine online consumer behaviour.

Summary
Social networking can increase brand awareness as well as sales for retailers. However,
retailers need to understand customer needs and sales are not dependant only on social
links.

Methodology

7
 Secondary data is collected from range of data collection and research organisations
e.g. Office of National Statistics. It is important to see what other researchers have found in
terms of social media and sales of retailers and then compare with primary findings. Then
Primary data is collected (in the form of interviews to marketing and financial staff) and then
Tesco analysis, social media analysis and primary and secondary data analysis is performed.
The researcher has attempted to compare historical sales results of Tesco from past years
with post social media period results. That will explore the effect of social media on sales.
The research design is qualitative so that participants were able to tell how social media has
changed the world of marketing. While quantitative methods i.e. surveys would not have
allowed the interaction with participants. This approach has been used in similar studies of
social media e.g. Ahlberg (2010) who conducted qualitative interviews to find out the role of
social media in fashion industry.

Chapter 3 - Secondary Data

Intro
This chapter looks at the data already collected by organisations like Mintel, ONS and some
major papers to establish the bases for analysis.

Jung (2014) explains the findings of ebay research published in the Guardian article
that social media shopping will carry the double value from £1.5bn to £3bn in next two years.
The research from ebay predicts that social network sales are likely to grow from £210m to
290m by the end of 2014.

ONS (2013) revealed in a survey that companies asked other companies about
Internet usage for sales almost 7700 companies with 10 or more employees were surveyed
in 2012. Over 96% had internet access and four out of 10 used social media for generating
sales. Over 43% companies used Linked In and 24% used blogs like Twitter and 15% used
multimedia content e.g. Youtube for sales promotions. The survey found that social usage
depends of size and nature of business. Survey also revealed that 81% of largest business
used social media platforms compared to 43% small companies in 2012. Furthermore, main
reason of social media usage was to market products and improve sales. Another study by
(Twitter, 2014) with DB5 found that Tweets engagements drive sales. 54% of Twitter users
said that price promotions they know about on Twitter motivates them to purchase products.

Stelzner (2014) in (Social Media Marketing Industry Report) stated that 92%
marketers preferred to use social media contents for their marketing strategies. 89%

8
marketers want to know the best tactics for social media. 68% marketer are considering to
increase blogs like Twitter. 34% marketers thought that facebook is effective. 58% marketers
said that original content is the single most important type of content. Social media marketing
report said that 56% of marketers surveyed had over 2 years of experience in enhancing
sales using some kind of social networks. Only 37% of surveyed marketers had agreed that
they can measure their social activities. However, only 26% said that they could measure
their Return on Investment. The biggest chunk of marketers 37% said they were uncertain
whether there is any return on investment or not.

Furthermore, the overall business success depends on understanding your efforts and
taking understanding beyond listening. According to the report, 43% of marketers surveyed
had their own mobile blogs (opinion platforms). Business to Business marketers were little
more likely to have their mobile blogs (50%) as compared to business to consumers (38%).

In terms of time spent doing marketing, the report revealed that highest number of
marketers (34%) were spending between 1 to 5 hours a day to enhance their sales as
compared to only 5% are spending 21 to 25 hours. Young age marketers are spending more
time on social media as compared to older age people. More than 50% of marketers who
had been doing social media marketing said they had seen increase in sales. Almost 3
quarters of those who spent 40+ hours a week on marketing achieved new business. Half of
the marketers who spend 6 hours a week on social activities said their marketing expense
was reduced.

Summary

It is obvious that most retail companies use social media a lot for sales enhancement and as
marketing strategy and it has benefited them in past.

Chapter 4 - Primary Data

Primary data will explore the knowledge missing in secondary data and earlier
research. Financial and marketing managers at Tesco as well as FT company analysts were
asked structured questions for the purpose of primary data collection. These personnel have
got right information required to fulfil the purpose of this dissertation.

The questions asked are as followed:

Q. What do you use Twitter for?

9
Q. Does it have impact on Sales?
Q. What is the best method of engaging with customers using social media?
Q. Major advantage of using Twitter?
Q. Disadvantages?
Q. How do you use social media?

Full interviews are available in Appendix A.

Primary data revealed the importance of using Social networks and its likelihood of
increasing sales. It concluded that marketers have to be careful because social media can
contribute towards negative publicity.

Primary and secondary data analysis is presented below in chapter 5.

Chapter 5 – Analysis

5.1 Social media

“
Oxford dictionary defines social media is the set of internet applications and websites which

can allow users to create, share and update online contents. ” Typically popular social
platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+.

