Woolworths SWOT Analysis and Strategy

This assignment delves into a detailed SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the Australian supermarket giant, Woolworths. It examines the company's current market position, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses against major competitors like Coles. The review also explores external factors such as economic trends and consumer behavior that present both opportunities and threats to Woolworths' future success. The document concludes with actionable recommendations aimed at helping Woolworths regain its competitive edge and return to a leading market position.

Running head: ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
Accounting Software
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Part 1............................................................................................................................................2
Woolworths Supermarket of Australia....................................................................................2
Structure of the Organization...................................................................................................3
Problems of the Organization..................................................................................................4
System Acquisition Method....................................................................................................7
Control Problems in the System..............................................................................................9
Process Designing..................................................................................................................10
Part 2..........................................................................................................................................10
Accounting Software Packages.............................................................................................10
Market Size............................................................................................................................11
Market Leaders and Competitors...........................................................................................11
Recommendations..................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
Accounting software represents a special kind of performance software that accumulates
different accounting transactions within various modules of function. The accounting
transactions include accounts payable, payroll, accounts receivable and nominal ledger. This
accounting software does its job just like an accounting information system. This is normally
developed by the organization or is bought from a third party vendor (Peppard and Ward 2016).
This accounting software can also be a mixture of a third party execution software package with
certain modifications. Accessing this software is extremely easy. It can be done at any point of
time from all places. The only requirement to use this software is that an Internet enabled
physical device is needed for it. It can also be accessed through online.
The literature review gives an elementary description of Woolworths Supermarket, the
famous grocery supermarket of Australia. This review comprises of the organizational structure,
the problems in their operations like the errors and the organizational inefficiency with brief
description. The report further covers of the system flowchart of the procedures and sales of
Woolworths (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta 2016). This literature review also consists of the
market leaders of accounting software and their competitive advantage. The description of
Woolworths is given in the following report.

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Discussion
Part 1
Woolworths Supermarket of Australia
Woolworths Supermarket is a grocery market chain in Australia that was founded in the
year 1924 and is owned by the popular Woolworths Limited. It nearly covers more than 80% of
the all over Australian markets (Abraham and Dao 2017). Woolworths has an entire turnover of
about 27.9 billion dollars, in which the food and liquor has the entire inclusion of about 22
billion dollars.
Structure of the Organization
The structure of the organization of the Woolworths Supermarket of Australia contains
the entire corporate structure and management structure of the grocery market.

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Figure 1: Corporate Structure of Woolworths
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2017)
The above illustration shows the entire integrated corporate structure of the Woolworths
Supermarket of Australia.

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Figure 2: Management Structure of Woolworths
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2017)
The above illustration defines the basic management structure of Woolworths
Supermarket of Australia.
Problems of the Organization
Woolworths Supermarket is going through tremendous issues in the shares of the market.
Strategies undertaken by Woolworth’s group were not correct (Coviello and Tanev 2017). They
have taken several approaches towards the betterment of the organization. However, all the
approaches were erroneous due to the constant modifications in the market trends. The
inclusiveness of the competition of Woolworths has altered the entire company structure in the

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market. They did not fulfill the existing customers’ requirements. This is the main cause for
downfall in the shares of the Woolworths in the field of supermarkets (Abraham and Dao 2017).
Another major problem of Woolworths was the high prices of the goods and services that was
responsible for the downfall of interest of the clients.
Figure 3: Sales Development of Woolworths
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2017)
The above illustration describes the structure and the development of sales of the
Woolworths Supermarket of Australia. The figure clearly shows the downfall in the sales and
market share for the company. The numbers in the sales were more than 30 in the financial year
2009, but, it went down under 28 during the financial year 2013 (Kavanagh and Johnson 2017).
The figure describes that Woolworths Supermarket is inefficient in holding their existing
customers. The main cause of this inefficiency is because of the expensive products. All types of

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customers have the tendency to purchase better quality goods with lower prices. They will
always go to those markets where they can get products in lower prices and better quality
(Coviello and Tanev 2017). The other problem with Woolworths is that the marketing
department is extremely inefficient. They should advertise their products in such a way that the
consumers are able to know the products and their prices well.
Figure 4: Major Strategies of Woolworths
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2017)
System Acquisition Method
Woolworths Supermarket of Australia is following the principal Enterprise Resource
Planning model for the acquisition model of system (Li, Cui and Lu 2017). This particular
method is the tools and techniques, utilized by companies to obtain their organizational

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objectives. The figure given above gives a description about the brand new ERP model that is
established by the top management of Woolworths group. The major turmoil faced by this
particular company is due to the wrong strategies followed by them (Appelbaum et al. 2017).
The SAP of Woolworths is renewed to make the sales and share stable. This new ERP system is
helping the company to return to its old position. They have focused on the logistics partners and
the manufacturers to help them to reduce the prices of the products. Moreover, the help of SAP
once again renews the systems management. The other necessary importance is given on the
marketing team of Woolworths (Coviello and Tanev 2017). They will have to advertise their
products is such a way that the consumers will be attracted to their products.

