Impact of Technology on Procurement Process

Assignment 1: Project Integration (Individual Assignment)
Answer 1:
Australia is known for being the most urbanized societies worldwide having population of
near about 27 million. The urban cities of Australia include Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide,
Brisbane, and Perth and 90% of the population of reside in these urban territories. Having
significant growth in per capita GDP, Australian market witnessed a significant growth in the
retail sector even after some unfavourable conditions such as low wage rate and increased
household debt. The segmentation of the retail sector is done basis the product category,
distribution channel, and market dynamics (Mordor Intelligence).
From 2.2% growth rate in the year 2018, the retail turnover growth will show a downfall in
the year 2019 reaching to 1.5% and then expected to strengthen again in 2020 by 2.9%.
(Deloitte Access Economics’ latest quarterly Retail Forecasts subscriber report, quarter 2,
2019).
Although the employment rate is on its level best, still the household finance is under
pressure due to slowdown in the increment rate in the wage resulting to decline in wealth.
This impacts the spending pattern of the consumers (David Rumbens, 2018)
Key Market Trends

 Disruptive forces such as fluctuation in the spending pattern of customers and foreign
company influx, are the future of Australian retail sector. New retailing approaches are
being formulated by the foreign influx.
 Consumer preferences have changed due to the foreign company’s influx which is the
major cause of change in the retail landscape in the country. Technological advancement
has also resulted in the shift in consumer preferences.
 To identify non-responsive retailers, agility and multiplicity of delivery platforms is the
need of the hour for the retail sector in Australia.
 Mining and housing markets are the major private investors to drive the Australia’s
economic growth. However, the Reserve Bank target was not achieved in terms of
inflation which was 1.75%.
Major international players operating in the Australian retail sector: (source: Mordor
Intelligence)
1. ALDI Group
2. Metcash Limited
3. Woolworths Group Ltd
4. Big W
5. Wesfarmers Ltd
6. JB HI-Fi Ltd
7. Kmart Australia Limited
8. Myer Group Pty Ltd
9. Kogan.com Ltd

The purchase preferences of customers, both private and business, has now shifted from
online to handy, that is, from digital to mobile digital, which simply means customers want
things to be within their reach 24 by 7. According to (Carver, 2017), increasingly the mobile
phone is becoming the ‘remote control’ for people’s lives. Mobile Contactless Payments are
expected to double by 2021. According to TechCrunch there were 447.9m mobile payment
users worldwide at the end of 2016 with mobile payments anticipated to exceed US$60bn
globally by end of 2017 (Oh & Jeong, 2019). Increasingly mobile apps are becoming the
customer engagement platform of choice for Generation Z and Millennials.
Answer 2:
Best possible sustainable procurement practices for Coles are described below:
 Achieving significant cost savings by focusing on a “whole life costing”
methodology for procurement, incorporating the “three Rs” – reduce, reuse, recycle
– to cut waste and improve the efficiency of resources. (Nextenders, 2014)
o As per coles commitment, by 2022, 90% of all waste from landfill will be
diverted through a focus on reduction, reuse and recycling.
 Enhancing an organisation’s public image by demonstrating a sustainable
approach to business and championing related environmental and social benefits.
(Nextenders, 2014)
o All Coles Brand packaging would be recyclable by 2020 to make packaging
more sustainable.
 Opening fresh markets for new products and services through technology and
innovation. (Nextenders, 2014)
o Apart from existing product, new products need to be introduced in new
markets using innovative and advanced technology.