E-business Application for Coles Retail Store

This report discusses the need for an e-business strategy for Coles retail store, its network, and Coles online. It also talks about the future of retail through internet technologies and provides recommendations.

Running Head: E-BUSINESS APPLICATION 0
E-business Application
Retail store of Coles
(Student Details:)
9/28/2018

E-business Application 1
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Body of the report......................................................................................................................2
The bright future of the Coles retail store..................................................................................2
Retail store market overview.................................................................................................2
Retail stores network..............................................................................................................3
Need of E-business strategy...................................................................................................3
Other areas to be supervised..................................................................................................4
The Future of Retail of Coles through internet technologies.................................................4
Coles online............................................................................................................................5
Conclusions and recommendations............................................................................................6

E-business Application 2
Introduction
First store of Coles was opened in Collingwood, Melbourne in the year of 1914, and now has
grown to an idol Australian retailer. Presently, it is operating in the numerous areas like Coles
Supermarkets, Coles Liquor, Coles Express, Vintage Cellars, Liquor Market, Coles Online,
Spirit Hotels, and Coles Financial Services (referred as CFS). Moreover, during March 2018,
Wesfarmers has announced its target to demerge Coles and this demerger will be most likely
completed in November 2018, covering all shareholder as well as other legal approvals
(Wesfarmers, 2018).
Being a nationwide whole services supermarket retailer, Coles is currently operating around
801 supermarkets. Coles is having a rich quality and business history in Australia market. At
present, Coles aiming to provide a shop which is trustworthy, delivering benchmark quality,
and valued services to the Australian public. Coming to the digital technological innovation
area, Coles Online is an online accessible supermarket which can be logged in by the
customers anytime to purchase grocery items. Moreover, all purchased orders are delivered
by the store drivers in heat-controlled vans by specified time to all zones in all states and
regions of Australia (Wesfarmers, 2018). Coles is having a private alliance agreement with
Shell, and CFS is bringing ordinary products like credit cards and insurance to the Australian
families.
Source: (Salmon Expert, 2018)

E-business Application 3
The bright future of the Coles retail store
Retail store market overview
Coles has created its everyday value hence customers love the price, quality, taste, and wide
range of Coles Brand products. The Coles always keep looking to create new tasty products
for Australian public to purchase at nice prices. Coles Brand products provide great quality
value and are reliably out-performing production tests. During year of 2017, Coles Brand
won 51 industry awards for various criteria (Elmas, 2018).
Coles is active in lowering the prices of the famous products which Australians purchase the
most. Through recent price drops means in 2017, Coles enabled its customers to save more
on their favourite products from the supermarket.
Being an Australia’s top foodstuff retailer, the firm always focused on supplying a market-
leading garden-fresh offering for their customers. The company is working hard with their
suppliers, to confirm that whether they are continuously improving the quality and
accessibility of fresh food products (Chambers, 2017).
Retail stores network
To become top supermarket brand, Coles is continuously improving its store network across
all brands to provide better, easier and simpler shopping experience for customers.
During May 2017, Coles Express has opened its 700th store in Cairns, Queensland. By
introducing ‘Quiet Hour’ approach Coles is improving its retail stores effectiveness for
customers (KPMG, 2018).
After around a century, on 21 June 2017, Coles opened its 800th store in Aurora Village
Shopping Centre and its 801st store in Western Australia. More than hundred new
professional members were also gave employment at each above store. Moreover, new stores
opening across the whole country will create huge employment opportunities and enhanced
chances of investing in local communities. Coles is continuously investing in creating value,
better quality, and availability for customers through a store network of above 800
supermarkets, around 107,000 team professionals and over 21 million consumer transactions
per week (Wesfarmers, 2018).

E-business Application 4
Need of E-business strategy
The Coles is splitting out and demerger is on the way and consistently creating novel
customer areas to provide more relevant digital marketing and for that website
personalisation is well underway. Still, there are various hurdles the trade has yet to solve in
area of digital transformation, both customer-facing and internally within the company. The
company is having an efficient team to look at its digital market transformation (Barnes &
Hunt, 2013).
The Coles stores are earning and growing day-by day increasingly because customers prefer
to shop offline from physical stores due to their sensory experience. Sensory experience is the
feel and touch sense by the customers when shop from offline retail stores. Results from
several studies say that bricks and mortar stores won in all stages in terms of revenue
generation from sales market. Still, as Coles is doing very good in sales and retail industry
presently, hence it will undoubtedly become one of the top supermarkets of the world soon.
Therefore, in order to survive in the retail as well as e-business marketplace and compete
with the top brands of sales market, it is mandatory to upgrade in all aspects of the business.
As the requirement graph of the consumers is changing towards digital technological comfort
hence being an exclusive food brand of Australian market the Coles need to go with the flow
of consumer need changes. In order to implement these changes, Coles has launched the new
app in the last year to facilitate customers with an efficient and personal shopping tool. This
user friendly interface was designed to create an easy and innovative shopping experience for
each and every one (Barnes, et al., 2004).
Although the future of the retail industry lies solidly in the brick and mortar channels yet to
ensure a sustainable future in all current functioning industries, Coles need to focus on
accessibility. Whenever any assistance, product or any kind of help is needed by the
customers of the Coles, then there should be no communication gap in between the firm and
the customers. Therefore, Coles is continuously over the accessibility of the stores,
workplaces, production sites and digital platforms for professional members and consumers
with or without disabilities (Burn & Barnett, 2000).
The key need of enhancing digital platforms and e-business websites, digital feedback
surveys, campaigns is to ensure that all brand products and services are accessible to a broad
range of users nationwide or worldwide (Dennis, et al., 2002).

