PESTLE ANALYSIS

Political; Very.co.uk like other retailers have always had to abide by the sales of good act 1979, however more recently this has been replaced with the Consumer rights act 2015 which states goods sold must be;

• ‘Satisfactory quality Goods shouldn't be faulty or damaged when you receive them. You should ask what a reasonable person would consider satisfactory for the goods in question. For example, bargain-bucket products won’t be held to as high standards as luxury goods.

• Fit for purpose The goods should be fit for the purpose they are supplied for, as well as any specific purpose you made known to the retailer before you agreed to buy the goods.

• As described The goods supplied must match any description given to you, or any models or samples shown to you at the time of purchase.’ – Which? Consumer Rights Also for consumers the act means that they are entitled to a 30 day period in order to get a full refund if these three requirements are not met. As Very are a department brand- ie, they sell other companies and brands items means that Very need to ensure that the brands they stock are producing products of top quality. Otherwise Very will find themselves legally having to issue refunds, this would be something Very cannot control as they do not make the products so being vigilant as to which brands they stock is a must.

New data protection regulations are coming into force in May 2018-(The Telegraph 2018) which means that Very will have to change their current policy:

‘Shop Direct and SDFC will use the information you give us: To provide goods and services. In the course of providing such services, your personal information may be transferred to agents, service providers, employees and Group Companies. In some instances, your information may be transferred outside of the European Economic Area. We will employ appropriate security measures to protect your personal information where this is the case. If we are required to disclose information about you to any relevant regulator or to anyone else if there is a legal duty to do so’ (Very 2018)

Fig.1 explains threats as to how data can become insecure, to combat accidental data leaks Very will have to ensure their internal security is at maximum security and ensure staff don’t have access to customers data on their personal mobile phones.

Economical;

Very is extremely dependent on customers having a disposable income, without it majority of their products are unlikely to sell. However on the flip side as they sell essential appliances and provide a buy now pay later scheme it may attract customers who do not have much of a disposable income but need a new appliance, for example a new tumble dryer. By purchasing the tumble dryer from Very instead of for example John Lewis, it would allow the customer to get the appliance that they need with a finance option so that it is affordable.

In 2015 Very shut one of their customer service call centres to relocate to South Africa, this move meant over 450 people in the UK lost their jobs and for Very it meant a huge money saver as they can legally get away with paying wages of £2.39 per hour in South Africa as opposed to the legal rate of the £7.75 living wage in the UK. This means financially Very can provide the same service and will save £5.42 per member of staff per hour. (Butler 2015)

Social; Very cater for a wide range of age groups as well as to customers from multiple social backgrounds. This is demonstrated in their price ranges, that range from a basic line to high end fashion prices. Due to the fact Very only sells V by very as their own products most of the prices are dictated by the owner brand and not by Very. However the flexibility Very do have is to choose which brands they stock.