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Figure 5: Sales Flowchart of Woolworths
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2017)
The systems flowchart of the sales or shares of an organization show the illustration of
the procedure of sales of that organization (Cassidy 2016). It helps to envisage the sales
procedure and to search for the loopholes in the overall process. The figure given above briefs
about the Woolworths Supermarket’s sales procedure.
The flowchart is divided into five major segments. They are as follows:
a) Customer
b) Sales
c) Contracts
d) Legal
e) Fulfilment (McKnight et al. 2017).
The first step of this flowchart is that the customer submits the process order. This is the
only step in the customer section of the flowchart. Now enters the sales section. The second step
is that the sales representative logs the process order and enters the order in their system
(Romney and Steinbart 2012). Once the order is entered, the representative contacts the agent
and he reviews the order placed. It is checked that whether the order placed follows the standard
terms or not. If the answer is yes, then the agent approves the order and the order is picked up
and finally shipped to the customer by entering the fulfilment section. However, if the answer is
no, the agent requests for approval (Li, Cui and Lu 2017). Then if the changes are acceptable,

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then the attorney marks the order as okay and returns to the agent, who approves the order and
the order is executed by shipment. If no, the attorney marks as not okay, it again returns to the
agent, who cancels the order and the order is not shipped and the representative is notified
(Cassidy 2016). The tasks of attorney come under the legal section and all the remaining tasks
come under the contracts section.
Control Problems in the System
The issues faced by Woolworths Supermarket have generated many alterations in the
shares and sales of the company. The growth mainly depends on the shareholders, marketing
team and the customers of the organization (Abraham and Dao 2017). The issues and the
problems in the Woolworths system are extremely affecting the brand name, which is not good at
all.
Process Designing
The involvement of the customers is highly needed for Woolworths that helps to retain
the involvement of the workers of the organization. Service process is the most important thing
in this case (Appelbaum et al. 2017). The company was supposed to alter the organizational
structures with the new trends of the market. The workers and employees of the supermarket are
not sufficient for the huge quantity of the consumers, visiting regularly. Another problem is the
lesser interaction of staffs with the consumers (Bussler 2013). The number of self-checkouts
should be increased in all outlets.
Customer Relationship Management
CRM is an important characteristic for all organizations (Ismail and King 2014).
Customer Relationship Management is a feature that refers to the strategies and the tools,

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which an organization utilize and control their customers. Woolworths should focus on their
CRM to maintain a healthy relationship with all the customers by fulfilling their requirements
and demands.
Part 2
Accounting Software Packages
The threats and issue that Woolworths are facing recently can be lowered by
implementing an accounting software package. Woolworths utilizes the Business-to-Business or
B2B software package (Madhavaram and Hunt 2017). This software package has several
advantages such as maintenance of the compliance policy, improvement in sales and
productivity, increment in revenues.
Market Size
Figure 6: Downfall in Market Shares
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2017)
The above figure describes the reluctant downfall in the market shares for a particular
year. In the month of January, the share price was above 15 (Kavanagh and Johnson 2017).

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However, in the month of November, it has down to less than five. It defines that Woolworths
was once on the top but as days passed by, it has gone down.
Market Leaders and Competitors
The main competitors of Woolworths Supermarket are the IGA, Aldi and Coles market.
However, the issue is similar with all of them. The high prices of the goods are losing the
interests of the customers (Bussler 2013). There is a tremendous competition between the four
and since, investment of Woolworths is higher, the chance of Woolworths is higher.
Sales
Other Supermarkets 8.10%
IGA 9.80%
Aldi 12.50%
Woolworths 36.30%
Coles Group 33.20%
Figure 7: Competition between Coles and Woolworths
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2017)
The above figure describes the massive competition of Woolworths with all other
supermarkets. The total market shares, that mean the 100% shares are divided amongst the
supermarkets in Australia (Hutt and Speh 2012). The main leaders of this pie chart are the Coles

