Woolworths Marketing Strategy Analysis

This assignment requires a comprehensive analysis of Woolworths' marketing strategy. Students must evaluate the company's current marketing mix, identify its strengths and weaknesses, explore relevant opportunities and threats within the Australian retail landscape, and propose recommendations for improvement. The analysis should draw upon academic literature and industry data to provide a well-informed and insightful perspective on Woolworths' marketing performance.

Running head: MARKETING
Marketing
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Identification and analysis of market...............................................................................................3
SWOT analysis............................................................................................................................4
Relationship of marketing process with the organizational resources.............................................5
PESTLE analysis tool..................................................................................................................5
Legal factors.................................................................................................................................6
Environmental factors..................................................................................................................7
Role of marketing mix on the consumer behavior, sustainability and social justice.......................7
Sustainability principles...................................................................................................................9
Review.............................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
The report is presented to focus on the various aspects of marketing considering the
business organisation Woolworths Supermarket in Australia. The company is one of the leading
retailers, which offers a wide range of products and services online for the customers to fulfill
their needs and requirements. The organization offers grocery items, healthy meat, seafood, dairy
products and other health and beauty products too all over Australia and few of the neighboring
states. The analysis of market is done to identify the needs and requirements in the market and
provided products and services accordingly (Ayub et al., 2013). The impact of marketing mix
strategy on the buying behaviours of consumers will also be illustrated in this report. The
marketing activities will be managed by following the most effective sustainability principles
and maintain a good position within the business environment (Woolworths.com.au, 2017).
Identification and analysis of market
The analysis of market is done to identify the needs and requirements of the various
market segments and market the products properly to create a sustainable place in the Australian
market. The SWOT analysis and PESTLE analysis tools are used to analyse the market
conditions and determine the needs of people in the various market segments (Wilson et al.,
2012). The SWOT analysis would help in understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats in the market while the PESTLE framework could help in identifying the political,
economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that might create an impact on
the marketing and business sustainability for Woolworths Supermarket, Australia (Baker, 2014).
The current years have been exceptional and noteworthy for the retail market in Australia,
because of which, there are enough scopes and opportunities for Woolworths Supermarket to

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deliver products and services according to the market conditions and gain the satisfaction of
customers too (Wedel & Kamakura, 2012).
The objectives of the report are to develop effective marketing approaches to enhance
product visibility, analyse the market conditions and develop sustainable approaches for
overcoming the environmental issues (Boone & Kurtz, 2013).
SWOT analysis
The various market segments targeted by the organisation are young adults, customers
who prefer healthy items, health conscious customers, etc. To identify and analyse the market,
the SWOT analysis framework is used for understanding its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats (Chen et al., 2014).
The strengths include its strong brand name and image, which has made it one of the
market leaders in the Australian retail industry, the leadership position and ability to exploit the
market potential through proper management of human resources, technological resources and
maintaining a good market presence. The proper utilization of resources has impacted the
external environmental factors and developed cost effective measures for reducing the packaging
and achieve zero food waste.
One of the major weaknesses of the company is the restrictions by Government on
keeping the costs of products higher, which has deteriorated the higher growth and sales level.
The opportunities have arisen because of the advancement in supply chains, changes in the
lifestyle and buying behaviours of the consumers and use of advanced technologies (Czinkota &

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Ronkainen, 2013). Woolworths has adapted the multi-optional retailing strategy for adjusting
with the changes in needs of the consumers and keep them satisfied as a whole.
The threats faced by the company competitive rivalries in business, intervention of
Government and continuous changes in needs of customers often makes it difficult for the
company to deliver products and services accordingly (De Mooij, 2013).
Relationship of marketing process with the organizational resources
PESTLE analysis tool
The business organisation wants to analyse the external market conditions by identifying
the macro environmental factors that may create an impact on the market conditions.
Political factors
The political environment is connected with the organisation’s performance to structure
the business environment and provide ample opportunities for growth and development in
business. The business organisation has managed to grow with the involvement of foreign
investors and trading partners managing the business activities. There are various risks that may
be faced because political instability can prevent investors to enter the market and this will create
lesser rate of return and more risks of business failure (Hair Jr & Lukas, 2014). Woolworths is
one of the major companies within the retail industry, because of which, the risks of facing loss
in business in low.
Economic factors

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The economic factors include unemployment, which can affect the business performance
by reducing the sales level and creating financial issues. Due to the global financial crisis,
Woolworths faced a huge loss and many of the individuals were unemployed. Within few
markets of Australia, the company performed well in spite of the financial crisis. Woolworths,
being a reputed and established organisation, has managed its business operations perfectly and
made sure that more employees are recruited within the workplace (Hardie & Howarth, 2013).
Social factors
The customers are the main sources of revenue or the business organisation and so
identifying the needs and requirements of the target market is essential for the development of a
proper marketing plan and achieve sustained profit level. The company offered the products and
services at lower prices for making those affordable for the customers and ensures that the social
trends are taken into consideration (Ho, 2014).
Technological factors
New forms of technologies are considered and the utilization of RFID has helped the
retail company to manage the inventories properly and ensure that the stocks are kept under
control for the customers. The integrated service oriented architecture could help in managing its
business operations properly and support the technology for effective management of supply
chains across the industry. The self service check out has been considered as an effective
innovation procedure that created convenience for the customers to purchase the products and
make the company attain a positive brand image (Hollensen, 2015).
Legal factors