E-business Application 5
Moreover, the figures show that online retail is growing exponentially. At the end of the year
of 2018 there will be increased ecommerce sales worldwide, which results in growth of 19
per cent yearly. Doug argues that complete implementation of online technologies within
retail industry is conceivable by year 2022; online market will be responsible for 30 per cent
of total sales. Purchasing products online can offer convenience, time conservation, and
inexpensive prices (Natalie, 2013).
Other areas to be supervised
One Billion dollars was recently invested into creating new retail stores and redeveloping
present stores all around the nation. Because of the size and volume of the supermarkets,
being quite large, the appropriate machinery must be ensured by the Coles for the effective
running of all stores. Moreover, the latest supermarket design that Coles adopted in the year
2017, containing a Deli as well as a Bakery, hence new machinery is required to supply to the
new design. The required machinery includes: Forklifts, Deli slicers, Surveillance cameras,
Trolleys for customers, Ovens and cash registers (Suppiler Portal Coles, 2013).
The Future of Retail of Coles through internet technologies
Building an EEE (referred as effective and efficient e-commerce) operation is challenging,
but evolving a retail stores network of hundreds or thousands of physical stores are even
more difficult comparatively. But it is a growing threat. Conversely, E-retailers are attracting
shoppers towards online-stores by skipping the physical stores through quicker and cheaper
delivery, mobile apps and websites. Moreover, customers even can install physical buttons at
their residences to re-order daily household products with only one push on that device
(Doolin, et al., 2003).
Therefore, retailers need to adapt the bricks and mortar stores to stay updated, relevant and to
compete with online retailers. The fact is that we live in a dynamic world of numerous users,
which are busier these days in earning more and more money, reputation, better lifestyle and
life-balance. Hence they are running with less time to spend to stand in queue, crowded
physical stores (Goldsmith & Flynn, 2005). These are some strategies recommended to
famous brand retail stores of Australian consumer markets, while putting ‘e’ in their business:
 By providing better shopping experience offline as well as on online portals
 By providing user-friendly store app

E-business Application 6
 During e-business, careful steps to be adopted are: providing fast acknowledgement of
purchase, advance shipping notice, valid e-invoice, discrepancy memo, real feedbacks
and advice survey.
 Attractive online promotion to seduce customers for product buying
 Customized promotions for target audiences through online technologies
 Creating strong links with other top organizations through e-business (Natalie, 2013)
 Motivate customer participation and online advertising through new technologies
Thus, by introducing internet technology in product strategic pricing, billing, finding place to
purchase, and to strengthen customer relationships, they can be used to enhance business
online and compete e-retailers of same kind of products (Sim Sheng & Wahidah, 2012).
Source: (Salmon Expert, 2018)
Coles online
The Coles opened its first ‘Coles Online’ supermarket in the Financial Year of 2016, with a
twenty five per cent increase in sales added with customer convenience, product quality and a
wider range. The Online Supermarket was designed to enhance the customer satisfaction and
quick delivery of online shopping. Coles Online has also added a ‘Same Day Delivery’
option, to establish Coles’ position as a trustworthy e-grocery service provider (The
Guardian, 2016).
Coles Liquor introduced ‘Liquor on demand’ in the year of 2016 in the evening and weekend
delivery time windows within metro zones. In that offer, customers of First Choice and

E-business Application 7
Vintage Cellars can choose to have liquor delivered to their homes, also including flexibility
of next-day, same-day, and evening as well as Saturday (Elmas, 2018).
Thus, Coles need to let the stores be a resource of influential media that can give unique and
memorable experiences so that consumers can buy brand products in any time from any
channel either it is retail store or online store, whatever best ensembles them (Natalie, 2013).
Conclusions and recommendations
The discussion about future of retail stores came to a conclusion that conventional retailers
must pick the best places for their physical stores, find the optimal number of places for every
market, according to the customer expectations and get better at e-commerce approaches.
Therefore, instead of intending solely on single channel of bricks stores, retailers require to
focus on optimizing their retail stores portfolios, while at the same time improving their
effective online presence. Additionally, Coles retail must adjust the viewpoint through which
they see the value of physical stores. In reality, this way of unique thinking will improve
retailers’ perception of about what is actually happening and what is desirable.
The Coles stores should provide assistance to all customers regardless of transaction takes
place or not. As the customers may visit stores to explore new products and try ones they
have seen online. While Brick and mortar stores grab sales, additionally they generate value
through driving online sales. This means that the value of a bricks store is great for both
customers and due to the sales captured by them. On the other hand, to sustain business
growth and competition with great business tycoons of the area as well as to serve consumers
according to their key needs, strategic e-business is mandatory to implement by the Coles.
Thus, same as customer purchasing, shopping behaviour has evolved retailers way to sale and
value requirements must evolve as well.

E-business Application 8
References
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mortar to clicks‐and‐mortar: a business process perspective. Knowledge and Process
Management, 11(3), pp. 199-209.
Barnes, S. & Hunt, B., 2013. E-commerce and v-business. Eds. ed. London: Routledge.
Burn, J. & Barnett, M., 2000. Emerging Virtual Models for Global e-commerce-world wide
retailing in the e-grocery business. Journal of Global information technology management,
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Chambers, P., 2017. How Coles is tackling digital transformation. [Online]
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E-business Application 9
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