According to Ross (2014) it was revealed that out of 6600 small retail companies in the UK
only 95% had access to the internet and 43% of them used social networks for the marketing
purposes in 2012. Furthermore, social media is classified into three categories, social
networks, mini blogs and blogs. 34% businesses used social networks in food retail, 33%
used blogs e.g. Tweets and only 16% used multimedia applications e.g. you tube and slide
share. Bradbury (2009) found that usage of online resources for the retailers like Tesco is
getting more common than ever before.

According to Stelzner(2014) in (social media marketing industry report) when

marketers were asked that if social media is important tool for them?, there responses were
recorded and illustrated below in pie chart. Major advantages include, connectivity, hash
tags, globalized voices, persuasive connectivity and large play field for businesses. However,
major disadvantages include selfies, political tirades and all talk no action. These
characteristics are somewhat similar to what our respondents said in primary data.

10
Marketers also revealed that advantages of social media include increase web traffic,
customer interaction and product development.

5.2 - Comparison of social platforms

Facebook Instagram Google+ LinkedIn Twitter
Type Social Picture Social Business Micro
sharing sharing links oriented Blogging
Users Over 1bn 200m 540m 300m 241m
Usage/ 1m links Most 25 to 35 78% users 5700
age every 20 followed years age 35 or older tweets/sec
Group minutes brand is most
national active
Geographic
Table A – Levarage (2014)

The above table shows that users for Facebook is highest but Twitter users are much lesser.
However, there is no evidence (both from primary or secondary data) that a lot of Facebook
fans are creating sales for retailers.

5.3. Twitter
Twitter was founded in San Francisco almost 8 years ago. Soon after its birth the world saw
potential to generate sales from it. According to Stelzner (2014) 67% marketers are likely or
considering to increase activities on Twitter which is 64% higher than 2013. Furthermore,
Twitter moved from 5th most important social media tools position in 2013 to 3 rd most
important tool in year 2014. Twitter works using following steps.

Step 1. Learn the Twitter Lingo e.g. Tweet, Re tweet, Tweet ups, trending topics etc.

Step 2. Tweet – Tell others what we have been up to.

Step 3. Hash tags – # makes the word easily searchable.

11
Step 4. Gather Followers – Twitter can be small or large but if someone needs a lot of
followers, its vital to keep all posts interesting and eye catching.
Step 5 – Check replies of all followers.

Step 6 – Decide own time and style – deciding how much time can be spent depends on
individual needs.

5.4 - Tesco Analysis

Tesco is considered to be largest UK supermarket with business activities including retail,
telecom, financial services and grocery products. Major Competitors include Sainsburys and
ASDA. Company objectives are engaging with customers in more interactive way and build
relationships which will hopefully lead to higher sales (as mentioned in annual report, 2014).

Facts about Tesco 2014

Staff: more than 500,000 worldwide

Markets: 12
Stores: 6784
UK Stores: 3378
UK Staff: 310,000
Share: 184.75 on 7 November 2014
Resources at a glance

Capacity: 13.5 m sq ft
Transport: 1.5 km rail in west midlands
Tweets: 3799
Followers: 28.5k

Sources: Twitter (2014)

Tesco (2014)

How Tesco uses Social Media?

 Facebook

Tesco has got applets of games but it wants its visitors to Like the page before
visitors/customers can play it. This is interesting trick to play when more fans are needed.
12
But it has added HELP TAB on the page which offers visitors to contact the customer
services when visiting Facebook.

 Twitter

Tesco is operating one separate account for each of its businesses units. e.g. customer care,
food, club cards etc. Customer care, and special offer accounts are most famous with almost
48000 followers each. Other feeds have approximately 10,000 followers. However, so many
Twitter feeds can be confusing and it makes it difficult to build large followings on one
account.

 Pinterest

Tesco has increased its following from only 33 to 657 which has also increased sales. By
embracing the social contents of Pinterest media, Tesco would have achieved greater
exposure between Pinterest visitors and hence can increase number of followers.

5.5 Tesco Objectives

Tesco has announced on its website that its top objective/priority is to Invest in strong UK
Business and the usage of multichannel leadership (Tesco, 2014). In order to invest or
expand the business, Tesco must put aside additional cash reserves by either generating
sales or by not paying dividends for next few years or so. Avoiding to pay the dividends has
its own implications as it can put some investors off and pull out their investment which will
lead to expansion issues. However, the most effective method Tesco is left with (in order to
fulfil its objectives) is to enhance sales, put aside cash and then invest. That’s where social
media platforms have helped the company creating more sales. The evidence of that is
presented below in Charts B and C.

