Coles Supermarket Australia Pvt Ltd

Running head: STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the Organization
Author Note

1STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Coles Supermarket – Overview
The Coles Supermarket Australia Pvt Ltd is an Australian super market which is known
to deal with the retail business and serves the consumer chain. The company is headquartered in
Melbourne as a part of the Coles Group. The firm was founded in the year 1914 in Collinhwood,
Melbourne by a famous businessman George Coles. Coles in the present era is known to function
in more than 807 super markets all around the country. The supermarkets are found throughout
Australia including several now Re branded BLO. The company is known to have at present
more than 100,000 employee and is working together with its rival company Woolworth which
accounts more than 80% of the Australian Super market (Keith 2012).
The company has presently started its online business to its existing customers. The existing
customers can now sit back at their work stations or home and order their products which are
necessary to them. The Coles online service is known to provide the customers with click and
collect service. The click and collect service is mainly served by the delivery boys which are
employed under the company. Once the product is ordered online in the super market store the
middle management team is known to process the order as soon as possible. After the processing
period the order is then picked up by the delivery boy. There are almost more than 2000 delivery
boy working under the company to serve the customers. The delivery boy select the delivery
address of the products and get the delivery done within the day itself. It is one of the best
process which the competitors of the company lacks in the Australian market Lewis & Huber
(2015).
Coles in the recent time has formed acquisition along with various types of 3 rd party suppliers
who will be able to deliver the goods and services of the company. In the present date the CEO

2STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
of the company is George James who is known for maintaining the business in Austarlia. The
company is still expanding with acquisition of new product suppliers. According to the author
the company has recently taken over various food chain suppliers who are dealing in fresh food
services to the customers. In the year 2018 Coles had opened a separate super market which was
mainly a grocery store of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Macro Environment Analysis
Political factors which impact Coles Supermarket
The political factors which may impact the business or the chances of survival are quite diverse
when taking the example of Coles Supermarket. The political factors which are known to affect
the company ranges from the change of the governmental decision making power to the political
regimes (Shaw & Shaw 2019). In case of the multinational companies the political factors not
only put an affect the country where iut is located but also to the geographical origin where the
supermarket operates. Few of the political factors includes :
 The laws that the country enforces especially with regards to the business that is the
government might ban the sales of alcohol and beer inside the super market. The
government might not provide a license to the supermarket.
 A high level of taxation from the government of the country might be able to demotivate
companies like Coles Supermarket from maximizing their profit making power.
 Coles should have to implement a low wage supply to the workers which will mean
higher income and better survival for the company.
Economic factors which impact Coles Supermarket

3STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
The economic factors are those which pertain to the economy of the country where the company
is operating in. In the case of Coles the factors which might impact are inflation rate, exchange
rates the interest rate and the gross domestic production. These factors and their resulting on the
company might create an impact on the aggregate demand, aggregate investment by the directors
of the company and business climate. The economic factors which Coles should consider are :
 The economic system on which the company is operating in the Australian market. The
economic systems in Austrian market mainly includes the monopoly, an oligopoly or
something which is quite similar to the competitive economic system of the country.
 The arte of the growth of the GDP in the country is also likely to affect the company. it
will be able to determine how the company will be able to grow in the future.
 The rate of interest will also put an effect in the company as because higher the rates the
greater investment will be meaning more growth for Coles Supermarket (Vin, Gomez &
Colagiuri 2019).
Social factors which impact Coles Supermarket
The social factors which might impact Coles Supermarket is in the society where it operates in
and encompasses the culture of the business, its beliefs and values which is hold by the majority
of the person living in the society. The social impact is not only important for the company it
will be also able to determine the operational aspects for the long run in the country. The social
factors are described below :
 The demographics of the population where the Coles Supermarket is operating in. This
means that the age, gender of the people who are residing in the area. This impacts to the

4STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
company as because it will be able to derive that whether or not the products offered are
marketable to them or not.
 The class distribution of the people are also a major point which is to be kept in mind
when speaking about the social factors. There are different classes of people living ina
certain community or in the place where the company is operating in. The class
distribution starts from low level customers to the mist premium customers.
Technological factors which impact Coles Supermarket
Technology is rapidly improving in the present era which can even disrupt the business structure
and competitive landscape of the company in the p[lace where it is operating in. therefore it is
very important to determine that the company should be able to update itself t the latest trend in
the technological base. The company should be able to innovate consistently and constantly to
survive in the market. There are various instances where the company has failed to develop
newer products and innovate products by redesigning them. Frw of the factors which should be
kept in mind by the top management of the company are
 The company should atke care of the competitors who are expanding with the recent
technological development and breakthroughs. If Coles Supermarket is able to encounter
a new technology which is presently used by the competitors in the market then it it
should be able to monitor it and develop better technological up gradations to take over
its competitors in the market.
 The company should be able to transform what the products are finally offering to the
customers.
Environmental factors which impact Coles Supermarket

5STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
According to the author Knox (2015) different companies according to the local it is
operating and business locations hold different standards of environmental factors in their head
as norms. This norms are then known to dictate the company should aim for. For example a
textile industry si expected to incur the same level of pollution which is incurred by the
environmental degradation of the oil company. The environmental factors which is mainly
impacting the operations of Coles are :
 The current weather condition might impact the company in order to manage its delivery
procedures and transportation business. It is known to be applied both on the finished
products and the fresh foods (Cherrier, 2016).
 In case of textiles the climate might also affect the company and some of the products
might be useless. In the case of Coles the countries where the summer is much hot the
winter clothes will be useless to be kept in the super market as because they will not be
bought by the consumers.
Legal factors which impact Coles Supermarket
The institutions of the government and the legal framework of the company will also affect the
company. In the case of Coles the company policies on their own are not much enough to protect
the workers who are working in the company. The legal factors which the company should
consider are given below:
 Intellectual property laws and other data protection laws are, few of the ideas and patents
which should be kept in mind when the company is thinking of maximizing profits.

6STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
 The Health and Safety laws during the workplace should be created by the company so
that the company will not have to witness any horrible workers working conditions inside
the super market.
 Various types of laws are also placed by the company to ensure a certain level of quality
or reasonable price for certain products which are kept for the customer safety.
Coles Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
Threat of new Entrants
The economies of the scale are fairly very difficult in the industry in which the Company
is operating. Therefore it make it very easy for the big supermarket companies like Coles
supermarket to produce large amount of goods capacity in large numbers. This makes a
competitive advantage for the company. This also makes the production very costly for the new
entrants in the organization. the differentiation of the products are very strong within the industry
as because there is a string emphasis on the advertisements and the customer service as well.
This all makes the threat of new entrants a weak force in the industry. The capital
requirements in the industry is also very high in this particulatr industry which makes it very
difficult for the new entrants to set up new business as because they will have to implement a
huge amount of expense. The capital expenditure is quite high in the Australian market as
because the company will have t implement a huge amount of money in the Research and
Development project of the business. The access to the distribution channel is also not quitre
easy for the new entrants in the market as because they will not be able to set up a huge market
in the business. They will have to select a very small amount of market forb their retail market
and selling their products.

7STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
The bargaining power of the suppliers is very high when it is compared within the
industry in which it is operating. This means that the suppliers have few control over the prices
which makes the bargaining power of the suppliers very weak. The products which are offered in
the segment are fairly less differentiated when speaking about the competitors in the market.
Therefore if the competitor is selling better quality product with a slight higher price, it will
make the consumers shift from the Coles supermarket to its competitors instantly. Therefore the
company might be able to loose the loyal customers. If the suppliers are not able to content the
customers with other product then this will mean that there is a lack of substitutes for the product
than the ones which are offered by the competitors in the industry. This therefore will be making
the bargaining power of the supplier little more stronger within the industry.
The industry in which the company is operating is a very important industry to the
customers to the suppliers (Bailey, 2019). Therefore it means that the profit arec very closely
related with the tie up of the suppliers with whom they are working with. However if the
suppliers are not providing a fair and reasonable price to the company the company will not be
able to work with them for a long run. Therefore it will make the bargaining power of the
suppliers very weak inside the industry.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
The number of the suppliers in the industry where the company is working is ina huge
number than the number of firms who are producing the goods and products in the industry.
Therefore this means that the buyers will have a new firm. This will help the company to have
more control over the prices imposed by the buyers of the company. As because there is a high

8STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
product differentiation in the industry this means that the buyers will not be able to find an
alternative firm to get the same product or the particular product the consumers is demanding.
Therefore there is a difficulty in switching over the products which are offered by the companes
in the same segment. This makes the bargaining power of the buyers a weaker force within the
industry. The quality of the products is given much importance to the buyers which means that
there will be a pressure to purchase the product at a very low price. This will make the buyers
more price sensitive.
Fig I Represents the Porter’s Five Forces of Coles Super market
Source : Phillipov, (2016)
Threat of Substitute Products or Services

9STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
According to the author Phillipov, (2016) there are every substitutes which are
available for the products which are produced by Coles Supermarket. There are very substitutes
which are available are also produced with a very low profit margin. This therefore means that
there is no price ceiling on the maximum profit which the firm earns in the industry. All of these
factors is known to make a threat of substitute to the weaker products of the industry. The
company should be able to focus on the differentiating of the products which are offered to the
customers. This will be able to ensure that the products are unique and the customers do nt easily
shift to the substitute products offered by the company. The company should also provide greater
quality of the products to the customers which will lead the customers to rely on the company on
a long run.
Rivalry Among Existing Firms
The number of the competitors in the industry is very few and most of thema re very
large in size This means that the company will not make any move without any prior notice. The
company should be able to chose various strategies which will make the company to be a leader
in the market. This will make the rivalry among the existing firms to reduce their prices and
create a strong force within the industry (Grimmer 2018).
Recommendation
After completing the above research paper it can be recommended that the company can
implement various types of marketing strategies for the online marketing. In the online
marketing website the company can offer various types of products like knick knack, fresh foods,
personal finance vendors, customer related and customer demanded food products and services
which might include the beverages and alcohols. The company has presently started its online

10STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
business to its existing customers. The existing customers can now sit back at their work stations
or home and order their products which are necessary to them. The Coles online service is
known to provide the customers with click and collect service. The click and collect service is
mainly served by the delivery boys which are employed under the company. Once the product is
ordered online in the super market store the middle management team is known to process the
order as soon as possible. After the processing period the order is then picked up by the delivery
boy. There are almost more than 2000 delivery boy working under the company to serve the
customers. The delivery boy select the delivery address of the products and get the delivery done
within the day itself. It is one of the best process which the competitors of the company lacks in
the Australian market.
The Coles supermarket can become one of the best industry which can promote the sports
products to the customers. The company can also include the sell of fish in the products which
are offered to the customers. They can also promote the goods and services by promoting them
through various types of promotional functions in various types of geographical locations.

11STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
References
Bailey, M. (2019). Urban disruption, suburbanization and retail innovation: establishing
shopping centres in Australia. Urban History, 1-18.
Cherrier, H. (2016). Consumer identity and moral obligations in non‐plastic bag consumption: a
dialectical perspective. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 30(5), 515-523.
Grimmer, L. (2018). The diminished stakeholder: Examining the relationship between suppliers
and supermarkets in the Australian grocery industry. Journal of Consumer Behaviour,
17(1), e13-e20.
Keith, S. (2012). Coles, Woolworths and the local. Locale: The Australasian-Pacific Journal of
Regional Food Studies, 2, 47-81.
Knox, M. (2015). Supermarket monsters: The price of Coles and Woolworths' dominance (Vol.
6). Black Inc..
Knox, M. (2015). Supermarket monsters: The price of Coles and Woolworths' dominance (Vol.
6). Black Inc..
Lewis, T., & Huber, A. (2015). A revolution in an eggcup? Supermarket wars, celebrity chefs
and ethical consumption. Food, Culture & Society, 18(2), 289-307.
Merrilees, B., & Miller, D. (2015). Innovation and strategy in the Australian supermarket
industry. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 7(4), 3-18.
Phillipov, M. (2016). ‘Helping Australia Grow’: supermarkets, television cooking shows, and the
strategic manufacture of consumer trust. Agriculture and human values, 33(3), 587-596.

12STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Shaw, H. J., & Shaw, J. J. (2019). Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Justice and the Global
Food Supply Chain: Towards an Ethical Food Policy for Sustainable Supermarkets.
Routledge.
Smith, K., Lawrence, G., MacMahon, A., Muller, J., & Brady, M. (2016). The resilience of long
and short food chains: a case study of flooding in Queensland, Australia. Agriculture and
Human Values, 33(1), 45-60.
Vinkeles Melchers, N. V., Gomez, M., & Colagiuri, R. (2019). Do socio‐economic factors
influence supermarket content and shoppers' purchases?. Health Promotion Journal of
Australia, 20(3), 241-246.
Bogomolova, S., Loch, A., Lockshin, L., & Buckley, J. (2018). Cons