How recent Waitrose and ALDI location decisions give a good marketing insight

 John Lewis are opening a store at Heathrow terminal 2, which will be the Partnership's smallest store, the first away from town and city centres and an important step in their international strategy. For a while I’ve been looking at the idea of place in the John Lewis marketing mix, and the business has clearly identified deeper trends in retail location.

Using Heathrow as a location links the themes of place and promotion. According to the Telegraph, John Lewis’ operations director said "outside the UK you only really know John Lewis if you travel to us. This is an opportunity to get the brand in front of a much larger customer base”. He added that at some point the chain will want to expand beyond Britain: “we recognise that we will outgrow the UK but we haven't got there yet”. John Lewis currently delivers online orders to 33 countries overseas, from the USA to Australia, and has a wholesale agreement to supply product to some department stores in South Korea, but any plans to open physical stores overseas have been kept strictly under wraps. So far the Partnership's international expansion has been driven by Waitrose, which has franchise stores in places such as Bahrain and the Channel Islands.

As for the store’s location, one independent retail specialist said: "More people are shopping at airports these days, you're getting the big luxury brands there and this move by John Lewis makes sense. As for overseas, if people like Debenhams can do it, then John Lewis certainly can”. Another retail analyst is quoted saying John Lewis had the potential to become as much of a destination as Selfridges and Harrods.

By way of contrast, I think it’s very interesting to see the hype (and Daily Mail pictures) for an article ‘Watch out Waitrose! 300 middle class shoppers queue at the opening of a new ALDI in upmarket Cheshire town (and they drove their bargains home in their Aston Martins)’. The title tells the story really, and will get you thinking about how the rising discount retailers are making significant progress in the current economic environment. The key concepts here seem to be pricing, and the careful consideration retailers give to their product portfolio. ALDI have found a very successful niche, which shows every sign of developing into a larger, profitable segment in the grocery market.