Australian Supermarket Industry Analysis

Running head: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Supply Chain Management
[Coles and Aldi]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Executive summary
This paper has conducted some useful study on the Australian supermarket industry. It has
communicated some facts that Coles has efficiently managed its supremacy in the Australian
supermarket industry along with rival company Woolworths. However, Aldi has significantly
challenged the supremacy of the duopoly. Aldi with its unique supply chain strategy has
redefined the challenge in the Australian supermarket industry. The paper has outlined some of
its unique supply chain strategies such as offering plastic bags to customers, arranging multiple
products in a lane, taking gold coins for trolleys, limiting the size of stores by limiting the range
of products, employing limited number of employees etc. These strategies along with quality
products have helped Aldi to gain a speeding growth in the supermarket industry. However, this
paper has also highlighted an alarming signal to Aldi for such strategies because these are not so
relevant with the high-class people. Moreover, this paper has constructed an interesting plot for
both Coles and Aldi by showing the importance of strategic planning for their sustained business.

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Table of Contents
Part A:..............................................................................................................................................4
Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
Description of Coles....................................................................................................................5
Business model........................................................................................................................5
Customer types........................................................................................................................5
Suppliers of Coles....................................................................................................................5
Supply chain............................................................................................................................6
Description of Aldi......................................................................................................................6
Business model........................................................................................................................6
Customer types........................................................................................................................7
Its suppliers..............................................................................................................................7
Supply chain............................................................................................................................7
Comparison of supply chains.......................................................................................................8
Literature review..........................................................................................................................9
Part B:............................................................................................................................................11
Analysis of Coles.......................................................................................................................11
Recommendations and conclusions for Coles...........................................................................14
Analysis of Aldi.........................................................................................................................14
Recommendations and conclusions for Aldi.............................................................................16

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References......................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
Coles and Aldi are two most reputed supermarket chains in Australia. Coles with its rival
company Woolworths form the duopoly in the Australian supermarket industry. Coles came into
existence in the year 1914 in Melbourne by George Coles. It has its own online service system,
which it uses to deliver the products to customer’s home (Keith 2012). Aldi on the other hand is
primarily a German company, which found its existence in Australia in the year 2001. It first
opened up its store in Sydney and since then it piled up stories of success with passage of days.
After duopoly of Woolworths and Coles in Australia, Aldi has the largest market share.
Interestingly, the growth of its success in recent time has enhanced the competition to a next
level (Dwivedi et al. 2012).
Supply chain management is a challenging task, which has grown in its challenge even
further with the advent of globalization. Globalization has made the operations complex, which
has also troubled the operation of supply chain. Very few companies have been able to solve the
criticality of supply chain (Mangan & Lalwani 2016). Walmart is one of those companies that
have resolved the complexity of supply chain with its strategic planning. Nevertheless, it has
benefitted the company significantly, which has helped the company become the largest
companies in the world in terms of revenue generation (Stankevičiūtė, Grunda & Bartkus 2012).
The success of Walmart on its global supply chain has proved one thing that it is possible to
resolve the complexity of supply chain with strategic planning. The main purpose of this
assignment is to analyze the supply chain operations of two of the Australian biggest super
market chains Coles and Aldi. This paper would also give a comparison between the supply
chain operations of both the companies.

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PART A:
Description of Coles
Business model
Cost saving strategy is one of the key points of Coles, which they use to mould the
customer’s interest into their favor. The company has not kept itself confined to the groceries
only but it has also targeted a potential market of liquor in Australia. Insurance and fiancé sectors
have also been felt as potential options. They are in continued search of new market. It is very
evident that the company is trying to explore it towards maximum of opportunities (Dwivedi et
al. 2012).
Customer types
There customers are in varied range such as little kids, young kids, matured adults,
mobile phone users, drinkers etc. It means that the company has targeted perhaps the every
category of the society with different range of foodstuffs (coles.com.au 2017).
Suppliers of Coles
Unlike other companies Coles has believed in the Australian resource for its required
products. As per its belief, Australia is one of those few countries that produce best food in the
world. They have their relationship with the local farmers, manufacturers and growers. The
Coles Nurture Fund support various small medium size companies opportunities to apply for
the loans and use it for inventing various innovative technologies. On the other hand, the
company had started Coles Indigenous Food Fund in the year 2001 to support the indigenous
enterprises (coles.com.au 2017).