These resources are second most important factor for the Tesco to generate economies of
scale production which leads to relevantly lower prices, lower prices lead to more customers
and that finally leads to higher sales and possible profits (according to the Chief Executive
Dave Lewis’s news conference last year).

5.6 Tesco Sales comparison from year 2000

Year Group Sales £m Reason

2000 20,358 up 9.8% Operational efficiency
13
2001 22,773 up 11.9% Club cards and marketing
2002 25,654 up 16.9% Services and international
2003 28, 280 Sales and services
2004 32,989 up 18.7% Online and direct
marketing
2005 37,070 Up 12.5% Diversifications and
marketing
2006 43,137 up 13.2% International operations
and social media
2007 46,611 up 10.9% Products and customer
satisfaction with Twitter
marketing
2008 51,773 Up 11.1% Social media and service
standards
2009 58,588 up 15.1% Expansions and online
marketing
2010 620,500 6.8% up Social media and sales

Table: Tesco Sales (TS) [Data from Annual Reports]

Comparing Tesco Sales Table (above) with Social media growth Chart C (below), it is easy to
conclude that social media “followers” hike is positively correlated with Tesco sales. Another
reality visible from the table is that 2003/4 brought highest % increase in sales and that’s
when Facebook came into being as well. This phenomenon is endorsed by Tesco’s self
assessment (as mentioned in Table above). FT analyst also stated similar findings in the
interview (Appendix A). This comparison gives the indication of social media’s link with
surging sales.

Chart C - Social users hike - Andrew (2008)

The chart shows how Tesco social media followers have grown from year 2005 onwards. It
can be deduced from Table (TS) and chart C that higher the social media usage, higher the
Tesco sales. However, social media is not the only marketing tool responsible for the higher
sales. The other factors include club cards, CRM, promotional prices and understanding
14
customer needs correctly (as mentioned in annual report, 2014). It is important to remember
that higher sales does not necessarily means higher profits. Tesco must take actions such as
minimising warehouse damages and improving operational performance to lower its
operational costs.
Tesco sales have grown from 2005 to 2014 (£70.9bn) when we look at the income
statements of previous years. That has been largest hike comparing to the history. When we
look at the popularity of social Networks, we come to know that they became popular from
year 2004 to 7 as well. There seems to be co relation between years of start of sales hike
and social media popularity graph (Tesco 2006).

5.7 Why Twitter is best for Tesco sales?

According to the Twitter website, in 2014, Tesco had 2000 followers as compared to only 100
followers in 2006, and according to Tesco director’s report, more than 70% of all followers
made some purchase. Twitter has got highest development rate and highest potential to
increase followers. Mini blogs are more popular for interaction with customers because
people’s lifestyle does not allow for longer conversations about businesses online (reveals
primary data).

5.8 Primary and Secondary data analysis

Secondary data did not clarify the link between Tesco sales and Twitter. Therefore, interviews
were conducted to extract the data required.

Primary data revealed very similar results from all respondents with the exception of minor
variances. All the respondents said that Twitter has contributed towards Tesco sales but they
were unable to give any exact figures by which it has affected the sales. All respondents
used Twitter in a different manner but found it useful tool to improve the business. According
to all respondents some advantages of social media marketing include effective
communications and up to date knowledge of products and services. While some draw
backs include negative marketing.

Secondary data was explored to find the correlation between sales and Twitter in other’s
research. Exact figures are difficult to relate to Twitter followers but positive correlation was
found between Twitter trends and retail Sales trends as mentioned before. Respondents in
primary data collection also said that they can see clear evidence of advantages like
interaction with customers and all stakeholders. They responded that social media can
sometimes be a cause of negative publicity as happened in horsemeat scandal. As one

15
Tweet can be seen by others fairly quickly until public has forgotten about the news
completely.

Secondary data collected by ONS and social media marketing report (in chapter 3) also
concluded that more large companies were using social media as compared to the number
of small companies. Furthermore, 92% of marketers preferred to use social media contents
for their strategies. There was also clear evidence of most but not all companies using or
having internet access. Some of the major factor in social media usage have been changing
consumer behaviour, easy access to internet and free social media accounts. If this was not
free or cheap, then social media impact on sales and retailers would have been far less than
it is now.

Summary

It is obvious from this chapter that Twitter user development has positive correlation with
Tesco sales but is not the only factor affecting its sales. However, Tweets have helped the
company creating more sales and keeping customers coming back. Tesco has taken the
sales advantage but also had trouble in scandals because of social media word spreading.

Chapter 6 - Findings

Intro
This chapter presents overall findings of the dissertation from all previous chapters in relation
to Tesco sales and Twitter.