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Group and the Woolworths Group (Ismail and King 2014). IGA is taking around 9.80% of the
total shares. Aldi is covering about 12.50% of the total shares. Coles Group is covering 33.20%
of the total shares. Woolworths is covering the maximum shares in the graph, which is 36.30%
of the total shares. All the remaining supermarkets are covering the rest 8.10% (Romney and
Steinbart 2012). This graph clearly states that Woolworths is still the major completion for any
other supermarket and is obtaining the competitive advantage than the rest.
Recommendations
Woolworths Supermarket is going through various problems and issues in their business
(Li, Cui and Lu 2017). The sales have gone down drastically over the years and the so has the
market shares. There are several reasons for this downfall. The major reason is their expensive
price for the products. They have to lower their prices at any cost either by lowering their
manufacturing and logistics charges or by lowering the raw materials charges (Peppard and
Ward 2016). The second problem of Woolworths is that they are not fulfilling the demands of
their customers and therefore, the customers are losing interest in their market. They have to do a
survey of the market to understand the customer needs at every time (Galliers and Leidner 2014).
The third issue is the relationship with the customers. The staffs have to be polite and
understanding with the customers. The fourth problem is the least advertisement. The marketing
team have to advertise their products well so that the new customers get to know about their
products (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta 2016). These issues are the major problems for
Woolworths. The growth of this recognized grocery supermarket is halted because of them. This
can lead to a major degradation and can even close this supermarket. However, all these issues
can be solved with management strategies. The above-mentioned recommendations will be
extremely helpful for Woolworths.

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Conclusion
Therefore, the above report concludes that, Woolworths belongs to list of the top five
supermarkets of grocery in Australia. However, for last few years, they are facing many
challenges in their sales. They have undertaken the B2B accounting package for resolving the
sales problem. The literature review comprises a brief discussion on the organizational structure,
the errors and inefficiencies, the system acquisition methods and the process designing of
Woolworths. The review also contains the market size, the market leaders and competitors of
Woolworths. Proper recommendations are given to overcome the challenges and how they can
return to the top position.

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References
Abraham, T. and Dao, V., 2017. An Empirical Investigation of Sustainability Innovation
Systems and the Stages of Sustainability Maturity.
Appelbaum, D., Kogan, A., Vasarhelyi, M. and Yan, Z., 2017. Impact of business analytics and
enterprise systems on managerial accounting. International Journal of Accounting Information
Systems, 25, pp.29-44.
Cassidy, A., 2016. A practical guide to information systems strategic planning. CRC press.
Coviello, N. and Tanev, S., 2017. Initiating a New Research Phase in the Field of International
Entrepreneurship: An Interview with Professor Nicole Coviello. Technology Innovation
Management Review, 7(5).
Galliers, R.D. and Leidner, D.E. eds., 2014. Strategic information management: challenges and
strategies in managing information systems. Routledge.
Hutt, M.D. and Speh, T.W., 2012. Business marketing management: B2B. Cengage Learning.
Bussler, C., 2013. B2B integration: Concepts and architecture. Springer Science & Business
Media.
Ismail, N.A. and King, M., 2014. Factors influencing the alignment of accounting information
systems in small and medium sized Malaysian manufacturing firms. Journal of Information
Systems and Small Business, 1(1-2), pp.1-20.
Kavanagh, M.J. and Johnson, R.D. eds., 2017. Human resource information systems: Basics,
applications, and future directions. Sage Publications.

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Li, M.H., Cui, L. and Lu, J., 2017. Marketized state ownership and foreign expansion of
emerging market multinationals: Leveraging institutional competitive advantages. Asia Pacific
Journal of Management, 34(1), pp.19-46.
Madhavaram, S. and Hunt, S.D., 2017. Customizing business-to-business (B2B) professional
services: The role of intellectual capital and internal social capital. Journal of Business
Research, 74, pp.38-46.
McKnight, D.H., Lankton, N.K., Nicolaou, A. and Price, J., 2017. Distinguishing the effects of
B2B information quality, system quality, and service outcome quality on trust and distrust. The
Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 26(2), pp.118-141.
Romney, M.B. and Steinbart, P.J., 2012. Accounting information systems. Boston: Pearson.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2016. Managing and Using Information
Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Peppard, J. and Ward, J., 2016. The strategic management of information systems: Building a
digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Woolworths.com.au. (2017). {{metaController.metaData.title}}. [online] Available at:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 4 Sept. 2017].