Comparative Analysis: Retail Management in the Australian Market

This report provides an analysis of the retail market in Australia, focusing on departmental and discount stores. It examines the evolution of retailing, comparing strategies, merchandise, and execution of both store types, highlighting examples like Woolworths, Target, and Big W. The report discusses the implications of location and technology, the importance of value-driven approaches and cost containment, and customer engagement strategies. It also addresses the future of retailing in Australia, emphasizing the role of digitization and innovation in meeting customer demands and improving efficiency. The conclusion summarizes key findings and anticipates future changes in the retail landscape, suggesting retailers need to adapt to technological advancements to remain competitive.

Running head: RETAIL MANAGEMENT
Retail Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The report has assisted in analyzing the different kinds of retail stores which are effective in
nature in the entire Australian economy. The difference between the departmental and
discounted stores have been analyzed in the report which was inclusive of the different kinds
of evolution of the retail management in Australia and the strategies have been discussed as
well. Furthermore, recommendations have been provided which helped in managing the
issues which can be faced by the retail stores in the future.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of Discount Retail Stores........................................................................................3
Analysis of Departmental Retail Stores.................................................................................3
Execution of Departmental Retailing in Australia.....................................................................4
Merchandise of Department Retailing in Australian Economy.................................................5
Evolution of Retailing in Australian Economy..........................................................................5
Execution of Discounted Retailing in Australia.........................................................................5
Merchandise of Discounted Retailing in Australian Economy..................................................6
Implications of Location and Technology in Retailing in Australian Economy.......................6
Value Driven and Cost Containment in Retailing in Australia..................................................7
Significance of Identifying and Alluring Customers in Retail in Australian Market................8
Future of Retailing in Australian Market...................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The report assists in the entire analysis and identification of the progression and
growth of the entire retail market in the Australian market. The two types of retail stores
which will be discussed in the respective assignment is relating to discount and departmental
discount stores which are located in the Australian market. The different kinds of
merchandise along with different strategies will be analysed which will be essential in growth
of the retail market along with maintaining relationships with the different customers in the
market as well.
Analysis of Discount Retail Stores
Discount Retail Stores is the ones which provides and sell various kinds of products
and services to the different customers at a discounted rate in the market in comparison to the
other retail stores in the market. Furthermore, the discount stores are also quite similar in
nature like departmental stores in the market which provides the customers all products and
services at a price which is discounted in nature (Amin 2017).
For instance- Target and Big W are the two discounted supermarkets in the
Australian economy in which this these companies tries to offer the customers with variety of
products and services as the main focus of the discounted stores is to satisfy and gain strong
customer base in the economy and this will help them in increasing their overall revenues and
productivity in the entire market as well.
Analysis of Departmental Retail Stores
Departmental Retail Stores is the other retail kind in which the different kinds of
products are made available to the different customers in the market under the same roof. The

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customers can purchase the similar kinds of products at a discounted price and this helps the
departmental stores to gain competitive advantage in the entire market effectively.
For instance- Woolworths is one such example of Australian market in which there
are different kinds of products along with clothing and health and wellness beauty care
products which are available to customers under one roof and this is helpful for the company
to become successful in being more successful in comparison to the other competitors.
Execution of Departmental Retailing in Australia
According to Amin (2017), there are various approaches which are being applied in
the departmental retailing in the Australian market includes that there are different kinds of
departments in the entire market which will help the customers in receiving the different
kinds of products under one roof. The customers can receive the similar products like they
will get in other market under same roof. This is the main speciality of the departmental
stores and the evolvement has been introduced and this has been adopted by various
companies such as Kmart and Big W both locally along with globally.
On the other hand, Pinto et al. (2018), has commented and hypothesised that in the
Australian economy there are more than 88% of the population who are the major users of the
smartphones and these customers try to view and review the various products in the market
with the help of the online review process which will be effective in nature. Goworek,
McGoldrick and McGoldrick (2015) has opined that there are various supermarkets which are
popular in providing discounted products such as Woolworths which has adopted the system
of self-service which helps the company in gaining more customer presence in the entire
market which will be effective in managing the different activities efficiently under one roof.

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Merchandise of Department Retailing in Australian Economy
In case of department retailing, this can be analysed in the economy of Australia that
there are various kinds of different merchandise which have been implemented. In case of
Woolworths, this has been seen and identified that the company tries selling various products
and services to the different customers under one roof. In departmental retailing, this has been
noticed that there are few other offerings which are made available by the company on their
websites and this is gained through social media channels as well (Grewal 2018).
Evolution of Retailing in Australian Economy
The evolution of retailing came into presence in the year 1963 wherein this was
noticed that Woolworths was the first store wherein this was treated as the discounted store.
Previously, the individuals who were informed about the various discounts and offers which
were helpful in managing the different kinds of productivity effectively. However, in the
present scenario, this has been noticed that the different kinds of technological advancements
which helped the companies in becoming popular (Singh et al. 2018).
Execution of Discounted Retailing in Australia
On the other hand, this has been noticed that there are various approaches which have
been analysed and implemented by the discounted stores such as Target and Big W which are
efficient in providing similar products at lower prices than the other competitors. Woolworths
provide the products to the customers at an affordable rate, however there are no such
separate departments such as food courts for those who will be purchasing the items from the
store (Yong-xiang and Han 2018).