Main findings Include:

 Companies are heavily inclined towards social sites.
 Retail is very fast changing industry and it is of utter importance to regularly engage
with customers to keep up with the competition and to introduce new products.
 Its is difficult to think about company’s success or enhancing sales without the correct
usage of social media in today’s age.
 Social media sites like Twitter have positive relationship with not only sales but also
with search engines like Google.
 Failure to keep pages and contents updated can deter customers from making
purchase.
 Advantages include information sharing, reduced marketing costs, attracting wide
range of audience.

16
  Disadvantages include negative publicity, for example, if one customer bought rotten
eggs from Tesco and he puts it on Twitter, it can spread the word around fairly quickly.
 The success of company is not fully dependant on social media only, it must take
other actions like cost cutting strategies, operational efficiency and improved
productivity.
 Not all public, age groups, cultures or religions are equally interested/believe in social
marketing, therefore, companies have to find other strategies to reach all.
 Large retailers are spending a lot more hours on social media marketing as compared
to small businesses.

Chapter 7 – Conclusions and Recommendations

In recent years, social media has become very attractive due to consumers changing life
style, reveals consumers survey (IPSOS, 2009). Most popular social media sites are
Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and bolgs. Twitter is relevantly newer site founded in US but is
more effective as it can keep customers updated using mini blogs and instant messaging.
Tesco was having good sales record before social media but it has definitely benefited from
Twitter and other social sites. The company has used the social networking for receiving
orders, spreading messages about products and promotions and communications with all
stakeholders including shareholders. The comparison of Tesco sales before social media
popularity with sales in current circumstance found that Tesco sales have been positively
affected by Twitter but social media is not/can not be the only factor to push sales up. Other
factors include club cards, product development, strategic management, Govt policies and
high number of stores.

Limitations of dissertation included time, number of respondents and geographical

locations. In a thorough research, possibly more than 100 interviewees would be required at
cross border locations with a lot more hours spent and then responses compared with each
other to give better conclusions. The other limitation is word limit, which could be 10,000 or
so.

It is recommended that Tesco uses multiple channels rather than one e.g. facebook, Twitter
and Youtube more effectively than competitors (Sainsburys, ASDA), so that more audience
can be reached. Further research is needed to explore the hybrid strategies of traditional
marketing and online marketing retailers can use to beat the competition online. More
research is recommended to explore the future of social media marketing and adaptive
strategies from retailers.

17
Reference

Aaker, A (1996). Building strong sales and brands. Free Press, New York.

Ahlberg, R (2010) Marketing using Social Media: Case: Comparison of Social Media
Marketing Approaches of B2B Companies . Bachelors’ Thesis. Kemi-Tornio University of
social Sciences.

Andrew, C (2008) Retail and Social media, 3rd Ed, New York: Ross and Sons Publishing, 118.

Bradbury, B (2009) Social Networking and Brands, communications on net, 5 (4) 24.

Babbie, E.P (2005). Practice of Social Research, (9th ed). Belmont, CA: Wads worth Thomas
Learning.

Chu, C (2011) “Online advertising using social channels: Participation in Twitter groups
among young audience.” Journal of Interactive Advertising: 13: 31-42.

Cox, A (2012). “Social Networking and behavior about Advertising.”

MA thesis, The Rochester Technology Institute.

Dazeinfo (2014). Twitter - Available: http://www.dazeinfo.com/category/social-media-

2/twitter-social-media-2/. Last accessed 27 Nov 2014.

18
FT (2014). Equities Tesco Plc. Available:
http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Tearsheets/Financials?s=TSCO:LSE. Last accessed
10 Nov 2014.

Gaytri, V (2005), “On-Line Marketing: Principles and Practices”, New Century publication,
New Delhi.

Gonzalez, C (2010). “Social Media and Best Practices in retail Industry.” MBA thesis,
University of Southern California: US

Ipsos, B (2009) Survey of Consumer Satisfaction with retail. Available:

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/archive/strategy/docs/household_electrical_apps.pdf. Last
Accessed: 12th December 2014.

Jung, P. (2014). Social Media - A highly valuable tool. Available:

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network-partner-zone-ebay/social-media-retail-brands-
ebay. Last accessed 26 Nov 2014.

Kaplan (2010). “Users of Unite World ! The Challenge Social network Opportunities.
“Business Horizons” 42: 68-72.

Levarage (2014). Social Media comparison infographic - A highly valuable tool. Available:
https://leveragenewagemedia.com/blog/social-media-infographic/ Last accessed 28 Nov
2014.

Mady, L (2011) Sentiments towards marketing strategies: Should we care about it?. Journal
of Consumer Behaviour 11: 181-200.

