Supermarket Industry Analysis

This assignment delves into the contemporary supermarket industry. It examines its history, exploring how it has transformed from A&P to Walmart. The focus shifts to marketing practices employed by supermarkets, including branding, value propositions, and loyalty programs. Additionally, the assignment analyzes the influence of supermarkets on food production and consumption, highlighting their role as authorities in food choices and their impact on local communities.

Running head: MARKETING 0
MARKETING
COLES

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................................1
Marketing mix of Coles:...............................................................................................................................1
Recommended marketing mix:...................................................................................................................6
Impact of contemporary issues:..................................................................................................................8
References:................................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
Coles is the very famous and popular name in Australian retail industry. This is the company that
is engaged in the supermarket industry and serves the market wide range of products. The
company not only operates with offline stress but also has its presence in the market through
online selling. Across all over Australia, it has around 787 supermarket stores, 89 hotel stores,
around 800 liquor stores and 690 convenience stores (Kumar, 2008). The company also deals
with the financial services and provides the customers with range of credit cards and insurances.
This is the report that deals one of the products of the company that is liquor and focus on its
marketing mix. The later part of the report argues about the recommendations that have been
given to the company in order to analyse the impact of some of the contemporary issues on the
company.
Marketing mix of Coles:
Products: products can be defined as anything that the brand offers to the customers in the
market. As far as Coles is considered, it has been analysed that Coles is the company that deals
with range of products from fresh fruits and vegetables to general merchandise and liquor. Some
of the range of products includes:
 Baby products
 Deli
 Fresh fruits and vegetables
 Coles mobile
 Liquor
 Bakery
 Dairy
 Gift cards
 Meat
In this report, the major focus is on the products range of liquor. Coles offers a great variety of
beer, wines and other hard drinks and liquor to the customers from its stores that are Liquor land
and first choice liquor (Lyons, 2007). Liquorland are the stores that re stocked with variety of

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beer, spirits and wine. The company has 630 Liquorland stores all over Australia. Another store
that is first choice also provides variety of red and white wines, spirits and beer to the customers.
As far as the market share of liquor sales of Coles is considered, it has been analyse from the
figure that it is 15.5% and it still have large scope to gain more market share.
Price:
In terms of pricing, Coles is the cost leader. It uses the strategy of cost leadership in order to gain
the market share and attention (Dixon, 2007). This is the company that offers the customers with
great quality products in affordable range as compared to other competitors. The major aim of
the company is to make continuous reduction in its cost even if the living standard in Australia is
rising but this strategy has become the competitive edge for the company (Jobber & Ellis-

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Chadwick, 2012). As far as the liquor is concerned, it has been argues that Coles provide the
liquor products in lowest price with improved range and great store network.
The liquor business of the company is continuously seeing a high growth but still have so much
scope of improvement and this can be done by implementing customer led strategy.
Place:
Coles is the company whose stores are present all over the Australia. the company tries to cover
the most crowded market of the cities and try to open the stores at the location that are central for
the people to reach (Dwivedi, Merrilees, Miller & Herington, 2012). Across all over Australia, it
has around 787 supermarket stores, 89 hotel stores, around 800 liquor stores and 690
convenience stores. As the focus of this report is liquor thus this company has two brand names
for liquor stores, the first is Liquorland and the other is first choice liquor. Both of these stores
serves the market with the products like wines, beer and spirits. The company also have its own
brand spirits that are served in these stores (Johnston, Stafford, Pierce & Daube, 2017). The
network of its stores is very great and thus it covered all the major market of Australia. The
stores are so big and the products are kept in stacks so that the customers can easily figure out
what they want from the products.
Promotion:
In terms of marketing, Coles is the firm that still focuses on portraying itself as the low cost
leader and does not promote the products. The tagline of the company that is WHY PAY MORE

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and EXTRA VALUE FOR YOU suggests that the company is attracting the customers by
providing the discounts and offers. Campaigning is another marketing strategy that the company
use in order to market its products and create awareness about the products. Its loyalty and
rewards program such as flybuys are also very successful in terms of marketing of its products.
In terms of the liquor market, the company provides various offers on online and in store buying
and also does TV advertisements to make the people aware about those discounts and offers
(Armstrong, Adam, Denize & Kotler, 2014). Print media is also one of the means to market the
products. So in total, the company use various marketing strategy such as:
 TV advertising
 Print media advertising
 Discounts and offers
 Loyalty and rewards programs
 Campaigning
Process:
Coles try to improve its processes now and then in a way that they can reduce the cost and sell
the products in lowest price. The company also focused on delivering the high quality products
and thus focuses on improving the supply chain of the company that can add value to the
customers (Charlton, Kähkönen, Sacks & Cameron, 2015). As far as its online process is
considered, it is very simple in nature. The customers just have to select the products, put it into
the cart and order the same by paying the amount through different methods available. At the
liquor stores of Coles, the company use to keep the information pieces such as cost price