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Merchandise of Discounted Retailing in Australian Economy
There are various kinds of offerings provided by the discounted stores in the entire
Australian market which is inclusive of the different kinds of offers and discounts on
different products and there are offers and gift vouchers which are being applied in the
discounted stores in the Australian retail sector (Pole 2015). Due to the innovation in the
economy, there are various types of changes in the Discounted Retailing economy such as
inclusion of the different discounted offers provided to customers and this is linked with
departmental stores.
Implications of Location and Technology in Retailing in Australian Economy
The technological advancements play a major role in the retailing sector in the
Australian economy. There are different kinds of surveys which has been generated and
prepared in which this has been identified that more than 88% of the individuals are using
cell phones in the economy and this will help the company in gaining competitive advantage
in the entire economy as well (Paul, Bhuimali and Chatterjee 2016). Furthermore, this has
been noticed that there are few shoppers who tries to view the various offers and discounts
offered by the different retail companies in the Australian economy.
For instance- In case of Woolworths and Kmart, this has been seen that Woolworths
has implemented the self-check out service system for the different customers in various
stores in Australian market and this helps them in gaining competitive advantage. However,
there was an issue in which this was noticed that there was a fraud after installation of self-
service check out system as there was huge issues relating to robbery and theft and breach of
security as well.

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On the other hand, Kmart and Target tried to merge, however the mission was not
successful in their approach as there was different kinds of issues cropped up relating to the
failure of the pricing strategy which was adopted by the companies (Varley and Rafiq 2014).
On the other hand, there are various kinds of positioning strategies which is required to be
adopted by the retail stores as this helps them in managing their popularity in the entire
competitive market. The different aspects which are required to be taken into consideration
are as follows:
 The positioning strategy of the different other competitors in the market is the first
strategy which is essential as this will help in understanding their moves and they can
perform better in an appropriate manner (Shin et al. 2017)
 Secondly, the demographic and geographic variables are required to be analysed and
identified which will help the company in reserving their position in the competitive
market effectively (Kasemsap 2018).
 Lastly, identification of the various sites or location which will be appropriate for the
set up of the business is essential as this will assist in managing their position in the
entire competitive market as well (Sullivan et al. 2015).
Value Driven and Cost Containment in Retailing in Australia
These are the two main approaches which are being used in the retail market in
Australian retail sector. This has been noticed that containment of the cost in essential which
is being used in selling of the different goods and services in successfully meeting the
different demands of the customers effectively (Fernie and Sparks 2014). Woolworths is one
such companies in which this has been seen that the company is more focused in providing
value to the customers by offering them with different offers and discounts as this will help
the company in increasing their brand image in an effective manner.

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Significance of Identifying and Alluring Customers in Retail in Australian Market
There are different kinds of tastes and preferences of the customers in the retail
market in Australian economy. There are various innovative procedures which are being
taken by Woolworths, Kmart and Big W supermarkets which are the discount stores as well
situated in Australia (Chertykovtsev et al. 2015). There are different kinds of innovative
procedures which are being taken into consideration as to identify the tastes and preferences
of the customers in the market specially in a geographic location as well. There are various
kinds of shoppers which is inclusive of:
 In Home Shoppers
 Online Shoppers
 Out Home Shoppers
Future of Retailing in Australian Market
In the future, there will be different kinds of challenges which will be faced by the
retail companies in the Australian economy. There are various innovations such as
digitization of the technology which will be essential in managing the demands of customers
and provides the products at an innovative manner as well. Furthermore, in the next 5-10
years, this can be noticed that process of digitization is essential which is important to be
adopted by Woolworths or Kmart in Australian retail sector as this will improve the level of
efficiency and provide discounts to the different customers in an efficient manner as well.
The process of digitization will help in changing process of the different experience of the
customers and this improves the overall productivity and profitability of the organization.

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Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that the retailing is one of the huge concepts in
which there are various kinds of retail stores. The main discussion was done on both
departmental and discounted stores which are based in Australia and the evolution of the
retailing has been taken into consideration as well. Moreover, this has been noticed that in the
5-8 years, there are various kinds of retailing changes which can be done in the market which
will improve the overall structure of the firms efficiently. Furthermore, this has been noticed
that in the year 2020, this will be difficult for the retailers to manage the different kinds of
demands of the customers and this can be handled by the proper innovation and digitization
as well.

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References
Amin, M.H., 2017. Harnessing Information Systems & Technology with Supply Chain
Management for Performance Excellence in Retail Sector. Journal of Business and Social
Review in Emerging Economies, 3(2), pp.179-184.
Chertykovtsev, V.K., Grigoryants, I.A., Chebykina, M.V., Shatalova, T.N. and Bobkova,
E.Y., 2015. Principles and mechanisms of retail management in conditions of instability of
the external environment. Yelm, WA: Science Book Publishing House.
Fernie, J. and Sparks, L., 2014. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new
challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan page publishers.
Goworek, H., McGoldrick, P.J. and McGoldrick, P.J., 2015. Retail marketing management:
Principles and practice. Harlow, UK: Pearson.
Grewal, D., 2018. Retail Marketing Management: The 5 Es of Retailing Today. SAGE.
Kasemsap, K., 2018. Retail management and electronic retailing. In Supply chain
management strategies and risk assessment in retail environments (pp. 139-158). IGI Global.
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Pinto, G., Ribeiro, H., Alves, S.R. and Veloso, C.M., 2018. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION,
PRODUCT AND SERVICE QUALITY IN RETAIL MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF A

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Shin, J.K., Moon, M., Oh, M.O. and Kim, J.H., 2017, July. EFFECTS OF ECO-FRIENDLY
VMD ON GREEN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN FASHION RETAIL MANAGEMENT.
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Management: A Study. In Supply Chain Management Strategies and Risk Assessment in
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