Mangold, W and Faulds, J (2009). “Social Media: The Hybrid Element of

Promotion Mix.” New Business Horizons 53: 257-265.

ONS (2013). Large Businesses likely to use Social Media. Available:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rdit2/ict-activity-of-uk-businesses/2012/sty-ecom-2012.html.
Last accessed 26 Nov 2014.

Ross, T (2014) Brands and social media, 2nd Ed, New York: Ross and Sons Publishing, 128.

Shankar,V (2011) “Innovations in Shopping: Current Insights and Future Issues.” Journal of
Retailing 1:s27-s41.

Stelzner, M (2014) Social media Marketing Industry Report, London: Social Media examiner.

19
Sumanjit (2006), “Social media-marketing: Strategic Issues,” Journal of Marketing &
Communications, Vol 3, No.2 .

Tesco (2011) Annual Report. San Ramon, London, Tesco Corporation.

Tesco (2014). Key Facts. Available: http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=71. Last

accessed 11 Nov 2014.

Tesco (2006). Annual Report. Available:

https://www.tescoplc.com/files/pdf/reports/annual_report_2006.pdf . Last accessed 11 Nov
2014.

Tesco (2006). Vision and Strategy. Available: http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?

pageid=12 . Last accessed 10 Dec 2014.

Twitter (2014). Tesco Plc. Available: https://twitter.com/TescoMedia. Last accessed 11 Nov

2014.

Twitter (2014). How Twitter drives sales. Available: https://blog.twitter.com/2014/how-tweets-

drive-sales-new-holiday-shopping-research. Last accessed 12 Nov 2014.

Twitter (2014). Nearly at 2000 followers. Available:

https://twitter.com/OutatTesco/status/511876019293532160. Last accessed 16 Nov 2014.

Weber, L. (2009) Strategic Marketing with Social networks. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
Hoboken, New Jersey.

20
Appendix A
Interview # 1. Marketing Manager Tesco 10 Dec 2014

Q. What do you use Twitter for?

A. Twitter is the communication tool for us to convey messages to all stakeholders including
customers and shareholders. Social media is effective for fast connectivity and global
business links.

Q. Does it have impact on Sales?

A. I think it has had positive effect on our business. However, some negative views also
published on the Twitter which can spoil the image of company and drop sales. It requires a
lot of time to manage the accounts.

Q. What is the best method of engaging with customers using social media?

A. Keep updating the Twitter, facebook, Google pages which can also ensure customer
retention. You make your pages attractive and promotions are always very attractive for
customers.

Q. Major advantage of using Twitter?

A. Improved CRM, sales and stakeholder engagement.

Q. Disadvantages ?

A. Can spoil the reputation or spread the negative publicity across fairly quickly.

21
-----------------------End of interview 1------------------------
Thank you for your time

Interview # 2 Company Analyst (Financial Times) 15 Dec 2014

Q. What do you think companies like Tesco use Twitter for?

A. They use it for all sorts of purposes e.g. marketing campaigns, introducing new products
and promotions, engaging with customers and asking stakeholders to give them feedback.

Q. Does Social Media has impact on Sales ? If yes, How?

A. In today’s age, social media sites like Twitter are becoming more and more appealing for
customers who recommend products to each which are visited on the internet and then
purchase decisions are made. Our research shows the most popular medium of marketing is
still “personal recommendations”

Q. Major advantage and disadvantages of using Twitter?

A. Companies are using it for communications, feedback from stakeholders and publicising
their products and services. However, it misses out non internet audience or those who don’t
trust internet marketing. That’s where other direct marketing techniques e.g. leaflets need to
be used.
Q. When did social media start enhancing Tesco sales?

A. I have been following the company for more than 10 years and I can verify that there is
positive correlation between tesco sales and social media popularity. I cant give exact figures
on how many customers come through social channels but I can confirm that quite a few
customers have been shopping through online social media channels.

End of Interview #2

…………………………………………….
Interview #3 Finance manager Tesco 11 Dec 2014

22
Q. Has Twitter impacted your balance sheet?

A. Twitter is online medial which is becoming powerful, We use most social media channels
to reach our customers and all stakeholders who are likely to place orders. So it has
impacted our sales in positive manner.

Q. When did Tesco convert Followers into Sales first time?

A. I am new in Tesco but previous manager told me that few years ago Tesco was able to
convert followings into sales by using customer interaction procedures.

Q. Major advantage and disadvantages of using social media/Twitter?

A. Marketing communications, making supply and purchase decisions, setting strategies.

However, there could be pitfalls like negative word spreading.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

23