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adjustments documents, frequently use forms, liquor polices, supply chain reporting and liquor
contacts. This suggests that the processes of the company are very simplified and systematic.
People:
For Coles, developing customer relationship is very important. This is the reason the company
invest so much on training and education its employees about how to treat the customers and
provide them services (Miranda & Konya, 2008). There are several programs that the company
deals with in order to educate its employees such as Retail Leaders program and The First Steps
Program. The above discussion suggests that two of the major people that the company focuses
on are the customers and the employees. Other stakeholders that re involved in this category are
the suppliers. Suppliers also play major role in the overall process of Coles.
Physical evidence:
As far as the physical evidence is considered, it has been analysed that outlets of Coles are its
evidence of physical presence (Keith, 2012). The company is still trying to build better bigger
stores in future so that they can categorize the things and the products ain more efficient way.
The stores are the one that attracts the customers and if the customers feel convenient to find the
products in the store, they prefer to come back again (Cravens & Piercy, 2003). Coles does the
same in order to makes it easy for the customers to find the things by piling them as per their
categories and sections. The ambience of liquor stores are very eye catchy and attract the
customers to come there again and again.
Partnerships:
As far as partners are concerned, it has been analysed that the company is associated with many
charity partners. In term of national partner some of the names are:
 Redkite: it is the charity company that deals with cancer issues

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 Bravery trust: it is for supporting the defence force of Australia
 Second bite: it helps in supplying the healthy food to the needy people of Australia
 Foodbank: it deals with donating food to the Australians who are hungry.
Other than all these there are some other charities also which are linked with Coles such as red
dust, guide dogs, cancer council (Zarkada-Fraser & Fraser, 2015).
The company is also partnered with the local charities such as Sydney children hospitals,
hummingbird house, children’s health foundation, top down under etc.
Recommended marketing mix:
After analysing the marketing mix of the company, it has been analysed that there are some of
the scope that can be used to make the improvements. This is because there are some may
contemporary issues that are affecting the business and marketing of the companies. It is
required for the companies to consider the same and make the strategies that compliments the
today’s environment and contemporary issues such as globalisation, CSR, social media
integration etc.
Product: it has been realised that the company is dealing with many products and wide range of
liquor has been served by the company. The company has the scope to make improvements in
the liquor products range by introducing their own wines (Roberts & Toleman, 2007). This helps
the company to be sustainable by introducing the wines that are natural. The overall
manufacturing proceed should be under the company and this also helps in reducing the cost and
the price for the product.
Price:
The pricing strategy that should be used by the company is psychology pricing. It is the strategy
that helps the companies to play with the minds and the psychology of the customers. For
instance, if the price of the products is kept to be $99 instead of $100 then it makes a great
difference. This is because even if the difference between the prices is low but it plays with the

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psychology of the customers (Knox, 2015). It has been analysed that pricing is the most crucial
decisions to be made when the product needs to be released in the market. Coles can use this
strategy to launch its own brand wine.
Place:
In terms of place, the company is also serving the market with offline and online stores. It has its
store in the main location and the major markets of the city. It has been analysed that the
company has the scope to sell its products through social media. Social media is the option that is
available now days to conduct the business activities. Many of the companies are using social
media and other method to sell their products (Thornton, Cameron, McNaughton, Worsley &
Crawford, 2012). It has been analysed that this strategy can help the company to make the people
aware about their products and sell the same. Anther strategy that can be used to sell the products
is canopies at different places. This is also a good strategy to be used. Putting canopies outside
the clubs or cafes may help the company to make the people aware about the natural ingredient
wine that the company has developed.
Promotion:
As far as the promotional tools are concerned, it has been analysed that the company is already
using some of the strategies such as TV advertising, campaigning, print media etc. the company
also has its Facebook page but there are many other sites and social media platforms that are still
left untouched. Snapchat is one of them. Putting snapchat stories of the products can help the
people to allow about the products. Posting the pictures and making the page on instagram is also
one of the major strategies that can be availed by the company. This strategy allows the company
to take the feedback from the customers and the customers can also provide their reviews on the
portal (Allaway, Huddleston, Whipple & Ellinger, 2011). This publicity is very much similar to
word of mouth and how the customers post their reviews, it affects the other customers also and
they used to buy the products of the review are positive. CSR is the approach that is also very
important in terms of marketing. Linking with the foundations is also one of the strategies that
have been used for marketing purpose that can also help the company to contribute for corporate
social responsibilities.
Process:

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In terms of processes, it has been analyse that the company focuses on making its supply chain
smooth. As far as the situation of the environment is considered, it has been analysed that it is
very important to make the processes sustainable in nature. This is because sustainability is the
need of hour. As far as the mission of the company is considered, it has been analysed that the
company focuses on serving the market with quality products, making the sustainable future and
developing good relationship with farmers and suppliers (Ellickson, 2016). Thus, it is very much
required by the company to develop and improve its communication process, it has been
analysed that the company should make the communication portal for the suppliers and the
farmers so that they can communicate with the company whenever they want. It has been
analysed that it is required to make the process smooth for the suppliers and the framer to deal
with the management of the company.
People: in terms of people, it has been analysed that the company is already dealing with various
stakeholders and farmers and providing great experiences to the customers. It is required to make
more focus on training the employees and generating more value for the shareholders and
suppliers of the company so that great relationship with all the stakeholders can be developed.
Physical evidence: physical stores are the evidence of the existence of the company. The change
in ambience of the store and developing the sitting area in the stores can also attracts the
attention of the customers. It has been analysed that the shape of the bottle of the wines can be
designed in such a way so that it attracts the customers (Matsa, 2011).
Partnerships: as per the analysis, it has been determined that the company is already linked with
company and foundation that supports the company to contribute its share in corporate social
responsibility. There are several opportunities for the company to make partnership with some of
the suppliers that and provide regular material to the company for making the products. The
country can deal with the breweries which can help the firm to provide better quality wine which
would be natural in nature.
Impact of contemporary issues:
There are several contemporary issues that affect the functions of the companies like Coles. It
has been analysed that it is required by Coles to implement the above recommended strategies so

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that it can compete with the competitors and the current environment of the industry. Some of
the contemporary issues and their impact are discussed below:
Corporate social responsibility: It is the concept that helps the organisations to make
contributions for the society through some of the organisations or NGO’s. As far as CSR and
Coles is considered, it has been analysed that Coles is concerned, it has been analysed that the
company is very much associated with various local and national foundations that help the
company in marketing of its products as well. The company is also committed towards its
suppliers and tries to develop the sustainable relationship with them.
Social media interaction: social media and marketing are the concepts that re very much
associated with each other, this is because many for the companies are using social media tools
are the medium to market their products. Coles is also using the same platform like Facebook
and other social media sites to market its products and to make the people aware about the
discounts and the offers the company is releasing. Social media presence of the companies and
its products is very necessary these days in terms of marketing. This is because customers try to
look for the things on social media in the engagement of customers on the social media platforms
forces the companies to market their products here so that more and more customers can be
attracted (Boone & Kurtz, 2013).
Globalisation: globalisation is the concept that deals with extending the business activities from
the host country to the foreign country. The conduction of business activities across the globe is
termed as globalisation (Dann, 2010). It has been analysed that Coles is the company that has its
functions in Australia and thus it is required by the firm to expand its operation in different
countries so that it can increase the market share as well as its presence in the global market.
This is one of the best opportunities to grab by the company and it is important to be exploited so
that the company can fight the competition with its greatest competitors like Woolworths and
Aldi.
Advances in technology: technology is the aspect that forms the basis of every business these
days. As recommended that the company should develop a communication portal for better
communication between the different stakeholders of the company and its management, it is also

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the strategy that is supported by the advanced technology. Using the technology in different
fields of business helps the business enhance its activities improve its process.
Environmental and ethical concerns: it has been analysed that the companies and the business
activities needs to be sustainable these days. This is because of the ethical and the environmental
issues that are developing in the society these days (Hair, Celsi, Ortinau & Bush, 2008).
Developing the strategies in the company and its marketing functions helps the company to have
better image in the market. The customers also prefer to buy the products from the brand which
is ethical in nature and not exploiting the natural resources of the world.
Conclusion:
It has been concluded from the report that Coles is the very famous and popular name in
Australian retail industry. This is the company that is engaged in the supermarket industry and
serves the market wide range of products. Marketing mix of the company suggested that it has
the cost leadership strategy and it serves market with high quality and low price products. It has
been realised that the company needs to launch its own products in sector of wine. This is
because it can be the natural products that help the company to enter the new sector. A new
marketing mix has been recommended to the company so that it can use the opportunities of
contemporary issues such as CSR, social media etc. that are available.

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