Marketing

5/21/2019

Management I
[Case Study Analysis on Pret A Manger]
Section II, Group 13

Member Name Roll No.

AYUSH GOYAL FT202024

DEBANJANA HALDAR FT202030

JOYDIP SARKAR FT202036

MAYANK CHAWLA FT202043

NISARG UMAKANT KANITKAR FT202049

PRIYANKA AHUJA FT202055

Please find the complete case study analysis for Pret A Manger as below:

1. Business Environment Analysis(PESTEL Analysis):

 Political

As Pret a Manger is planning to speed up expansion in Global Market, they need to check
whether government guidelines, of that particular country, for health are being followed
otherwise it could become a potential threat.

 Environmental

As we know climate conditions are getting worse day by day, there is a lot of emphasis on
environmental awareness programmes run by different governments and social workers across
the globe. So if Pret invests some money on Environmental awareness program and also follow
sustainable practices in its regular operations, then that would certainly help Pret to create the
brand image among the people.

 Social

At Pret’s, they believed in empowering employees. The employees were given ownership to
offer complimentary beverages and pastries to regular customers. This gave the opportunity to
the employees to build personal relations with the customers. Infact, once a barista at a Pret
shop was inundated with letters, pleading him to stay, as he was moving to a different shop.

At the end of every business day, Pret donated all the remaining food to local food banks. This
way, food reached to socially disadvantaged people.

 Technological

Prets’ primary goal is to cater to every customer within 1 minute of entering the food joint to
reduce the throughput time. For this, Prets’ managers have a real-time report system that
tracks the productivity of all employees working the tills. This, in turn, helps them to analyze the
number of functional tills to achieve the goal.

The company also has a website for feedback, showcasing contact details of UK MD Andrew
Walker and CEO Clive Schlee. They receive around 1000 emails and 350 phone calls every week
which in turn helps them in improving customer experience.

 Economical

As Pret is planning to expand its business in different regions, it needs to keep a check on the
purchasing capability of the people of that region. Just to illustrate, suppose Pret is investing in a
developing country like India, where growth rate is rapid, they will have opportunity to expand
at a rapid speed but contrary to that if they invest in a country with economic slowdown, their
investment can be a potential threat for the company’s return on investment.

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  Legal

Pret targeted to achieve high sales growth by venturing into new markets across countries, such
as US and Japan. Keeping the core values and food quality intact, Prets’ management had to
look after the Legal laws; such as labor laws, restaurant insurance basics etc. for each of the
different countries, in order to provide a seamless experience to its customers.

2. Complete competitor analysis:

These are the other food and beverage retail chains that were present around the inception and
running of Pret a Manger : Starbucks(1971), Papa Murphy’s(1995), Panera Bread
Company(1981), Subway(1965), McDonalds(1940) etc. Now all these brands were delivering the
same fast foods; some retail shops like Pret, Subway and Panera Bread Company were more
inclined to provide freshly baked foods while the other restaurants were more inclined to
provide a customized experience for the customers. All these companies were functioning
simultaneously, thus changing with diverse customer needs felt the need of the hour. Pret had
an ambitious attempt to move to other countries too, but failed to meet the food style at US/
Japan.

3. Identify good practices followed by the organization:

Pret A Manger which literally means ‘Ready to eat’ in French, had specially set up an
environment especially for working folks to have proper eating stuff in the bustling office areas
of London.

o Pret A Mangers’ major specialties are it’s freshly made sandwiches along with salads,
soups, pastries & coffee. Pret was committed to bringing all these fast food items
without adding artificial colors & preservatives while maintaining its taste & hygiene
quotient across its chain spread in the UK, US & Hong Kong.

o Major USP of Pret A manger is its Human capital which they believe is the largest cog of
its cog cycle & if neglected, It can cause trouble to their business environment. And that
is why Pret focuses a lot on its Human capital. Right from the induction process till the
time the inducted person goes into the kitchen, he has to undergo several checks
whether he is compatible enough to be the part of Pret a Manger or not.

o R&R: Rewards & Recognition Policy of Pret A Manger stood out amongst its
contemporaries. Which focused a lot on its employees getting rewarded for excellent
customer services including style, selection, speed & services. That actually boosts
employees’ morale & affection for the work he is doing.

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 o Unlike the other food chains available, Pret is the only chain that prepares food items in
the kitchen of that particular store that ensured freshness & quality food items. And
that was one of the reasons local folks had liked the brand & its products so much.

o One of the other important aspect of Pret’s business model is they’ve worked
meticulously for the customer satisfaction. & one of their stated goal was “to serve
every customer within 60 seconds of entering the queue”
“Ready to eat & not ready to Wait”

o Pret’s competitive advantage was its real estate investments. They had already opened
Pret shops in some of the best locations of London & many of them were only few
blocks away. That actually gave London office folks a wide range of options.

o A good thing about Pret a manger was its expansion. They had expanded significantly
across three different countries. From 139 stores in 2003 to 286 stores in 2011. (approx.
100 % expansion in 8 years) They have gained a major presence in the important
business cities like London & Hong Kong.

o With the expanse in number of shops, Pret also is not behind in increasing Profits & %
margin year on year. They have constantly maintained around 10% growth in its 8 years
of operation.

o Feedback implementation: One of the unique things about Pret was its proactive
Feedback implementation mechanism, which actually helped them maintain customer
relationships & thereby helped in increasing its growth year on year.

4. Issues faced by the organization:

o The name Pret A Manger means ‘ready to eat’ which embodies the restaurant’s aim of
providing healthy alternatives to fast food. This made ‘Pret A Manger’ stand out
amongst its competitor brands. However, with the introduction of the twin shops, it
violated its own claim ‘Just made in this shop’s kitchen’.

o Pret faced the issue of maintaining the growth rate of 15% per year in number of shops
with lack of good locations with large kitchen spaces.

o Not all Pret employees were convinced with the concept of Twin shops. They felt that
this eliminated the employee’s connection to the food they sold.

o Despite mentioning about the food being prepared at off-site, there was a customer
outrage. Customers felt that Pret was being devious and was trying to mislead them as it
claimed that food was being prepared in shops.

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 o For twin shops, the food was being prepared in the kitchen located in other shops,
which restricted them from keeping a full selection of sandwiches. This not only
impacted the ‘twin’s mystery shopper bonus’, which was very important for the
employees but also reduced the availability of a variety of sandwiches in the twin shops.
This further resulted in resentment against the parent shop.

5. Suggest solution for the identified issues:

According to the given business situation, Pret could adopt any of the following business
strategies:

o Pret could open a sub-brand “Pret Express” for the mini shops where the sandwiches
were being delivered from the mother shops and market it accordingly. This would
enable the customers to easily differentiate between both the types of outlets and not
feel deceived. They could visit the type of outlet according to their preference.

o Pret could turn the existing mini shops into fast-delivery centers which cater Drive-
through facility. Here the seating area could be turned into kitchen space. Hence,
effectively utilising space and at the same time ensuring freshly prepared food is
delivered to the customers. In this way, they could open shops in places with area
constraints and drive through their growing sales targets.