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The policies of taxation and employee management regulations have been effective for
managing the licensing procedures, which also maintained the good quality of products and
services in accordance with the organisational rules and regulation. The Government authorities
have also supported the organisation by introducing new retail outlets and work according to the
legal requirements (Ikerd, 2012).
Environmental factors
The environment friendly approaches are considered as effective for minimizing the
negative impact on the environment. Woolworths has managed the sustainable approaches by
reducing the carbon footprints and wastage of natural resources too. The materials used by the
company to manufacture products were recycled and the sourcing of food was done through
ethical procedures. This allowed the company to maintain a positive brand image and support the
sustainability approaches of the organisation too (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012).
The information and communication technology system has enabled the business
organisation to manage its customers’ services properly and ensured that any queries made by
customers regarding the products and services are dealt with. This would make the customers
satisfied as well as create a positive brand image about the company, furthermore improve its
sales and profit level.
Role of marketing mix on the consumer behavior, sustainability and social justice
The marketing mix strategy is used by Woolworths to analyse the brand and the market
segments comprising of the customers through assessment of various components such as
product, price, place and promotion (Kajanus et al., 2012).

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Product
Woolworths, being one of the leading Australian retailer has provided different types of
grocery items such as meat, dairy products, fruits, vegetables and packaged products. A wide
range of products is offered, which gives the customers enough scopes to identify their needs and
purchase the products adoringly. In terms of choice, they are never unsatisfied, because they can
rely on the one stop store where they can gain accessibility to not only grocery items but also
fashion items, house wares, clothing accessories, etc (Thompson & McLarney, 2017).
Price
The prices of the products are kept consistent by Woolworths though there are premium
products too that have higher prices. Thus, the company serves both types of customers, who
prefer lower priced products as well as products available at premium prices (Lang et al., 2012).
A shopping card is provided by the business to its customers, which can allow for tracking the
purchases and provide additional discounts wherever applicable.
Place
There are more than 1000 stores of the retail company in Australia and because of that, it
supports multiple market segments in Melbourne, Victoria and even online businesses are
managed. The online platform has created convenience for the customers to get the products
delivered at their doorstep after making the purchase online. The company for placing the new
label brands including Woolworth Homebrand, Woolworth Select, Woolworths Fresh, etc
introduces a mobile app. Because of the wide distribution network, more customers are getting
attracted, which has increased the revenue too (Leonidou et al., 2013).
Promotion

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The promotions are done by involving social media to spread brand awareness. Extensive
deals and offers are provided by Woolworths to make the customers aware of the products and
influence their buying behaviors. The promotional channel has allowed the company to reach the
targeted market segments and gain profit (Terpstra, Foley & Sarathy, 2012).
Sustainability principles
Woolworths identified the environmental impact across the value chain and promised to
innovate its business operations for the creation of a healthy environment. The company has
considered the circular economy effective, sourced the environmentally sustainable components
and responded to changes in climatic conditions too. There have been investments in renewable
energy to develop new technological and commercial opportunities and ensure business
evolvement (McDonald & Wilson, 2016). The company has managed its suppliers properly for
developing abilities to handle the climatic conditions risks and focus more on water
conservation. Recycled packaging is adopted to reducing use of polystyrene trays and keep
moving towards a circular economy. This would reduce the loss in stocks, improve the ways of
managing wastes and effectiveness of food rescue programs. By implementing these kinds of
programs, it would be easy to reduce the carbon footprint and maintain ecological balance in
nature (Morgan, 2012).
Review
From the report, I understood how Woolworths Supermarket has marketed its products
and services by identifying and analyzing the market scenario. The business organisation is quite
established and is considered as one of the major retail companies in Australia. The identification
and analysis of market was done by analysing the objectives at first, which were to enable proper

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marketing approaches for making products and services availability to the customers properly,
develop sustainable approaches for preventing negative impact on the environment and finally
cope up with the changes in consumers’ behaviors and deliver products to satisfy them (Perreault
Jr, Cannon & McCarthy, 2013). The PESTLE analysis was done, which showed that the political
instability could result in affecting business performance whereas the economic factors helped in
providing employment opportunities to many people all over Australia. The 4 principles of
marketing mix were products, prices, place and promotion that had been effective for marketing
the products and services of Woolworths properly, gain satisfaction and this generated more
revenue in business. Lastly, few sustainability approaches considered by Woolworths to create a
good brand image and maintain a healthy environment. Few of the approaches to sustainability
were investments in renewable energy, sourcing of environment friendly sustainable components
and using the food rescue programs for decreasing the carbon footprints (Shaw, 2012). All these
vast amount of information and knowledge would help me to advance in my career and become
successful in my professional life too.
Conclusion
The report was created for managing the various aspects of marketing and become one of
the major retailers in Australia. The company offered good quality grocery items and the proper
marketing mix strategy also helped in fulfilling the needs and requirements of the people in the
market. The identification and analysis of market was done with the help of SWOT and PESTLE
framework and the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors
affected the business functioning. The marketing mix strategy helped in identifying the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company whereas the sustainable methods included
management of energy, water conservation and focused on achieving a circular economy. This

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not only helped in reducing the carbon footprint but also managed to preserve a good and healthy
environment with ease and effectiveness.

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Woolworths.com.au (2017). Woolworths.com.au. Retrieved 20 November 2017, from
https://www.woolworths.com.au/

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